Marked-up KIDS Act moves forward despite Democrat opposition.

5-minute read | 700 words

Marked-up KIDS Act moves forward despite Democrat opposition.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to advance a package of kids’ online safety proposals, while Democrats criticized what they view as concessions to Big Tech.

Anthropic sues the Pentagon over supply-chain risk designation.

Anthropic has filed a lawsuit to block the Pentagon from placing it on a national security blacklist.

Marked-up KIDS Act moves forward despite Democrat opposition.

THE NEWS

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has advanced a package of kids’ online safety proposals, with lawmakers voting along party lines (28-24) to send the legislation to the House floor for a full vote, POLITICO reports. The bills, which include the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act and the App Store Accountability Act (AASA), aim to add new protections to children’s accounts, establish age verification requirements, and limit addictive social media features for minors.

THE KNOWLEDGE

Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (Republican of Kentucky) said in a Washington Post op-ed this week, “[T]he Kids Act represents an improved version of the previously proposed Kids Online Safety Act, preserving the bill’s best ideas while addressing concerns about its constitutionality. After pairing the original proposal with additional measures to strengthen privacy, transparency, and accountability across the online ecosystem, this version of the bill is stronger and more capable of surviving court challenges.”

According to the Record, Democrats on the Committee were “apoplectic” about the changes to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), arguing that Guthrie’s KIDS Act is too lenient on tech companies. Critics have also raised concerns about the privacy ramifications of age verification for internet users.

THE IMPACT

The KIDS Act now goes to the House floor for a full vote despite partisan disagreement. POLITICO notes that Senate versions of the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) have bipartisan support.

Anthropic sues the Pentagon over supply-chain risk designation.

THE NEWS

AI company Anthropic filed a lawsuit on Monday to block the Pentagon from designating the company as a supply-chain risk to America’s national security, Reuters reports. Anthropic argues that the breadth of the designation could result in the company being blacklisted across the entire civilian government, though the scope of the restrictions is still unclear.

THE KNOWLEDGE

The government and Anthropic had a falling-out last month after Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, said the company would not concede to the Pentagon’s ultimatum regarding access to its Claude AI tool. The Pentagon had demanded that Anthropic remove safeguards and allow for “any lawful use” of its tools. Amodei argued that, while he is not opposed to AI-driven weapons, the current versions of AI tools are not accurate enough to safely assist in these operations.

THE IMPACT

Shortly after Anthropic’s refusal and subsequent blacklisting, rival AI company OpenAI announced a major deal with the Department of War. Despite the ongoing lawsuit, Anthropic has signalled that it would like to reopen negotiations with the Pentagon.

This Week’s Caveat Podcast: The SBOM where it happens.

This week, Ben Yelin shares a follow-up story on the Anthropic/Pentagon dustup. Dave Bittner shares the latest on the new National Cyber Strategy from the White House. Afterwards, Dave talks with ⁠Jean-Paul Bergeaux⁠, CTO for Federal for ⁠GuidePoint Security⁠, about OMB rescinding two Biden-era orders, which had mandated that agencies require a software bill of materials (SBOM) from software vendors. 

Listen to the episode now.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY STORIES

White House releases US cyber strategy.

What: The White House on Friday released the Trump administration’s cyber strategy. The document outlines six pillars, focusing on stronger offensive cyber operations, modernizing federal networks, protecting critical infrastructure, streamlined regulations, expanded use of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and post-quantum cryptography, and building up America’s cyber workforce.

Why: The document, which is light on details and non-controversial, received generally positive feedback from industry groups who welcomed the strategy’s focus on deterrence, innovation, and regulatory reform. The White House said the strategy is deliberately high-level, with more detailed guidance to follow in future policy documents. Some lawmakers criticized this vagueness, however, saying the strategy lacks a detailed implementation plan.

MAR 6, 2026 | Source: CyberScoop