If you only have two minutes today, watch these:
This Week on the President’s Tech Brief
AI Sovereignty: Is AI the New Oil?: Fresh off Palantir's new partnership with NVIDIA, lead AI architect Chad Wahlquist joins to explain why he sees AI models as a commodity — and why he argues America should treat owning its AI infrastructure the way it treats protecting its oil reserves. He breaks down the "token maxing" trap that's leaving enterprises with unexpectedly large bills, why most workflows don't need a frontier model at all, and the analogy that reframes how companies think about the AI they're paying for.
NATO in Türkiye: A Summit Putin Won't Like: Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker joins live to recap the summit in Türkiye — and to push back on the headlines about friction tearing the alliance apart. He lays out what actually came out of the meeting on European defense spending, missiles for Ukraine, and Zelensky's reception, and gives his read on how close this all pushes Putin toward a ceasefire.
Iran: The Ceasefire Roller Coaster: Iran struck three vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. answered with roughly 170 strikes, and U.S. Treasury cut off the waivers keeping Iran's oil revenue flowing. Chip Usher and Ylber Bajraktari break down the one clause in the June agreement, Article V, that has become the whole ballgame — and why Chip says Iran is "in it to win it." There's also a ticking clock hiding in America's strategic petroleum reserve.
China Watch: Beijing's Own "Mythos Moment": David Lin and Austin Huang cover three stories that all trace back to one tension: Beijing wants to control the chips and AI models it depends on, even as its own companies race to break free of that control. DeepSeek is designing its own chip, the door to NVIDIA chip sales in China is opening slightly, and there's a reported plan that could change who gets access to China's most powerful models.
AI in the Office: The Self-Organizing Research Paper: This week, Research Assistant Mason Tsai shows how he used Claude to build an interactive app that keeps his white paper organized — mapping every source to the right section, flagging where his argument needs more support, and catching sources that overlap. Watch is below:
We're live every Friday at 11 AM ET on YouTube. Subscribe so you never miss an episode — and send us your questions, comments, and feedback. Consider yourself briefed.
