Latest news with #DepartmentofDefense
Business Insider
11 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
The Pentagon launched a military-grade Y Combinator, signaling that defense tech is officially cool on college campuses
The Department of Defense is scouting the next Palantir — and it's starting on college campuses. This week, the Defense Innovation Unit — the Pentagon's emerging tech arm — launched a university accelerator, open for applications through late June. The 12-week program will be a military-grade Y Combinator of sorts, offering early-stage startups funding, mentorship, and DoD connections. Fifteen teams spun out of US universities — working in AI, cyber, space, and more — will evenly split $500,000. The initiative builds on the National Security Innovation Network's earlier Emerge program, which also targeted college founders, according to DIU project manager Josh Carter. "Though its name has changed over the years, its mission remains the same: to help early-stage tech companies founded within the US university system engage with the DoD," he said in an email to Business Insider. It's also tapping into a growing appetite on college campuses for working in national security, in part fueled by geopolitical urgency and venture dollars flooding the space. Students at top colleges like Harvard and Stanford who once chased jobs at Google and Meta are increasingly eyeing Palantir — or even launching defense tech startups of their own. Beyond rising student interest, the accelerator also reflects growing investor intrigue in dual-use startups — ones building tech for both the battlefield and commercial buyers. The DIU believes this business plan gives startups a better shot at longevity. Having public and private sector applications, Carter said, gives startups "a better opportunity to achieve long-term sustainability and growth." A handful of scaling startups are already operating in both arenas. "The most promising companies will prove their product market fit in one end market — either commercial or government — and then leverage that success to break into the other," Mina Faltas, founder and chief investment officer of Washington Harbour Partners, told BI in an email. Hadrian, which is building automated factories that can make parts for hardware companies, especially those in aerospace and defense, raised $117 million in 2024 in a mix of equity and debt from investors including RTX Ventures, the venture arm of defense prime RTX, formerly Raytheon. CHAOS Industries, which develops a software platform for critical industries and defense, raised a $275 million Series C in May, co-led by New Enterprise Associates and Accel. And Scale AI, which provides AI heavyweights like OpenAI with training data, inked a contract with the Defense Department in March. Investors say that becoming dual-use doesn't just happen overnight. "Typically, startups focus first on selling to either commercial or government customers, since the execution of each lane is quite distinct," Faltas said. Jackson Moses, founder of defense tech fund Silent Ventures, said most dual-use startups only expand into a second market once they've matured. "Startups require early, narrow focus to succeed, and I prefer founders to focus on proper upfront market research and a single GTM strategy," he told BI in an email. "Some of the most successful dual-use defense plays organically achieve product market fit over a medium- to longer-term horizon, a function of strategy, execution, and patience." Moses has backed some such startups, including CHAOS. Others are still skeptical of the approach. Jake Chapman of national security-focused firm Marque Ventures says that the industry's obsession with dual-use can be a distraction for founders and investors. "Too many DoD problems are defense problems, not dual-use problems," he told BI in an email. "If we insist on directing all our early-stage support to dual-use companies, we turn defense tech startups into second-class citizens."
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Navy halts dog and cat experiments; PETA writes Hegseth about US taxpayer-funded animal tests
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) penned a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan Thursday, thanking the Trump administration for its ban on Navy-funded dog and cat experiments announced this week and requesting a broader ban on all animal testing in all military branches. Phelan on Tuesday terminated all Department of the Navy testing on cats and dogs, saving taxpayer dollars and ending these inhumane studies. The effort was led by White Coat Waste, a 501(c)(3) bipartisan nonprofit organization and government watchdog. "This is long overdue," Phelan said in a video posted to X. "In addition to this termination, I'm directing the surgeon general of the Navy to conduct a comprehensive review of all medical research programs to ensure they align with ethical guidelines, scientific necessity, and our core values of integrity and readiness." PETA on Thursday further urged the Department of Defense to conduct a similar comprehensive, agency-wide audit aimed at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in cruel and outdated animal experimentation. Nih Closes Experimentation Labs Accused Of Brutally Killing Thousands Of Beagles For 40+ Years Specifically, the international organization requested the Department of Defense (DOD) ban the use of animals in Navy decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity tests and prohibit the use of dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, marine animals and other animals currently permitted in Army weapon-wounding tests. Read On The Fox News App The weapon-wounding tests, which were banned during the Reagan administration, were reintroduced in 2020 when the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) issued a policy allowing for the purchase of "dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, or marine mammals to inflict wounds upon using a weapon for the purpose of conducting medical research, development, testing, or evaluation." The Army in 2023, with encouragement from PETA, cut $750,000 in taxpayer funding for a brain-damaging weapon-wounding experiment on ferrets at Wayne State University in Michigan. While reviewing other branches, PETA obtained public records showing decompression sickness experiments at the Naval Medical Research Command sliced open baby pigs, implanted devices and locked them in high-pressure chambers for up to eight days before killing them. Researchers are also accused of administering a drug to a pig and inducing a severe escalation in body temperature and muscle contractions before killing