An announcement from the administration’s Science and Technology Director, Michael Kratsios, regarding the establishment of the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power sent reactor development companies higher over the following trading days. 

The time has come for America to get underway on nuclear power in space🇺🇸 https://t.co/fLrM4MtNbM

— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) April 14, 2026

Oklo and NuScale have been soaring…  

Investors are betting on reactor development companies being involved in multiple different nuclear-related applications in space missions to include propulsion, shuttle electrical power, and power for bases on the moon and Mars. The question stands, though, as to which developer actually has a chance of being involved in any of these programs?

For those not tracking, outer space has some slightly different environmental factors to consider compared to the surface of the Earth. Multiple physics headaches including low or zero gravity create headaches that prevent certain reactor designs from ever having a hope of operating in extraterrestrial settings. 

Additional problems, like not having a readily available heat sink like a large body of water nearby, creates compound difficulties for some of the more traditional reactor designs. 

Earlier this year, the administration began talking about putting reactors on the moon by 2030. We provided some details to our readers about what nuclear companies they should expect to be involved in the process. 

Nuclear Reactors On The Moon By 2030 https://t.co/RCmZe8rrvt

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 14, 2026

Relying on the opinion of Mr. Market is likely not the best idea in a technical scenario. Instead it’s best to just look at the last attempt that was made at operating reactors on the moon and derive assumptions from those that were previously involved in the program. 

NASA originally made attempts to develop lunar power by working with companies like Lockheed Martin, BWXT, Westinghouse, X-energy, and Boeing. Through their coordinated efforts, the leading designs for the project pointed to high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) utilizing tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel. Given the physics of the universe haven’t changed much over the past few years, it’s safe to assume the reactor of choice for the latest space initiatives will likely also be a HTGR. 

So who is making HTGRs today? Currently, in the publicly traded space, there is Nano Nuclear and Terra Innovatum. X-energy is another likely candidate for the program, and they recently submitted their S-1 to begin the process to execute an IPO later this year. 

X-energy has announced the launch of the roadshow for its IPO! https://t.co/tqwbs0s9cC pic.twitter.com/pXnFw95vBK

— X-energy (@xenergynuclear) April 15, 2026

Terra Innovatum has yet to make any announcement regarding the extraterrestrial application of their SOLO reactor design, but Nano Nuclear’s Loki reactor is specifically marketed for environments like outer space. 

$NNE “NANO Nuclear Energy Issues Request for Information Soliciting Potential Commercial Partner Input in Support of U.S. Department of Energy and NASA Lunar Surface Reactor Program” NANO Nuclear’s space-relevant reactor design, the LOKI MMR™ 🌕🛰️⚛️🇺🇸https://t.co/BL6BDOkX3C

— NANO Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE) (@nano_nuclear) January 15, 2026

BWXT is also likely to be involved to some extent due to their extensive experience working with NASA in the areas of nuclear propulsion. Additionally, BWXT is one of only two manufacturers that is able to produce TRISO fuel in the US. 

If anything, the pump across the board for nuclear names should be less attributed to their potential for involvement in NASA’s missions and more attributed to the wider adoption and acceptance of nuclear energy across multiple applications besides just powering the grid. 

It is a very straightforward conclusion that only certain reactor designs can operate in space. Companies like NuScale and Terrestrial Energy will almost certainly be excluded due to the physics of operating off of Earth. 
 

An announcement from the administration’s Science and Technology Director, Michael Kratsios, regarding the establishment of the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power sent reactor development companies higher over the following trading days. 

The time has come for America to get underway on nuclear power in space🇺🇸 https://t.co/fLrM4MtNbM

— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) April 14, 2026

Oklo and NuScale have been soaring…  

Investors are betting on reactor development companies being involved in multiple different nuclear-related applications in space missions to include propulsion, shuttle electrical power, and power for bases on the moon and Mars. The question stands, though, as to which developer actually has a chance of being involved in any of these programs?

For those not tracking, outer space has some slightly different environmental factors to consider compared to the surface of the Earth. Multiple physics headaches including low or zero gravity create headaches that prevent certain reactor designs from ever having a hope of operating in extraterrestrial settings. 

