This week Uncanny Valley team delves into the feud that’s brewing between Anthropic and the Pentagon, and what it says about the government’s interactions with tech companies. Later, Zoë Schiffer tells us why determining whether you’re an agent or a mimetic has become the up-to-date litmus test in Silicon Valley. Plus, we discuss key takeaways from the State of the Union address and say goodbye to the TAT-8 submarine cables — the ones that made the up-to-date Internet possible.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
You can follow Brian Barrett on Bluesky at @brbarrettZoë Schiffer in Bluesky at @zoeschifferand Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Email us at uncannyvalley@wired.com.
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Transcription
Please note: this is an automatic transcription and may contain errors.
Brian Barrett: Hi, this is Brian. Zoë, Leah and I have really enjoyed being your up-to-date hosts for the past few weeks and would love to hear from you. If you like the show and have a moment, please leave us a review on your podcast or app of choice. This really helps us reach more people. For any questions or comments, you can always contact us at uncannyvalley@wired.com. Thank you for listening. For the show.
Leah Feiger: Hey, how’s it going?
Zoë Schiffer: I feel great. Brian?
Brian Barrett: I feel great and I know Leah does too because Survivorhe came back tonight, that’s another thing we care about and you don’t.
Zoë Schiffer: How do you know it’s not? I mean, I don’t. I don’t, except for my childhood best friend who tried to pursue it and then failed, so it doesn’t matter.
Leah Feiger: It was clear that I was going to apply one day and both Brian and our colleague Tim assured me that I could go to the beaches of Fiji for a month, come back and still keep my job.
Zoë Schiffer: I think most people would say, Leah, you won’t survive there, but they don’t know about your deep-sea diving skills.
Leah Feiger: Actually, I think I’d feel fine. I really, really want to do this. One day, guys.
Brian Barrett: But Leah, to eat them would potentially require killing several fish, which is usually not…
Leah Feiger: That’s okay.
Brian Barrett: Oh, OK.
Leah Feiger: No, no, no, no, fishing is fine. Living on your own is very OK. This is something like a broader institutionalization of mass murder on our sea, which is something I have a bigger problem with.
Zoë Schiffer: And with that, welcome to WIRED Uncanny Valley. My name is Zoë Schiffer and I am WIRED’s director of business and industry.
Brian Barrett: I’m Brian Barrett, editor-in-chief.
Leah Feiger: And I’m Leah Feiger, senior politics editor.