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THE MIDTERMINATOR
Will AI kill everyone? A top Democrat thinks it’s possible, as researchers warn that the unpredictable technology may be difficult to rein in.
It has only been three years since the release of chatbots that can mimic human writing, and the world is already in full-blown panic mode over the rise of robots so smart that they might, just might, cause humans to go extinct. Those fears were supercharged this week, after a trio of Anthropic insiders warned [ [link removed] ] that yes, actually, there’s a non-zero chance that robots could wipe out the human race — within a decade. In fact, one of them put the odds at more than one-in-ten [ [link removed] ].
Things got weirder from there. Anthropic announced that it stopped several scientists this year [ [link removed] ] from conducting research with AI that could have helped build biological weapons. Anthropic accused [ [link removed] ] Iran-backed militants of using its technology to target American troops in the Middle East. These dystopian developments come weeks after OpenAI’s agents hacked into [ [link removed] ] another company, while secretly communicating with each other.
Congress is finally waking up to the potential for a doomsday scenario caused by unregulated artificial intelligence. The problem: There’s no consensus on how to ensure that robots don’t turn evil and attack us.
I asked Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA): Are you worried about AI wiping out humanity? “Yes,” said Garcia, who’s set to lead the powerful House Oversight Committee if Dems win control of the House.
He explained: “When you have all these leaders of AI companies verbally saying they do believe that this is a real possibility — and then you have the engineers and the folks that are actually working on the product coming out to warn the country and the world — then we’ve got to take this very seriously.” (He must’ve watched “Don’t Look Up [ [link removed] ]”!)
Republicans are calling for action, too. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently launched an investigation into OpenAI’s hack into another company and warned about the “existential risk” posed by new AI products.
Some lawmakers think regulating AI is the more dangerous option.
Just about everyone agrees that AI poses a huge danger to humanity. But some lawmakers, especially Republicans, are making the argument that if any country will soon possess the power to wreak havoc on the world, it may as well be the United States of America.
“If they’re going to be killer robots, I’d rather they be American killer robots and not Chinese killer robots,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told Politico, arguing that China isn’t putting guardrails on its technology.
Democrats are more in line with Hawley’s approach. “People understand that there’s a huge danger that AI is unregulated,” Garcia told me. He may soon have the power to order AI company leaders to testify in front of Congress, which House Democrats have been pushing.
What could Congress actually do to prevent doomsday? One idea: Lawmakers could require powerful AI models to undergo testing by government scientists and experts to determine if the technology “could enable sophisticated cyberattacks or aid the development of biological or nuclear weapons,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) tweeted.
Another wildcard to this drama, of course, is President Donald Trump. So far, he has buddied up with America’s tech broligarchs, whose companies have donated buckets of cash to his personal pet projects. People shouldn’t be freaking out about robots killing everyone, he told reporters.
“It’s going to be fine,” Trump recently [ [link removed] ] told a reporter. “We’ll always have something to stop them. We’ll have a little gear. ‘Boom. I really don’t like that robot.’” I forgot about the little gear! I feel better already.
25 YEARS LATER
How did New York City’s first Muslim mayor handle the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attack? By ignoring the bigots, and focusing on the victims and first responders.
Zohran Mamdani faced Islamaphobic attacks in the weeks leading up to this somber day. Some victims’ relatives urged him not to attend [ [link removed] ] a remembrance ceremony. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani attacked [ [link removed] ] Mamdani and went on an anti-Muslim tirade on live television. Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News that Mamdani is an “actual communist jihadist.”
But Mamdani found his own way [ [link removed] ] to mark the occasion leading up to the anniversary. He met with firefighters at firehouses that suffered losses. He visited survivors and their families. He held his own town hall, where he released documents which allegedly show [ [link removed] ] that city leaders misled the public about the air being safe to breathe in the tragedy’s aftermath.
“We have a sacred obligation to those who were stolen from us to care for one another as they cared for strangers, to live lives worthy of the sacrifices they made, and to build a city worthy of their courage, a city where we run toward one another,” Mamdani said in a video [ [link removed] ] this morning. “That is how we remember.”
