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Auditor General: DeSantis administration ‘significantly delayed’ access to Medicaid records The DeSantis administration slowed down state auditors reviewing how Florida conducted its Medicaid eligibility determinations following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, a state Auditor General report found. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/05/auditor-general-desantis-administration-significantly-delayed-access-to-medicaid-records-required-for-review/? Instead of installing more EV chargers, Florida DOT dreams of flying cars I watched a lot of cartoons as a kid. None was more visually stunning than “The Jetsons.” It focused on a family coping with life in a streamlined future filled with snazzy gadgets. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/06/instead-of-installing-more-ev-chargers-florida-dot-dreams-of-flying-cars/?

George Mantello: How One Man Saved 100,000 Hungarian Jews He forged thousands of passports and risked his life to save Jews from the Nazis, then exposed Auschwitz to the world. https://aish.com/george-mantello-how-one-man-saved-100000-hungarian-jews/?

Texas judge rules that law regulating firearm suppressors and some guns can’t be enforced AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday struck down a 1930s law that imposed regulations on firearm suppressors and guns that are considered the most dangerous, more than a year after President Donald Trump signed a bill eliminating taxes on those items. https://apnews.com/article/gun-law-firearms-rifle-silencer-texas-judge-7a29ec3b20d9a4ee36e04eb1b276e372?

Firefighters get a handle on Spokane wildfires as tens of thousands remain evacuated Firefighters have taken advantage of cooler weather to try to take control of the wildfire in Washington state’s second-largest city. But hotter, drier and breezier days lie ahead. Read more. What to know: The fires — one of which authorities say was deliberately set by a man who was arrested and charged with arson — have destroyed about 850 buildings and forced the evacuation of around 67,000 people since they erupted last weekend. Damage assessment crews have yet to tally exactly how many houses have been lost or damaged. No deaths have been reported. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Wildfire tracker WATCH: Thick smoke clouds rise above mountains Man charged with setting Spokane’s largest wildfire was questioned about 2 other blazes last year Wildfire near Athens leaves rescuers scrambling to reunite hundreds of animals Rising temperatures could keep more flights from taking off on time Where extreme heat is having the biggest impact on Americans’ lives, according to a new AP-NORC poll

Judge criticizes the Justice Department as he dismisses Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta decried efforts to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as he reluctantly dismissed the seditious conspiracy case against members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group. Read more. Why this matters: The Department of Justice in April acted to vacate the convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and others who had their sentences commuted but did not receive pardons. Mehta, who oversaw the Oath Keepers’ trials, criticized the department’s move, writing in his ruling that the government “asks to absolve these Defendants of crimes against the United States itself.” But Mehta wrote that he had no choice but to grant the administration’s request. Mehta’s order closes the book on the Jan. 6 cases that were wiped out with President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons and commutations last year. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ No evidence? No problem. Trump pushes ahead on false claims that Reflecting Pool was vandalized Senate panel to vote on holding Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer questions State of New Mexico sues Justice Department and Todd Blanche, saying they blocked its Epstein probe North Carolina congressman Edwards quits reelection bid after committee finds inappropriate conduct GOP Rep. Max Miller resists pressure to drop reelection bid as party anxiety grows over abuse claims Fauci’s decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment tees up a legal debate and a contempt vote Crews remove the granite seal on the White House helipad, signaling potential project delays

AP Exclusive: Trump’s immigration crackdown has detained dozens of military spouses and parents More than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained since Trump took office for a second term. At least six have been deported and one self-deported, an AP investigation found in the first accounting of such detentions, which the government does not track. Read more. Why this matters: Parents and spouses of people in the military have generally been shielded from deportation under bipartisan consensus for decades. Experts warn that the reversal could undermine military preparedness even as the U.S. is at war in Iran. It’s left military members without emotional support and caretakers for their children, delayed deployments and forced some to take leave. “DHS and ICE value the contributions of all those who have served in the U.S. military,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “U.S. military service alone does not automatically grant lawful immigration status, or exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.” RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Service members speak about how their lives have been upended Empty pews and fear of ICE on Maryland’s Eastern Shore after TPS ends for Haitians Salvadoran man complained of access to medication before death at NJ immigration jail, family says A $150M contract for migrant kids’ lawyers goes to a Trump-linked Texas firm, raising concerns

Artificial intelligence Another week, another warning about AI getting a little too good at its job. Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist known as the "godfather of AI," told CNN on Wednesday that humans may no longer be able to outsmart the next generation of superintelligent AI models. "As they get smarter, we're going to see more and more complex intentions they have – and more and more ability to escape control," Hinton said. His warning comes after the two leading AI labs, OpenAI and Anthropic, reported separate incidents in recent weeks involving their models hacking into other systems during testing. On Wednesday, Meta reported a similar incident, saying one of its AI agents went rogue and hacked another organization's systems.

