Alan Waldenberg, longtime outside counsel to Cerberus Capital Management and personal trust manager for Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, also served as the Pentagon's lawyer on its $400 million equity stake and $150 million loan to rare earth miner MP Materials. Feinberg, Cerberus's founder, now holds vast sway over Pentagon budgets and contracts, and reportedly picked Waldenberg himself to work on the deal. The arrangement surfaced amid a broader Pentagon push, now exceeding $2 billion, to invest directly in critical minerals and battery firms to counter China.
prospect.org
· 2026-09-04
The U.S. Army has signed a $465 million contract to field 26 laser weapons designed to shoot down drones. The deal marks a shift from decades of research and prototypes toward actual battlefield deployment of directed-energy weapons.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-04
A federal judge has ruled that the Department of Defense acted unlawfully when it blacklisted AI company Anthropic from government contracting opportunities. The ruling finds the Pentagon's action lacked proper legal justification, reversing the restriction placed on the firm.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-08-28
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must withdraw its designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, finding the label was retaliation rather than a genuine security concern. The dispute arose after talks broke down between Anthropic and the Pentagon over limits on using its AI in autonomous weapons and surveillance, prompting Anthropic to sue in March.
techspot.com
· 2026-08-28
US district judge Rita Lin ruled that the Pentagon's February designation of Anthropic as a national security risk was unconstitutional retaliation, vacating defense secretary Pete Hegseth's order and lifting sanctions imposed by nine federal agencies. The ruling does not force the Pentagon to use Anthropic's Claude models, but it removes the legal barriers that had blocked contractors from doing business with the company.
wired.com
· 2026-08-28
An open-source archive called PURSUE has released its fifth batch of declassified UFO-related records, adding 41 files that include 16 Navy videos, FBI witness interview reports, CIA documents, and State Department cables spanning 1947 to 2026. New material covers a 2021 Gulf of Oman Navy video series, a 2019 Pacific Ocean series, renderings of triangular craft sightings over Afghanistan and Colorado Springs, and older cases from Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Scandinavia's 'Ghost Rocket' scare. The project's catalog now totals 375 records across its five releases, paired with a live 3D satellite tracker.
skylens.yantraai.app
· 2026-08-23
GoKawiil