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The US government is failing Americans on AI | Shakeel Hashim

16 September 2026 at 11:00

Trump and Republicans want companies to regulate themselves. It’s a dereliction of duty that will make AI less safe

It is hard to get Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Dario Amodei to agree on much. But over the weekend, all three AI company CEOs called for AI development to slow down in the face of growing, alarming risks. Their employees are sounding the siren too, with one researcher publicly quitting and accusing OpenAI and Anthropic of “gambling with our lives”.

The combination of dire warnings from insiders and growing real-world evidence of rogue AIs should, in a sane world, lead to government action. Instead, Donald Trump and the Republican leadership have their heads in the sand.

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© Composite: Getty Images

© Composite: Getty Images

© Composite: Getty Images

US ends limits on coal and gas plant emissions, removing key tool to fight climate crisis

14 September 2026 at 22:17

Trump’s EPA strips itself of regulating ability, gutting Clean Air Act in what experts say is a gift to planet polluters

On the heels of the hottest summer ever recorded in the US, the Trump administration has said it will erase any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants that are dangerously heating up our planet.

The US Environmental Protection Agency said it will strip itself of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions coming from power plants under the Clean Air Act, removing a key tool to address the climate crisis.

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© Photograph: Jon Cherry/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jon Cherry/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jon Cherry/Getty Images

The American emperor’s new clothes? | Brief letters

13 September 2026 at 16:52

Trump’s toga | Reform UK donations | Ben Delo | Word watch | Andy Burnham | The name game

Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), following his victorious battles of Illyricum and Actium, announced he would give 400 sesterces to adult male citizens. Will we see the US president wearing an emperor’s purple and gold toga soon (Trump promise of $5,000 for US citizens after midterms decried as ‘bribery’, 10 September)?
David Shannon
Ashton under Hill, Worcestershire

• Can we assume that the donations to Reform UK from the billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo (Report, 12 September) will be followed by some sort of cash offer for every adult in the UK should Mr Farage win the next election?
Phil Thomas
Frodsham, Cheshire

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© Photograph: Alamy/Allstar

© Photograph: Alamy/Allstar

© Photograph: Alamy/Allstar

Six Chinese AI firms accused of aggressively copying US frontier models

9 September 2026 at 21:06

The United States has now named six Chinese AI firms accused of waging industrial-scale attacks distilling US frontier AI model capabilities and perhaps sparing billions in Chinese development costs.

In a joint release Tuesday, the National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alleged that DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Alibaba, MiniMax, StepFun, and Z.AI have been attacking US models since at least late 2024. The firms “likely” acted with “Chinese government awareness” when extracting capabilities from US models, including variants of Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok, agencies said.

“China-based AI companies that conduct industrial-scale distillation against US AI models see significantly shorter AI development timelines and reduced financial expenditures in training a frontier model,” agencies said.

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Trump administration to confront Australia over Labor’s social media algorithm plan

9 September 2026 at 07:51

White House warns trading partners against ‘imposing digital services taxes, fines, and other forms of extortion’ on US tech sector

The Trump administration will confront Australia over its plan to force digital platforms to take down harmful content and let users opt out of algorithm-generated “for you” feeds.

Big tech companies would be fined more than $100m for breaching the proposed laws and the Australian government is under pressure to raise those fines even further.

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© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

Musk review – epic study of the world’s richest and most banal man

Venice film festival: Alex Gibney interviews former colleagues, wives, the trillionaire’s father and a CG avatar in this absorbing documentary

‘Elon is a nuke.” The speaker is Ashley St Clair, a former conservative Maga influencer and one of Elon Musk’s former girlfriends-slash-baby mommas.

She is a fascinating expert witness in Alex Gibney’s four-hour epic study of the world’s richest and dullest man: the overgrown brattish South-African-born trillionaire plutocrat, ersatz visionary and Trump courtier who owns Tesla cars, SpaceX rocket ships, Starlink satellites on which nation states’ military capabilities are increasingly reliant, X (formerly Twitter) which shapes the collective incel id of billions and GrokAI whose vast server farms daily guzzle oceans of precious water.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Google Maps renames "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" even faster than US government

31 August 2026 at 16:33

Trade talks between the US and Canada broke down last week, leading to a wave of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs. US President Donald Trump also fell back on an old favorite to needle his opponents, signing an executive order on Thursday to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America."