the animal. Officials said potentially faulty sedatives may have prolonged the pig's suffering. Peta, Animal Rights Groups Praise Trump Admin For Phasing Out 'Cruel Tests On Dogs' And Other Animals In another incident, a rat suffocated to death after an equipment malfunction, and the researcher failed to report the incident for 23 days, according to PETA. The organization alleged the Navy has wasted more than $5.1 million in federal funding since 2020 for decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity tests on thousands of animals at Duke University, the University of Maryland in Baltimore, the University of California in San Diego and the University of South Florida. "Pigs, rats and other animals feel pain and fear just as dogs and cats do, and their torment in gruesome military experiments must end," PETA Vice President Shalin Gala wrote in a statement. "PETA appreciates the Trump administration's decision to stop the Navy's torture tests on dogs and cats, and we urge a broader ban across the Pentagon to end the use of animals in Navy-funded decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity tests, Army-funded weapon-wounding tests and DOD-funded foreign experiments." Trump Admin Cuts Additional $1M In Federal Funding For 'Transgender Animal' Experiments PETA also requested in the letter that Defense Department officials prohibit funding of tests on animals at foreign institutions. In one experiment in Canada, which is receiving $429,347 in DOD funding, a University of Alberta experimenter is using dogs as "models" of a muscle wasting disease. In another ongoing DOD-funded foreign experiment in Australia, which is receiving $599,984, a James Cook University researcher is burning 30% of rats' body surface with scalding water and into their livers, inflicting an "[u]ncontrolled hemorrhage." The Department of Defense, Secretary of the Navy's office and Navy Office of Information did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for article source: Navy halts dog and cat experiments; PETA writes Hegseth about US taxpayer-funded animal tests
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Executive Orders Ignite U.S. Nuclear Push
Last Friday, the President signed four separate executive orders designed to accelerate nuclear energy development in the US. The first order directs the Department of Defense to deploy new reactor technologies at military installations. The second order, directed specifically at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, mandated much tighter deadlines for new reactor approvals, demanded a review of current radiological exposure risks, and called for further agency staffing cuts. The third order directs the Department of Energy to test and approve no fewer than three new reactor designs by July 4, 2026. But the fourth of these EOs, where the real money is, 1) it called for the direct federal funding for uranium fuels (particularly HALEU), , 2) begin construction on at least ten new gigawatt scale reactors by the end of the decade, 3) and the development of reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel waste. In this context, the President garnered headlines when he called for an expansion of our existing nuclear power generation fleet to 400 gigawatts, roughly four times its present size, further stating 'We're not going to have cost overruns.' What's interesting to us is that virtually all of these initiatives were contained in the Biden administration's ADVANCE Act, signed in July of last year. This bipartisan bill contained many of the same elements as the President's recent EOs: regulatory acceleration of new reactor designs, a focus on microreactors, approval of two new reactor designs for military installations, encouraging the use of brownfield (i.e. coal) sites for new nuclear deployment, and the allocation of federal funds for actual uranium purchases related to HALEU and TRISO fuels—the former preferred by SMRs and the latter used in molten salt and HTGRs. The ADVANCE Act was an acknowledgement that our existing regulatory process has given short shrift to advanced reactor designs using different coolants and fuels and a new, emerging industry—one with considerable political clout—was demanding faster regulatory approvals. However, the only glaring difference between Trump's recent EO's and Biden's ADVANCE Act is that the recent EOs urged further big cuts in regulatory personnel, while demanding they do more on expedited timelines, while Biden's bill called for staffing increases to address new issues. So to us, an honest headline for this should read, 'Trump wholeheartedly embraces Biden's nuclear policy with a few personnel tweaks.'In signing these EOs, Trump was accompanied by the CEOs from Constellation Energy and Oklo Power. Constellation is one of the biggest nuclear power owner/operators in the US, while Oklo is developing a small, 75 mw liquid metal cooled breeder reactor. Stock prices of SMR developers like NuScale, Oklo, and others rallied sharply. In the past five days, shares of NuScale have gained about 55% while Oklo's shareholders were rewarded with 52% gains. The point here is that the administration is clearly indicating continued support for this industry and the equity markets responded. As to the magnitude of the response, we have no views. But despite all the SMR hoopla, there is only one gigawatt reactor design presently approved for the US, already built, and ready to go—the Westinghouse AP 1000 recently built by Southern Company, aka Plant Vogtle Units 3&4. However, as our readers know, Westinghouse is a subsidiary of a Canadian conglomerate. So it's a bit awkward. We conclude with two thoughts. First, the President, by picking a fight with his Canadian trading partner, may hinder his ability to rapidly accomplish a nuclear renaissance. And second, nuclear energy is evolving as a global industry and tariff uncertainty is also problematic. By Leonard Hyman and William Tilles for More Top Reads From this article on
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Things Elon Musk Can Tell His Manager He Accomplished As A Federal Employee
