Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Dan Schwartzman. Axios is reporting that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is on the verge of cutting business ties with Anthropic and designating the AI company a, quote, supply chain risk, meaning that others wanting to do business with the military would have to cut ties with the company.
Anthropix CEO wants to ensure its Claude AI model is not used to spy on Americans en masse or used to fire weapons without humans. The company and the Pentagon have held talks for months on the terms under which the military can use the software, with Claude currently the only AI model available in the military's classified systems.
Elon Musk, SpaceX, and XAI are both competing in a Pentagon contest to produce voice-controlled autonomous drone-swarming technology that's, according to people familiar with the matter. The two companies are among only a handful that were selected to compete in the $100 million prize challenge launched in January.
Musk, though, has previously argued against making, quote, new tools for killing people. The contest is expected to progress in phases depending on the success and interest of the participating companies. Ahead of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks starting tomorrow in Switzerland, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed terms to President Trump for a de-escalation deal with Iran.
Israel says Iran shouldn't possess enriched material or nuclear enrichment capabilities, while also suggesting the U.S. should look to limit Iran's range of ballistic missiles. Talks between the U.S. and Iran broke down last year after Israel launched a 12-day war with the U.S. bombing Iran's nuclear sites. President Trump has since threatened to strike again if an agreement is not reached. U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he hopes a deal can be achieved.
It's been very difficult for anyone to do real deals with Iran because we're dealing with radical Shia clerics who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones. But let's see what happens. I hope it works out. We all hope it works out.
That's Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking in Hungary. Meanwhile, President Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza is expected to meet in Washington this week to talk about rebuilding the Palestinian enclave. Trump says members will discuss $5 billion worth of commitments, although some reports estimate construction could cost upwards of $70 billion.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of AI companies competing for military contracts?
That's Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen on CNN. There could be a second bidding war for Warner Brothers Discovery, as its board is reportedly weighing Paramount's new offer, which includes a breakup fee if Warner ends its deal with Netflix. Bloomberg's Tony Shushka says Netflix could get the short end of the stick.
One of Paramount's strategies also has been to try to portray itself as a better place to get through the antitrust process, which involves Washington, the Department of Justice, and sort of had to remove the Trump administration, although Trump himself has said that he won't intervene.
Bloomberg's Tony Shushka says Warner Brothers still has concerns about Paramount's offer, but this is the first time the board has considered it could be getting a better deal. Alibaba is set to unveil a major upgrade to its flagship AI model, Quen, which can understand text, photo, and video inputs.
The latest iteration, Quen 3.5, will be out in April and will be designed to support tasks from AI agents and analyze videos up to two hours long. The upgrades are part of Alibaba's race against a number of startups trying to get ahead of China's deep-seek platform. Legendary actor Robert Duvall has passed away at the age of 95. That's according to a social media post attributed to his wife.
Duvall won an Academy Award for Tender Mercies while being nominated a total of seven times and also won four Golden Globe Awards. A cause of death has not been revealed. Markets are closed in the U.S.
for the President's Day holiday, but Wall Street will have its eyes on Amazon when trading resumes on Tuesday, as its stock is riding a nine-day losing streak the longest in nearly two decades, with shares plummeting 18%.
Investors are worried about Amazon's artificial intelligence spending plan this year, as the company wants to invest $200 billion on data centers, chips, and other equipment to support its AI ambitions. Meanwhile, in Europe, the FTSE in London finished up a quarter of a percent. The CAC in Paris closed a tenth of a percent higher. while the DAX in Germany lost close to a half percent.
In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan finished down a quarter of a percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended up a half percent, while China's CSI 300 lost one and a quarter percent. At the Milan Cortina Olympics, the U.S. women's hockey team knocks off Sweden 5-0 and will play the winner of Canada and Switzerland for the gold medal. That's news when you want it with Bloomberg News Now.
I'm Dan Schwartzman and this is Bloomberg.
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