America’s Last Bookie Goes Down

On 26 February 2026, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei issued a statement following an ultimatum from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth demanded the removal of usage restrictions on the Claude AI model by 27 February. These restrictions, established in a July 2025 contract, forbid Claude from powering fully autonomous weapons systems and conducting mass domestic surveillance of American citizens. Separately, the I.R.S. targeted Tim Pughsley, whose sports-betting website moved billions in the era of FanDuel and DraftKings.