White House war promo videos marry action movies, sports and video games to real-life combat footage
Through its social media feed, the White House has sent out a series of pumped-up videos that mix real Iran war explosions with movie action heroes, video game footage and sports heroes. That's led some critics, including an official with the U.S. Catholic Church, to accuse the administration of trivializing a real-life conflict. One of the posts describes its video as “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY.” Two actors, Ben Stiller of the movie “Tropic Thunder” and Steve Downes, who portrays the protagonist Master Chief in the video game Halo, said they hadn’t given permission for the depiction of their characters and demanded that they be removed.
AI company Anthropic sues Trump administration seeking to undo 'supply chain risk' designation
Anthropic is suing the Trump administration, asking federal courts to reverse the Pentagon’s decision designating the artificial intelligence company a “supply chain risk” over its refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its technology. Anthropic filed two separate lawsuits Monday, one in California federal court and another in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., each challenging different aspects of the Pentagon’s actions against the company. The Pentagon last week formally designated the San Francisco tech company a supply chain risk after an unusually public dispute over how its AI chatbot Claude could be used in warfare. The lawsuits aim to undo the designation and block its enforcement.
Uber's women-only option goes nationwide in the US
NEW YORK (AP) — Uber is launching a feature that will allow both women riders and drivers across the U.S. to be matched with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program aimed at addressing concerns about the safety of its ride-hailing platform. The San Francisco-company’s announcement Monday comes despite an ongoing class action lawsuit against the policy in California, filed by Uber drivers who argue that it is discriminatory against men.
Family sues ChatGPT-maker OpenAI over school shooting in Canada
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The parents of a girl critically wounded in a school shooting in Canada is suing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, alleging it knew the shooter was planning a mass attack. OpenAI has said it considered but didn’t alert police about the activities of the person who months later committed one of Canada's worst school shootings. The civil lawsuit launched Monday in British Columbia alleges that ChatGPT behaves willingly to assist users such as the shooter to plan a mass casualty event. Jesse Van Roostselaar killed eight people and herself at a school last month. The lawsuit from the mother and father of Maya Gebala says she was shot in the head and neck and will have permanent cognitive and and physical disabilities.
AI is spurring a big expansion of high-voltage power lines. Landowners and locals are fighting back
SUGARLOAF, Pa. (AP) — Bigger and bigger data centers are leading to proposals for massive electric power transmission lines, sometimes across hundreds of miles. These high-voltage power lines cost tens of billions of dollars a year and are the latest front line in the battle over tech giants' massive operations. Artificial intelligence advances are seen by President Donald Trump as critical to the nation’s economic and national security. But their energy needs are threatening to overwhelm the power grid and the transmission expansion is drawing opposition from landowners, conservationists, local officials, consumer advocates and states.
State actors are behind much of the visual misinformation about the Iran war
A deluge of misrepresented or fabricated videos has spread widely online since the Iran war began last weekend, fueled in part by state-linked propaganda influence campaigns — particularly around who is winning the war and how bad casualties have been. Artificial intelligence has helped fuel misinformation in ways that weren’t possible during past conflicts, even just a few years ago. Coupled with state-linked disinformation and censorship, this creates an even wider vacuum in which the truth can get lost.
Pentagon says it is labeling AI company Anthropic a supply chain risk 'effective immediately'
The Trump administration is following through with its threat to designate artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a supply chain risk in an unprecedented move that could force other government contractors to stop using the AI chatbot Claude. The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday it has “officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately.” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in response that the company has no choice but to challenge the Trump administration in court.
Elon Musk defends tweets in lawsuit alleging they caused Twitter stock to fall before acquisition
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk continued to defend his actions in the months leading up to his 2022 purchase of Twitter in court Thursday. He faces a class action lawsuit claiming he misled investors. The civil trial in San Francisco centers on a class-action lawsuit filed just before Musk took control of Twitter, a social media service he renamed X, in October 2022, six months after agreeing to buy the embattled company for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share.
Demand for minerals to power technology could triple by 2030, UN political chief says
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations political chief says demand for critical minerals that power technology from smartphones to missiles could triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040. Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo says minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel “underpin the technologies powering the digital economy and the energy transition.” DiCarlo says that in 2023, trade in raw and semi-processed minerals reached approximately $2.5 trillion, representing ”more than 10% of global trade.” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says it is in the security interest of the U.S. and its allies not to be overly dependent on any single country “for materials critical to our economies and national security.”
Pentagon's chief tech officer says he clashed with AI company Anthropic over autonomous warfare
A top Pentagon official says a fight with Anthropic centered on how the military could someday use artificial intelligence in autonomous weapons. Defense Undersecretary Emil Michael told podcasters that his months-long negotiations with Anthropic included a debate over President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense plan. He says the Pentagon needs “all lawful use” terms, not case-by-case exceptions. Michael's remarks on the "All-In" podcast were his most extensive public commentary about the clash that led the Pentagon to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk this week. Anthropic has vowed to sue.