Additional problems, like not having a readily available heat sink like a large body of water nearby, creates compound difficulties for some of the more traditional reactor designs. 

Earlier this year, the administration began talking about putting reactors on the moon by 2030. We provided some details to our readers about what nuclear companies they should expect to be involved in the process. 

Nuclear Reactors On The Moon By 2030 https://t.co/RCmZe8rrvt

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 14, 2026

Relying on the opinion of Mr. Market is likely not the best idea in a technical scenario. Instead it’s best to just look at the last attempt that was made at operating reactors on the moon and derive assumptions from those that were previously involved in the program. 

NASA originally made attempts to develop lunar power by working with companies like Lockheed Martin, BWXT, Westinghouse, X-energy, and Boeing. Through their coordinated efforts, the leading designs for the project pointed to high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) utilizing tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel. Given the physics of the universe haven’t changed much over the past few years, it’s safe to assume the reactor of choice for the latest space initiatives will likely also be a HTGR. 

So who is making HTGRs today? Currently, in the publicly traded space, there is Nano Nuclear and Terra Innovatum. X-energy is another likely candidate for the program, and they recently submitted their S-1 to begin the process to execute an IPO later this year. 

X-energy has announced the launch of the roadshow for its IPO! https://t.co/tqwbs0s9cC pic.twitter.com/pXnFw95vBK

— X-energy (@xenergynuclear) April 15, 2026

Terra Innovatum has yet to make any announcement regarding the extraterrestrial application of their SOLO reactor design, but Nano Nuclear’s Loki reactor is specifically marketed for environments like outer space. 

$NNE “NANO Nuclear Energy Issues Request for Information Soliciting Potential Commercial Partner Input in Support of U.S. Department of Energy and NASA Lunar Surface Reactor Program” NANO Nuclear’s space-relevant reactor design, the LOKI MMR™ 🌕🛰️⚛️🇺🇸https://t.co/BL6BDOkX3C

— NANO Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE) (@nano_nuclear) January 15, 2026

BWXT is also likely to be involved to some extent due to their extensive experience working with NASA in the areas of nuclear propulsion. Additionally, BWXT is one of only two manufacturers that is able to produce TRISO fuel in the US. 

If anything, the pump across the board for nuclear names should be less attributed to their potential for involvement in NASA’s missions and more attributed to the wider adoption and acceptance of nuclear energy across multiple applications besides just powering the grid. 

It is a very straightforward conclusion that only certain reactor designs can operate in space. Companies like NuScale and Terrestrial Energy will almost certainly be excluded due to the physics of operating off of Earth. 
 

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

The California government may struggle to provide basic housing for the homeless, but it appears willing to fund gender-transition procedures with taxpayer dollars, including illegal aliens, according to a new report.

A Wednesday report from City Journal found that San Francisco homeless shelters, with the assistance of state and local governments, are facilitating transgender surgeries for males who identify as female.

One such shelter, St. Vincent de Paul’s MSC-South, entered into a $66 million contract with the city to house homeless individuals, including illegal aliens.

A pair of Honduran nationals living at the shelter, Lyca and Alondra, reportedly identify as transgender, and both said they receive Medi-Cal, California’s taxpayer-funded Medicaid program.

According to City Journal, the taxpayer-funded program covers transgender procedures, or “gender-affirming care,” and provides “full-scope” coverage to illegal aliens.

Lyca, who reportedly showed signs of a sex change, said he is receiving cross-sex hormone therapy.

Meanwhile, Alondra, who appeared more masculine in physique, said he entered the U.S. illegally after claiming asylum. A translator told City Journal that Alondra declined a housing offer due to affordability concerns, though the government offered to pay one month’s rent.

Another shelter, the Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center, reportedly houses a transgender-identifying individual named Jacqueline.

Originally from Mexico, Jacqueline told City Journal that illegal aliens reside at the shelter and said he received breast implants through Medi-Cal.

Jacqueline claimed to be a permanent resident but acknowledged that the program also covers procedures for illegal aliens.

“Even though you’re undocumented, you can get them,” he stated, as quoted by City Journal. “You have to have a process, the hormones … go through therapy.”

