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Elon Musk’s race war just took a darker turn. It’s time for a global response

Elon Musk’s race war just took a darker turn. It’s time for a global response

Toby Buckle and Greg Sargent write: If you were on the verge of becoming the first trillionaire in human history, with the press breathlessly reporting on your every move, that would probably be your focus. Yet in the days before SpaceX’s initial public offering vaulted Musk into the 13-digit wealth club, the tech mogul’s mind was elsewhere—a white man in Belfast had been viciously stabbed by a Sudanese immigrant, and it provided Musk an opening. In numerous social media postings,…

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‘Digital colonialism’: U.S. demands to access Africans’ data raise privacy, sovereignty concerns

‘Digital colonialism’: U.S. demands to access Africans’ data raise privacy, sovereignty concerns

By Sharon Lerner and Anna Maria Barry-Jester This story was originally published by ProPublica Frank Ssekamwa says the United States presented his country with an impossible choice. If it accepted the terms of a new health agreement, Uganda would have to give the U.S. access to the data of millions of his fellow citizens — a decision he worries would make their personal information more vulnerable to breaches and possible exploitation. But if it refused, the East African nation would…

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An EPA researcher details the agency’s assault on science

An EPA researcher details the agency’s assault on science

Elizabeth Kolbert writes: Thomas Luben is an epidemiologist who for nearly 20 years worked for the scientific arm of the Environmental Protection Agency — the Office of Research and Development — in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. His work focused on what are known as the “criteria pollutants,” which are regulated, under the Clean Air Act, by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, often shortened to NAAQS (pronounced “nacks”). At the start of the second Trump administration, life for most…

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The criminal tendencies of AI

The criminal tendencies of AI

Science reports: In an infamous thought experiment known as the paperclip problem, an artificial intelligence (AI) program is tasked with making paperclips. Because it single-mindedly optimizes for the literal objective rather than the intent, the AI ends up consuming all the resources on Earth and judging any collateral damage—for example, killing all humans who get in its way—as irrelevant. This problematic logic is already simmering in today’s AI systems, a new study suggests. When researchers presented a large language model…

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Trump’s off-ramp from war with Iran runs through Qatar

Trump’s off-ramp from war with Iran runs through Qatar

Shane Harris writes: Several countries can claim some credit for the tentative memorandum of understanding to end the war between Iran and the United States, which officials from both countries plan to sign later this week. Pakistan had for some time led negotiations. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Oman were involved in elements of the talks. But to hear Donald Trump tell the story, the whole deal might not have materialized without the intervention of a crucial friend in the neighborhood….

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Iran deal includes $300 billion fund, more than half of which already committed, source says

Iran deal includes $300 billion fund, more than half of which already committed, source says

Reuters reports: A $300 billion private fund designed ​to trigger investment into Iran is outlined in the U.S.-Iran framework agreement and more than half that sum has already been committed, a source with ‌direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters. The fund is designed to give both sides an economic incentive to conclude a final deal, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been announced as Washington and Tehran prepare to sign…

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Republicans hopeful Iran deal could stop the pain at the pump — but it may be too late

Republicans hopeful Iran deal could stop the pain at the pump — but it may be too late

Politico reports: Republicans who have been raising alarm about the political costs of gas pump sticker shock are relieved the Iran war could be ending — and hopeful prices will soon ease near pre-war levels. They’re split on whether it’s too little, too late. Gas prices have been falling since their pre-Memorial Day peak of $4.56 per gallon in anticipation of a deal to end the war, now hovering just above $4 a gallon. A reopening of the Strait of…

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Trump: ‘There would be no Israel’ without me

Trump: ‘There would be no Israel’ without me

The Hill reports: President Trump said on Tuesday that there “would be no Israel” without him, marking some of his most pointed criticism toward the country amid its ongoing attacks on Lebanon. “Without the US, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did. I have had a great relationship with Bibi. Now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon,” Trump said, speaking…

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MN U.S. Attorney won’t say whether officers were harmed as he charges ICE protesters with felonies

MN U.S. Attorney won’t say whether officers were harmed as he charges ICE protesters with felonies

TPM reports: Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen announced an eight-count felony indictment against 15 anti-ICE protesters Tuesday, centered on a broad “antifa”-inflected conspiracy. During a Tuesday press conference, Rosen would not say whether any federal officers were actually harmed, despite one of the counts being conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer and two of the counts being assault on a federal officer. “Whether or not they actually at the end of the day caused bodily harm is not…

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Leak exposes members of Peter Thiel’s secretive ‘Dialog’ society

Leak exposes members of Peter Thiel’s secretive ‘Dialog’ society

Wired reports: A trove of internal records from a secret society for powerful figures in US politics, finance, and tech was left exposed online, WIRED has confirmed, naming participants in its events and revealing sensitive personal details they were assured would stay private. The group, called Dialog, is a private, invitation-only organization cofounded in 2006 by the billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel. It convenes US officials, foreign government figures, and Silicon Valley executives at off-the-record annual retreats. Dialog has spent…

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Why sophrosyne, an ancient Greek virtue, matters more than ever in the age of AI

Why sophrosyne, an ancient Greek virtue, matters more than ever in the age of AI

Sophrosyne is a constellation of characteristics that includes moderation, reflectiveness and self-knowledge. PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images By Ross Channing Reed, Missouri University of Science and Technology Texting while driving. Bullying people on social media. Buying into the latest conspiracy theory. Passing off AI-generated work as your own. That may seem like a random list of 21st-century vices. But I’d argue they’re all examples of the loss of one particular virtue: sophrosyne. An ancient Greek concept, sophrosyne – pronounced “suh-fros-uh-nee”…

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Netanyahu’s epic failure

Netanyahu’s epic failure

The New York Times reports: Israel now finds itself counting the ways that Mr. Netanyahu’s grand strategy against Iran has failed. And Israelis are increasingly convinced that it will make the 2015 Iran nuclear deal look “perfect in comparison,” as the Netanyahu biographer Ben Caspit wrote in the Israeli daily Maariv on Monday. For more than a decade, Mr. Netanyahu has steadily raised his bets in pursuing his strategy against Iran. His 2015 address to Congress denouncing then-President Obama’s nuclear…

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The U.S. had no choice but to return to diplomacy

The U.S. had no choice but to return to diplomacy

Nancy A. Youssef, Russell Berman, and Vivian Salama write: Declaring that “the deal is all signed” with Iran, as President Trump did today, is like shopping for a wedding dress after a good first date: It’s just too soon. A deal has an element of finality and permanence. A nuclear deal with Iran, for example, would require specific obligations, concessions, and verification measures, such as inspections, agreed to by all parties. What Iran and the United States are moving toward,…

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Ministers say Israel won’t be bound by Iran deal, as opposition castigates Netanyahu’s ‘absolute failure’

Ministers say Israel won’t be bound by Iran deal, as opposition castigates Netanyahu’s ‘absolute failure’

The Times of Israel reports: Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed Monday that the Israeli military will remain in southern Lebanon and warned that if Iran strikes, it will be hit “with full force,” promising that Israel will resist any pressure after the US and Iran agreed a deal to end the war that also reportedly includes a commitment to end hostilities in Lebanon. There was no immediate comment on the deal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but far-right members of…

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