Old-School Tech Finds New Life in Battlefield Data

Summary

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WSJ Tech News Briefing

Episode: Old-School Tech Finds New Life in Battlefield Data

Date: September 16, 2025
Host: Bell Lin

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Episode Overview

This episode of the Tech News Briefing explores two seemingly disparate but interconnected topics:

1. The quirky, local obsession at AI startup Anthropic with San Francisco's iconic albino alligator, Claude — revealing how tech culture crosses over with local lore.
2. The return of legacy tech giants (like Nokia, Dell, and Oracle) as vital players in the rapidly-evolving world of battlefield technology, where data and AI are now the new front-line weapons.

Featuring reporting by Isabel Bousquet and Dan Michaels, the episode dives into both the humor and the high stakes of technology’s latest frontiers.

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1. Anthropic’s “Clawed” Culture: AI and an Albino Alligator

Segment: 00:19 – 04:50

Key Points & Insights

• Unique Office Obsession:
  Employees at Anthropic have embraced a playful obsession with Claude, the albino alligator from the California Academy of Sciences, whose name coincidentally matches their top chatbot, “Claude.”

• Origin Story:

  • Isabel Bousquet recounts her introduction to Anthropic’s quirky mascot culture:

    “When I first stepped in, my contact said, ‘Welcome in. Oh, by the way, do you know about Clawd?’... There was a stuffed alligator on the reception desk.”
    — Isabel Bousquet [01:50]

  • The chatbot is actually named after Claude Shannon, not the alligator, but the rare name and local popularity of the animal led to a unique corporate sponsorship.

• Initiatives & Symbols:

  • Anthropic now sponsors Claude’s enclosure and created the “Claude Cam” (a 24/7 alligator livestream).
  • Internally, there's a custom Claude alligator emoji on Slack, which frequently (and sometimes accidentally) pops up in team chats.

    “It’s one of the most popular emojis…because the combination of keys…is similar to when you’re talking about Claude the chatbot.”
    — Isabel Bousquet [03:21]

• Events & Cross-Promotion:

  • Anthropic paid for Claude’s 30th birthday party, marking a significant milestone for one of the world's oldest albino alligators.
  • Discussions about integrating the chatbot into the Claude exhibit are ongoing but have paused over concerns about confusing visitors (especially children).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Internal Culture:

  “Employees at Anthropic…just started pushing for this connection. It ended up with Anthropic actually sponsoring Claude the Alligator.”
  — Isabel Bousquet [01:50]

• Potential for Future Synergy:

  “There were conversations around, how can we use Claude the chatbot to maybe deliver information…about Claude the alligator? ...Maybe this could get a little confusing, especially for kids.”
  — Isabel Bousquet [04:01]

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2. Battlefields Reimagined: Old-School Tech Brands on the Frontlines

Segment: 05:56 – 11:27

Key Points & Insights

• Explosion of Data in Warfare:
  Modern conflicts increasingly depend on enormous volumes of digital data from drones, body cams, and sensors. This drives the need for secure, robust data infrastructure — a core competency of legacy tech.

• Why Legacy Tech Brands Now Matter:

  “Traditional defense companies…have been moving data around, but not in the volumes that’s needed now.”
  — Dan Michaels [06:27]

  • Nokia has evolved from a handset manufacturer to a critical provider of secure, high-speed, and reliable networks (including for the military).
  • Oracle is deeply involved in AI and defense data storage/processing, collaborating with digital defense companies like Palantir.
  • Dell adapts its hardware for military needs — ruggedized tablets and laptops that withstand battlefield conditions and stripped-down versions for maximum security.

• Examples of Adaptation:

  “Dell and others are making tablets and laptops that are, as they say, ruggedized, meaning you can drop them, they can withstand incredible heat, cold, dust, sand… Also… computers without cameras, without microphones, and without wifi, so that they can’t be used to track or spy on whoever’s using them.”
  — Dan Michaels [08:18]

• Military Market Expansion & Investment:

  • NATO members are doubling defense spending (up to 5% of GDP), signaling a flood of new money into tech-driven military solutions.
  • The scale is “something like a trillion dollars.” [09:20]

• Potential Employee Backlash?

  • Referencing Google’s Project Maven controversy, Dan notes there hasn't yet been significant protest among current legacy tech employees.

    “The world was a little different then … More people understand that there are reasons to be looking in these areas… If we don’t do this, we will have lost even before a conflict starts.”
    — Dan Michaels [10:29]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Transformation:

  “Odd as it may sound, the battlefield is becoming in some ways like an office, in that just about everybody has a screen of some kind.”
  — Dan Michaels [08:18]

• On Geopolitical Stakes and Employee Attitudes:

  “With adversaries like Russia and… China… there’s a feeling that if we don’t do this, we will have lost even before a conflict starts.”
  — Dan Michaels [11:17]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:19] – AI meets San Francisco’s favorite alligator: The Anthropic-Claud story
• [01:50] – The office culture and Claude-themed office decor
• [04:01] – Partnership potential and event collaborations between Anthropic and the Academy
• [05:56] – Why traditional tech companies are moving onto the battlefield
• [06:27] – Dan Michaels explains the data explosion in warfare
• [08:18] – Dell’s adaptation: “ruggedized” tech for the frontlines
• [09:20] – The business case: Massive increases in military tech spending
• [10:29] – Discussion of potential backlash, referencing Google’s Project Maven

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Episode Takeaways

• The lines between local culture and corporate identity can blur in surprising ways, as seen with Anthropic and San Francisco’s beloved Claude.
• Legacy tech giants, once focused on civilian markets, now find new relevance as data-centric warfare makes their expertise essential for the modern military.
• Geopolitical pressures are shifting both the pace of technological adoption and changing attitudes about tech’s role in defense.
• The “future weapon of the frontline” isn’t just hardware or firepower, but data: accessing, moving, and securing it in real time.

