Donald Trump spent hours consulting Elon Musk’s Grok AI in the Oval Office, reportedly asking whether Venezuelans would celebrate if he captured Nicolás Maduro; Grok predicted many would welcome the leader’s downfall, and Trump then ordered a January operation that seized Maduro. The move followed contentious U.S. lethal strikes in the Caribbean - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced four men killed aboard a boat in international waters - and produced street celebrations, but has proved messier than the chatbot’s rosy prediction. Maduro remains in U.S. custody facing federal drug-trafficking charges, Venezuelans have not yet had free, fair elections, and U.S. influence over the oil-rich country continues. That perceived success is said to have emboldened Trump to embark on the war with Iran now in its seventh month.
Trump’s fascination with AI has only intensified: he rebranded it “super intelligence,” floods his platform with AI-generated imagery (from messianic portrayals to a racist video of Barack and Michelle Obama), and resists tougher federal regulation. He hosted top tech leaders and rolled out America.gov, an AI-driven portal to streamline government services, while the White House tech accord favors industry self-policing over binding rules. The episode highlights a central risk: chatbots don’t reason but echo their training data, making them an unreliable foundation for high-stakes military and foreign-policy decisions.
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Gambling principles shape decision-making and risk strategies in Silicon Valley, especially in prediction markets and innovation. The influence of gambling logic affects how companies assess uncertainty and pursue technological advancements. (nytimes.com)
ArtCraft offers seven open-source, Rust-based applications for tasks like image editing, vector illustration, and video editing. All apps are native, free, and built from scratch, with additional tools in development. (getartcraft.com)
Hiring activity in the US and UK talent markets is in question. Browser compatibility issues prevent access to the webpage discussing this topic. (hotsourced.io)
A universal bone dissolver is a biomedical technology that could potentially dissolve bones. A call has been made to pause its development due to ethical and safety concerns. (theatlantic.com)
Following the closure of Tippett Studios, a digital archive of its animated materials has been uploaded online for free browsing. The archive includes test clips, interviews, and extensive digital files preserved from the studio's decades of work in effects and animation. (filmstories.co.uk)
Iran's parliament speaker posted a modified version of the Taylor Rule, adding variables representing strategic waterways, as a message about influencing US interest rates. This move coincided with rising US fuel prices and highlights Iran's attempt to target America's debt and economic influence. (jaymartin.substack.com)
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