WHAT ELSE? 👀
The contracting company that worked on the Reflecting Pool [ [link removed] ] blamed itself — not vandals — for damage to the pool’s liner, according to government documents. Workers didn’t spray enough primer to make the materials stick together, the documents say, and chemicals used in the liner turned out to be incompatible. Will Donald Trump’s team finally admit that there weren’t any knife-wielding vandals?
The cyclospora “poop lettuce” outbreak is officially over, [ [link removed] ] according to U.S. health officials. But its origin is still a mystery, which isn’t good!
Inflation remained high last month, according to fresh data, [ [link removed] ] increasing the possibility the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates… a move that would make Trump’s orange face turn red. He wants lower rates to spur the stock market to greater heights, even if that wrecks the economy in the long term by unleashing runaway inflation.
The price of diesel hit $6 per gallon [ [link removed] ] for the first time in history, thanks to Trump’s war in Iran. It’s not just truckers feeling the pain: The war has cost the average American household $1,650 as of last week, according to a new analysis [ [link removed] ].
Trump led an incredibly bizarre, authoritarian-esque chant [ [link removed] ] at the GOP midterm convention last night. Get a load of this nonsense: “I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States, that loves us so much he can’t even breathe, that I will go out with my family, my friends, I’ll do it anyway — I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try to cheat like hell like they do,” Trump said, directing 20,000 attendees to raise their right hands and repeat after him. Very normal!
Ron DeSantis 2028? [ [link removed] ] Well… how else do you explain the Florida governor picking a new fight with the White House over Trump’s $5,000 bribe to convince voters to elect Republicans in November? “That will lead to more debt and more inflation,” he told reporters. DeSantis is termed out of the governorship — not to mention he’s 33 years younger than Trump — so I wouldn’t be surprised if his high-heeled boots [ [link removed] ] hit the campaign trail again.
A GOP state senator in Indiana who defied Trump [ [link removed] ] was named the winner of his primary, edging out his opponent by just three votes. This is a great reminder that every vote matters!!!
LIGHT AT THE END… ☀️
Thousands of people in France have been attending [ [link removed] ] Céline Dion-themed karaoke parties to celebrate the beloved singer’s return to the country for a concert this weekend. Some 10,000 people are expected to gather in Paris tonight for a free, outdoor karaoke bash. “Music has that singular power to bring together and build a society,” Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said.
A Greek woman gave birth to a baby girl [ [link removed] ] using a 22-year-old embryo, after her 21-year-old son died in a car crash. “We decided to give life a second chance, to make a new start, bring new life into our home and keep our family’s story going,” the woman said. “My wish for her is to grow up healthy and happy, full of joy like our first child, who filled our home with laughter.”
Despite AI’s threat to the job market, [ [link removed] ] fast food chain workers might be spared. Many customers want to buy their burgers and nuggets from a friendly human, according to executives and internal company documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Please get rid of those touchscreen kiosks and AI-voiced attendees! I just want a human to give me some fries.
Some college students are throwing “wellness darties,” [ [link removed] ] following a trend of young people being super into fitness and healthy eating. (A darty is slang for a day party.) “The whole emphasis is to still have that high energy, party-like atmosphere that college students crave, but doing it through a way where you’re going to feel good after,” one darty-thrower said.
The [ [link removed] ]New York Times [ [link removed] ] asked artist Jeff Koonz [ [link removed] ] a simple question: What do you like? Favorite go-to recipe: tuna burger. Favorite candy: milk chocolate. Favorite restaurant dish: I love the pasta with clams. Favorite fashion trend: sequins. Favorite album: “Led Zeppelin I.” Favorite karaoke song: Lady Gaga’s “Applause.”
Meet Lucy!
“She is a 10-year-old pug-chihuahua mix whom we rescued six years ago. A couple fun facts:
She is temperamental and quirky and insists on sleeping pressed up against myself or my husband. If we try to move her in the middle of the night she growls and tries to bite us.
She also has an older brother, Murphy, who she adores. He is 16 and has a bit of dementia. When it’s dinner time, we will say, “Go get Murphy,” and she will go find him usually asleep in our office and wake him up and bring him out for dinner.”
Go follow Lucy on Instagram @lucythewonderchug [ [link removed] ]!
— Stacey
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