CNBC: Anthropic’s Claude hits No. 1 on Apple’s top free apps list after Pentagon rejection. “Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence assistant app jumped to the No. 1 slot on Apple’s chart of top U.S. free apps late on Saturday, a day after the Trump administration sought to block government agencies’ adoption of the startup’s technology.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/03/01/cnbc-anthropics-claude-hits-no-1-on-apples-top-free-apps-list-after-pentagon-rejection/

Associated Press: Trump orders US agencies to stop using Anthropic technology in clash over AI safety. “The Trump administration on Friday ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s artificial intelligence technology and imposed other major penalties, escalating an unusually public clash between the government and the company over AI safety.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/03/01/associated-press-trump-orders-us-agencies-to-stop-using-anthropic-technology-in-clash-over-ai-safety/

New York Times: Iran Turns to Digital Surveillance Tools to Track Down Protesters. This link goes to a gift article. “As Iranian authorities restore some online services after crushing antigovernment demonstrations, they are using a technological dragnet to target attendees of the protests.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/02/16/new-york-times-iran-turns-to-digital-surveillance-tools-to-track-down-protesters-gift-article/

State of Massachusetts: Governor Healey Announces Massachusetts to Become First State to Deploy ChatGPT Across Executive Branch. Uh. “Today, Governor Maura Healey announced the launch of the ChatGPT-powered Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assistant for the state’s workforce, with the goal of making government work better and faster for people…. Massachusetts will be the first state to adopt […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/02/16/state-of-massachusetts-governor-healey-announces-massachusetts-to-become-first-state-to-deploy-chatgpt-across-executive-branch/

ComputerWeekly: Large language models provide unreliable answers about public services, Open Data Institute finds. “Popular large language models (LLMs) are unable to provide reliable information about key public services such as health, taxes and benefits, the Open Data Institute (ODI) has found.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/02/15/computerweekly-large-language-models-provide-unreliable-answers-about-public-services-open-data-institute-finds/

Wonkette: Hootsuite Takes Heat For Collaborating With ICE. “The Globe & Mail reported on the $95,000 pilot project signed with ICE in September after someone passed along in-house documents, and government contractor Seneca Strategic Partners — the business arm of the Seneca Nation in New York — also has a $2.8-million contract with the Department of Homeland Security to use Hootsuite’s […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/02/03/wonkette-hootsuite-takes-heat-for-collaborating-with-ice/

Public Technology: Academics create network to connect officials with research experts. “Launching on 1 February, the Evidence Exchange aims to enable more universities and research organisations to offer ‘Policy to Research’ opportunities for civil and public servants. A consortium led by the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge is developing the project alongside […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/12/public-technology-academics-create-network-to-connect-officials-with-research-experts/

EFF: The Homeland Security Spending Trail: How to Follow the Money Through U.S. Government Databases. “This week, EFF and the Heinrich Boell Foundation released an update to our database of vendors providing technology to components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protections (CBP). It includes new […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/10/the-homeland-security-spending-trail-how-to-follow-the-money-through-u-s-government-databases-eff/

New York Times: In Ukraine, a New Arsenal of Killer A.I. Drones Is Being Born This link goes to a gift article. “Across the roughly 800-mile front and over the airspace of both nations, drones with newly developed autonomous features are now in daily combat use. By last spring, Bumblebees launched from Ukrainian positions had carried out more than 1,000 combat flights against Russian targets, […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/06/new-york-times-in-ukraine-a-new-arsenal-of-killer-a-i-drones-is-being-born/

Federal News Network: The hidden vulnerability: Why legacy government web forms demand urgent attention. “Government agencies face a security challenge hiding in plain sight: outdated web forms that collect citizen data through systems built years — sometimes decades — ago. While agencies invest heavily in perimeter security and advanced threat detection, many continue using legacy forms […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/06/the-hidden-vulnerability-why-legacy-government-web-forms-demand-urgent-attention-federal-news-network/