Army infantry drone operators successfully test the bunker rupture and kinetic explosive round, delivered by an unmanned aerial system, during a live-fire demonstration at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., March 26, 2026. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. The US Army announced this week that it has successfully 3D-printed a drone-based warhead prototype, and successfully used that weapon to make something explode. In a press release, the military called the weapon "a lightweight, powerful, and lethal warhead that could be deployed from a small, agile drone." In a video posted April 21 and captioned only "Multi-Purpose," a drone blows up a makeshift bunker on a military testing site.

Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. On Sunday afternoon, Palantir, the defense-tech company that sells software to clients like ICE, the US military, and the Israeli military, decided to give us all a piece of their mind. The company's official X account published a list of excerpts from co-founder Alex Karp's 2025 book The book frames Silicon Valley's move into military technology as the righteous repayment of a "moral debt" owed to the country that built the tech billionaire class. "The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation." If you read past the post and dig into the book itself, you'll find that this sentence continues: "the engineering elite must also, Karp said, participate in "the articulation of a national project--what is this country, what are our values, and for what do we stand." That is to say: Men like Karp should decide what this country is. "If a US Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software," Palantir's Bill-Ackman-esque digression continued. It asserts that the future of American military dominance will not depend on nuclear deterrence, but on AI weaponry--possibly like the Palantir AI product that is reportedly used to help generate'kill lists' for the Israeli military in Gaza. Then, after arguing for the primacy of its own products--called " spy tech " by Palantir's critics--Karp suggests the remilitarization of the Axis Powers. "The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone," Karp's company account asserted. "The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price.

Where OpenAI's technology could show up in Iran Three places to watch, from the margins of war to the center of combat. It's been just over two weeks since OpenAI reached a controversial agreement to allow the Pentagon to use its AI in classified environments. There are still pressing questions about what exactly OpenAI's agreement allows for; Sam Altman said the military can't use his company's technology to build autonomous weapons, but the agreement really just demands that the military follow its own (quite permissive) guidelines about such weapons. OpenAI's other main claim, that the agreement will prevent use of its technology for domestic surveillance, appears equally dubious . It's not the first tech giant to embrace military contracts it had once vowed never to enter into, but the speed of the pivot was notable. Perhaps it's just about money; OpenAI is spending lots on AI training and is on the hunt for more revenue (from sources including ads).

Less than a decade ago, Google employees scuttled any military use of its AI. The standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon has forced the tech industry to once again grapple with the question of how its products are used for war - and what lines it will not cross. Amid Silicon Valley's rightward shift under Donald Trump and the signing of lucrative defense contracts, big tech's answer is looking very different than it did even less than a decade ago. Anthropic's feud with the Trump administration escalated three days ago as the AI firm sued the Department of Defense, claiming that the government's decision to blacklist it from government work violated its first amendment rights. The company and the Pentagon have been locked in a months-long standoff, with Anthropic attempting to prohibit its AI model from being used for domestic mass surveillance or fully autonomous lethal weapons.

Why the world's militaries are scrambling to create their own Starlink The reliable internet connections provided by Starlink offer a huge advantage on the battlefield. Starlink's satellite constellation provides a reliable internet connection to almost anywhere on Earth, conferring an advantage on the modern battlefield. But it is also run by controversial billionaire Elon Musk, presenting a risk to militaries that could easily find themselves cut off. So, now countries are racing to build their own version. The Starlink network consists of almost 10,000 satellites that offer internet connections across most of the planet via small dishes on the ground.

The US and Iran are trading blows in the Gulf with a simple drone that costs as little as $50,000 to make. But why is a slow, cheap and relatively primitive drone seeing use in 2026 alongside hypersonic missiles and stealth jets? Iran invented the relatively simple Shahed 136 attack drone, but is now fending off US copies launched against it in combat. Why, when the US military has expensive, cutting-edge and hi-tech weapons, is it making flimsy drones powered by a motorbike engine? Iranian company Shahed Aviation Industries originally designed the 136.

Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' At least two people were injured after Russian forces launched a drone and missile attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. The attack also damaged apartment buildings, a school, and a kindergarten, he added.

'In the Gaza Strip, we know that this massive trove of intercepted phone calls was used in airstrikes that killed civilians.' 'Data is control': what we learned from a year investigating the Israeli military's ties to big tech'In the Gaza Strip, we know that this massive trove of intercepted phone calls was used in airstrikes that killed civilians.' I n January this year, Harry Davies and Yuval Abraham first reported that Microsoft had deepened its ties to Israel alongside other major tech firms. Since then, the Guardian has published an award-winning series of investigations - in partnership with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call - that has revealed a symbiotic relationship between Silicon Valley and the Israeli military. One investigation exposed an Israeli mass surveillance program scooping up virtually all Palestinian phone calls and storing them on Microsoft's cloud services - setting off an inquiry that ultimately prompted the company to cut off Israel's access to some of its technology.

What's happening in Myanmar's civil war as military holds elections? Voters in parts of Myanmar are heading to the polls on Sunday for an election that critics view as a bid by the country's generals to legitimise military rule, nearly five years after they overthrew the government of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The multi-phased election is unfolding amid a raging civil war, with ethnic armed groups and opposition militias fighting the military for control of vast stretches of territory, stretching from the borderlands with Bangladesh and India in the west, across the central plains, to the frontiers with China and Thailand in the north and east. Another third will be covered during a second and third phase in January, while voting has been cancelled altogether in the remainder. Fighting, including air raids and arson, has intensified in several areas.

This year, the right-to-repair movement got a boost from--surprisingly--big tech, tariffs, and economic downturn. It has been a big year for the right to repair, the movement of advocates pushing for people to be able to fix their own electronics and equipment without manufacturer approval. The issue has gathered broad support from technologists, farmers, military leaders, and politicians on both sides of the aisle. It is popular with just about everyone--except the companies who stand to gain if the parts, instructions, and tools necessary to fix their products remain under lock and key. Three US states passed right-to-repair laws this year, including in heavily Republican states like Texas where the measure received a unanimous vote in both the House and Senate.