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- The Threat of Human Extinction Will Get Congress to Act on AI Safety…Right?
As many AI researchers have been increasingly fraught with existential terror about their own creations this summer, their alarm is spreading among policymakers and the media. There are some policy ideas to address the risks: requiring “kill switches” for AI models, setting federal standards for safe research, or even shutting down development of cutting-edge “frontier” models altogether. But a stable national policy would take an act of Congress. That looks unlikely this session, even as AI developers are calling for regulations to slow down their own research on the grounds that it could be racing toward widespread doom. I asked Stephen Casper, a computer scientist who studies AI safety and governance at the Harvard Kennedy School, about some of the risks policymakers are mulling. He told me that we don’t know if leading companies even could completely shut down their frontier models in an emergency. “I don’t think there’s any public knowledge of AI companies doing anything equivalent to a fire drill,” Casper said. Multiple bills have been filed in Congress that would try to address those concerns. Sponsored by Reps. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), the AI Kill Switch Act would require companies to be able to “throttle” their models and give top federal officials the power to order a shutdown in case of danger. The more expansive FRONTIER Act, led by Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), would require leading companies to bring in third-party experts to make sure they are following safety protocols. In case of catastrophic risks, independent verifiers would alert the secretary of commerce, who could shut down frontier model use. Like most bills, neither has been brought to vote in a committee. AI safety policy is not as polarized as many hot-button political issues, with leaders on the FRONTIER and AI Kill Switch acts coming from both sides of the aisle and leading companies openly asking for some sort of regulations. But differences of opinion still exist, with some Republicans averse to regulation altogether. “How are you going to impose a kill switch on yourself?” While Congress sits in gridlock, Democratic-led states have enacted some consequential policies. Frontier developers now have to publish safety plans, thanks to a law passed last year in California that also requires them to alert the state about critical safety issues. A similar New York law goes into effect next year. Illinois went further… [TheTopNews] Read More.23 hours ago - Trump Puts His Rule-By-Fear Control Of Republican Party On The Line In South Car...
If voters reject his demand to install Lindsey Graham’s sister in the Senate for six years, it could shatter his long-cultivated image of omnipotence. [TheTopNews] Read More.1 day ago - Trump Administration’s New Priorities Put Profits Ahead of Marine ConservationThis story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. In the Western Pacific, protections for endangered leatherback turtles face elimination. In Alaskan waters, Steller sea lion sanctuaries could soon shrink. And in the North Atlantic, gear designed to save right whales from fatal entanglements might be permanently scrapped. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sent letters to the nation’s regional fisheries councils last month, directing all of them to dismantle restrictions in favor of more permissive, economically advantageous fishing procedures. The “regional priorities” are an effort by the Department of Commerce to fulfill President Donald Trump’s “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” executive order, signed in April 2025. “Protecting spawning grounds is Fisheries 101: If you want more big fish to catch, you have to let them make little fish.” At stake are reassessments of marine protected areas (MPAs), the removal of species from conservation lists, changes to gear types and a wide array of expansions to commercial fishing operations. “These letters reflect the administration’s view that fish are just commodities, science doesn’t matter, and short-term economic gains (and political points) matter more than sustaining ocean ecosystems,” said Andrea Treece, the senior attorney in the Oceans Program at Earthjustice, in an email to Inside Climate News. “They’re totally missing any sense of stewardship toward the ocean that supports all of us and belongs to all of us.” The nine letters—sent to the eight fisheries management councils and one division for migratory species—were produced following consultation with hundreds of industry insiders and the management bodies themselves. Slashing decades of key environmental protections, they function like a deregulation wish list. Indeed, according to a press release from Eugenio Piñeiro Soler—who was appointed to oversee NOAA Fisheries just three days before Trump’s executive order—the new priorities are designed to “reduce burdens on domestic fishing, increase production, stabilize markets, improve access, and enhance economic profitability.” All nine letters call for councils to reassess their fisheries management plans and “consider removing species that no longer require conservation and management.” There was no clarity on what scientific determinations would be used to decide whether a species retained or lost its protections. Commercial stocks identified for management reform included: revising sardine stock definitions to “increase production” in the Pacific; moving management of spiny lobsters and queen conches in the Caribbean from the federal to the state level to “maximize yield”; and amending gear types and rules to allow fishermen to keep… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 day ago
- DOGE Has Made Americans Less Safe
“Numident” might be the most important federal database you’ve never heard of. It’s the Social Security Administration’s master dataset, and it contains the personal information of every American ever registered with Social Security, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and the names of people’s parents. Think of it as proof of your existence. This file is cross-indexed against other massive databases like the Master Earnings File, which documents lifetime data on people’s wages and employment history. Now imagine all this information in the hands of a private company. Or a hostile foreign power. Or at the disposal of government officials bent on revenge against political enemies. It may very well have happened already. Earlier this year, a federal whistleblower alleged that a former employee of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” uploaded sensitive Social Security data to a “personal device,” according to congressional investigators on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Worse yet, this former worker “may also have the ability to remotely manipulate millions of Americans’ Social Security data,” said ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia in a statement on the investigation. This means, for instance, that employment histories could disappear or be altered, depriving people of benefits or causing problems with the IRS. The opportunities for identity theft are infinite. “It’s absolutely terrifying,” says the Brookings Institution’s Elaine Kamarck. Unfortunately, this breach is just one of many instances of reckless and destructive behavior under DOGE, whose year-long rampage through the federal government could take decades to undo. In a recent report for Third Way, Kamarck documented half a dozen areas where DOGE has vastly undermined—or sabotaged—the federal government’s capacity to keep Americans safe. This includes, for instance, firing spies on the lookout for terrorism, ending grants to make the grid more resilient, and eliminating weather balloons for tracking storms. Kamarck calls these “time bombs” that are ticking down toward the destruction of crucial government services. In this week’s preview of the Monthly podcast, which you can watch here, Kamarck describes some of the arrogance and ignorance that have accompanied DOGE’s demolition derby. She also talks about her own work for a much better effort at bureaucratic reform in the 1990s, “Reinventing Government.” In stark contrast to DOGE, “REGO” was thoughtful, systematic, and put citizens’ needs first. It also saved money, which DOGE has also failed to do. In fact, DOGE has so far cost taxpayers $135… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 day ago - Trump’s Border Czar Brands Himself With Jaw-Dropping Moniker As He Denies ...Tom Homan’s comments run contrary to a Supreme Court ruling last year that allowed ICE officers to consider racially loaded factors when making arrests. [TheTopNews] Read More.1 day ago
- U.S. Postal Service Issues Rules To Tighten Mail-In Voting If Court Gives OKDemocratic election lawyer Marc Elias said USPS had “caved to Trump.” [TheTopNews] Read More.1 day ago
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