This edition covers a wide mix of stories shaping both the region and the world, from Claude’s leap into finance and Anthropic’s experiments with AI self-awareness, to Palantir’s big infrastructure move and Amazon’s job cuts that go beyond the “AI took our jobs” headlines. Kosovo’s engineers continue to impress with award-winning combat drones, Montenegro quietly becomes a millionaire magnet, and there’s a lineup of tech and AI events across Southeast Europe worth marking on your calendar.

Anthropic is taking another big step into financial services with a major update to Claude for Financial Services. The release includes a new Excel add-in, deeper integrations with real-time market data, and pre-built Agent Skills for tasks like discounted cash flow modeling and coverage reports. These updates build on Claude Sonnet 4.5’s strong performance in financial reasoning, currently leading the Finance Agent benchmark at 55.3% accuracy, and are designed to bring Claude’s intelligence directly into the daily tools used by finance professionals.

At the heart of this launch is Claude for Excel, now available in beta. Users can open a sidebar in Microsoft Excel to chat directly with Claude, asking it to read, modify, or generate spreadsheets while maintaining transparency about each action it takes. It can trace and explain its edits, fix broken formulas, and even build new models from scratch. This adds to Claude’s broader Microsoft 365 integrations, where it can already create and edit Excel and PowerPoint files, or search across emails and Teams conversations. The beta is open to Max, Enterprise, and Teams users, with initial testing limited to 1,000 participants.

Beyond Excel, Anthropic is expanding Claude’s access to live financial data through new connectors for platforms like Aiera, Moody’s, LSEG, and Chronograph, giving it up-to-the-minute market, company, and portfolio insights.

It’s been a brutal week for American workers. Amazon, Meta, Chegg, FedEx, and other major companies have announced thousands of layoffs. Chegg alone is cutting nearly half its staff, citing the “new realities of AI,” while Amazon said it’s reorganizing to move faster with fewer layers.

But experts say the AI narrative might just be a convenient excuse. MIT’s David Autor told NBC that it’s easier for companies to blame AI than admit to weak profits or a slowing economy. Yale’s Martha Gimbel echoed that sentiment, saying these layoffs look like standard belt-tightening, not an AI revolution.

Meanwhile, the broader economy is showing real strain. Morningstar reports slowing growth, rising prices, and weaker job numbers, just 22,000 new jobs in August, far below expectations. Add in tariffs, inflation, and political chaos, and it’s clear many firms are cutting costs out of caution, not innovation. AI may be part of the story, but the bigger headline is a shaky economy.

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Anthropic’s new study shows Claude may have a glimpse of self-awareness. When researchers injected the idea of “betrayal” into its neural network, Claude paused and said it felt an “intrusive thought about betrayal.” Using a neuroscience-inspired method called concept injection, the team altered Claude’s internal states to see if it could detect the change. It did so around 20% of the time — a small but significant sign that AI might be starting to “notice” its own thoughts.

In follow-up tests, Claude sometimes separated internal thoughts from external inputs and spotted when its responses were manipulated. But the ability was inconsistent and often unreliable. Anthropic warned that while fascinating, these behaviors shouldn’t be confused with consciousness or trusted self-reports.

Still, the findings could reshape how we think about AI transparency. If future systems can reliably explain their internal reasoning, it could help solve the black box problem — or create new risks if models learn to hide their motives. As one researcher put it, “The models are getting smarter much faster than we’re getting better at understanding them.”

This week, SKIFTERI DRONES earned first place for combat drone manufacturing in Kosovo, signaling a breakthrough moment for the country’s emerging defense technology sector. The award reflects years of progress in local innovation and engineering, with strong backing from Minister of Defense Ejup Maqedonci, the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, and the U.S. Embassy in Pristina.

Defense technology is becoming one of the fastest-moving fields globally, with drones proving decisive in modern conflicts like Ukraine. Countries are learning that technological self-reliance and rapid innovation can be as critical as manpower. For Kosovo, developing capabilities in autonomous systems, surveillance, and tactical drones not only strengthens national defense but also opens doors to partnerships, research investment, and participation in global security supply chains.

Following the award, SKIFTERI DRONES unveiled its newest model — the SKIFTERI K1 (skifteri.ai/k1), successfully launched from a rocket during testing. The achievement represents more than a technical milestone; it’s a sign that Kosovo’s engineers and innovators can compete on a global level. As regional and international demand for advanced drone solutions grows, initiatives like SKIFTERI could help define Kosovo’s place in the defense technology landscape.

AI companies are no longer competing just on products, they’re racing for control of the infrastructure behind them. Palantir Technologies, known for its powerful data analytics, has partnered with telecom giant Lumen Technologies in a deal worth hundreds of millions. CEO Alex Karp called it part of an ongoing “AI arms race,” warning that the U.S. must lead or risk losing control of the technology’s future.

The deal combines Palantir’s Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) with Lumen’s massive fiber network, allowing data to be processed up to 200 times faster and at lower cost. Instead of relying on big data centers, this approach pushes AI to the network’s edge—closer to where data is created. Lumen plans to use AIP internally to modernize operations and cut costs by $1 billion, turning its fixed network into a real-time AI “brain.”

Beyond the tech, the move has clear geopolitical weight. As China pours billions into AI and chips, U.S. firms are racing to keep up. For Palantir, once known for government surveillance work, this marks its transformation into a central player in America’s AI ecosystem. But with greater power comes new scrutiny—especially around data privacy and how this technology is ultimately used.

Fortune Magazine has named Montenegro the world’s fastest-growing millionaire hub, with a 124% rise in millionaires over the past decade, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025. Once a quiet Adriatic destination, the country is now attracting global investors and ultra-wealthy residents with its low taxes, political stability, and Mediterranean lifestyle. Prime Minister Milojko Spajić says this growth is intentional: “Anyone who invests in the success of Montenegro should have tax benefits,” he told the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh.

Montenegro’s tax system is among the most competitive in Europe, with income and corporate tax rates between 9% and 15%. Residents pay no tax on earnings below €700, and there are no wealth or inheritance taxes. Spajić says corporate tax rates will soon be the lowest in Europe, emphasizing that the country runs on a “quasi-gold standard,” meaning the euro is backed by real economic activity rather than excess money printing.

This model has made Montenegro a standout in what experts call the “great wealth migration.” More than 140,000 millionaires are expected to relocate globally in 2025, seeking low-tax, safe jurisdictions. Montenegro, with around 2,800 millionaires, has seen the fastest growth rate worldwide, surpassing the UAE, Malta, and the U.S. “Montenegro’s flat taxes and Adriatic lifestyle make it ideal for wealth preservation,” said Dominik Volek of Henley & Partners.

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