Short posts
New: I asked readers what websites they want, then fired up Claude Cowork to build them.
We’re entering a new era of software built specifically for you.
I spoke with Eliot Peper, who built a hyperlocal surf forecasting app for his area. He summed it up best:
Instead of wanting to be Amazon, I want it to be a beloved indie bookstore, right? That’s just perfect for your neighborhood.
This story has the most details I’ve seen yet on exactly how the military uses Claude.
As planning for a potential strike in Iran was underway, Maven, powered by Claude, suggested hundreds of targets, issued precise location coordinates, and prioritized those targets according to importance, said two of the people. The pairing of Maven and Claude has created a tool that is speeding the pace of the campaign, reducing Iran’s ability to counterstrike and turning weeks-long battle planning into real-time operations, said one of the people. The AI tools also evaluate a strike after it is initiated, the person said.
And this:
The Pentagon began to integrate Anthropic’s Claude chatbot into Maven in late 2024, according to public announcements. The system has been used to generate proposed targets, to track logistics and provide summaries of intelligence coming in from the field.
Here’s how NATO’s version looks, according to a video they recently posted. Unclear if the U.S. version is similar. Apparently you can ask the system questions like “Can you explain the targets on this map?”
Really great reporting by Tara Copp, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Ian Duncan. Gift link
The best story I’ve seen yet on the Anthropic-Pentagon showdown
President Donald Trump has repeatedly previewed a plan to mandate voter ID and ban mail ballots
Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution assigns power to regulate elections to state legislatures and Congress, with no role for the president.
Chart goes up https://metr.org/
Lovely Paul Ford essay on AI coding, with lots of memorable lines. Worth a read. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/opinion/ai-software.html
More on responsibly using LLMs for journalism -> https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/insider/jeffrey-epstein-files-documents.html?unlocked_article_code=1.L1A.kB27.eHaxpXZlcAPZ&smid=url-share
Stunning reporting from NYT: Meta plans to add facial recognition to its smart classes
Meta’s internal memo said the political tumult in the United States was good timing for the feature’s release.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/meta-facial-recognition-smart-glasses.html
New: Researchers found a clever way to reveal AI biases, like the states with the laziest people, or the cities with the best pizza. Look up your city
The researchers systematically asked an LLM to compare two places, for every combination, resulting in the scores we visualized. Check out the full dataset and paper, by Francisco W. Kerche Matthew Zook and Mark Graham.
Sadly Geoffrey A. Fowler was among the hundreds of journalists that The Post laid off last week. A massive loss. But he is continuing his coverage in a newly launched newsletter. Give that a follow!
New: How the federal government is using AI
Trump set off a surge of AI in the federal government. See what happened.
