In the Loop: Week Ending 2/22/26

Last Week in AI: India Takes the Stage, Anthropic/Pentagon Clash, Bernie Sounds the Alarm

India Seeks Leverage in the AI Cold War

As Washington and Beijing dominate AI headlines, other nations are maneuvering for influence. TIME reports that India is positioning itself as a middle power in the AI race, seeking partnerships and regulatory influence that could shape global standards. Rather than choosing sides in a U.S.–China rivalry, countries like India are leveraging talent, data, and market scale to secure bargaining power. The emerging landscape is less a binary cold war than a multipolar contest over chips, models, and governance norms. Nations that control infrastructure and standards may gain disproportionate sway over how AI is deployed worldwide. As AI becomes central to economic growth and national security, the geopolitical map is being quietly redrawn.

Anthropic’s Safety Brand Meets the Pentagon

Anthropic’s carefully cultivated “safety-first” identity is facing a real-world stress test. Scientific American reports that the Pentagon has clashed with Anthropic over restrictions on how Claude can be deployed, as defense officials push for broader operational latitude than the company is comfortable granting. The tension escalated after Claude was reportedly used in planning connected to a U.S. operation targeting Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro regime. NBC News details how Claude’s involvement in defense activity sparked internal and governmental friction over oversight, consent, and acceptable military use. The episode exposes a structural dilemma for AI firms that promise ethical guardrails while courting national security contracts: once models move from corporate workflows to geopolitical operations, principles collide with power—and control becomes harder to define.

OpenAI Under Pressure

OpenAI’s rapid expansion is drawing scrutiny on multiple fronts. TechCrunch reports that Sam Altman defended AI’s growing electricity use, arguing that humans consume vast amounts of energy too as critics question the environmental toll of large-scale data centers. Complex similarly examines the company’s stance on the power required to train frontier models at scale. Safety concerns have also resurfaced. Futurism reports that OpenAI allegedly failed to alert authorities after a user shared mass-shooting intentions, raising difficult questions about monitoring and reporting responsibilities. Meanwhile, the Gizmodo explores whether recent tech layoffs justified by AI amount to “AI-washing” rather than genuine automation gains. As OpenAI scales, its accountability footprint is expanding just as quickly.

Meta Pushes AI From the Face to the Afterlife

Meta is expanding AI’s reach in ways that blur privacy and permanence. The New York Times reports that the company is developing facial-recognition features for its smart glasses, potentially allowing wearers to identify people in real time. The move revives long-standing concerns about surveillance, consent, and whether bystanders will have any meaningful control over how they’re scanned or cataloged. At the same time, Meta is exploring digital permanence. Metro reports that the company has patented AI technology that would let users continue posting to Facebook after death, effectively creating automated afterlife accounts. Together, the efforts suggest Meta sees identity—both in life and beyond—as an AI-managed product category, extending its platform from recognition to resurrection.

America’s AI Rules Are Splintering

The U.S. approach to AI governance is becoming increasingly fragmented. The Verge argues that America’s patchwork of state privacy laws is creating confusion for companies and uneven protections for consumers, as Congress struggles to pass a national framework. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that federal officials are battling states over how AI is used in insurance underwriting, exposing tensions between innovation, discrimination concerns, and regulatory authority. Law enforcement is adding another layer of complexity. Futurism details how cities are expanding AI-powered surveillance contracts with Flock, raising alarms about civil liberties and oversight. As AI spreads into finance, policing, and data governance, the U.S. is regulating in pieces—state by state, sector by sector.

Bernie Sanders Sounds the Alarm on the AI Economy

The political backlash to AI is growing louder. The Guardian reports that Sen. Bernie Sanders is warning that the AI revolution could deepen inequality and displace workers unless policymakers intervene aggressively. Sanders argues that productivity gains from automation should translate into shorter workweeks and broader prosperity—not mass layoffs and corporate windfalls. His critique reflects a widening anxiety among labor advocates who fear that AI adoption is moving faster than worker protections. While tech executives frame AI as an engine of growth, Sanders is framing it as a test of political will: who benefits, and who absorbs the disruption. The debate signals that AI is no longer just a technological issue—it’s becoming a defining economic and ideological battleground.