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For listeners interested in the intersection of tech innovation, corporate culture, and international security, this episode offers an engaging and timely perspective.

Transcript

[Joanne Wright]

IBM is on a mission to become the most productive company in the world. Join SVP of Transformation and Operations Joanne Wright at the break to learn how its mission can benefit your enterprise and why AI is the catalyst for success.

[Bell Lin]

Welcome to Tech News briefing. It's Tuesday, September 16th. I'm Bell Lin for the Wall Street Journal. The AI startup anthropics popular chatbot is named Claud. So is a beloved albino alligator that lives at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences. What happened next between the AI startup and the albino alligator is the stuff of legend. WSJ reporter Isabel Bousquet tells us how the love story blossomed. Then battlefields from Ukraine to Gaza are transforming into sci fi realms of AI guided military robots and relentless surveillance. Legacy tech companies including Nokia, Dell and Oracle are jockeying to apply their decades of civilian experience in tech to the increasingly data centric frontline. But first, employees at the $183 billion AI startup Anthropic have developed a bizarre fascination with the alligator Claude, who lives in a patch of swampland at the California Academy of Sciences. It also happens that Anthropic's pop chatbot is also named Claude. How did this uniquely San Francisco love story unfold? WSJ reporter Isabel Bousquet takes us into the heart of the AI boom on the West Coast. Isabel, what's going on behind the scenes at Anthropic?

[Isabel Bousquet]

It's really funny. I went to the Anthropic office about six weeks ago and when I first stepped in, my contact said, welcome in. Oh, by the way, do you know about Clawd? And I was confused because I obviously knew what Claude the Chatbot was and he was like, no, do you know about Claude the alligator? And I was like, no. And there was a stuffed alligator on the reception desk. And he explained to me that there's been this special connection that formed between this famous albino alligator that lives in the California Academy of Sciences, which is in San Francisco, and Anthropic because their product Claude, shares a name with the alligator Alligator. So I obviously had to ask if Claude the chatbot was named after Claude the Alligator, and he is not. Claude the chat bot is named after Claude Shannon, the AI researcher. It's a rare enough name, Claude, that I guess they had to make the connection. Claude the alligator is really beloved in San Francisco. And so employees at Anthropic, a lot of whom are like San Francisco natives and locals, just started pushing for this connection. It ended up with Anthropic actually sponsoring Claude the Alligator. They now pay for his enclosure. And as part of that sponsorship, they were able to create something called the Claude cam, which is a 24. 7 live stream of this albino alligator.

[Bell Lin]

So besides the Claude Cam, are there any other sort of obvious signs that there's this obsession with Clawd in the office?

[Isabel Bousquet]

Anthropic also created a bespoke claw, the alligator emoji, in its slack channel. That is one of the most popular emojis that get sent in their slack channels, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident, because the combination of things you have to hit on your keyboard to send the Claude emoji is similar to when you're talking about Claude the chatbot, which you can imagine happens a lot at Anthropic.

[Bell Lin]

So Anthropic has clearly fully embraced its clawedness. Besides the Claude cam and sponsoring the enclosure, are there now any other direct links between the albino alligator and the San Francisco tech company?

[Isabel Bousquet]

There are definitely ongoing conversations about how to further the sponsorship. Anthropic did pay for Clawd's birthday party this week. Claude turned 30, which is a really big deal. He's one of the oldest albino alligators in existence. The academy and Anthropic had this idea that Claude the chatbot is really about educating people. It's about sharing information. So I know there were conversations around, how can we use Claude the chatbot to maybe deliver information or share information about Claude the alligator? Is there some kind of installation we can do there where people ask Clawd about Clawd? But then they were like, okay, maybe this could get a little confusing, especially for kids. They're like talking to one Clawd about a different claw. They think they're talking to the alligator. So that hasn't happened yet. But again, there's definitely desire on both sides to further the partnership.

[Bell Lin]

That was WSJ reporter Isabel Busquet. Coming up, the future weapon of the front line is data. And old school tech companies like Nokia, Dell and Oracle are really good at accessing it, moving it, and managing it. That's led to a boon for those legacy tech brands. And it's changing the future of battle as we know it. We'll dig into it after the break.

[Joanne Wright]

In 2023, IBM set a goal to become the most productive company in the world. It started by asking questions, lots of questions, says Joanne Wright, SVP of transformation and operations at IBM.

