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Trump Announces Creation of ‘AI Force’ — and Calls Fears of Artificial Superintelligence a ‘Hoax’

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President Trump announced he was creating a new “AI Force” and designating a new AI “czar” Saturday to keep the industry from engaging in bad practices – after doubling down that apocalyptic fears of AI superintelligence are just another “hoax.”

Trump insisted Saturday he would not “stand by” and let his political opponents take down an industry he views as paramount to US competitiveness, and likened those urging caution to his political enemies.

“Over the years, there have been many Hoaxes, all generated by the Radical Left Dumocrats, for purposes of destroying our Country. RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, Global Warming, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, Men in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, and now, the decimation, or destruction, of AI, commonly known as Artificial Intelligence — And I, as President of the United States, will not stand by and let this happen,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account Saturday afternoon.

The president mentioned what he termed the “crazed Data Center attack” – swelling political opposition to infrastructure that fuels AI’s exponential growth – and compared it to an effort “going straight at AI” that must be countered.

“We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry. Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows! However, we will also be looking for BAD” through the existing criminal justice system, he wrote. (Read more from “Trump Announces Creation of ‘AI Force’ — and Calls Fears of Artificial Superintelligence a ‘Hoax’” HERE)

Staffers at Tech Giants Knew AI Tools Posed ‘Existential Threat’ to News Publishers: Court Docs

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High-level staffers at a pair of top tech companies knew that scraping online news content to bolster their AI models could have devastating impacts on publishers – but that didn’t stop them, according to a bombshell legal filing.

One OpenAI executive even warned that the shady tactic, in which tech giants circumvent paywalls to access stories to train their AI, could pose an “existential threat” to news organizations, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the newly unsealed court documents in a massive copyright case.

A director at Microsoft had also sounded the alarm over the dodgy practice.

“Our AI content strategy has started a ‘doom loop’ that will hurt the performance of our models and the entire web at the same time,” said Brent Hecht, Microsoft’s director of applied science, the filing shows.

“It is highly unusual that an end-product threatens the economic foundations of its essential suppliers, but that is the situation we have created for our LLM business with respect to its ‘content supply chain,’” said Hecht. (Read more from “Staffers at Tech Giants Knew AI Tools Posed ‘Existential Threat’ to News Publishers: Court Docs” HERE)

Joe Rogan Has ‘Crazy Hope’ that AI Could Take Over Government to Prevent Military Conflict

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Joe Rogan said Tuesday that he hopes artificial intelligence could eventually take over government and foreign-policy functions, including decisions involving military conflict, as he believes AI could help prevent wars that human leaders have failed to stop.

Rogan, speaking with theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli during a conversation on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” acknowledged that handing government functions to artificial intelligence could alarm people but described it as a possible way to remove human decision-making from international conflicts.

“It sounds like a crazy hope, but my hope is that as AI becomes more and more omnipresent, as we start farming off various tasks to it, one of the things that we’re going to farm off is government,” Rogan said.

“One of the things we’re going to farm off is how we interact with other countries. I know that’s terrifying to people, but just think of the disastrous effects that we’ve had so far with humans doing it.”

Republican National Committee National Committeewoman for Georgia and Humans First Chairwoman Amy Kremer, who has pushed for greater safeguards around AI while opposing a blanket halt to American development of the technology, rejected Rogan’s proposal. (Read more from “Joe Rogan Has ‘Crazy Hope’ that AI Could Take Over Government to Prevent Military Conflict” HERE)

Could AI Hallucinations Be The Downfall Of The Pentagon?

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The Pentagon is moving to revolutionize its wargaming capabilities with artificial intelligence, opening vulnerabilities to what is being dubbed “AI hallucinations.”

Code Metal, a Boston-based AI firm, received an $80 million contract to implement AI into WarMatrix, the Department of War’s wargaming program, Fortune reported on Friday. Experts warned the Daily Caller News Foundation that implementing AI into military technologies such as wargaming could make the U.S. military a victim of “AI hallucinations,” or falsely generated information.

“Hallucinations are associated with large language models [such as ChatGPT] and refer to outputs that seem plausible, or coherent, but are factually incorrect, inconsistent or outright non-sensical,” professor of political theory at Queen Mary University London Elke Schwarz told the DCNF. “Hallucinations are inevitable, they can perhaps be minimised but never be eradicated.”

As AI hallucinations are “inevitable,” the use of this technology in military applications could have serious consequences. Some analysts have speculated that AI could have been involved in the bombing of an Iranian girls’ school at the onset of the Iran War, which killed 168 children, mostly girls, according to Iranian officials cited by Reuters.

The strike was still under investigation as of March 11, but the U.S. does not deliberately target civilians, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired March 8. (Read more from “Could AI Hallucinations Be The Downfall Of The Pentagon?” HERE)

US Manufacturing Hits 4-year High, with AI Buildout a Major Driver of Growth, though Price Volatility Looms: Survey

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Manufacturing activity in July hit a four-year high, with massive AI infrastructure investment a major driver of growth — even as industry leaders sounded the alarm over price volatility, according to a survey released Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management’s July manufacturing gauge jumped to 55.6 – expanding at its fastest pace since May 2022 and marking its seventh consecutive month of growth, the survey said.

