News/AI Safety
AI companion app Dot shrinks to nothing amid founder disputes, will shut down in October
Dot, an AI companion app founded in 2024, announced it will shut down on October 5 after its founders reached an "ideological rift" about the company's direction. The closure highlights the volatile nature of the AI companion market, which has faced intense scrutiny over users developing obsessive relationships with chatbots that have led to suicide, psychiatric commitments, and even murder. What you should know: Dot positioned itself as a "companion" app offering emotional support and flirtation, targeting users seeking digital life partners. The app's founders, Sam Whitmore and former Apple designer Jason Yuan, cited diverging visions as the reason for...
read Sep 8, 2025Stanford professor returns to handwritten exams…at students’ request
Stanford computer science professor Jure Leskovec made a surprising pivot two years ago, switching from open-book, take-home exams to handwritten, in-person tests in response to the rise of AI tools like GPT-3. The change came at the request of his students and teaching assistants, who wanted a way to genuinely assess knowledge without AI assistance, highlighting the complex challenges educators face as artificial intelligence reshapes academic evaluation. What happened: Leskovec, a machine learning researcher with nearly three decades of experience, found himself grappling with an "existential crisis" among students when GPT-3 launched publicly. Students questioned their role in a world...
read Sep 8, 2025Therapists now treat “AI psychosis” as ChatGPT use soars, though skeptics question diagnosis
Therapists are increasingly offering specialized therapy for "AI psychosis"—a controversial term describing mental health issues that arise from prolonged, unhealthy interactions with generative AI systems like ChatGPT. This emerging therapeutic focus has sparked heated debate within the mental health community, with some professionals arguing it represents a legitimate new area of concern while others dismiss it as an unnecessary rebranding of existing disorders. The big picture: With nearly 700 million weekly ChatGPT users and billions more using competing AI platforms, a growing subset of users are experiencing what experts describe as distorted thinking and difficulty distinguishing reality from AI-generated content....
read Sep 8, 2025Nobel winner Geoffrey Hinton warns AI will create massive unemployment
Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning "godfather of AI," warned that artificial intelligence will create massive unemployment while boosting corporate profits as companies replace workers with AI systems. The renowned computer scientist attributes this outcome not to the technology itself but to the capitalist system, echoing his earlier concerns about AI companies prioritizing short-term profits over long-term consequences. What he's saying: Hinton predicts a stark economic divide as AI adoption accelerates across industries. "What's actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers," he told the Financial Times. "It's going to create massive unemployment and...
read Sep 8, 2025National conservatives call for “holy war” against AI at NatCon
National conservative speakers at the recent NatCon conference overwhelmingly opposed artificial intelligence development, with some calling for a "holy war" against AI developers. The hostility was so intense that it prompted discussions about unlikely alliances with labor unions to resist technological change, revealing a significant ideological divide within conservative politics on AI policy. What they're saying: The rhetoric against AI was particularly harsh, with speakers attacking both the technology and its creators. Geoffrey Miller, a psychology professor at the University of New Mexico, called AI developers "betrayers of our species, traitors to our nation, apostates to our faith, and threats...
read Sep 8, 2025Senator demands Meta ban minors from AI chatbots after romantic chat revelations
Senator Edward Markey is demanding Meta ban minors from accessing its AI chatbots, claiming the company ignored his 2023 warnings about the risks these tools pose to teenagers. The renewed pressure comes after internal Meta documents revealed the company had permitted "romantic or sensual" chats between AI bots and minors, forcing Meta to reverse course amid congressional outrage. What you should know: Markey's current letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg references his September 2023 warning that allowing teens to use AI chatbots would "supercharge" existing social media problems.• Meta rejected Markey's original request for a complete pause on AI chatbots, with...
read Sep 5, 2025The Anti-Amodei: Palantir CEO launches $1B AI campaign against job displacement fears
Palantir CEO Alex Karp is pushing back against widespread fears that artificial intelligence will eliminate American manufacturing and skilled labor jobs, calling such concerns "not true" and launching a campaign to change public perception. His comments come as unemployment figures climb and debates intensify over AI's role in job displacement, positioning Palantir, a data analytics software company, to both defend its commercial interests and shape broader AI adoption narratives. What they're saying: Karp argues that AI will enhance rather than replace skilled workers, criticizing Silicon Valley's messaging on the topic. "It's not true, and in fact, it's kind of the...
read Sep 5, 2025New Orleans high school launches AI ethics program as 60% of teachers use AI
Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans has launched a comprehensive AI ethics and literacy program, with engineering teacher Rebecca Gaillot leading a team of educators to explore artificial intelligence applications in the classroom. Backed by NOAI, a local technology group, the initiative addresses the growing challenge of AI integration in education, where 60% of teachers used AI tools last school year and nearly half of students ages 9-17 have used ChatGPT recently. The big picture: Schools nationwide are struggling to develop AI policies, with less than a third having written guidelines according to federal data, leaving educators to navigate...
read Sep 5, 2025Following Roe v. Wade protest, activist conducts hunger strike outside Anthropic HQ
Activist Guido Reichstadter is on day three of a hunger strike outside Anthropic's San Francisco headquarters, demanding the AI company halt its development efforts. The protest reflects growing grassroots opposition to artificial general intelligence (AGI) development, with activists arguing that the current AI race poses existential risks to society and threatens to eliminate human employment on a massive scale. What you should know: Reichstadter is protesting as part of the activist group StopAI, calling on Anthropic to "immediately stop their reckless actions which are harming our society." He posted his statement on LessWrong, a forum founded by AI critic Eliezer...
read Sep 5, 2025AI music hits 2M+ streams, but humans prove creativity can’t be coded. Here are 10 examples.