How can we radically simplify end to end workflow and processes? What can we eliminate? How do we automate everything that we can? And then how do we embed AI into everything we do? So far over a two year period, we've delivered over $3.5 billion of productivity savings for the company.

[Bell Lin]

Established defense contractors have for decades streamed data to and from ships, aircraft and weapons systems, though not in the Vaul volumes now required by video and AI. WSJ Brussels bureau chief Dan Michaels joins us now to explain why the players best positioned to tackle the battlefield's new challenges are those from a previous tech era. Dan, tell us why these legacy tech brands are getting involved in the business of warfare.

[Dan Michaels]

Warfare. The modern battlefield, as anybody who's been following the news will know, now involves a lot of digital data. There are drones, soldiers have body cams just the way police do. Now, all kinds of sensors. All over the battlefield in Ukraine, there are audio sensors. And all of this creates vast amounts of data. Now, traditional defense companies like Lockheed or Raytheon have been moving data around, but not in the volumes that's needed now.

[Bell Lin]

And is data and the importance of data nowadays what makes these tech brands so well suited to helping in modern warfare?

[Dan Michaels]

Precisely. These are the companies that for decades now have been learning the science and the craft of moving vast amounts of data across networks and crunching through it. So one of the companies that I looked at in my article is Nokia, which most people probably will remember from the handsets that just about everybody had in the 90s and early 2000s. Nokia no longer makes those. They still exist. They're now produced by another company, which licensed the brand, but Nokia now does networks, like new 5G networks, but they're really good at moving data of all kinds, in all directions, doing it securely, doing it fast and without glitches. Another company is Oracle, which has been around since the 70s, now very much a player in AI, but also deep into military data storage and processing, working with companies like Palantir, which is a digital defense company.

[Bell Lin]

And what about Dell, the old school PC maker? How is it adapting its tech for the military?

[Dan Michaels]

Yeah, Dell and a few other old school PC makers are producing equipment, PCs, tablets, other things rugged enough to be used on a battlefield. Because the battlefield, odd as it may sound, is becoming in some ways like an office, in that just about everybody has a screen of some kind. And Dell and others are making tablets and laptops that are, as they say, ruggedized, meaning you can drop them, they can withstand incredible heat, cold, dust, sand. Also for security tablets, computers without cameras, without microphones, and without wi fi, so that they can't be used to track or spy on whoever's using them.

[Bell Lin]

Wow, those are some pretty advanced upgrades for the Modern office warfare environment. So are there any signs that selling their technology to military outfits has been good for business for these brands?

[Dan Michaels]

It's early days to some degree. I mean, some of these companies have long had divisions that dealt in some of this. But we're seeing now increases in military spending, security spending around the world. The members of NATO, the military alliance over the summer agreed to more than double the amount that they're spending on defense. So across Europe and Canada, countries have agreed that instead of spending 2% of a country's economic output, the GDP, they're going to spend 5%. So that's something like a trillion dollars. So there's just a vast amount of new money that is and will be sloshing around the market.

[Bell Lin]

You bring up in your story Project Maven, which Google rather infamously faced employee protest as a result of getting involved in, and that was the DOD project to use these mountains of data and have AI comb through them. Do you expect that some of these old school tech brands like Oracle, Nokia and Dell might expect similar backlash from their employees?

[Dan Michaels]

So far we're not seeing backlash on a big scale. That situation with Project Maven in its early days was 2017. The world was a little different then. It was pre Covid. Pre Covid, Russia's large scale invasion of Ukraine. More people understand that there are reasons to be looking in these areas of development, of using digital processing, artificial intelligence to assist with security and defense. Clearly there are reasons for concern. There are a lot of people concerned even in the military with where AI will take the defense and security world. But with adversaries like Russia and also especially like China, which is not just a military rival, but a technological and economic rival to the United States and to the West. There's a feeling that if we don't do this, we will have lost even before a conflict starts.

[Bell Lin]

That was WSJ Brussels bureau chief Dan Michaels. And that's it for Tech News Briefing. Today's show was produced by Julie Chang with supervising producer Melanie Roy logging off. I'm Bel for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back later this morning with TNB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.

[Joanne Wright]

It's not just IBM that benefits from its mission to be the most productive company in the world. So do its clients. Joanne Wright, SVP of Transformation and Operations at IBM, explains.

We've created a playbook that's client zero for how to do really fast, effective AI. The key has been to drive for progress over perfection. We built a solid foundation with data and taken the opportunity to really learn from the people who have a role to play in running IBM each and every day. Our own experience has taken us from far beyond just doing pilots and theory to real ROI and real productivity. A lot of our clients are very hungry to know what they can learn from us as Client zero and then obviously, how can they avoid perhaps some of the mistakes we've made or some of the failures we've had? The fact that we've been able to derive and deliver our own use cases across everything that we do really transcends our clients experience.

Visit IBM.com to learn how AI can drive enterprise wide productivity.

[Isabel Bousquet]

Custom content from WSJ is a unit.

[Joanne Wright]

Of the Wall Street Journal Advertising Department.

[Isabel Bousquet]

The Wall Street Journal News Organization was not involved in the creation of this content.