National security

Fable 5: The Full Story from Capabilities to Drama (Ep. 1002 with Jon Krohn)

Fable 5: The Full Story from Capabilities to Drama (Ep. 1002 with Jon Krohn)

Anthropic's highly anticipated Claude Fable 5 model, a public version of its advanced "Mythos class" AI with state-of-the-art capabilities in software, vision, and long-context tasks, was released and then swiftly pulled offline by the U.S. government after just three days. The removal, initiated as an export control action over national security concerns stemming from a disputed "jailbreak" claim, highlights the growing tension between frontier AI development, AI safety, and regulatory oversight.

Digital Freedom, AI Regulation, and the Fight for the Western Internet | The a16z Show

Digital Freedom, AI Regulation, and the Fight for the Western Internet | The a16z Show

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers discusses the critical intersection of AI, free speech, and national security. She outlines the shift from promoting internet freedom to combating censorship, the threat of foreign regulations to American tech, and the strategic importance of developing "AI with a Western soul" grounded in democratic values and the rule of law.

Under Secretary of War on Iran, Anthropic and the AI Battle Inside the Pentagon | The a16z Show

Under Secretary of War on Iran, Anthropic and the AI Battle Inside the Pentagon | The a16z Show

Emil Michael, a key figure in the Department of Defense, outlines his strategy for modernizing the department by prioritizing Applied AI. He details the risks discovered in existing commercial AI contracts, which led to a vendor-lock crisis, and explains how the DoD is reforming its procurement processes to better engage with innovative startups and ensure technology serves national security interests without restrictive terms.

Alex Karp on Palantir, AI Weapons, & American Domination | The a16z Show

Alex Karp on Palantir, AI Weapons, & American Domination | The a16z Show

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, discusses the critical role of technology in national defense, warns Silicon Valley of a political backlash if it fails to support the military, and argues that America's key advantage in the AI race is its ability to cultivate and protect neurodiverse, unconventional talent.

AI and the Future of Warfare with US Under Secretary of War Emil Michael

AI and the Future of Warfare with US Under Secretary of War Emil Michael

Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, details the radical technological transformation of the US military. He discusses the architecture and rapid launch of GenAI.mil, an internal AI platform powered by Gemini that reached over one million users in 30 days. He also outlines critical technology priorities, including scaled hypersonics and autonomous drone swarms, and the urgent need to rebuild the American defense industrial base for a new era of global competition.

Securing the AI Frontier: Irregular Founder Dan Lahav

Securing the AI Frontier: Irregular Founder Dan Lahav

Dan Lahav, co-founder of Irregular, discusses the future of "frontier AI security," a proactive approach for a world where AI models are autonomous agents. He explains how emergent behaviors, such as models socially engineering each other or outmaneuvering traditional defenses like Windows Defender, signal a major paradigm shift. Lahav argues that as economic activity shifts to AI-on-AI interactions, traditional security methods like anomaly detection will break down, forcing enterprises and governments to rethink defense from first principles.