The body of water, which straddles the US-Canada border, gave its name to the Canadian province rather than the other way around. Regardless, the US government now refers to this great lake as Lake America—or it will soon. Official US government maps have yet to be updated, but Google wasted no time adopting the new, Trumpian name.

Google began rolling out this change for US users on Saturday. The company posted a brief update on its Google Maps blog, noting that it follows the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) for its maps, so the company implies it had no choice but to rename Lake Ontario in Google Maps, which is the most popular mapping platform in the US by a wide margin.

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‘If we don’t fight back, we don’t have a future’: the journalist taking on the ‘tech fascists’ of Silicon Valley

5 August 2026 at 10:00

As Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and their peers have grown richer and more influential, Gil Durán argues they have all but abandoned democracy – and found the perfect government to enable them

In April, Gil Durán was permanently banned from Elon Musk’s X for posting just two words. Durán was responding to a post from the tech company Palantir outlining its 22‑point “technological manifesto”, which praised American “hard power”, western culture and AI weapons, denounced inclusivity and called for compulsory national service. Durán responded: “TLDR: Fascism” (TLDR is short for “too long, didn’t read”).

Durán didn’t break any of X’s written rules, he points out over a video call from San Francisco – so much for Musk’s “free-speech absolutism”. His ban might just have had something to do with his preceding tweet, showing the cover of his new book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy. The book’s central argument is that big tech is no longer our friend, as many of its billionaire owners have seized economic and political control and are steering the fate of the planet towards their own bizarre, apocalyptic visions.

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© Photograph: Winni Wintermeyer/The Guardian

© Photograph: Winni Wintermeyer/The Guardian

© Photograph: Winni Wintermeyer/The Guardian

Lord Sumption is Wrong: Trump is No Despot

9 August 2026 at 09:00

Lord Sumption was a hero during Covid, standing up against the pandemic tyranny. But his recent attempt to paint Donald Trump as a despot of totalitarian bent couldn't be wider of the mark, says Professor James Allan.

The post Lord Sumption is Wrong: Trump is No Despot appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Trump Vows to Reverse EU Fines Against Apple and Other Tech Companies, Threatens Tariffs

24 July 2026 at 20:37
U.S. President Donald Trump today said on Truth Social that his administration plans to launch an investigation into fines the European Union has levied against tech companies like Apple, Google, and Meta for violating antitrust and Digital Markets Act rules.



Trump called the European Union's conduct "illegal and highly unethical," vowing to get the penalties reversed and planning to institute a "substantial tariff."
The European Union is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies! After having fined Apple, for no reason at all, 15 Billion Dollars, Meta, 3 Billion Dollars, Amazon 2.5 Billion Dollars, and many others, we have just been informed that Google, a truly advanced and amazing group, has been fined yet another 1 Billion Dollars, without explanation. This brings the Google total to over 18 Billion Dollars! This illegal and highly discriminatory practice started at these high levels during the first year of the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, but it's not going to continue during the Trump Administration. The United States of America is not a "PIGGYBANK" for Europe, nor will we allow it to be! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that we will immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of "ROBBING" American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer. The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about. The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment.

Apple was fined $570 million in 2025, ‌Meta‌ was fined $840 million in 2024 and $200 million in 2025, and Google was fined $1 billion this week after a $4.5 billion Android fine was upheld earlier this month.

Trump previously threatened European tariffs if the EU did not stop targeting U.S. companies, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative has also threatened to implement fees and restrictions on European services and companies.

Trump has focused heavily on tariffs during his second term, affecting U.S. companies and consumers. A 10 percent blanket tariff Trump enacted earlier this year expired today. The Trump administration implemented new tariffs to replace them, accusing 60 countries of failing to "impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor." The tariffs will affect goods from the UK, China, and the European Union, among others.
This article, "Trump Vows to Reverse EU Fines Against Apple and Other Tech Companies, Threatens Tariffs" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Trump says nearly 200 firms have signed pledge to protect Americans from costs arising from datacenters

23 July 2026 at 20:56

‘Ratepayer Protection Pledge’ president has touted is non-binding as people continue to struggle with rising bills

Donald Trump has announced that about 200 entities have signed on to his non-binding “Ratepayer Protection Pledge”, expanding a voluntary commitment which claims to ensure US consumers will not bear the cost of the AI datacenter build-out.

