From a skeptic’s take on “If Anyone Makes it, Everyone Dies” to “Let’s Hope Albania’s AI ‘Minister’ Won’t Steal Porn,” here’s one heckuva batch of briefs.
6–7 minutes read
News from the Washington Post
Artificial intelligence ushers in a golden age of hacking, experts say
While many business sectors are still weighing the pluses and minuses of generative AI, criminal hackers are jumping in with both feet…. Hackers are using AI’s immense capabilities to find ways into more networks — and turn their victims’ AI against them…. On a recent assignment to test defenses, Dave Brauchler of the cybersecurity company NCC Group tricked a client’s AI program-writing assistant into executing programs that forked over the company’s databases and code repositories.
September 20, 2025
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News from The Rebooting
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies.
The title alone does all the work. One shot at creating superintelligence, and if we miss, civilization collapses. No muddling through, no partial credit — just binary doom.
I listened to multiple hours of podcast conversations with the authors. I came away with a similar feeling of listening to Tucker Carlson: Some sensible points stretched to the point of insanity, but also very merchandisable in the Information Space.
September 18, 2025
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News from Wonkette
Let’s Hope Albania’s AI ‘Minister’ Won’t Steal Porn Or Tell Teens How To We’re Not Even Finishing That Sentence
O, Stupid New World! Your AI roundup, written by a human.
According to the AP, Diella has already been Albanians’ cybernetic pal who’s fun to be with for a while now…. Don’t tell the bot it’s unconstitutional because it isn’t human. You’ll hurt its feelings. (And don’t anthropomorphize computers, they hate that.)
September 19, 2025
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News from Charlie Stross @cstross@wandering.shop
Albania’s AI minister “Diella” addressed the parliament for the first time.
👀 Diella said she has been “hurt” by opposition lawmakers who called her unconstitutional. “Diella” …. appears to be a human actor in front of a green screen, with a bad speech synthesized voice-over (look at the visuals—they don’t seem to be AI generated):
Now imagine what Kier Starmer (or Nigel Farage, for that matter) could make with a “my new minister for AI is really an actual working AI; we have video!” sock-puppet.
The mind positively BOGGLES at the potential for graft and corruption!
September 19, 2025
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News from National Catholic Reporter
Pope nixes ‘virtual pope’ idea, explains concerns about AI
Pope Leo XIV said a proposal to create an AI-version of him so people could have a virtual audience with the pope pretty much horrified him.
“If there’s anybody who should not be represented by an avatar, I would say the pope is high on the list,” he said in an interview with Elise Allen, a journalist and author.
September 18, 2025
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News from Aljazeera
Kim Jong Un declares AI military drone development a ‘top priority’
North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has said the use of artificial intelligence is a “top priority” …. During a visit to the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complex… Kim presided over performance tests of multipurpose drones and unmanned surveillance vehicles
September 19, 2025
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News from the Wall St. Journal (unlocked)
The AI CEO Fighting Trump Over the Future of Technology
A battle between Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and the White House pits worries about safe development against a free-market approach… While Sam Altman, Tim Cook and other titans of technology took turns praising President Trump at a White House dinner two weeks ago, Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei ,,,, has taken a very different approach to politics. Amodei is an outspoken critic of Trump’s AI agenda, arguing its laissez-faire approach could steer the technology down a dangerous path. …Amodei likened Trump to a “feudal warlord”
September 18, 2025
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News from The Guardian
Nvidia to invest $5bn in Intel after Trump administration’s 10% stake
Deal gives Intel a lifeline as firms team up on AI datacenters and PC chips after Trump stake sparks market surge
September 18, 2025
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News from Winbuzzer
Google and OpenAI Achieve Superhuman Feats at World Coding Finals
Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s GPT-5 have demonstrated superhuman performance at the ICPC World Finals, solving problems that stumped elite human programmers.
September 18, 2025
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News from Foreign Policy
The Window for Combating AI Propaganda Is Closing
Every month, the information factories get cheaper, sharper, and harder to detect.
In the time it takes you to read this sentence, an artificial intelligence system could generate a hundred political comments that look plausibly human-written to casual readers. These aren’t the crude bots of the past—they’re sophisticated personas that remember previous conversations, adapt their tone, and coordinate across platforms.
September 18, 2025
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News from Bloomberg
AI Chatbot Makers Are Facing A Reckoning Over Teen Safety
“You cannot imagine what it’s like to read a conversation with a chatbot that groomed your child to take his own life,” Raine said. All of the parents who testified have sued the AI companies making the chatbots their teens were using.
Also:News from Bloomberg
AI Chatbot Makers Are Facing A Reckoning Over Teen Safety
“You cannot imagine what it’s like to read a conversation with a chatbot that groomed your child to take his own life,” Raine said. All of the parents who testified have sued the AI companies making the chatbots their teens were using.
September 18, 2025
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News from the Wall St. Journal, (unlocked)
Executives at xAI Clashed With Musk Advisers Before Departing
Some who left say they were concerned about the artificial intelligence company’s financial projections…. “The suggestion that the financials are in any way improper is false and defamatory,” Alex Spiro, a lawyer representing Musk, said in an email. He said the financials are audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Sept. 17, 2025
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News from Axios
1 big thing: What Americans don’t want AI to do
Americans say they’re comfortable with AI helping develop new medicines or forecast the weather, but most don’t think it should play a role in relationships, religion or creative tasks, according to a new report released today from Pew Research Center.
September 17, 2025
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News from the Wall St. Journal (unlocked)
Executives at xAI Clashed With Musk Advisers Before Departing
Some who left say they were concerned about the artificial intelligence company’s financial projections…. “The suggestion that the financials are in any way improper is false and defamatory,” Alex Spiro, a lawyer representing Musk, said in an email. He said the financials are audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Sept. 17, 2025
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