Diplomacy, Economy, Geopolitics

# Morning Briefing — Sunday, 8 March 2026

Colin Henderson

America/Toronto time | ~1,200 words 1. What Changed Iran War Day 9: Oil infrastructure now targeted, escalation intensifies US and Israeli strikes hit Tehran oil storage depots and refining facilities for the first time overnight — the first deliberate strikes on civil industrial infrastructure in the conflict. Iran retaliated with fresh missile salvos toward Israel and Gulf states. Trump has signalled a further escalation wave this weekend and says the war ends only when Iran’s leadership “cry uncle.” New today: Oil depot and refinery-adjacent facilities in Tehran struck overnight; Iranian drone hits Bahrain desalination plant; Lebanon death toll now over … Continue reading # Morning Briefing — Sunday, 8 March 2026

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Anthropic CEO Accuses OpenAI of ‘Safety Theater’ in Pentagon AI Deal – includes text of leaked memo – Amodei

Colin Henderson

Author: msophiahawley Site: VKTR.com Saved 05 Mar 2026 — Anthropic’s CEO unloads on OpenAI in a leaked memo, accusing the rival lab of misrepresenting its Pentagon AI deal and fueling a growing fight over military AI. Key Takeaways In a leaked memo, Dario Amodei accused OpenAI of relying on largely symbolic safeguards in its Pentagon AI contract. Anthropic says it walked away from negotiations with the US Department of Defense over surveillance and autonomous weapons concerns. Amodei claims the Pentagon rejected Anthropic’s safeguards but accepted weaker terms from OpenAI. A newly surfaced internal memo from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei offers an unusually blunt look … Continue reading Anthropic CEO Accuses OpenAI of ‘Safety Theater’ in Pentagon AI Deal – includes text of leaked memo – Amodei

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Status of Anthropic and Dept of War is getting complicated

Colin Henderson

Source Claude.ai I don’t have access to that memo — it sounds like an internal Anthropic document that has either leaked or been reported on, and I wouldn’t have a free copy regardless. Let me search for what’s been reported about it. The full memo isn’t publicly available in its entirety — it originated with The Information (paywalled). However, the key substance has been widely reported. Here’s what we know:The core dispute: Anthropic and the Pentagon were close to a $200m deal but broke down over five words — a prohibition on “analysis of bulk acquired data.” Amodei says that … Continue reading Status of Anthropic and Dept of War is getting complicated

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Sam Altman Just Dropped 8 Hard Truths About the Future of AI

Colin Henderson

Thank you Shane. Author: Shane CollinsSite: Medium Saved Tue, 3 Feb at 10:54 In a candid, unscripted Q&A, the OpenAI CEO dismantled the biggest myths about coding, startups, and the economy in 2026. 6 min read 6 days ago Press enter or click to view image in full size On January 27, 2026, there were no PowerPoint slides. There were no flashy product demos or scripted PR speeches. Just Sam #Altman, a room full of anxious developers in San Francisco, and one hour of raw, unpolished Q&A. The questions were the ones keeping everyone awake at night: Is my coding … Continue reading Sam Altman Just Dropped 8 Hard Truths About the Future of AI

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Morning Briefing — Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Colin Henderson

Morning Briefing — Wednesday, March 4, 2026 1. What Changed Iran-Israel-U.S. War Enters Day Five — Strikes Widen, Leadership Vacuum Deepens Day five of Operation Epic Fury. Israel launched a new broad wave of strikes targeting internal security command centres in Tehran, missile launchers, and other systems, as Iran began three days of public mourning for Khamenei. NPR Israel simultaneously conducted a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon to establish a “security layer” against Hezbollah. Wikipedia New today: Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence used backchannels to contact the CIA a day after attacks began; officials on both sides were sceptical either … Continue reading Morning Briefing — Wednesday, March 4, 2026

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The AI infrastructure buildout is hitting a hard physical constraint — power

Colin Henderson

AI / Tech: Big Tech to Sign White House Power Pledge TomorrowTrump is convening major tech firms on March 4 to sign a pledge that their new AI data centres will “build, bring, or buy” their own power supply, ensuring Americans’ electricity bills don’t rise from data centre demand growth. In the UK, protesters marched against data centre expansion amid revelations that 140 facilities are seeking grid connections requiring 50 GW of capacity — exceeding the UK’s peak winter demand of 45 GW for the entire grid.New today: The White House energy pledge is tomorrow — a concrete policy action … Continue reading The AI infrastructure buildout is hitting a hard physical constraint — power

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Claude AI hit by worldwide outage across all platforms

Colin Henderson

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/claude-ai-hit-by-worldwide-out-zQYPbIV0RtK35tqc9vzKrQ Anthropic confirmed the outage at 11:49 UTC on March 2, with users reporting 500 errors, failed logins, and Claude Code going completely offline.[bleepingcomputer +1]• The disruption comes as Claude surged to No. 1 on Apple’s [AAPL +0.75%] App Store after Anthropic walked away from a U.S. military AI deal over safety concerns.[techradar +1]• The outage follows a pattern of recent reliability issues, raising questions about infrastructure resilience as enterprise adoption, including at Microsoft [MSFT +1.82%], grows.[techbuzz] Continue reading Claude AI hit by worldwide outage across all platforms

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Proxima.earth – a radical shift in research analysis

Colin Henderson

I recommend everyone with geopolitical interest take advantage of Proxima.earth. It is a radical shift in research analysis which can only be handled by AI. not the uses and contexts from multiple frontier AI tools. And remember this analysis is hours following actual events. Iran, March 2026Three crises converge in sixty days. A domestic uprising met with mass killing and the most comprehensive internet blackout in Iranian history. A nuclear confrontation that produced two rounds of US-Israeli strikes nine months apart. And the first assassination of a sitting head of state by airstrike in modern history — the killing of … Continue reading Proxima.earth – a radical shift in research analysis

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Why Anthropic Got a U.S. Military Contract

Colin Henderson

Source #OpenAI #ChatGPT #anhropic Here’s a factual breakdown of why Anthropic’s AI was being used by the U.S. military, what sources say about that choice, and whether there’s some sort of “LLM trading desk” or governance structure ensuring specific military use cases: 🪖 Why Anthropic Got a U.S. Military Contract 1. Defense Department AI Procurement Strategy In mid-2025, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded large AI contracts (~$200 million each) to Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and xAI as part of efforts to integrate advanced AI tools into defense workflows — analytics, decision support, intelligence analysis, etc.  This reflects a broader push … Continue reading Why Anthropic Got a U.S. Military Contract