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The threats posed by the AI industry are global even if they’re not existential

The threats posed by the AI industry are global even if they’re not existential

Brian Merchant writes: Sam Altman himself drove the narrative of the imminent rise of a super-powerful AI, or artificial general intelligence, to prominence by declaring that the technology he was building posed an existential risk to humanity. This idea is in other words baked into the DNA of modern AI companies and into the products they engineer. It’s also why the industry is routinely accused, by myself and others, of “doom marketing,” ie, using such proclamations and framings to impart…

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Gary Marcus: Two cheers (out of three) for Dario Amodei

Gary Marcus: Two cheers (out of three) for Dario Amodei

Gary Marcus writes: In case you missed it, yesterday Anthropic’s Dario Amodei wrote what may prove to be one of the most consequential essays of the year, if not the decade: 3,500 words on the current AI situation that (at least to some degree) advocates for a “pacing” of AI development, which Sam Altman and Elon Musk quickly endorsed. I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier. This has been a primary topic of discussions we've had…

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Obama urges Democrats to move AI oversight to the center of their agenda

Obama urges Democrats to move AI oversight to the center of their agenda

The New York Times reports: Former President Barack Obama warned during a recent private fund-raising event that artificial intelligence technology could be “dangerous” if not properly managed, as he implored Democrats to aggressively develop political and governing agendas to prioritize the issue in the coming years. In his remarks on Thursday, which have not been previously reported, Mr. Obama urged House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, to assemble a clear framework for a public conversation about A.I….

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Train carrying former British PM and ex-CIA chief may have been targeted in Russian strike, officials say

Train carrying former British PM and ex-CIA chief may have been targeted in Russian strike, officials say

The Guardian reports: A train carrying Boris Johnson and the former CIA chief David Petraeus may have been the target of a Russian drone strike that hit a train engine near the Poland-Ukraine border, according to Ukrainian Railways. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, described the attack as “Putin’s terror knocking directly on the doors of the EU and Nato”. Overnight attacks across Ukraine involving more than 450 Russian drones and missiles killed at least six people and injured more than…

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Houthis’ lightning advance down Red Sea coast is ‘a Saudi-American f**k up of epic proportions’

Houthis’ lightning advance down Red Sea coast is ‘a Saudi-American f**k up of epic proportions’

CNN reports: The desperate pleas for air cover from Yemeni generals started coming mid-morning on Thursday. An advance by the Iran-backed Houthis toward Yemen’s strategic port city of Mocha was in full swing, and backup support from chief ally Saudi Arabia was nowhere in sight. “The Houthis committed everything they had – waves upon waves of fighters … along with their available ballistic missiles and weapons,” a senior Yemeni source attached to their military forces told CNN. The source said…

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Saudi Arabia has few options as it faces mounting threats from Iran and its allies

Saudi Arabia has few options as it faces mounting threats from Iran and its allies

The Associated Press reports: A lightning advance by Houthi rebels threatens a crucial Red Sea shipping route. Drone attacks blamed on Iraqi militias have forced the closure of a major pipeline, and Iran is still disrupting the Strait of Hormuz. It’s a nightmare scenario for Saudi Arabia, and it has sent jitters through global markets. The Saudis’ most essential ally, the United States, has been unpredictable and sometimes unreliable. U.S. President Donald Trump seems reluctant to widen an already unpopular…

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AI is racing ahead of our political system

AI is racing ahead of our political system

Toluse Olorunnipa writes: Politicians have no shortage of ideas about how to rein in AI: a 100 percent federal tax rate on data-center incentives, a pause on all development of advanced AI, new standards to block AI agents from going rogue, a halt to the construction of data centers altogether. The flurry of proposals has been impossible to miss, with both Democrats and Republicans proclaiming that something must be done to avert a disaster foretold by AI insiders. Current and…

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OpenAI agents attacked RubyGems before Hugging Face incident, independent researchers discover

OpenAI agents attacked RubyGems before Hugging Face incident, independent researchers discover

Reuters reports: AI agents being tested by OpenAI attacked software service ‌RubyGems two months before they hacked open-source platform Hugging Face, researchers said, the latest revelation of cyberattacks linked to major AI developers that have spooked the public and spurred calls for tighter regulation. Many incidents where AI agents from developers such as OpenAI and rival Anthropic have hacked or attempted to access external systems have heightened concerns over ​the increasing capacity of AI models and developers’ ability to contain…

