Innovation Profs - 2/17/2026

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Latest Gen AI News

Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute: Report

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of models, has a partnership with the Pentagon for the U.S. military to use the tools for “all lawful purposes,” which, according to the Pentagon, includes the use of the tools with fully autonomous weapons and for the purpose of mass domestic surveillance. However, Anthropic refuses to lift safeguards from their models to enable these uses (unlike OpenAI, Google, and xAI, three other companies that have a partnership with the Pentagon for the use of their AI platforms). As a result, the Pentagon is weighing the possibility of ending the partnership.

Anthropic to donate $20m to US political group backing AI regulation

On Thursday, Anthropic released a statement that they would donate $20 million to Public First Action, a political support US political candidates who support placing regulations on the AI industry. According to Anthropic, “The companies building AI have a responsibility to help ensure the technology serves the public good, not just their own interests.” This move further positions Anthropic in contrast to OpenAI, which advocates for fewer regulations on AI.

Anthropic got an 11% user boost from its OpenAI-bashing Super Bowl ad, data shows

In a third significant story of the week for Anthropic, after running their Super Bowl ads that make light of OpenAI’s use of ads in ChatGPT, the company saw their daily active users jump by 11%, while OpenAI’s usage jumped 2.7% after running their own Super Bowl ads. ChatGPT still has a considerably larger base of daily active users compared to Claude.

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👋 Sign up for upcoming workshops

Feb. 27: Are you ready to actually build things with generative AI? Sign up for our Hands-On With Generative AI Workshop at Drake University (or attend virtually) and complete six AI projects in six hours.

March 25: Google was a little late to the Gen AI party, but it caught up quick. Our 3-hour Google Gemini Virtual Workshop will show you all the ways Gemini can help boost your productivity in 2026. Sign up now for early bird pricing.

 🍟 FREE AI Lunch Club virtual events

Our AI Lunch Club series continues with two more FREE virtual events to help you better understand generative AI tools. Click each link to get more info and to sign up:

• Feb. 23 - Building Microsoft Copilot Agents

• March 4 - Vibe coding with Claude, ChatGPT and Lovable

These events are offered free thanks to a sponsorship from technology and management consultancy, Lean TECHniques.

Quick Hits

Tool of the week: Julius

Julius is an AI data analyst you can talk to in plain English. You upload a spreadsheet (they also position it as working with data sources like databases), then ask questions like “What changed month over month?” or “Which segment grew fastest?” and it returns the analysis. It also turns datasets into visualizations and summaries so you can understand trends, outliers, segments, and drivers quickly.

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AI-generated image of the week

We found this prompt to turn a logo into a liquid glass look on X, so we tested it out with an iconic Iowa brand.

Prompt: 3D embossed glossy contour render of center-aligned John Deere logo on a flat surface, perfectly centered composition with ample negative space surrounding the object for a premium minimalist aesthetic. Monochromatic green palette with soft tonal gradients. The object is defined by a raised, smooth, liquid-like glass bezel or chrome rim, creating a blind emboss effect where the interior matches the background. Matte surface finish with fine film grain or noise texture overlay. Soft diffuse lighting, strong specular highlights on the rounded edges, top-down view.

What we found

It wasn’t long after the launch of Generative AI that people started saying they wanted AI for the things they hate doing - like folding laundry. Well, that day has come … if you have $8,000 (and none of your clothes are inside-out).