It's Friday. I know. At this point I'm starting to feel like the NFL. You know how they kept saying "football is a Sunday sport" and then quietly added Thursday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Saturday games, and a Christmas Day tripleheader? That's us now. BullCity AI: the Wednesday newsletter, now available on Thursday, Friday, and apparently any day that isn't Wednesday. We're expanding the franchise.
My excuse this week is layered. Daycare sent home a round of illness that tore through my entire household. I had planned to be at All Things AI in Durham on Monday and Tuesday but spent those days on the couch with a sick kid instead. Then on Wednesday (you know, the day I'm supposed to write this newsletter) I snuck out to see Wolfgang Van Halen, because sometimes you just need loud guitars and zero screens. No regrets.
But the news didn't wait for me. 3,400 people showed up to All Things AI and it sold out. A federal judge dropped a 43-page ruling that changes everything for the AI industry. Both stories deserve the full treatment. Let's go.
Last year: 1,600 people at the Carolina Theatre. This year: 3,400 people packed both the Carolina Theatre and the Durham Convention Center. Sold out. The largest AI conference in the Southeast.
Day 1 (Monday) - Three full-day workshop tracks: AI for DevOps, AI for Business Professionals, and AI for Agents. People were building real things. The Agents workshop had folks deploying autonomous workflows before lunch. Business Professionals track was standing room only.
Day 2 (Tuesday) - Main conference with morning keynotes, Lightning Talks, and sessions across six tracks: AI Builders, AI Engineers, AI Users, AI Executives, AI Governance/Security/Compliance, and AI in the Enterprise. Speakers from IBM, Netflix, Red Hat, SAS, Fidelity, Apple, Visa, Mistral AI, Meta, GitHub, Block, Truist.
The governance track was packed - Multiple attendees flagged this as the biggest surprise. Two years ago, "AI governance" was the session you skipped. This year it drew some of the biggest crowds. Enterprises are past "should we use AI?" and deep into "how do we use it without getting sued?"
The Triangle showed up - Duke, NC State, and UNC. SAS, Red Hat, Fidelity, and Truist. Startup founders. Government employees. Students.
My take: 1,600 to 3,400 in one year. Sold out. Six tracks. Speakers from companies worth a combined several trillion dollars. And it happened in Durham, North Carolina. The Triangle has always had the talent. What it hasn't had is a rallying point. All Things AI is becoming that.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued a 43-page ruling granting Anthropic a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the Pentagon's supply-chain risk designation and Trump's directive ordering federal agencies to stop using Claude.
What the judge said: Lin called the Pentagon's actions an attempt to "cripple Anthropic" and wrote the designation appeared to be retaliation for the company's public criticism of the government's contracting position.
Her most quoted line: "Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government."
The key legal finding: Lin ruled Anthropic is likely to succeed on its First Amendment retaliation claim. The Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk because of its "hostile manner through the press," according to DOD's own internal records.
What happens next: DOJ has one week to seek an emergency stay from the 9th Circuit. The injunction doesn't require the Pentagon to use Claude - it just blocks the punitive designation and the government-wide ban.
My take: This ruling matters far beyond Anthropic. Judge Lin said: the government can choose not to buy from a company, but it cannot weaponize a national-security label to punish that company for disagreeing publicly. That protects every tech company that might someday say "no" to a government request.
The gap between "AI conference" energy and "AI at work" reality is closing fast. The governance track was packed because companies are getting audited. The agents workshop had people deploying real workflows because the tools have gotten good enough. Business professionals are driving adoption, not just engineering teams.
The question used to be "will AI change how we work?" That question is settled. The question now is "who at your company is responsible for making sure it works correctly, safely, and legally?"
The companies answering that question well are pulling ahead. The Triangle is well-positioned to lead that conversation. We have the universities, the enterprise base, and now the community.