Donald Trump is urging tech companies to develop AI at top speed, even as those companies warn their products could kill everyone.
Artificial intelligence has quickly embedded itself in every aspect of life, from hacking into
government websitestodetermining the ideal pricefor a McDonald’s hamburger in any given neighborhood to maximize profits. Sure, a chatbotmight give awayyour home address to a stranger, orcreate secret languagesto communicate with its AI buddies. Thankfully, President Donald Trump hears these concerns and wants to slow the march of the robots.Just kidding! He wants them to march faster! Concerns be damned!
The Trump administration even unveiled its own new AI-powered government website today, in its latest push to convince Americans that they should stop worrying and learn to love the robots, despite the flashing red warning sirens.
President Donald Trump and his top officials spent this afternoon wining and dining America’s tech elite at the White House, after touting the launch of
America.gov. Trump billed the website as a hub for people to scour other government sites to find information and services across agencies. Using AI, of course.
But the website is still being built. Americans will soon be able to fire up this AI-powered site to select a Medicare plan, change their name after marriage, or reserve a campsite, Trump said today. They’ll eventually be able to use the app to apply and pay for a passport. “No printing forms, no drugstore hostage photo, no appointment, no line, no middleman that you’re paying to do something that should be available to you,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio
𝕏said in a videotweeted out by the State Department.
Wait… don’t you need to provide sensitive information to get a passport? Like a birth certificate, driver’s license, and other stuff that should only be entered into an entirely secure database? Correct! Trump already thought of that, sort of.
“Everything stays totally private. It cannot, in theory, be hacked into. And when they figure a way to do that, we’ll end it,” President Donald Trump said
𝕏during a press conference. “We can also counteract them if anything does happen. We think it might not happen, actually.”Reassuring! Take my Social Security number!
**Without meaningful oversight from Washington, **AI companies have been left to police themselves… or not.
After lunch, Trump and the leaders of top AI companies
signed a voluntary accordfor reviews of artificial intelligence standards. But don’t get your hopes up: When a reporter asked if it’s binding, Trump𝕏responded, “I think it’s morally binding. Yeah.”
OpenAI, which has seen its AI models go rogue in recent months, announced that it’s
scrapping the releaseof its newest model. The reason: The model was bad at doing what humans wanted it to do, and it wasn’t always honest with users about what it actually did, a company official told theWall Street Journal. (OpenAI has beenaccused ofnot taking AI safety seriously enough. Could this be an attempt to rehabilitate their reputation?)
Anthropic, OpenAI’s main competitor, is even warning its own potential future investors that its technology could bring about the end of the world. Advanced AI could lead to “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity,” Anthropic plans to write in its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus,
according to Reuters.
Trump doesn’t want AI to have guardrails. But many Republicans agree with Democrats that AI companies need to be regulated. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is pushing to hold companies responsible for the harms that AI causes by allowing people to sue them in court.
“Tech titans are already suggesting their agents are acting ‘autonomously’ and beyond their control. Meaning, it’s not the companies’ fault,” Hawley wrote in a
Washington Postop-edtoday. “We shouldn’t accept that for an answer.”
**Quick question, senator: **Will you hold the Trump administration accountable if its AI-powered website goes rogue?
** American troops are set to pull out of their final **remaining bases in Iraq tomorrow after two decades in the country, as part of a deal negotiated under the Biden administration. Iranian officials are touting the withdrawal as a victory and are expected to use the opportunity to exert more influence in the region.
** Americans felt better about the U.S. economy during** the pandemic than they do right now, according to a new survey. Honestly, I’m impressed that Trump’s team has managed to do this. I didn’t think it was possible! Back then, we couldn’t find toilet paper!
** Trump personally pushed his team to run ads** from his last presidential campaign, CNN reports, in a campaign that boasts the unprecedented tagline, “Paid for by the US Government.” As if that weren’t wild enough, Democratic lawmakers accused DHS of
** Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed a bill banning** state and federal agents from using gloves that deliver electric shocks to detain people. Newsom also signed a bill that allows Californians to sue ICE agents, who had previously been protected from facing lawsuits, according to State Sen. Scott Wiener’s (D-CA) office.
** Apple banned apps that allowed users to anonymously** report and track ICE agents’ movements across the country last year due to concerns with agents’ safety, the company wrote in a letter to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). Wait, agents are the ones in danger?!
** Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly filed **for divorce from her husband, months after the Daily Mail
** The share of Americans who say they regularly **hosted friends at their home has dropped 70 percent since 1975, according to journalist Derek Thompson. He cites the rise of technology as a main reason: “Every generation has acquired better ways to entertain itself without leaving the house. The result is a peculiar triumph of modern abundance: We have built a world in which being alone has never been easier, more comfortable, or more fun. And then we wonder why everybody stopped coming over.” Your homework: Have some friends over this week!
** Former DOJ special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers **today that he won’t be silenced by threats of persecution from the Trump administration. “Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation,” Smith said of his federal indictments brought against Trump. “If asked whether to prosecute a former president today based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”
** Morocco’s king tapped Urban Planning Minister **Fatima Zahra Mansouri to be the country’s new prime minister, making her the first woman to ever hold the role in the country.
** The so-called “catio” industry could reach** over $2 billion by 2033, according to a new estimate. If you don’t have a feline friend, here’s a little math equation: cat + patio = catio. “There’s no greater joy than seeing your cat outdoors in a catio with the wind in the whiskers and bird-watching,” one Seattle-based catio designer told the
** Antoinette Jeffries, 79, has been volunteering** at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for nearly four decades, and she has some crazy stories to tell. For example: She helped the finance minister of a Central African country get a limo after he arrived at the airport without transportation. He then proposed to Jeffries, saying, “Would you please marry me? I need somebody like you to take care of me.” She politely declined (as she was already married), so he kissed her hand and left.
** Happy National Coffee Day!** If you’re one of those people who can guzzle caffeine in the evening and still get a good night’s sleep, you can still find deals at Starbucks, Dunkin’ and other coffee shops today. LL Bean’ better restock those