Asked whether he had received so-called “bottom surgery,” Jacqueline replied, “I’m waiting for that one.”

Headline USA reached out to MSC-South for clarification, including whether such procedures are facilitated by the shelter, but a front-desk receptionist said no one was available to comment.

When pressed further, he added, “We’re busy right now, boss man.”

Attempts to contact the Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center were unsuccessful, as its main line appeared disconnected. Five Keys Housing, the shelter’s parent company, was closed when Headline USA called.

A Newsom spokesperson stood by the state’s taxpayer-funded program, saying, “Undocumented Californians don’t get special treatment. Everyone on Medi-Cal gets the same access to care. If you want to call California woke for not letting politicians interfere with doctors – or not wanting people to die in the streets – then go ahead.”

BREAKING: Gavin Newsom’s office has confirmed that California is giving free sex-change surgeries to homeless illegal aliens.

They’re doubling down—and, inexplicably, suggesting that without state-funded breast implants and artificial vaginas, migrants will “die in the streets.” pic.twitter.com/1bMt2rbSKE

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) April 16, 2026

The City Journal report comes as California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration faces mounting scrutiny over potential exploitation of taxpayer-funded programs, from hospice fraud to the expansion of taxpayer-funded gender procedures for illegal aliens.

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

The California government may struggle to provide basic housing for the homeless, but it appears willing to fund gender-transition procedures with taxpayer dollars, including illegal aliens, according to a new report.

A Wednesday report from City Journal found that San Francisco homeless shelters, with the assistance of state and local governments, are facilitating transgender surgeries for males who identify as female.

One such shelter, St. Vincent de Paul’s MSC-South, entered into a $66 million contract with the city to house homeless individuals, including illegal aliens.

A pair of Honduran nationals living at the shelter, Lyca and Alondra, reportedly identify as transgender, and both said they receive Medi-Cal, California’s taxpayer-funded Medicaid program.

According to City Journal, the taxpayer-funded program covers transgender procedures, or “gender-affirming care,” and provides “full-scope” coverage to illegal aliens.

Lyca, who reportedly showed signs of a sex change, said he is receiving cross-sex hormone therapy.

Meanwhile, Alondra, who appeared more masculine in physique, said he entered the U.S. illegally after claiming asylum. A translator told City Journal that Alondra declined a housing offer due to affordability concerns, though the government offered to pay one month’s rent.

Another shelter, the Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center, reportedly houses a transgender-identifying individual named Jacqueline.

Originally from Mexico, Jacqueline told City Journal that illegal aliens reside at the shelter and said he received breast implants through Medi-Cal.

Jacqueline claimed to be a permanent resident but acknowledged that the program also covers procedures for illegal aliens.

“Even though you’re undocumented, you can get them,” he stated, as quoted by City Journal. “You have to have a process, the hormones … go through therapy.”

Asked whether he had received so-called “bottom surgery,” Jacqueline replied, “I’m waiting for that one.”

Headline USA reached out to MSC-South for clarification, including whether such procedures are facilitated by the shelter, but a front-desk receptionist said no one was available to comment.

When pressed further, he added, “We’re busy right now, boss man.”

Attempts to contact the Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center were unsuccessful, as its main line appeared disconnected. Five Keys Housing, the shelter’s parent company, was closed when Headline USA called.

A Newsom spokesperson stood by the state’s taxpayer-funded program, saying, “Undocumented Californians don’t get special treatment. Everyone on Medi-Cal gets the same access to care. If you want to call California woke for not letting politicians interfere with doctors – or not wanting people to die in the streets – then go ahead.”

BREAKING: Gavin Newsom’s office has confirmed that California is giving free sex-change surgeries to homeless illegal aliens.

They’re doubling down—and, inexplicably, suggesting that without state-funded breast implants and artificial vaginas, migrants will “die in the streets.” pic.twitter.com/1bMt2rbSKE

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) April 16, 2026

The City Journal report comes as California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration faces mounting scrutiny over potential exploitation of taxpayer-funded programs, from hospice fraud to the expansion of taxpayer-funded gender procedures for illegal aliens.