Elon Musk — world's richest man, major government contractor, top donor and adviser to the president of the United States and guy who pays to cheat at video games — ended his tenure as a special government employee on Friday with a cheerful goodbye and thank-you from President Donald Trump. Asked by a reporter Friday if his time in government was worth it and what he would have done differently, Musk, sporting a bruise over his right eye, complained his 'Department of Government Efficiency' had become a 'bogeyman' and seemed to concede defeat to the federal bureaucracy. 'There are many things that occur in the government because it's, it's the banal evil of bureaucracy. It's sort of the frankly, largely, largely uncaring nature of bureaucracy,' he said. So was it worth it? 'I think it was an important thing,' Musk said. 'I think it was a necessary thing and I think it will have a good effect in future.' One of Musk's key early initiatives was a requirement for all federal government employees to send emails to their bosses outlining five things they accomplished the week prior. Musk originally threatened to fire any employee who didn't send such an email, but later backed down. Workers at the Social Security Administration are still sending the emails as of this week, while the Department of Defense asked employees for their final submissions this week as well. In honor of Musk's departure, HuffPost has compiled a list of five things Musk could point to as accomplishments in a sign-off email to Trump. In a February appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the president of Argentina, who is a darling of right-wingers, handed Elon Musk a power tool and, in so doing, created the indelible image of the Musk era of Trump's second term. 'This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,' Musk said as he waved the chainsaw around, posing for the photographs that would be used for hundreds of news stories about his efforts to cut federal agencies. The chainsaw at once symbolized Musk's power and his recklessness. Musk and his team had already pushed federal agencies to fire thousands of employees and halt grants, causing courts to jump in and order the money unfrozen, but not before nonprofits that oversee things like Meals on Wheels and heating assistance warned their services were imperiled. Courts ordered federal agencies to rehire workers, only for the Supreme Court to put the rehiring on hold while the case moves through lower courts. On Friday, a reporter asked Musk about the bruise on his face. He said his 5-year-old son did it. 'I said, 'Go ahead, punch me in the face,' and he did,' Musk said. Musk's signature achievement as head of DOGE was the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the part of government most contrary to Trump's notions of 'America First.' Musk bragged he put the agency 'into the wood chipper.' (This was before he'd been given the chainsaw.) The decapitation of the agency resulted in the cutoff of lifesaving aid to people, including children, in poorer countries around the world. A Boston University professor estimates more than 300,000 people, two-thirds of them children, have already died in the four months since the cuts were implemented. Musk took big swings against federal agencies and picked some questionable targets, including the Social Security Administration, purveyor of monthly benefits to more than 70 million Americans. He falsely claimed Social Security was full of fraud and championed cuts to services Democrats used to portray Musk as the biggest villain of Trump's government. 'What we found was happening was that if there were any cuts anywhere, people would assume that was done by DOGE,' Musk said Friday. 'And so we became, essentially, the DOGE bogeyman, where any cut, anywhere, would be ascribed to DOGE.' Musk's approval rating tanked, sinking lower than the president's, and so did the stock performance of his electric car company, Tesla. He mused last week that he might have spent too much of his time on politics. On Friday, Trump vouched for his top campaign funder and efficiency czar. 'He's done a lot of things,' Trump said. 'Frankly, I don't think he gets credit for what he's done. He's a very good person. He happens to be a really good person who loves the country.' Musk claimed during the campaign that he could easily save the federal government $2 trillion out of its nearly $7 trillion annual budget simply by rooting out fraud and waste. After Trump won, Musk scaled his ambition down to $1 trillion in savings. On Friday, Musk conceded that DOGE had come up with only $160 billion in savings, though the estimates posted on the DOGE website have frequently proven unreliable. 'I'm confident that, over time, we'll see a trillion dollars of savings,' Musk said Friday. Much of what generated public opposition to DOGE was the agency's seemingly relentless quest for more data. For privacy reasons, government data is often siloed off, with access restricted only to key decision makers at different agencies. DOGE pushed aside agency heads and cybersecurity professionals to get previously protected data from the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration. Why? According to published reports, it was to build a master database to speed up immigration enforcement and make it easier for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find local undocumented immigrants and deport them. The database would be key to achieving Trump and top White House adviser Stephen Miller's goals of 'mass deportation' at a time when ICE is reportedly not meeting its deportation goals. Elon Musk Explains Why He Has A Black Eye Tim Walz's 6-Word Response To Elon Musk's Government Exit Is Hilariously Accurate Elon Musk Is Leaving The Trump Administration After Criticizing 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Palantir Stock is Jumping Today
May 30 - Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) saw its shares surge about 7% on Friday after reports highlighted the company's expanding role in the administration's data-sharing initiative. According to the report, Palantir will back President Trump's executive order designed to boost inter-agency data flow. This move could widen the administration's surveillance reach by merging information from multiple federal departments. Since Trump took office, Palantir has landed over $113 million in federal contracts, not counting a recent $795 million award from the Department of Defense. Its Foundry platform, which organizes and analyzes large datasets, is used by four federal agencies. Broad adoption of Foundry may help dismantle information silos and streamline access, key goals of the new order. Privacy experts caution that combining extensive datasets raises the risk of misuse, potentially targeting immigrant groups or political opponents. On its blog, Palantir stresses it merely processes data under client direction and does not control how the information is used. The White House has remained tight-lipped on Palantir's specific tasks but has underscored the order's aim to cut costs and improve government efficiency. As Palantir's government business expands, investor confidence remains buoyant, even as privacy concerns persist. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
