
Pentagon moves to curtail tuition support at elite universities, sparking uncertainty among service members
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Pentagon cuts Harvard academic ties amid ideological and China-related concerns
The US Department of Defense will terminate its graduate-level collaboration with Harvard, removing fellowships, professional certificates and related programs and allowing current students time to finish. The decision, justified by the Pentagon as driven by ideological differences and worries over research links to China, intensifies political pressure on elite universities and could reshape military education and research partnerships.

Germany moves to limit defense suppliers’ dependence on China — and the US
Berlin is tightening scrutiny of domestic defense firms as it ramps up military spending, seeking to cut strategic exposure to rival powers including China and the United States. At the same time, parts of the government are weighing faster contracting rules and export-law changes — steps that could both accelerate delivery and complicate efforts to harden supply chains.

Pentagon presses top AI firms for broader access on classified networks, raising safety and policy alarms
The U.S. Department of Defense is pressing leading generative-AI vendors to allow their models to operate with fewer vendor-imposed constraints on classified networks to accelerate battlefield utility. That push collides with broader industry trends—infrastructure concentration, global competition and fractured regulation—which complicate procurement, supply-chain trust and governance for secure deployments.

U.S. universities logged more than $5 billion in foreign gifts and contracts in 2025; Qatar led donors
A Department of Education database shows U.S. colleges reported just over $5 billion in foreign gifts and contracts in 2025, with Qatar accounting for roughly one-fifth of that total. The release intensifies scrutiny of overseas funding at major research universities and fuels debate over reporting, national security and politicized oversight.

Pentagon’s fleeting blacklist rattles Chinese tech firms and markets
The Pentagon briefly placed several major Chinese technology companies on a roster tying them to China’s military and then removed them within minutes, spurring short-lived market turbulence. The episode, coming as Chinese regulators reportedly circulated guidance to curb use of some U.S. and Israeli cybersecurity tools, underscores broader frictions in technology and security supply chains and raises fresh questions about signaling and process controls ahead of high-level diplomacy.
U.S. senators warn Pentagon against downgrading Havana Syndrome response team
Bipartisan senators have asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to halt plans that would move the Pentagon’s cross-functional team handling Anomalous Health Incidents out of its current policy portfolio, arguing the shift could disrupt care and impede research. They warn that sidelining the team risks weakening centralized support for affected personnel and undermining ongoing technical inquiries into the syndrome’s causes.

NIST moves to restrict foreign researchers, prompting lawmaker pushback
A federal standards lab is implementing new controls that limit how long noncitizen scientists can work onsite, triggering congressional demands for clarity and a temporary pause. Critics warn the measures could shrink specialized talent pools, slow long-term projects, and damage U.S. scientific standing.

Pentagon’s $15.1B Cyber Buildup Reorders the Market for Quantum-Resilient Security
The Pentagon’s planned $15.1 billion cyber allocation for 2026 is accelerating procurement of fieldable, quantum-resistant cryptography and AI-hardened defenses. The shift reflects urgency created by a narrowing timeline for quantum cryptanalysis and the 'harvest-now, decrypt-later' risk, forcing agencies to prioritize interoperable migration paths and machine-speed controls.