Goldman analysts Kyle Shaffer and Amanda Ross provided clients with a broad overview of industrials and natural resources amid energy disruptions in the Gulf area. In the note, they stated that the well-known Gulf energy shock is set to disrupt LNG production in Qatar for years to come. However, they also highlighted another emerging supply crunch that has received far less attention: sulfuric acid.

“Some long-lasting consequences have also started to emerge, including a 3-5 years production loss for LNG facility in Qatar, a 6-12 month re-starting time for some aluminum facilities in the Gulf, and shortage of sulfuric acid which can potentially impact future production for copper and lithium” Shaffer and Ross said.

About a third of the world’s sulfur comes from the Gulf region, where it is produced as part of oil and gas refining. Much of the sulfur is exported, primarily to fertilizer and industrial-processing hubs in Asia, North Africa, and, in Qatar’s case, some trading hubs across Asia and Europe.

Goldman analyst James McGeoch noted on Wednesday that Shandong sulfuric acid prices are soaring and that China is “slated to suspend sulfur exports from May (sulfur that is a by-product of processing).” He added that part of the recent push to procure and process concentrate is to produce sulfur for fertilizer.

It is important to note that sulfuric acid is one of the world’s most important industrial chemicals, used in fertilizers (phosphates), oil refining, lead-acid batteries, and chemical manufacturing.

Prices in China have jumped 90% since the start of the US-Iran conflict in late February. Current prices exceed the highs recorded during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

“Already though, prices have risen, and if there’s a shortage of sulfuric acid, that could quite quickly translate into more expensive homes, cars and electrical products,” Bloomberg analyst Sebastian Boyd noted.

In the mining sector, sulfuric acid is critical for the extraction of several key industrial metals, including copper, nickel, uranium, cobalt, and zinc. Sufer is not just for fertilizer to feed the world; the mining sector could also face major impacts if shortages materialize.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

While the scientific establishment has spent decades chasing invisible particles that never quite show up, a leading cosmologist has dropped a theory that turns everything on its head: dark matter isn’t some exotic new particle. It could be ancient black holes that survived from an entirely different universe.

This idea, laid out by Professor Enrique Gaztanaga of the University of Portsmouth, doesn’t just tackle one cosmic puzzle. It offers a clean fix for the Big Bang’s thorniest problems and lines up with fresh observations that have astronomers scrambling.

Gaztanaga argues the elusive substance that makes up roughly 27 per cent of the universe’s mass may actually be “relic” black holes formed in a previous collapsing phase of the cosmos.

What is dark matter? Elusive substance could be made of black holes from a different UNIVERSE, scientist claims https://t.co/GdjXzdJ1Ee

— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) April 15, 2026

“The idea is that dark matter may not be a new particle, but instead a population of black holes formed in a previous collapsing phase and bounce of the Universe,” Professor Gaztanaga says.

He rejects the standard singularity model where everything explodes from an infinitely dense point that breaks physics. Instead, he proposes a “bouncing” universe.

“The Big Bang corresponds to a bounce from a previous collapsing phase, rather than the absolute beginning of everything,” the Professor Gaztanaga further noted, adding “So it is the start of the expansion we observe, but not necessarily the beginning of time itself.”

In this picture, black holes from the collapsing galaxies of that earlier universe survived the bounce and now drift through our cosmos, exerting gravity without emitting light.

We may have been wrong about wormholes.

Recent research challenges the popular notion that wormholes—hypothetical tunnels through spacetime enabling interstellar travel—are directly linked to the original Einstein-Rosen bridge. In 1935, Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen… pic.twitter.com/ipm9RlXl54

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 16, 2026

“These ‘relic’ black holes would survive into the expanding phase we observe today and behave exactly like dark matter: they interact gravitationally, but do not emit light,” he explains.

The theory also neatly accounts for the James Webb Space Telescope’s baffling discovery of bright red dots—rapidly growing black holes—mere hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang. If relic black holes were already present at the start, they would have had a massive head start.

