Four US troops dead in Kuwait. Senate trying to clip Trumps wings on Iran. OpenAI snatches the Pentagon bag from Anthropic. Europe sweating about Russian gas. The world is on fire and nobody knows what day it is.
THE BIG STORY
Four US troops dead in Kuwait. Senate trying to clip Trumps wings on Iran. OpenAI snatches the Pentagon bag from Anthropic. Europe sweating about Russian gas. The world is on fire and nobody knows what day it is.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
MIDDLE EAST: OPERATION EPIC FURY
• US Navy has sunk or struck 20+ Iranian ships. Hegseth is absolutely living for this. (NBC, Fox)
• Four US Army Reserve soldiers bought the farm in a Kuwait drone strike. (NYT)
• Senate voting TODAY on a measure to limit Trumps war powers. Good luck. (Newsweek)
• Trump offering US Navy escort for tankers through Hormuz. Energy markets having a panic attack. (Guardian)
• Israel doing broad strikes on Iranian infrastructure. Khamenei still alive apparently. (WaPo)
TECH: THE OPENAI PIVOT
• OpenAI signed the Pentagon deal HOURS after Anthropic got dropped. Timing is... something. (NYT)
• Sam Altman had to go on X and admit the whole thing looked "opportunistic and sloppy." (CNBC)
• Now amending to explicitly ban surveillance use. Very normal. (Guardian)
EUROPE: PUTIN SMELLING OPPORTUNITY
• Putin threatening to cut off Russian gas to Europe unless they lift the LNG ban. (Kyiv Independent)
• Ukraine trying to pause peace talks because everyone is distracted with the Middle East. (Reuters)
• Hungary accusing Ukraine of an oil blockade after that pipeline got hit. (BBC)
• France thinks Russia is gearing up to mess with European elections. (Guardian)
TODAY'S SMOOTHBRAINS
PETE HEGSETH
Former Fox News host is now Secretary of War overseeing a hot conflict. Three US troops dead and hes giving victory laps at the Pentagon. The guy who called himself a warrior on a podcast is now in charge of actual warfare. Hopefully hes better at this than he was at cable news.
SAM ALTMAN
The man who said he was all about safety just snagged a Pentagon contract and had to walk it back 48 hours later. Called it sloppy himself. At this point OpenAI just does whatever.
PUTIN
The guy who started a war in Ukraine is now lecturing the world about morality after Irans leader got whacked. Pot, meet kettle.
THE SKIM
• NBC/AP poll: Majority of voters hate how Trump is handling Iran. (NBC)
• Congress says classified Iran briefings suck. No proof of imminent threat shown. (various)
• OpenAI Pentagon deal backlash = surveillance guardrails added. Almost like they forgot something.
