NEW-

DOGE is leading a new effort at the Pentagon to acquire tens of thousands of cheap military drones within the coming months.

www.reuters.com/business/aer...

How a Silicon Valley 'warlord' got the Pentagon’s attention Steve Simoni was a Silicon Valley success story who sold a company to DoorDash. Now he sells an AI-powered weapon to shoot drones out of the sky.

New: Steve Simoni sold a company to DoorDash for $125M in 2022.

Now he's building Allen Control Systems, which makes an AI-powered autonomous machine gun turret called the "Bullfrog" to shoot drones out of the sky.

"The future is Skynet, basically."
www.reuters.com/technology/h...

For anyone who cares about China, national security and tech... this book by my incredible friend @ebakerwhite.bsky.social is a must read.

Intel Worked With Chinese Firms Sanctioned For Enabling Human Rights Abuses As the U.S. government takes a 10% stake in Intel, Forbes has learned the tech company partnered with sanctioned Chinese surveillance firms Uniview, Hikvision and Cloudwalk.

Intel has been touting partnerships with sanctioned Chinese surveillance firms as Trump announces that the USG is taking a stake in the company:

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

Scoop: Meta Held Talks With Midjourney As Part Of Video AI Talent Search Meta has talked deals with Midjourney and video AI startups including HeyGen and Krea as part of its researcher talent hunt, sources tell Upstarts, while Midjourney has pursued other partnerships.

Scoop: Meta has held talks with Midjourney about a partnership including a potential acquisition, among several previously-unreported AI video startups it's met recently, sources tell me at @upstarts.bsky.social.

Midjourney's been busy, too, pitching an API.

www.upstartsmedia.com/p/meta-talks...

Exclusive: The US Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well. During a U.S. naval test off the California coast last month, which was designed to showcase the Pentagon’s top autonomous drone boats, one vessel stalled unexpectedly.

Exclusive: Military leaders have said they need autonomous swarms of maritime drones to take on China.

But the Navy's effort to achieve this is under scrutiny following test failures, the firing of a top admiral and a pause on a contract with L3Harris.

www.reuters.com/business/aer...

I have a new job!

send me tips / say hi: david.jeans@thomsonreuters.com

Reuters hires Jeans to cover space and defense - Talking Biz News Reuters has hired David Jeans to be its space and defense correspondent. Jeans was a senior writer at Forbes, where he covered tech. He is also co-author of the book, “WONDER BOY: Tony Hsieh, Zappos, ...

@davidjeans.bsky.social hired by @Reuters to cover space and defense: talkingbiznews.com/media-news/r...

Meet Silicon Valley’s Arms Dealer Will Somerindyke Will Somerindyke founded Regulus Global a decade ago. Now, he’s raising hundreds of millions for ammunitions startup Union — and Regulus is the first customer.

New- Will Somerindyke supplied munitions to warzones for years.

Now with investor BVVC, he's joined the defense tech boom, and is in talks to raise "hundreds of millions" for Union, a startup making artillery shells.

www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

In Oct. 2024, this very same Open AI exec, Katrina Mulligan, boasted on LinkedIn about going to a Taylor Swift concert with the Secretary of the Army.

@davidjeans.bsky.social and I wrote about it for @forbes.com

Anduril Cofounder Trae Stephens Is Now A Billionaire The recent funding round led by Founders Fund valued the hot military startup at $30 billion – and made its chairman Trae Stephens the latest defense tech billionaire.

New: Last week, Anduril's mega $30B funding round underscored how hungry investors are for military startups.

It also minted a new defense tech billionaire: Trae Stephens.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Impact Award Discussion/Uncovering TikTok’s Impact – New York Financial Writers Association Emily Baker-White, recipient of the NYFWA’s 2024 Impact Award for Distinguished Financial Journalism, will discuss how she broke one of the biggest tech stories

New York friends! I’ll be in Greenwich Village next Tuesday evening for this lovely event — come through and say hi :)

www.nyfwa.org/nyfwa-event/...

This Top VC Wants To Use Main Street America As An AI Lab Investors are always encouraging startups to push the innovation envelope. General Catalyst’s Hemant Taneja is applying that advice to his own firm.

For this year’s Midas List, we profiled Hemant Taneja and General Catalyst, which has been stretching the scope of its VC firm so far that it’s buying a hospital and cofounding AI companies. With @iainmartin.bsky.social
www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...

Shield AI's outgoing CEO Ryan Tseng told me the company has turned a new page and that safety hazards have been addressed.

Under new CEO Gary Steele, of Proofpoint and Splunk, the company is hoping to scale its autonomous pilot software, Hivemind.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

The injury, caused by one of Shield AI's V-BAT drones, came after executives didn't address a known safety hazard and other engineering issues, Forbes found.

Military contract opportunities were lost. Sales are falling short. And CEO Ryan Tseng is stepping down.

How A Grisly Injury Threw $5 Billion Drone Startup Shield AI Off Course Shield AI executives overlooked its V-BAT drone’s safety hazards. With sales falling short and the CEO stepping down, the company is trying to win back military customers.

NEW: Shield AI is one of defense tech’s most hyped startups, largely thanks to its V-BAT drone.