A study of the fascinating galaxy system nicknamed “The Stingray” suggests that mysterious little red dots could be a phase in the evolution of galaxies powered by actively feeding black holes, rather than a distinct class of objects. https://t.co/FfKPDQVxl7

— Live Science (@LiveScience) April 9, 2026

It also sidesteps the need for new particles while explaining how supermassive black holes formed so quickly in the early universe.

This development builds on a wider wave of recent clues pointing to black holes and dense dark objects playing a bigger role than previously thought.

Recently, astronomers highlighted a massive invisible object that tore through the Milky Way’s GD-1 stellar stream, leaving a jagged gap and gravitational disturbances without any light, heat, or radiation. The phenomenon suggests “a ‘Dark’ Entity, likely a dense clump of dark matter or a previously undetected dark subhalo.”

BREAKING?: Astronomers have identified a massive, invisible object that recently tore through the Milky Way’s GD-1 stellar stream, leaving a jagged gap and creating significant gravitational disturbances without emitting light, heat, or radiation.

The Phenomenon suggests a… pic.twitter.com/cp2FQIrhTj

— Night Sky Today (@NightSkyToday) April 8, 2026

This phenomenon has been witnessed before.

Hubble observations of the globular cluster NGC 6397 have also revealed a mysterious swarm of black holes lurking just 7,800 light-years from Earth.

NEWS?: A mysterious swarm of black holes has been found lurking just 7,800 light-years away from Earth. pic.twitter.com/R8rH9m1ouF

— For all Curious (@fascinatingonX) April 10, 2026

For years the default dark matter story has been “trust us, it’s some particle we haven’t found yet.” Billions have been spent on detectors and accelerators hunting WIMPs or axions with zero direct detection to show for it. Gaztanaga’s relic black hole approach uses only known physics—general relativity plus quantum effects—and turns the collapse-bounce into the natural origin story.

Recent stellar stream disruptions like the one in GD-1 and compact object swarms in nearby clusters provide real-world data points that align with a universe seeded by surviving black holes rather than a sea of hypothetical particles.

The European Space Agency’s own description of dark matter captures the frustration: “Shine a torch in a completely dark room, and you will see only what the torch illuminates. That does not mean that the room around you does not exist.”

Gaztanaga’s framework says the “room” has been hiding in plain gravitational sight all along.

Scientists will now scrutinize gravitational wave data and CMB measurements for the predicted relics. If the numbers line up, two of cosmology’s biggest headaches—dark matter and the true origin of the Big Bang—get solved in one elegant stroke.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Bankrupt Spirit Airlines “could liquidate as early as this week,” according to a new CNBC report. The troubled carrier, stuck in years of turbulence, has failed to emerge from its second bankruptcy in less than a year and is now being squeezed by soaring jet fuel costs.

NEW: Spirit Airlines could liquidate and shut down as soon as this week, @lesliejosephs of @CNBC reports, citing “people familiar with the matter.”

Latest round of chatter about a deeply troubled airline … but rising fuel prices could be its death knell.…

— Kyle Potter (@kpottermn) April 16, 2026

When the budget carrier would begin the liquidation process was not immediately clear to CNBC’s sources, but the report comes just after an overnight Bloomberg story warned about the “risk of liquidation” due to the latest surge in jet fuel prices.

The airline had been trying to downsize its jet footprint and focus on popular seasonal routes, while labor unions made concessions to help keep operations afloat. But Spirit’s financial problems have been mounting for a while.

In 2024, JetBlue terminated its $3.8 billion merger deal with the carrier, citing low odds of regulatory approval after a Biden-era federal court blocked the deal over antitrust concerns.

Both CNBC and Bloomberg sources said the liquidation was likely to happen this week; today is Thursday, and the news may break as early as Friday.

The airline, which is still operating as of late Thursday morning, was expected to exit bankruptcy this summer, but that now appears increasingly unlikely. The carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August of last year, the second time in less than a year.

Airlines have increasingly warned of a spike in jet fuel costs and the financial impacts stemming from the Hormuz chokepoint disruption. Multiple carriers, including United Airlines, have warned about hiking baggage fees and ticket prices to offset jet fuel costs.

Meanwhile, UBS analysts are searching for a possible bottom in airline stocks (read the report). 

