#201: Anthropic vs. Pentagon Round 2, AI Job Impact Study, Services as the New Software & GPT-5.4

The data is in, and it's harder to ignore. Anthropic's new "observed exposure" study reveals AI can handle 94% of knowledge work tasks in theory and the gap between theory and reality is narrowing fast. Paul and Mike unpack what that means for your career, your company, and the broader social contract around work. This week: the Anthropic vs. Pentagon saga escalates, a Sequoia partner predicts AI will replace entire service industries (not just software), GPT-5.4 drops and outperforms professionals on economic benchmarks, a Polish mathematician has his "personal singularity" moment — plus rapid fire on AI journalism, OpenClaw security risks, AI copyright law, and Meta's smart glasses privacy scandal. Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here Click here to take this week's AI Pulse. Timestamps: 00:00:00 — Intro 00:04:32 — AI Pulse Survey Results 00:07:00 — Anthropic vs. US Government Round 2 00:19:43 — Anthropic Analyzes AI Job Impact 00:35:30 — Services as the New Software 00:49:19 — Barriers to Enterprise AI Adoption 00:54:54 — GPT-5.4 01:00:55 — The Move 37 Moment for Math 01:05:39 — AI and Journalism Update 01:10:03 — NVIDIA CEO Calls OpenClaw “Most Important Software Release Ever” 01:13:35 — AI Art Can’t Be Copyrighted 01:16:08 — Meta Sued Over Smartglasses Privacy Concerns 01:19:21 — Microsoft Copilot Cowork This week’s episode is sponsored by our 2026 State of AI Report. This year, we’re going beyond marketing-specific research to uncover how AI is being adopted and utilized across the organization, and we need your help to create the most comprehensive report yet. It’s a quick seven-minute lift. In return, you’ll get the full report for free when it drops, plus a chance to win or extend a 12-month SmarterX AI Mastery Membership. Go to smarterx.ai/survey to share your input. That’s smarterx.ai/survey Visit our website Receive our weekly newsletter Join our community: Slack Community LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Looking for content and resources? Register for a free webinar Come to our next Marketing AI Conference Enroll in our AI Academy