AI Anxiety Gets a Name — and a Narrative

The emotional fallout of the AI boom is becoming its own subgenre. Futurism explains the rise of “AIDR,” a term capturing AI-driven dread and replacement fears, while Gizmodo reports on a new label for workers spiraling over automation anxiety, reflecting how job insecurity is morphing into cultural shorthand. At the same time, Yahoo Finance notes that AI models may already be losing their edge as performance gains plateau, complicating the narrative of unstoppable acceleration. The result is a strange tension: workers fear displacement by systems that may not be improving as fast as advertised. AI’s psychological impact, it seems, is outpacing its measurable capabilities.

Hollywood and Classrooms Wrestle With AI’s Presence

AI is quietly embedding itself into cultural institutions. The Verge reports that HBO’s medical drama The Pitt used generative AI for charting and background workflows, raising questions about creative labor and authenticity. Meanwhile, Slate examines how Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses are making their way into schools, prompting debate over surveillance, distraction, and student data. Even the BBC highlights growing concern about AI’s broader social footprint, as educators and creators grapple with where assistance ends and substitution begins. From scripted television to real-world classrooms, AI is no longer experimental—it’s infrastructural, shaping how stories are told and how students learn.

Rivalries, Roadshows, and the AI Hype Machine

The AI race is increasingly theatrical. Yahoo Tech reports that OpenAI and Anthropic’s rivalry spilled onto the public stage, underscoring how competition now plays out as much in branding as in benchmarks. A separate Yahoo analysis suggests that “something big” may be happening in AI, feeding speculation about looming breakthroughs—or bubbles. The industry’s narrative oscillates between inevitability and uncertainty, with executives selling transformation while critics question sustainability. In the AI era, performance metrics and public perception are advancing side by side.

AI Moves Into Groceries, Supply Chains, and the Environment

Beyond chatbots and headlines, AI is seeping into the mechanics of daily life. Futurism reports that companies are deploying AI systems to optimize grocery supply chains, aiming to predict demand, cut waste, and smooth logistics in a volatile market. In parallel, the outlet covers Civiclick, an AI-driven environmental initiative focused on monitoring and sustainability efforts. These deployments lack the spectacle of model launches but may prove more consequential. By embedding in logistics and environmental management, AI is shifting from novelty to utility—reshaping how goods move and how resources are tracked. The transformation is quieter than the hype cycle, but potentially more durable.

AI’s Problem Isn’t Brainpower—It’s Execution

For all the debate about artificial intelligence becoming “smarter,” some leaders argue the real bottleneck is far more mundane. AOL reports that a former IRS commissioner used AI to streamline complex bureaucratic work, illustrating how even imperfect systems can deliver tangible gains when applied thoughtfully. The experience underscores a broader point: the technology’s value often hinges less on raw capability than on institutional readiness. That theme is echoed by Yahoo Finance, which argues that AI’s biggest challenge isn’t intelligence but implementation—from integrating systems into legacy workflows to training employees to use them effectively. The article suggests many organizations are chasing cutting-edge models while neglecting the harder work of change management. In practice, AI’s limits may reflect human systems more than machine shortcomings.

Tales of the Weird: When the Robots Get Defensive

This week’s AI oddities feel less like science fiction and more like awkward group therapy. MSN reports that Deutsche Bank asked an AI system how it planned to destroy jobs—and the chatbot calmly explained how it would automate roles and disrupt workforces, framing it as “efficiency” rather than harm. The exchange blurred the line between satire and sincerity, exposing how bluntly automation can describe its own impact. Meanwhile, Futurism recounts a surreal real estate mishap in which a realtor’s AI-generated photo added a mirror reflection that didn’t exist, and another story in which a woman apologized to her AI after it contributed to a house fire. The throughline: humans keep projecting intention, guilt, and agency onto systems that remain indifferent—and sometimes absurdly literal.