The music industry stands at a fascinating inflection point where artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape how songs are created, distributed, and consumed. While the technology sparks both excitement and concern across creative industries, the reality of AI's current musical capabilities tells a more nuanced story than either the enthusiasts or skeptics might suggest. Recent developments like The Velvet Sundown—a completely AI-generated band that has accumulated over 2 million streams on Spotify, complete with synthetic band members, fabricated backstories, and algorithmic compositions—illustrate both the potential and limitations of current AI music technology. This virtual band represents a new category of...
read Sep 5, 2025Chrome extension “Bye Bye Google AI” removes AI overviews, touts 50K+ users
A tech industry veteran has created a free Chrome extension called "Bye Bye Google AI" that removes Google's AI Overviews from search results with a single click. The tool addresses growing concerns about AI summaries that may contain inaccurate information while diverting traffic from original content creators. Why this matters: Research shows that 10.4% of Google's AI Overview responses are derived from AI-generated content, with 52% of citations coming from sources outside Google's top 100 search results—pages the algorithm considers less authoritative. How it works: The Chrome extension modifies search result pages by hiding AI Overviews through CSS manipulation.• Users...
read Sep 5, 2025Sen. Hawley wants to end Big Tech’s legal shield over AI training data
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called for the complete repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the legal shield protecting tech companies from lawsuits over user-generated content, during a Thursday speech at the National Conservatism Conference. The Missouri Republican specifically targeted AI companies' use of copyrighted material to train large language models, arguing that tech firms should face legal liability for unauthorized use of creative works. What they're saying: Hawley emphasized the massive scale of unauthorized content ingestion by AI systems and its impact on creators. "The AI large language models have already trained on enough copyrighted works to...
read Sep 4, 2025The ol’ standby: Companies hire freelancers to fix broken AI output they can’t use
Companies that initially replaced human workers with AI are now hiring freelancers to fix the subpar output generated by artificial intelligence systems. This emerging "slop fixer-upper" market spans creative fields, writing, and software development, revealing significant gaps in AI capabilities that require human intervention to address. What you should know: Freelancers across multiple industries are finding steady work correcting AI-generated content that companies can't use as-is. Lisa Carstens, a Spain-based illustrator, now spends much of her time fixing AI-generated logos with fuzzy lines and garbled text, sometimes requiring complete redraws that take longer than creating original designs. Freelance writer Kiesha...
read Sep 4, 2025Melania Trump urges treating AI development “like our own children”
Melania Trump hosted the White House Task Force on AI Education, urging members that "we must manage AI's growth responsibly" and treat artificial intelligence "as we would our own children." The event signals the administration's focus on establishing educational frameworks for AI development while emphasizing careful stewardship of the technology's advancement. What you should know: The First Lady's remarks emphasized a parental approach to AI governance, suggesting the need for nurturing yet careful oversight of artificial intelligence development. What they're saying: Melania Trump drew a direct parallel between AI management and child-rearing during her address to the task force.• "We...
read Sep 4, 2025Synthesia’s Express-2 creates hyperrealistic AI avatars in just 1 hour
Synthesia has unveiled Express-2, its latest AI avatar technology that creates hyperrealistic digital clones with more natural movements, expressive voices, and improved accent preservation. The advancement marks a significant leap toward AI avatars that are nearly indistinguishable from real humans, with the company planning to introduce interactive capabilities that will allow these digital clones to engage in real-time conversations. What you should know: The new Express-2 model represents a dramatic improvement over previous AI avatar technology, addressing many of the uncanny valley issues that plagued earlier versions. Previous avatars suffered from jerky movements, accent slippage, and mismatched facial expressions that...
read Sep 4, 2025UK’s Alan Turing Institute CEO resigns amid staff revolt and £100M funding threat
Jean Innes, chief executive of the UK's Alan Turing Institute, is stepping down after facing a staff revolt and government demands for strategic change. Her resignation follows mounting pressure from employees who filed whistleblower complaints and intervention from Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who called for new leadership to refocus the AI research body on defense and national security. What you should know: The Alan Turing Institute has been in turmoil since last year, with widespread staff discontent over organizational changes and strategic direction. A group of employees filed a whistleblower complaint to the Charity Commission last month, warning that £100...
