Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon AI bro squad includes a former Uber executive and a private equity billionaire

The article details the unusual composition of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's team negotiating with AI contractor Anthropic, highlighting figures with controversial private sector backgrounds. Pentagon CTO Emil Michael is the former second-in-command at Uber, associated with a culture of harassment and suggesting opposition research on critical reporters. Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg is the founder of Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm with significant defense investments, who faced conflict of interest concerns during his confirmation. Hegseth's spokesperson, Sean Parnell, also has a notable political history involving a dropped Senate bid amid abuse allegations. The article suggests these appointments reflect a "rapacious business mindset" entering government, particularly relevant as the Pentagon navigates compliance with AI supply-chain security mandates, which currently favor Anthropic despite ongoing contract disputes. Furthermore, the Pentagon recently granted classified access to xAI's Grok, despite it being considered less capable than competitors, to avoid a single-supplier vulnerability issue with Anthropic.

(Source：The Verge)