This episode covers the increasingly political nature of AI, featuring major developments from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Host Nathan Lambert discusses Jensen Huang's bold claims about OpenClaw at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference, the latest revenue competition between AI giants, and Google's impressive new cinematic video capabilities in Notebook LM.

The main focus centers on the explosive political conflict between Anthropic and the Pentagon over defense contracts, including a leaked 1600-word memo from CEO Dario Amadei that directly attacked OpenAI's Sam Altman. The episode also covers the White House data center energy pledge signed by seven major tech companies and the broader implications of AI becoming a mainstream political issue.

Jensen Huang Declares OpenClaw Most Important Software Ever

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang proclaimed at Morgan Stanley TMT conference: 'OpenClaw is probably the single most important release of software probably ever. Linux took some 30 years to reach this level. OpenClaw in, what is it, three weeks, has now surpassed Linux.'

OpenClaw has become the most starred open source project on GitHub in history, fundamentally changing how people think about AI capabilities and ushering in the 'true agent era.'

Huang updated his thesis on AI tokens as the fundamental unit of work in GDP, claiming the 'token economy is coming into focus' for investors.

NVIDIA invested $30 billion in OpenAI, with Huang suggesting this might be the last opportunity before OpenAI's expected IPO by end of year.

Global OpenClaw Phenomenon Spreads to China

Chinese founders are rapidly building on OpenClaw, with hackathon projects including 'Tinder for AI agents' and automated recruiting platforms where OpenClaws interview each other.

ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent now offer hosted OpenClaw instances to customers, something Western cloud giants haven't done yet.

Competition is so intense in China that OpenClaw installers offer two hours of house cleaning and secondhand marketplace listing for $57 to win clients.

As noted in Lenny's Newsletter, over 80 OpenClaw meetups are scheduled worldwide for a product less than a few months old, representing an unprecedented phenomenon.

AI Revenue Race Intensifies Between OpenAI and Anthropic

Anthropic surpassed $19 billion ARR, more than doubling since end of last year and putting them within striking distance of OpenAI's $20 billion.

OpenAI quickly responded by leaking new numbers showing they exceeded $25 billion ARR, with sources claiming $21.4 billion at year-end 2025.

OpenAI's ARR calculation based on past four weeks showed 17% growth over two months, while extrapolating just the past week would yield $30 billion ARR.

Derek Thompson tweeted: 'AI might still be an industrial bubble... But the idea that this industry has no business model is a take aging like a rotted banana.'

Google Launches Cinematic Video Overviews in Notebook LM

Notebook LM now creates fully animated videos with custom animations and images, moving beyond simple slideshows to professional-quality presentations.

Google wrote: 'Gemini now acts as a creative director, making hundreds of structural and stylistic decisions to tell the best story with your sources.'

Robert Scoble demonstrated a five-minute video analyzing AI discourse on X, featuring Da Vinci-style animations and coherent visual storytelling.

The feature orchestrates Gemini 3 family models (Nano, Banana Pro, and VO) to weave together voiceover, images, and video professionally.

Anthropic CEO's Explosive Memo Attacks OpenAI Leadership

Dario Amadei published a 1600-word memo stating: 'I want to be very clear on the messaging that is coming from OpenAI and the mendacious nature of it. This is an example of who they really are.'

Amadei accused OpenAI's safety approach of being '20% real and 80% safety theater' regarding military applications like autonomous weaponry and domestic surveillance.

The memo claimed the real reason DOW dislikes Anthropic is political: 'we haven't donated to Trump, while OpenAI and Greg Brockman have donated a lot.'

Amadei directly accused Sam Altman of undermining Anthropic while appearing supportive: 'He's trying to make it more possible for the admin to punish us by undercutting our public support.'

Defense Contractors Already Removing Anthropic Technology

Multiple defense contractors are telling employees to stop using Claude and switch to other models due to supply chain risk threats.

Alexander Hartstrick of J2 Ventures reported that 10 portfolio companies have 'backed off of their use of Claude for defense use cases' and are actively replacing the service.

An administration official stated: 'you can't trust Claude isn't secretly carrying out Dario's agenda in a classified setting.'

OpenAI board member Paul Nakasone said: 'This is not a good space for our nation. We need Anthropic. We need OpenAI. We need all of our large language model companies to be partnering with our government.'

Tech Giants Sign White House Data Center Energy Pledge

Seven companies (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, OpenAI, Amazon, XAI) pledged to bring their own power supply for data centers through new plants or expanded infrastructure costs.

Companies committed to contribute power back to local grids during peak demand, similar to successful Texas load management agreements during winter storms.

Trump explained the political necessity: 'They need some PR help because people think that if a data center goes in, their electricity prices are going to go up.'

AI czar David Sachs contrasted this with 'Bernie Sanders' total ban on new data centers, which would halt the construction boom currently driving wage growth.'