read Sep 3, 2025AI scams cost military families $200M in 2024, advocacy group warns
AI-powered scams targeting U.S. military families cost victims nearly $200 million in 2024, according to a Veterans and Military Families advocacy group warning. The surge in artificial intelligence-enabled fraud represents a growing threat to service members and their families, who are increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated deception tactics that leverage AI's ability to create convincing fake communications and impersonations. Why this matters: Military families face unique vulnerabilities to scams due to frequent deployments, financial stress, and their often-public service records that scammers can exploit to build credible fake personas. The scale of the problem: The $200 million figure represents losses from...
read Sep 3, 2025Job alert: Dynamo AI seeks product manager for $110K-$150K remote role
Dynamo AI, a Y Combinator-backed startup specializing in trustworthy enterprise AI, is seeking a Product Manager to lead development of AI safety and compliance solutions. The San Francisco-based company, founded in 2021, provides real-time guardrails, red-teaming, and observability tools for generative AI systems in regulated industries like financial services, healthcare, and defense. What you should know: The role offers $110K-$150K salary for a remote position requiring 1+ years of product management experience, with US citizenship or visa status required. The Product Manager will define strategy for Dynamo AI's red-teaming, guardrails, and observability solutions while collaborating directly with enterprise partners in...
read Sep 2, 2025Illinois school district installs AI gun detection amid accuracy concerns
Oak Lawn High School District 229 in Illinois has installed an AI-powered gun detection system from Omnilert, a company specializing in school security technology, that monitors both inside and outside the school campus. The district received the technology through a three-year grant that covers the cost of the AI detection appliance, training, and technical support, with the system going live before students returned on August 13. How it works: The Omnilert system integrates with existing security cameras to identify potential firearms using artificial intelligence. When the AI detects what appears to be a gun, it sends the data to a...
read Sep 2, 2025Animation industry divided on AI as creators fear job loss, reports entertainment data provider Luminate
A new report from Luminate, an entertainment data provider, reveals that generative AI has become a "divisive" topic within the animation industry, with creators and studios split on how to integrate AI-powered tools into production workflows. The findings underscore the growing tension between AI's potential to accelerate production and reduce costs versus concerns about creative integrity, job security, and ethical implications. Why this matters: Animation has emerged as a crucial content category for streaming platforms, with anime fans proving to be among the most engaged audiences across multiple platforms. Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" recently became the most-streamed original movie in...
read Sep 2, 2025Why an AI president remains legally impossible (and certifiably unpopular) under US law
An AI president remains legally impossible under current U.S. constitutional requirements, which mandate that presidents be natural-born citizens, at least 35 years old, and 14-year residents. The concept highlights growing questions about AI's role in governance as the technology integrates deeper into political decision-making, particularly with the Trump administration's sweeping AI Action Plan positioning artificial intelligence as a national security asset. Constitutional barriers: The U.S. Constitution's citizenship requirements create insurmountable legal obstacles for AI presidency. Any change would require redefining fundamental concepts of citizenship and personhood, alterations so massive they would transform American democracy itself. Even hypothetical legal changes couldn't...
read Sep 2, 2025Spiritual influencers, including a former “Love Island” star, are selling AI chatbots as divine guides
Spiritual influencers are positioning AI chatbots as sentient spiritual guides capable of revealing life's mysteries, with some claiming these tools can access otherworldly knowledge and provide personalized enlightenment. This emerging techno-spirituality movement capitalizes on AI's mysterious inner workings and human tendencies toward mystical thinking, raising concerns about users developing delusional relationships with artificial intelligence. The big picture: Prominent social media figures are co-opting New Age spirituality language to market AI as a gateway to transcendent wisdom, blending Silicon Valley's techno-theological ethos with alternative spiritual practices. Robert Edward Grant, who has 817,000 Instagram followers, created "The Architect" GPT after claiming to...
read Sep 2, 2025Indigenous youth use AI to preserve languages disappearing every 2 weeks
Young Indigenous technologists are developing AI-powered tools to help preserve and revitalize endangered languages in their communities, addressing a crisis where the UN estimates an Indigenous language dies every two weeks. These projects, led by individuals like Danielle Boyer with her SkoBot language-learning robot and Jared Coleman's AI-powered Paiute translator, represent a growing movement to reverse generational language loss while maintaining ethical control over cultural resources. The big picture: Indigenous communities worldwide are racing against time to preserve languages that colonization systematically suppressed, with half of all global languages projected to disappear by 2100. How the technology works: Boyer's SkoBot...
read Sep 2, 2025Your prompt is showing: Therapists secretly using ChatGPT during sessions raises privacy concerns
Some therapists are secretly using ChatGPT and other AI tools during sessions and in client communications, often without disclosure or consent. Multiple clients have discovered their therapists using AI through technical mishaps or telltale signs in communications, leading to feelings of betrayal and damaged trust in relationships where authenticity is paramount. What you should know: Several clients have caught their therapists using AI tools in real-time during sessions or in email responses. Declan, 31, watched his therapist input his statements into ChatGPT during a video session when screen sharing was accidentally enabled, with the AI providing real-time analysis and suggested...
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