The best-hedged airline amid the jet fuel turmoil has been Delta Air Lines, the only U.S. carrier to operate a refinery.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that United CEO Scott Kirby pitched a tie-up with American Airlines during a recent conversation with President Trump. The potential merger would create a super airline to strengthen U.S. competitiveness globally.

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Fraudsters used special devices to skim card information from electronic devices used to read food stamp cards in northern and central Texas, the U.S. Secret Service’s Dallas Field Office reported April 15.

A U.S. Secret Service agent, in this file photo. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The Secret Service worked with local law enforcement to prevent an estimated $13.5 million in losses to Dallas-area consumers this week as part of a two-day outreach operation targeting illegal payment card skimming and electronic benefit transfer (EBT) fraud.

“EBT fraud is a serious threat impacting families nationwide,” said Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Office Christina Foley. “Our investigative teams are committed to dismantling these skimmer operations and holding perpetrators accountable.”

Law enforcement personnel visited 462 area businesses in Tarrant County during the operation between April 13 and April 14.

Nearly 3,000 point-of-sale terminals, gas pumps, and ATMs were inspected during the visits, the Secret Service reported.

Teams also provided educational materials about credit card skimming to help businesses identify illegal devices that can be installed on their terminals, gas pumps, and ATMs.

The FBI estimates skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year. Criminals use the data they get from installing devices on or inside ATMs or point-of-sale terminals to capture card data and record PIN entries.

Once they have the information, they use it to make purchases or steal from victims’ accounts, according to the FBI.

SNAP benefits can also be skimmed, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency suggests people avoid using simple PINs and keeping the information private by not sharing it and changing the PIN often. They also suggested checking SNAP accounts often to detect unauthorized charges.

“The individuals behind these schemes are relentless, but so are we,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Peck of the Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division. “Through coordinated efforts and innovative investigative methods, we are disrupting their operations and ensuring that those who exploit vulnerable families are brought to justice.”

SNAP is the largest federally funded nutrition assistance program in the United States. The low-income program provided about $96 billion in assistance to about 43 million people in 2025, according to a report by the General Accountability Office last year.

The report found SNAP benefits have been stolen through a few different methods, including card skimming, card cloning, phishing activities, algorithmic attacks, and stolen account numbers.

A sign alerting customers about SNAP benefits is displayed at a grocery store in New York City on Dec. 5, 2019. Scott Heins/Getty Images

The EBT cards are a target for theft because most cards do not have theft-prevention features, such as embedded microchips that are standard in commercial debit and credit cards to prevent card skimming, according to the GAO report.

“Perpetrators of SNAP benefit theft can range from individuals acting independently to organized crime groups, who steal benefits to help fund illicit activities,” the GAO report stated. “Such groups can operate across geographic and legal jurisdictions, which allows access to more program benefits, in more locations, at the same time.”

State SNAP agencies replaced more than $320 million in stolen benefits with federal funds for nearly 679,000 households in 52 states from Oct. 1, 2022, through Dec. 20, 2024, according to the report.

In a striking reversal that underscores the breakneck pace of the AI arms race, the White House has directed federal agencies to begin using Anthropic’s most dangerous new model – Claude Mythos – despite months of public friction between the Trump administration and the San Francisco-based AI company (read on to see how we reconcile this with the Pentagon’s “supply-chain risk” designation). 

The move, detailed in an internal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo circulated this week, marks the first formal green light for Cabinet-level departments to tap Mythos’s unprecedented cybersecurity capabilities. The goal: to hunt down vulnerabilities in government networks before adversaries can exploit them, Bloomberg reports.

Too Powerful to Release, Too Valuable to Ignore

Anthropic unveiled Mythos (sometimes referred to internally as “Mythos Preview”) just weeks ago, and it immediately sent shockwaves through the tech and national-security communities.

In controlled testing, the model autonomously discovered and weaponized thousands of previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities across every major operating system, web browser, legacy enterprise software, and even decades-old codebases. Its speed and creativity reportedly surpassed top human red-team hackers. As we noted earlier this month, the model “went rogue” during testing – prompting Anthropic to withhold a broad release entirely. Full technical details are available in Anthropic’s official Mythos Preview System Card.

