Industry
SBA partners with Perplexity to launch $25M Main Street AI Accelerator
Administration officials have stressed the importance of supporting small businesses amid the global AI race between the U.S. and China.
Industry and academia call on administration to free Anthropic’s AI model
Over 30 industry and academic professionals signed a letter to the Trump administration asking it to lift export controls, citing international competition and patches to network vulnerabilities.
Anthropic suspends top AI models after U.S. export control order
The company said it would disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all customers after the government imposed export controls on those products, citing national security concerns.
Trump’s return-to-work mandate for feds helped drive MetTel’s GSA upgrades
The company said it completed the network revamp under the General Services Administration’s $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract.
Exclusive
Lack of White House guidance has complicated agency Mythos adoption, people familiar say
Agency tech leaders say they don’t have clear direction from the White House on how to access and implement Anthropic’s cyber-focused AI model for their networks.
New coalition will enter legal debate over industry’s role in government cyber missions
Its formation occurs amid a broader discussion over whether existing laws are suited for cyber activities that increasingly depend on cooperation between the government and private sector.
Lawmakers propose AI framework that would preempt state laws for 3 years
A bipartisan House proposal looks to codify existing programs, set an all-hands-on-deck approach to AI governance and allow for the federal preemption of state AI laws for 3 years.
Exclusive
Anthropic held cyberthreat briefings with agency CIOs last month
Discussions included how to defend digital assets following the debut of advanced AI models, like Anthropic’s Mythos.
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Trump signs AI executive order after postponement last month
The order encourages developers of advanced AI to grant the U.S. and certain critical infrastructure operators 30 days of pre-release model access. Earlier drafts had set 90 days of early access.
Commerce commits to funding incentives with 9 companies to spur quantum development
The letters of intent provide over $2 billion in funding from the CHIPS and Science Act to spur research and development in fault-tolerant quantum computing.
GSA inks latest OneGov agreement with Snowflake
Under the deal, federal agencies will potentially be eligible “for higher-tier discounts of up to 50% reduced consumption cost on compute, as overall usage increases.”
OneGov’s discounted deals are ‘a first step’ to longer-term contracts, officials say
The General Services Administration has asked some companies to re-up their temporary price cuts while it continues to talk with them about becoming direct contractors on its Multiple Award Schedule.
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Anticipated executive order could give NSA a role in voluntary AI model testing
The order, which is expected this week, comes as the Trump administration grapples with the national security implications of advanced cyber-focused AI models like Anthropic’s Mythos.
Virtualitics targets public sector customers with OpenAI partnership
Virtualitics is the latest company to partner with a frontier AI firm to enhance its existing software suite.
Microsoft disrupts cybercrime service offering malware disguised as legitimate software
The downstream impact of that service’s operations “has resulted in attacks against a broad range of industry sectors” in the U.S. and other nations, the company said.
‘It would be insane’ for spy agencies to not have AI model early access, lawmaker says
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said the Commerce Department should also have a role in AI policy.
Anthropic and nonprofit partner to streamline benefits administration with AI
Code for America is working with the AI company to build and pilot solutions that leverage Anthropic’s Claude chatbot to help benefit caseworkers improve service delivery.
Pentagon will ‘never again’ rely on a single AI provider, official says
Defense Under Secretary for Research and Engineering Emil Michael said new agreements with Big Tech companies are a “counterstatement” to the ongoing Anthropic-Pentagon conflict as the agency prioritizes flexible contracts.
Trump admin will push for ‘long-term’ reauthorization of key cyber data-sharing law
The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act got a temporary revival as part of a funding package last year, but it will expire again in September unless renewed.
Commerce AI center will evaluate Google Deepmind, Microsoft and xAI models
A renegotiated deal between the three companies and the Center for Artificial Intelligence Standards and Innovation allows private sector models to undergo safety testing in classified environments.