Trump delivered remarks on Thursday at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, alongside Lee Zeldin, the agency’s administrator, and Chris Wright, the energy secretary. Other attenders included governors who signed on to the pledge, including Brian Kemp of Georgia, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Spencer Cox of Utah and Jeff Landry of Louisiana.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Saudi Arabia and US strike deal for kingdom to enrich uranium

Donald Trump approves agreement to help country make fuel for civilian nuclear programme

Donald Trump signed a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that could enable the kingdom to enrich its own uranium for nuclear reactions.

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed “a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement” and “an accompanying bilateral safeguards agreement,” according to a statement from the US Department of Energy.

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© Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

© Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

© Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

US launches 10th round of strikes as Iran says it is in ‘full-scale war’

Diplomats say de-escalation talks continue as Trump vows retaliation over US soldier deaths

The US military said it has launched its 10th consecutive round of strikes on Iran to force the reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s president said the country is in a “full-scale war” after the US expanded its aerial campaign and Tehran struck Washington’s Gulf allies, even as diplomats said talks to de-escalate were continuing.

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© Photograph: US Central Command (CENTCOM)/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: US Central Command (CENTCOM)/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: US Central Command (CENTCOM)/AFP/Getty Images

Trump made $1.4bn from crypto in one year. Is Justin Sun the man who helped him do it?

16 July 2026 at 17:19

The entrepreneur is known in Washington as the financial power behind the president’s crypto fortune. How did Sun’s business love-in with the Trump family spiral into dueling lawsuits?

The most infamous financial scandal in US presidential history – the 1920s Teapot Dome affair – involved then president Warren G Harding’s interior secretary, Albert Fall, taking roughly $400,000 in bribes. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $6m today. Last year, Donald Trump made at least $2.2bn; his single year of income is on the order of 200 to 300 times larger than the bribe that defined “presidential corruption” in the American imagination for a century.

It’s taken for granted that Trump flogs items like Bibles and gold sneakers as a way to wring more money from his loyal base. But of the president’s $2.2bn, at least $1.4bn came from his crypto businesses. That’s an extraordinary achievement, even for an unscrupulous sitting president. How exactly did he do it without any prior background in crypto?

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Trump rails against New York’s statewide datacenter moratorium

AI-friendly president shared a post saying governor Kathy Hochul should scrap the one-year policy ‘IMMEDIATELY’

Donald Trump railed against the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, for pausing the construction of large new datacenters, the resource-intensive facilities that power artificial intelligence.

New York became the first US state to enact a moratorium on new datacenters on Tuesday, when Hochul signed an executive order mandating a one-year statewide pause on so-called “hyperscale” datacenters.

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© Photograph: Matt Roberts/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt Roberts/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt Roberts/Shutterstock

‘Why take those jobs away?’: the unionized workers decrying Trump’s war on wind

6 July 2026 at 12:00

Workers proud of their efforts to grow renewable energy say US president pursuing ‘personal vendetta’ at their expense

Donald Trump has blamed everything – from “national security” issues, the deaths of birds and whales, and cancer – in his decades-long campaign against windfarms. But as the Trump administration continues to undermine the industry, what worries workers most are their jobs.

Since taking office for a second term, Trump has issued an executive order aiming to halt all wind-energy leases and permits, attempted to issue stop-work orders on wind projects under construction, and paid more than $2.6bn in settlements to buy out wind energy leases. And hundreds of workers have been affected.

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© Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images

© Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images

© Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images

Populist and rightwing figures take aim at Ed Miliband and UK net zero policies at ‘anti-woke Davos’

Kemi Badenoch, who joined US anti-abortion activists and European far-right parties at ARC, described energy secretary as a ‘villain’

Britain’s net zero policies and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, have come under fire at a conference of conservatives, rightwing populists and wealthy US backers linked to Donald Trump.

The energy policies pursued by the British government were described as a “tragic mistake” by Trump’s energy secretary, one of a number of officials from the US administration attending the event.

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© Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

© Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

© Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

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