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Welcome to the Tech Brew Ride home for Wednesday, February 25th, 2026. I'm Brad McCullough. Today, the new Galaxy S26 lineup is here. Remote control for Claude is here, but is Anthropic about to wash its hands when it comes to working with the Pentagon? Could Stripe buy PayPal? Oh, and speaking of AI and war, you might not want to hear how often AI chose thermonuclear violence when it was asked to play a war game. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech at Unpacked this afternoon, Samsung announced the Galaxy S26 and S26 plus, featuring a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.4 Galaxy chipset starting at $899 and $1,099 respectively, which it should be noted, represents a $100 price hike. They also launched the $179 Galaxy Buds 4 and $249 Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, keeping the AirPods esque design with better battery life and noise canceling. Available March 11, but the headline is of course the $1,299 plus Galaxy S26 Ultra with a new privacy display feature that limits the screen legibility and all new agentic AI, improved night mode and more. Quoting ZDNet from the Pixel level privacy display feature to an all new Agentic AI and improved Night Mode videos, the Galaxy S26 Ult seems like a solid upgrade over its predecessor. I used it for an hour ahead of launch and here's why. I think it's a bigger upgrade than the last two generations. Last year, Samsung slashed the weight of its Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the handset wasn't comfortable to hold or use for long durations. The flat sides with sharp edges were an ergonomic nightmare and I'm glad Samsung has fixed it to an extent. The new Galaxy S26 Ultra has a similar design to its predecessor. You get flat edges, rounded corners, minimal bezels on the display and buttons on the right. However, it feels more comfortable to hold and is a big step up from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung says the new Galaxy S26 Ultra is its slimmest ultra yet. It has shaved off a decent point 3 millimeters in thickness, landing at a respectable 7.9 millimeters. At 214 grams. It is also the lightest mainstream big phone. To compare, it is thinner and lighter than the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max at 8.75 millimeters and 233 grams, and the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL at at 8.5 millimeters 232 grams. These numbers contribute to a more comfortable in hand experience. In my brief time with the phone, it was easier to manage with a single hand than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung's new flagship phone has a 6.9-inch QHD AMOLED display with a 1,120Hz dynamic refresh rate. It features Corning Gorilla Armor 2 for protection from drops and scratches and retains its less reflective coating. I love the low reflective panel, but my new fav another feature is the Privacy Display. It is built on the pixel level and has a very thoughtful implementation. Privacy Display is built for times when you don't want bystanders to see what's on your screen. Samsung has placed wider angle pixels and narrow pixels next to each other on the Galaxy S26 Ultra to control how they emit light. In comparison, its predecessor just had the wider angle pixels which emitted light in every direction. With the privacy display turned on, the system uses only its new narrow pixels to transmit light at a 90 degree angle straight to your eyes. This limits the legibility of your screen so no one can see it from a side angle. This new feature should come in handy when you're on the go, in cafes or in any public space. It can be turned on easily through the Quick Settings panel. I love its implementation because Samsung allows you to customize when it works. You can have it turned on for the whole screen at all times, when entering pins and passwords, or for specific apps and at particular times of day using routines. For instance, if you select Privacy Display to turn on for your Messaging app like WhatsApp and you receive a pop up notification, it will trigger only for that specific area. So a bystander could be looking at your screen and yet won't be able to see the message notification end quote. And also there's this quoting the Verge Google's Gemini AI is getting one step closer to being more like an actual assistant. Starting with some Pixel 10 phones and the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, Gemini will be able to hail an Uber or put together a doordash order on its own. It's called Task Automation and it starts with a prompt to Gemini, something like get me an Uber to the palace of Fine Arts. Gemini then launches the app in a virtual window on your device and goes through the process step by step. You can watch it all happen with options to stop the automation or take control if necessary, or you just let it run in the background while Gemini does its thing. The assistant will notify you if it needs your attention to choose between two options or if something you asked it to look for is out of stock. Once your ride or grocery cart is all set, Gemini will alert you to take a look and submit the final order yourself. So how exactly is Gemini putting together your burger order? The demos I saw were based on Gemini 3, opening the app and using reasoning to click through the various steps, find the right options, and consider alternatives. But app developers can also expose certain actions using MCP or Android's App Functions framework. Google's been laying the groundwork for the latter since at least 2024, where neither of those things exist. The idea is that Gemini will get in there and figure it out by itself. We see it as a series of technology stacks, none of which the user really cares about. They just want it to happen, a Google representative explains. We think it's important to support all of those so that over time you can have an assistant that can complete all kinds of different tasks for you. So in a future where Gemini takes the wheel and uses your apps for you, isn't there a possibility of this rubbing app developers the wrong way? Doesn't Uber want the chance to remind me that I can save a bunch of money by signing up for Uber one this technology is happening, the Google representative says, and the question for the developer community is how do we figure out the right ways to embrace it together? End quote. Earlier this week, Anthropic met with the U.S. department of Defense and apparently it did not go well. Sources tell axios that the DoD told anthropic it will invoke the Defense Production act or label Anthropic a supply chain risk if Anthropic does not give it unfettered access to Claude by Friday. Quote Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodai until Friday evening to give the military unfettered access to its AI model or face harsh penalties. Axios has learned the Pentagon wants to punish Anthropic as the feud over AI safeguards grows increasingly nasty. But officials are also worried about the consequences of losing access to its industry leading model, Claude. The only reason we are still talking to these people is we need them and we need them now. The problem for these guys is they are that good, a Defense official told Axios ahead of the meeting. Anthropic has said it is willing to adapt its usage policies for the Pentagon, but not to allow its model to be used for the mass surveillance of Americans or the development of weapons that fire without human involvement. Anthropic's Claude is the only AI model currently used for the military's most sensitive work. A senior defense official said the meeting was not warm and fuzzy at all. Another source told Axios it remained cordial, with no voices raised on either side, and that Hegseth praised Claude to Amadai. Hegseth told Amodai he won't let any company dictate the terms under which the Pentagon makes operational decisions or object to individual use cases, and a sign of how seriously the Pentagon is taking this dispute. Hegseth was joined in the meeting by Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg, Undersecretary for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffy Hegsest Chief Spokesperson Sean Parnell and General Counsel Earl Matthews, the Pentagon's top lawyer. Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has no intention of easing its usage restrictions for military purposes, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, adding talks continue after a meeting to discuss its future with the Pentagon. During the meeting, Hegseth delivered an ultimatum to Anthropic get on board or the government would take drastic action, people familiar with the matter said. The options included labeling Anthropic as a supply chain risk or have the Pentagon invoke a law, the Defense Production act, that would force Anthropic to change its rules, the people said. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a comment request. An Anthropic spokesperson said Tuesday's meeting, quote, continued good faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government's national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly. Hegseth said the Pentagon would either invoke the Defense Production act to compel Anthropic to comply with its demands or deem the company a supply chain risk, a determination typically imposed on companies from foreign adversaries. This could upend Anthropic's business with other companies that do business with the U.S. government. This specific scenario is unprecedented and will almost certainly trigger a raft of downstream litigation if the administration takes adverse action against Anthropic here, said Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter and English. End quote.