Uncanny Valley | WIRED

Episode: "Can Anthropic Win Its Lawsuit?; War Memes; AI Comes for VCs Jobs"

Date: March 12, 2026
Hosts: Zoe Schiffer (Director of Business and Industry), Brian Barrett (Executive Editor), Leah Feiger (Senior Politics Editor)

Episode Overview

This week, the Uncanny Valley hosts tackle three of Silicon Valley’s buzziest issues:

• Anthropic’s high-stakes lawsuit against the Department of Defense after being labeled a supply chain risk,
• The Trump administration’s controversial use of memes as war propaganda amid the ongoing war in Iran,
• How AI is beginning to disrupt not only rank-and-file jobs but also the elite world of venture capital.

The hosts weave together fresh reporting, sharp analysis, and playful banter to provide a WIRED-flavored insider’s look at technology, culture, and politics.

1. Anthropic vs. Department of Defense: The Lawsuit and Its Ramifications

Segment Start: [02:54]

Key Points & Analysis

• Background: Anthropic filed two lawsuits against the DoD after being designated a “supply chain risk,” a label severely damaging to its business prospects.
• Claims: Anthropic alleges constitutional violations (infringement of free speech) and acts of unfair discrimination and retaliation. The company is also seeking a restraining order to keep working with military partners.
• Impact:
  • Commercial partners are stalling or backing out of lucrative contracts, with $80M in deals now hanging on the ability to cancel unilaterally. ([06:45], Leah Feiger)
  • The label’s reputational damage “doesn’t just get expunged,” even if the lawsuit succeeds. ([08:55], Leah Feiger)
  • The consumer market is rallying to Anthropic, but enterprise contracts make up the bulk of their business; celebrity endorsements (e.g., Katy Perry) won’t offset these losses. ([07:20], Zoe Schiffer)
• Industry Response:
  • Employees from OpenAI, Google (including DeepMind’s Jeff Dean), and Microsoft filed briefs supporting Anthropic, signaling industry-wide concern over government overreach. ([07:39], Brian Barrett)
  • “If it can happen to them, it can definitely happen to us.” ([07:39], Brian Barrett)
• Prognosis: The hosts are skeptical Anthropic can win, due to the lack of legal pathways to challenge such designations and the DoD’s clear confidence.
  • “Very, very small.” — Brian Barrett on chances DoD backs down ([08:28])
• Switching Costs: The technical burden for clients to shift from Anthropic to competitors like OpenAI is minimal (“30 minutes”), worsening Anthropic’s position. ([09:53], Zoe Schiffer)

Notable Quotes

• “The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech.” — Anthropic’s legal filing ([03:38], paraphrased by Zoe Schiffer)
• “You might as well go with the people who aren’t pissing off the President right now.” — Leah Feiger ([05:16])
• “That label is so serious to me... It really feels like the people that get the XXXX on their airplane tickets.” — Leah Feiger ([08:55])

2. The Trump Administration’s War Memes: Propaganda, Outrage, and Gamification

Segment Start: [10:09]

Key Points & Analysis

• Background: The Trump administration’s official social accounts are posting memes—using content from action films, video games (Dragon Ball Z, Top Gun, Yu-Gi-Oh)—amid the active Iran war.
• Critique:
  • Hosts see the memes as “nihilistic” and gamified propaganda, not aimed at support for the war but producing outrage and “owning the libs."
  • “Can you imagine Winston Churchill posting memes?” — Brian Barrett ([11:47])
  • The approach is distinguished from traditional recruiting or morale-raising propaganda by its embrace of virality and anger.
• Societal Impact:
  • The tactic distracts from real casualties and the lack of end in sight; “This isn’t glorifying it, it’s gamifying it.” — Leah Feiger ([15:52])
  • Uses unauthorized content intentionally for viral outrage. ([13:34], Brian Barrett)
  • Propagates a disturbing emotional detachment: “We’re going to have this winky, ironic detachment from war where none of this actually means anything.” — Brian Barrett ([15:19])
• Memorable Segment:
  • Hosts parrot the meme-speak (“Strength and honor,” [11:00]) and reflect on the absurdity and horror of current political communications.

Notable Quotes

• “This is horrific. This is really, really horrific.” — Leah Feiger ([11:52])
• “This isn’t glorifying it, it’s gamifying it.” — Leah Feiger ([15:52])
• “If you get upset, it’s because you’re triggered—which just feels debasing.” — Brian Barrett ([15:19])

3. Event Strategies: January 6 Organizers Cash in on Government Contracts

Segment Start: [16:35]

Key Points & Analysis

• Background: Reporting on a little-known events company (Event Strategies), whose associates helped organize the January 6 rally, now receiving $26M+ in federal contracts since Trump’s second term began.
• Growth Pattern:
  • Pre-Trump: $50k in government contracts over a decade.
  • Post-Trump’s return: Contracts balloon to millions, with a potential $100M multi-year GSA contract.
• Nature of Work: Many contracts involve “America 250,” the anniversary celebration of the Declaration of Independence, now seen as increasingly politicized.
• Concerns:
  • Lack of open, competitive bidding is circumventing established rules to avoid favoritism (“CICA"/competition clause). ([21:47], Leah Feiger)
  • Banners with Trump’s image—dubbed “Grindelwald vibes”—unsettle D.C. and invite criticism.
• Broader Implications: This could mark only the beginning of such self-dealing in Trump’s second administration.