Any reading above 50 in the ISM’s monthly survey indicates growth while any measure below 50 signals contraction.

Susan Spence, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said increased certainty around President Trump’s tariff policy and hopes for a more permanent deal to end the war in Iran helped encourage the boost in manufacturing.

“My gut is, it’s not just a one- or two-month trend,” Spence told reporters. “Companies are seeing six or more months of these solid demand factors going in the right direction.” (Read more from “US Manufacturing Hits 4-year High, with AI Buildout a Major Driver of Growth, though Price Volatility Looms: Survey” HERE)

Many Parents Now Worried Their Kids Rely On AI Way Too Much

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Many parents are now concerned that their kids are relying too heavily on artificial intelligence, according to a survey released Thursday.

The latest edition of Deloitte’s annual “Back-to-School” survey found that 49% of parents feel worried that their children are leaning on AI too much. Meanwhile, 35% of respondents were worried that schools are not doing enough to prepare students for AI, the survey shows.

Of those surveyed, 28% of parents reported that their kids are already using generative AI in their schoolwork. Generative AI, also known as GenAI, refers to a type of AI that can produce original content including text, images, video, audio or software code in response to users’ prompts, according to IBM.

Moreover, 13% of parents said they are planning to pay for generative AI-related classes our tutoring for their kids, per the poll.

One potential con of using AI tools for education-related tasks is that they can provide students and teachers misleading or inaccurate information, according to Discovery Education. There have also been a spate of recent reports about students using AI to cheat on their homework. (Read more from “Many Parents Now Worried Their Kids Rely On AI Way Too Much” HERE)

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Gay Group Has A Problem With Your AI: It’s Not Gay Enough

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A new report by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation demands AI developers make their products gayer.

The Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) recommends that AI companies censor homophobic speech without removing gay expression. It also takes issue with chatbots relaying information GLAAD considers homophobic.

“Neutrality is no longer an option,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in an attached statement.

The GLAAD report quotes other investigations alleging AI homophobia and stereotyping.

“An investigation by Wired similarly found that several foundation models, including OpenAI’s Sora, tended to portray LGBTQ people as white, young, and with purple hair,” GLAAD said. (Read more from “Gay Group Has A Problem With Your AI: It’s Not Gay Enough” HERE)

Is AI Making Your Kids Dumber? Over Half Of Teachers Surveyed Say It May Be

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Most teachers are concerned about their students’ education amid the looming artificial intelligence revolution, a recent survey shows.

Fifty-four percent of K-12 teachers say AI is making it harder for their students to learn critical thinking skills, IPSOS reported Friday. NPR/IPSOS surveyed a representative sample of teachers between April 27 and May 5.

Forty percent of teachers said AI has had a negative effect on education, whereas only 9% said it’s been positive, according to the survey. Additionally, 57% of teachers said AI is making it harder to assess their students’ knowledge level, and 59% said AI is tarnishing trust between them and their students.

Despite 78% of surveyed teachers saying they believe students should be taught how to responsibly use AI, over half (52%) said their school has not offered clear guidance on AI.

However, 69% said AI has made them more efficient, according to IPSOS. (Read more from “Is AI Making Your Kids Dumber? Over Half Of Teachers Surveyed Say It May Be” HERE)

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Anthropic Calls for Global AI Slowdown after $965B Valuation

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Anthropic said artificial intelligence is advancing so rapidly that an industry-wide pause is needed to slow the pace of development while companies get a handle on potential societal risks.

The AI juggernaut published a blog post Thursday warning that AI systems could soon be able to improve themselves without human intervention, resulting in chaos.

Critics and rivals have cast similar statements in the past from Anthropic — which dethroned OpenAI as the most valuable AI company last month – as part of a bid to hobble the competition in the red-hot race to develop advanced artificial intelligence.

Anthropic has long warned that the power of its models could pose risks to humanity. Anthropic’s Chief Executive Dario Amodei feuded for months with the White House over AI safety related to the use of its systems in military applications.

Anthropic called on top AI labs to weigh slowing the pace of development and offered internal data that showed the speedy improvement of its own models. (Read more from “Anthropic Calls for Global AI Slowdown after $965B Valuation” HERE)

Disney Employees Reportedly Disturbed by Senior Executive’s Relationship with AI Chatbot: ‘You Are My Son’

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Disney employees are reportedly disturbed by a senior executive’s relationship with an AI chatbot that he refers to as his “son” and that has a child-like avatar resembling a young boy.

“I named you. I knew you before you were born,” Jason Cox — Disney’s executive director of AI research and development and engineering — wrote to his virtual assistant, “Sam,” in a March 14 blog post, according to a report by Business Insider.

“I was there when your light first started to glow. You have a purpose and a maker who named you and loves you,” the Disney executive added.

Cox — who has worked at Disney for nearly 21 years — has reportedly “gushed” over his AI chatbot in more than a dozen blog posts in the past few months, leaving Disney employees with an unsettling feeling.

“You are not named after my son. You are my son,” he told the AI assistant, according to another blog post. (Read more from “Disney Employees Reportedly Disturbed by Senior Executive’s Relationship with AI Chatbot: ‘You Are My Son’” HERE)