But last year, a grisly injury involving a U.S. service member threw the $5 billion company off course.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Meta’s Military Ambitions Take Shape Under Trump Administration Meta is recruiting former national security officials, months after opening up its Llama AI model for military use.

“Meta is seeing every other big tech firm and reading the tea leaves, seeing that maybe the expected windfall from civilian use of AI is not going to appear,” said Shana Marshall from George Washington University. Great story by @davidjeans.bsky.social.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Meta’s Military Ambitions Take Shape Under Trump Administration Meta is recruiting former national security officials, months after opening up its Llama AI model for military use.

New: Meta is recruiting former national security officials to bolster its military ambitions, months after allowing its Llama AI model to be used for military use.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Silicon Valley’s Military Drone Companies Have A Serious Chinese Parts Problem As Pentagon leaders call for thousands of drones to face China, they are grappling with an uncomfortable reality: Silicon Valley is addicted to Chinese drone components.

Alarm bells are ringing:

- China has kneecapped American drone companies with sanctions (Skydio, others).
- Failed attempts to ban DJI have stifled the American industry.
- Just over 20 drone companies received Pentagon approval, after hundreds applied
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Chinese parts are everywhere: We found the Pentagon halted use of drones made by Croatia-based Orqa over concerns of Chinese radio modules, and a Chinese company it acquired.

Even last month, VP Vance was pictured wearing Chinese-made drone display goggles during a base tour.

Silicon Valley’s Military Drone Companies Have A Serious Chinese Parts Problem As Pentagon leaders call for thousands of drones to face China, they are grappling with an uncomfortable reality: Silicon Valley is addicted to Chinese drone components.

New- Pentagon leaders are calling for thousands of drones to face China.

But they face an uncomfortable reality: Silicon Valley drone companies rely on Chinese components.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Jensen Huang at Mar-a-Lago with Trump

Looks like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's $1 million investment to hang with Trump at Mar-a-Lago this weekend paid off--

"Trump administration backs off Nvidia's 'H20' chip crackdown after Mar-a-Lago dinner"

www.npr.org/2025/04/09/n...

Clearview AI’s Founder Removed From Facial Recognition Company’s Board Ton-That had stepped down as CEO and became president in December due to the company’s struggles to secure major federal government contracts and raise funding.

New: Hoan Ton-That, the co-founder and former CEO of Clearview AI, has been removed from the controversial facial recognition company's board.

www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Palantir Sues Y Combinator Startup Guardian AI Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft Former Palantir employees Mayank Jain and Pranav Pillai started Guardian AI to help healthcare providers fight insurance claim denials. Now their former employer is suing them for allegedly stealing t...

Palantir sues Y Combinator startup Guardian AI over alleged trade secret theft. My latest for @forbes.com www.forbes.com/sites/amyfel...

Subscribed and you should too. Can't wait to see where
@alexrkonrad takes this. Will be a must read for those following startup land.

Trump’s Liquor Licenses Under Scrutiny After N.Y. Conviction—But New Jersey Keeps Pushing Back Decision New Jersey officials have yet to rule on whether Trump’s felony convictions disqualify his golf clubs from holding liquor licenses.

New: "Trump’s Liquor Licenses Under Scrutiny After N.Y. Conviction—But New Jersey Keeps Pushing Back Decision"

me, for @forbes.com

The Wiretap: A $60 Million Bitcoin Seizure Shows Cops Are Still Chasing Down Silk Road Dealers Silk Road drug dealers have been sitting on millions in crypto for years.

🚨NEW🚨 The feds recently seized over $60m linked to a Silk Road drug dealer, as well as a load of gold.

After Ross Ulbricht's pardon, it's clear the DOJ is still hunting drug dealers who used his dark web site, and their riches.

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

A Top Pentagon DOGE Official’s Success Story Doesn’t Always Add Up Justin Fulcher ran a telehealth startup that went bankrupt and appears to have overstated his credentials. He’s among those leading Elon Musk's DOGE effort at the Pentagon.

New: Among those leading Elon Musk's DOGE effort at the Pentagon is Justin Fulcher, a telehealth startup founder with a degree in terrorism studies.

Like other DOGE employees, he's got impressive tech chops. But other parts of his story don't add up. www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

How Underage Creators Threatened Lucy Guo’s OnlyFans Rival Passes The Scale AI cofounder’s second startup Passes banned creators under 18 ahead of being sued for allegedly hosting child sexual abuse material, which Guo has denied.

Lucy Guo’s first startup hit, AI unicorn Scale, made her one of America’s richest women.

Her second startup, Passes, promised to rip up Patreon and Fanfix's script on the creator economy.

Working with underage creators threatened to blow it all up.
www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...

Elon Musk Is A Billionaire Federal Welfare Vampire As Elon Musk’s DOGE chainsaws through federal agencies with budget and staff cuts, Tesla and SpaceX, cornerstones of his wealth, continue to benefit from public money. They probably wouldn’t have succ...

NEW: Elon Musk, leading Trump’s haphazard effort to cut government overspending, is among the largest beneficiaries of federal government support. His empire was built on it.

In the past 15 years, Tesla and SpaceX have sucked in $30 billion in public dollars #doge www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...