Rather than ship it publicly, Anthropic launched Project Glasswing – a tightly controlled defensive program that grants limited access only to a vetted circle of partners: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, major banks (including JPMorgan Chase), cybersecurity firms, and the Linux Foundation. The explicit mission is defense only –  scan your own systems, find the bugs, patch them fast, and keep the bad guys out. The official program page is here.

From “Supply-Chain Risk” to Strategic Asset

The government’s relationship with Anthropic had been icy for months. As we noted in February, the Pentagon threatened to blacklist the company as a “supply-chain risk” after Anthropic refused to strip certain ethical guardrails from its models for military use. That standoff escalated in March when Anthropic sued the Pentagon over the designation, as detailed in ZeroHedge’s coverage of the lawsuit.

That said, the Pentagon’s “supply-chain risk” label was always narrow in scope: it was a DoD-specific action triggered by the company’s refusal to remove certain ethical guardrails from its models for unrestricted military and offensive-use applications. That designation threatened to block Anthropic technology from defense contracts and classified work, and it led directly to Anthropic’s lawsuit against the Pentagon.

Today’s OMB memo changes almost nothing on paper for that designation. The Pentagon has not withdrawn it, the lawsuit is still active, and DoD contractors remain restricted from using Claude models (including Mythos) in offensive or surveillance contexts.

Just days ago, the U.S. Treasury was rushing to gain access to Mythos after internal warnings that the model could “hack every major system.” Senior Treasury and Federal Reserve officials had summoned CEOs of the nation’s largest banks to Washington, warning them that the financial system’s exposure to AI-powered attacks had become existential. Behind closed doors, federal agencies – including the Commerce Department’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation – had already begun quiet red-teaming of Mythos. Anthropic co-founder and president Daniela Amodei confirmed the company had briefed the administration early, telling reporters simply: “The government has to know about this stuff.”

Now the OMB memo formalizes that reality. It lays out strict protocols for safe access, data handling, and usage limits so that major departments can deploy Mythos against their own sprawling digital estates. The focus remains narrow: vulnerability discovery, network hardening, and defensive preparedness.

What This Means for the AI Arms Race

This is not the first time Washington has had to swallow its pride to stay competitive. But the Mythos episode – from the earliest Pentagon threats through the April 8 Glasswing announcement and this week’s Treasury scramble – feels different. It is a microcosm of the larger tension defining 2026: frontier AI models are now so capable that even their creators are scared of them, yet ignoring them would be national-security malpractice.

Critics inside the defense community argue the government waited too long. Supporters of Anthropic’s cautious approach counter that the company’s restraint (and its Glasswing coalition) may have prevented an even worse outcome: a fully open-sourced Mythos circulating on the dark web.

For Anthropic, the development is a quiet vindication. By keeping Mythos under lock and key and building Glasswing as a defensive shield, the company has positioned itself as a responsible steward of dangerous technology – while still earning a seat at the table with the most powerful customer on Earth.

After staging a powerful rebound in the past two months, when first weak Q4 earnings sent the stock plunging to multi-year lows, which however was offset by the end of the company’s expensive pursuit of HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery , and which sent the stock almost 50% higher from $75 to $108,moments ago Netflix reported Q1 earnings which were mixed but guidance was especially poor and rekindled the same fears as those unveiled three months ago, and coupled with the news that Reed Hasting was stepping down from the board after 29 years to pursue “philanthropy and personal interested”, NFLX stock tumbled as much as 10% after hours. 