Notable Quotes

• “This to me is like one of the first big examples we’ve seen of associates in Trump world benefiting from the grift.” — Leah Feiger ([17:07])
• “I wish I could be more eloquent than that, but it’s odd. It’s very odd stuff.” — Leah Feiger ([19:55])
• “Grindelwald vibes”—inside joke about Harry Potter villain representing dark undertones of the current celebration. ([20:25])

4. AI Comes for Venture Capital Jobs

Segment Start: [22:24]

Key Points & Analysis

• Trend: AI agents, such as those used by the platform Add In (Autonomous Deal Investing Network), are now capable of examining startup pitch decks and producing detailed diligence reports in hours, a process that takes humans days or weeks.
• Irony Not Lost: VCs, some of the most vocal AI boosters, now face disruption of their own privileged roles.
  • “Machines can take every job, but not us. The ladder stops just below VC.” — Brian Barrett ([24:06])
• Traction: Add In works via scouts paid for good leads; may bypass traditional VCs rather than serving them.
• Questions of Hype: The evidence that AI is actually killing jobs remains thin for most industries, though engineering teams may see steep reductions. ([25:27], Zoe Schiffer)
• VC Exceptionalism:
  • Marc Andreessen’s podcast remarks:
    • “You’re in the fluke business... I don’t want to be definitive, but it’s possible that that is quite literally timeless... when the AIs are doing everything else, that may be one of the last remaining fields [humans] are still doing.” ([26:15], paraphrased by Brian Barrett)
  • Hosts note the irony of VCs touting AI's ability to disrupt creative roles while insisting venture capital requires irreplaceable human “taste.”
    • “He sounds exactly like us when we’re explaining why AI could never replace a human editor!” — Zoe Schiffer ([27:15])

Notable Quotes

• “There’s a taste aspect, the human relationship aspect, the psychology... it is possible that that is quite literally timeless.” — Marc Andreessen ([26:15])
• “I am still waiting for AI to take the jobs. Like, has it yet?” — Leah Feiger ([25:06])

5. Wired/Tired: Pop Culture & Tech Trends

Segment Start: [31:09]

Format Note: Each host shares what’s “wired” (exciting) and “tired” (overdone or passé) in tech and culture.

Brian Barrett

• Tired: Flying cars (“basically helicopters, but more.”) ([31:16])
• Wired: Hybrid vehicles – a plea for more sustainable transport amidst global instability ([32:28])

Leah Feiger

• Wired: Warmer weather at last in New York ([32:33])
• Tired: Record-breaking March heat—climate anxiety over unseasonable warmth ([33:22])

Zoe Schiffer

• Tired: “Quizzes” trying to discern AI-written vs human-written work ([33:49])
• Wired: Claire Dederer’s take from “Monsters”—the impact of knowing the artist/author’s identity and the inevitable “stain” it leaves on art ([34:55])

Memorable Moments & Banter

• “Katy Perry signing up for Claude Pro... is not gonna save Anthropic. I’m sorry.” — Zoe Schiffer ([07:20])
• “If there was a big red button that would just demolish the Internet, I would smash that button with my forehead.” — Brian Barrett ([35:40])
• Running joke about “Grindelwald vibes” and Brian’s lack of Harry Potter knowledge ([20:24]–[20:45])

Key Timestamps

• [02:54] Anthropic lawsuit intro & context
• [06:45] The enterprise business fallout for Anthropic
• [08:55] The “supply chain risk” stigma
• [10:09] War in Iran: Trump administration’s meme propaganda
• [15:52] Leah coins “gamifying” the war
• [16:35] Event Strategies and January 6 contract revelations
• [22:24] AI platforms like Add In and the threat to venture capital jobs
• [26:15] Marc Andreessen on why AI “can’t” do VC
• [31:09] Wired/Tired segment

Takeaway

This episode of Uncanny Valley delivers a whip-smart, wide-ranging critique of the entanglement between tech, politics, and culture in 2026. From Anthropic’s legal battle and its reverberations through Silicon Valley, to the new frontiers (and absurdities) of American propaganda, to the irony-laced downfall of the tech elite’s gatekeepers, the hosts decode the headlines with equal measures of seriousness and sly humor.
If you want to understand not just what’s happening in tech, but what it feels like from the inside right now, this episode is an essential listen.