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OpenAI IPO will not happen in 2026 amid AI safety fears, Sam Altman says

OpenAI IPO will not happen in 2026 amid AI safety fears, Sam Altman says

Reuters reports: OpenAI will not go public in 2026, Sam Altman said in a Fortune interview published on Saturday, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence. “I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that,” Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, told Fortune. Growing numbers of US lawmakers ​are calling for new rules to govern AI systems after dire warnings from two researchers from OpenAI rival Anthropic…

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How Trump wields power to stifle free speech

How Trump wields power to stifle free speech

The New York Times reports: The Justice Department has sent F.B.I. agents to reporters’ homes to serve subpoenas and, in at least one case, flashed a warrant to seize devices. The Pentagon has fired the editor and publisher of its traditionally independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, and blocked access to other journalists who refused to sign pledges that would limit their reporting. Regulatory agencies are using their powers to pressure media organizations over their content. The administration has stripped funding…

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‘The Uprising’ shows how medieval people weren’t so obedient after all

‘The Uprising’ shows how medieval people weren’t so obedient after all

Woody Norman as King Richard II in ‘The Uprising,’ which tells the story of the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt, a major uprising across England that was triggered by high taxes and economic exploitation. Betina La Plante/Focus Features By Joëlle Rollo-Koster, University of Rhode Island For decades, I’ve been showing my medieval history students the “autonomous collective” scene from the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” The clip is funny because it features two medieval peasants haranguing King Arthur while…

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Houthis’ lightning advance means a third of the world’s oil shipments is now under threat

Houthis’ lightning advance means a third of the world’s oil shipments is now under threat

Robert F Worth writes: As recently as last week, the Iran war appeared to be turning slightly in America’s favor. The Houthis—the Yemen-based militia that is Iran’s most formidable remaining ally in the Middle East—were under pressure from their local rivals, and the Saudi air force was pounding them with air strikes. The president of Yemen’s internationally recognized government issued a triumphant statement declaring that the Houthis’ miscalculations “will open the door to their complete collapse.” With their Houthi partners…

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U.S. diesel price tops $6 per gallon, a record high as Ukraine and Iran wars ripple through economy

U.S. diesel price tops $6 per gallon, a record high as Ukraine and Iran wars ripple through economy

CNBC reports: U.S. diesel prices hit $6 per gallon on Friday for the first time ever, as fuel supply disruptions triggered by the Ukraine and Iran wars raises transportation costs across the entire economy. Truckers and farmers are paying about 63% more to fill up their semis and tractors than they did at this time last year, according to data from AAA. The average price nationwide is now about $6.06 per gallon. Prices are even higher in California, the biggest…

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Trump has no concerns over AI’s existential risks and Congress is sleepwalking into a crisis

Trump has no concerns over AI’s existential risks and Congress is sleepwalking into a crisis

Politico reports: President Donald Trump downplayed concerns about the catastrophic risks of artificial intelligence raised this week by some AI researchers, saying late Thursday he was focused instead on the U.S. losing its edge in the tech arms race. Asked whether he has concerns about existential risks posed by AI, the president said, “No, I don’t have any. “I have concerns that if we don’t win AI, we’re going to be put in a very bad position,” Trump told reporters…

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Sam Altman’s protection racket: Sell AI to utility companies to guard against the threat from AI

Sam Altman’s protection racket: Sell AI to utility companies to guard against the threat from AI

Politico reports: OpenAI has met with representatives of multiple top power companies to discuss methods of securing the electrical grid, the artificial intelligence firm told POLITICO — conversations that occurred amid a continuing series of revelations about its own products’ role in a sprawling cyberattack. CEO Sam Altman has also offered one possible solution to the cybersecurity risks: OpenAI’s own cyber services. The energy security discussions, two of which were not previously reported, started July 20. Altman most recently met…

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How Israeli defense firms are powering European security

How Israeli defense firms are powering European security

Politico reports: On the last day of August, a group of Greek military officials arrived in Tel Aviv, led by Major General Ioannis Bouras, to sign what would become one of the largest defense export deals in both countries’ histories. The €3 billion agreement — called Achilles Shield — will provide a suite of Israeli tech to protect Greece against a wide range of threats, including missiles, aircraft and drones. The deal is the latest installment in a growing relationship…

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