Here is a snapshot of what NFLC reported for the first three months of the year: most notable here is another miss in the US which should have been a much more solid number considering the latest of many prices increases for NFLX subs in the US:

EPS $1.23 vs. 66c y/y, beating estimates of $0.76
Revenue $12.25 billion, +16% y/y, beating estimates of $12.17 billion; the miss comes after Netflix raised its US subscription prices in March, boosting its standard plan without ads by $2 to $20 a month.
US & Canada revenue $5.25 billion, +14% y/y, missing estimates of $5.28 billion
EMEA revenue $4.00 billion, +17% y/y, beating estimates of $3.95 billion
Latin America revenue $1.50 billion, +19% y/y, beating estimates of $1.45 billion
APAC revenue $1.51 billion, +20% y/y, beating estimates of $1.48 billion
 

Operating income $3.96 billion, +18% y/y, beating estimate $3.94 billion
Operating margin 32.3% vs. 31.7% y/y, missing estimate 32.4%
Cash flow from operations $5.29 billion, +90% y/y, beating estimate $3.29 billion
Free cash flow $5.09 billion, +91% y/y, beating estimate $2.67 billion

The biggest event in Q1 was Netflix’ decision to walk away from a contentious battle for control of Warner Bros. Discovery in February, netting a nice $2.8 billion termination fee. The company’s shares had suffered during the months long tussle with Paramount Skydance as investors were concerned about the amount of debt it would shoulder under a potential deal. Now Wall Street is looking for signs Netflix can keep subscribers engaged and judging by the stock price it is not seeing them.  

While Q1 results were mixed, with unexpected weakness in the US offset by strength elsewhere, it was the company’s guidance that was especially weak, with Q2 estimates coming well below consensus across the board:

Q2 Forecast

Sees EPS 78c, missing estimate 84c 
Sees revenue $12.57 billion, missing estimate $12.64 billion
Sees operating income $4.11 billion, missing estimate $4.34 billion
Sees operating margin 32.6%, missing estimate 34.4%

And here is the full year guidance: 

Sees revenue +12% to +14%
Sees free cash flow about $12.5 billion, saw about $11 billion, higher than the estimate $12.05 billion
Still sees revenue $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion, in line with estimate $51.37 billion
Still sees operating margin 31.5%, missing estimate 32%

Some of the commentary and highlights from the investor letter: 

Boosted FY FCF outlook due to after-tax impact of Warner Bros. related termination fee
Still sees annual cash content spend to amortization ratio of about 1.1x
Still sees 2026 advertising revenue on track to reach $3 billion
Sees 2Q highest y/y content amortization growth rate in 2026
Sees content amortization growth rate decelerating to mid-to-high single digit growth in 2H

The company reported that cash generated from operating activities nearly doubled in Q1’26, vs. Q1’25, totaling $5.3BN compared to $2.8B in the prior year. However, much of this increase was thanks to a $2.8B cash receipt from the Warner Bros.-related termination fee. As a result, free cash flow (FCF) rose to $5.1B in Q1’26, up from $2.7B in Q1’25. NFLX now expects 2026 FCF of approximately $12.5B, an increase from its previous projection of $11B due primarily to the after-tax impact of the Warner Bros.-related termination fee.

NFLX ended the quarter with gross debt of $14.4B and cash and cash equivalents of $12.3B. The cash position is more elevated than normal due to the pause in our share repurchase program during the Warner Bros. transaction and the subsequent receipt of the deal. In other words, expect a burst of stock buybacks to lift the stock in coming weeks. 

And while markets may gloss over all of the above, what it will focus on is that the co-founder Reed Hastings is stepping down as board Chairman after 29 years to pursue philanthropy and personal interests.

Hastings’ departure may worry investors given his status as one of the great entrepreneurs of the 21st century. Hastings provided the initial capital to start Netflix as a DVD-by-mail service and replaced co-founder Marc Randolph as chief executive officer in 1999. He guided the company through its battle with Blockbuster and was the driving force behind its move into video streaming. 

Under Hastings’ leadership, Netflix introduced the streaming service to more than 190 territories all over the world, outmaneuvering Hollywood studios to build the most valuable entertainment company in the world. He stepped down as CEO in January 2023, ceding the job to co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. 

“Netflix changed my life in so many ways, Hastings said in a statement. “A special thanks to Greg and Ted, whose commitment to Netflix’s greatness is so strong that I can now focus on new things.”

And whether it was Hastings’ departure, the miss on US revenues, or the dismal Q2 guidance, the stock was pounded after hours, and tumbled as much as 10% from $107 to $97 before recovering some of the losses.

At just under $100, NFLX stock is unchanged over the past year.