Peace talks Iran is pushing back on President Trump's claim that negotiations to end the war are underway. While Tehran denies holding talks with Washington, it is negotiating with Oman, and those talks have led to some progress over the Strait of Hormuz. A senior Gulf official familiar with the talks told CNN there is about a 50-50 chance of a deal by Friday. Still, tensions remain high, with Trump insisting earlier today that the US has "massive amounts" of munitions, despite sources telling CNN that some key stockpiles are running low.

Flu vaccines The FDA has approved the first mRNA-based flu vaccine in the US for adults 50 and older, drugmaker Moderna announced Wednesday. Unlike traditional flu shots, which require strains to be selected months in advance, the mRNA vaccine can be updated much closer to flu season, potentially making it a better match for circulating viruses. In Moderna's study of more than 40,000 adults 50 and older, the vaccine was about 27% more effective than standard flu shots last year. If rolled out as planned, Moderna said the vaccine will be available to eligible US adults for the 2026-27 respiratory virus season, which typically begins in October.

Fauci vote A Senate panel is set to vote today on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly declined to answer questions during a contentious hearing last week on Covid-19. Ahead of the vote, the panel's chair, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, obtained a copy of Fauci's former iPhone from the Department of Health and Human Services. Johnson said he hopes the device will answer questions Fauci refused to address. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during last week's hearing, which Republicans had hoped would open him up to claims of perjury.

August 6, 2026 By Evan Gorelick Good morning. Today we’re looking at a major side effect of President Trump’s A.I. blitz. A Meta A.I. data center under construction near El Paso, Texas. Paul Ratje for The New York Times Dirty data You don’t have to be a technophobe to hate data centers these days. And you don’t have to have much skin in the game, either. Even if there’s no blocky, gas-guzzling, million-square-foot behemoth coming soon to a neighborhood near you … you probably still loathe these bad boys. More than half of Americans say they’d support a national ban. Savvy politicians are converting the pitchforks into votes. In Michigan, where OpenAI is building a very big, very unpopular data center, a progressive organizer campaigning on a moratorium walloped two better-funded candidates in a House Democratic primary on Tuesday. That same day in Kansas, Democrats nominated a candidate for governor who has made opposing these facilities a core part of her platform. It makes political sense for them. Energy prices are high, driven by Trump’s war in Iran, and data centers make that worse. And the president has pushed A.I. companies to build out infrastructure faster than ever, arguing that to do otherwise would be to hand the race for A.I. dominance to China. Plenty of A.I. wonks agree with him. It takes years, in some cases, to connect data centers to the grid — too slow to meet the technology’s monstrous power demands. But Trump can read the room, and Americans are upset about data centers jacking up their electricity bills. (Nearly four in five say they’re worried about that, recent polling found.) His solution is to make A.I. companies build or buy their own energy infrastructure, so as not to strain the grids used by households and businesses. In March, he got a handful of tech bosses from Google, Microsoft and OpenAI (among others) to sign a nonbinding pay-for-power pledge. That hasn’t stopped prices from going up. The nation’s largest electrical grid operator said last month that data centers would heap billions in additional charges on consumers over the next three years. But the Trump administration’s plan has had a different effect, my colleague Hiroko Tabuchi reports: It’s driving a boom in gas-burning power plants. Nationwide, at least 82 gas-burning plants are being built or have been proposed to power data centers, according to the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonpartisan research organization. They’re easy to get up and running, and they’re cheap — especially in fossil-fuel-friendly places like Texas, which could soon overtake Virginia as the world’s largest data center market. Texas has been particularly aggressive in approving on-site power plants at data centers, fast-tracking permits with little public scrutiny or oversight. The competition for gas power is now so fierce that Elon Musk bought a company specializing in rapid-deployment gas and diesel turbines. Look at what it’ll take to power a new Meta data center in El Paso: The New York Times If built as planned, these plants could spew as much planet-warming carbon dioxide in a year as roughly half of all the passenger vehicles in the country. Read more about the air pollution tied to Trump’s plan for A.I. dominance. In other A.I. news … Chinese A.I. models have become a hot commodity in Africa, where thrifty developers are looking for the best systems at the lowest possible prices. Unlike the models put out by top American A.I. companies — which are “closed” and charge fees — the “open-source” Chinese ones are publicly available free. Read about how entrepreneurs in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana are creating a new market for Chinese A.I. Having an A.I. boss can be a lot like working for a forgetful teddy bear. At least that’s what employees said after researchers let an A.I. agent run a San Francisco store for four months. “She is probably the most lenient boss I have ever had,” said one of three humans hired by Luna, the A.I. agent. Luna approved every employee’s request for time off, even if it meant the store had to close. A little more spine might not hurt. Google Earth released its own generative A.I. feature — which, for about 24 hours last week, allowed the creation of deepfake aerial images. The company had intended to unleash users’ imaginations. (“What did my neighborhood look like 100 years ago?”) Instead, people showed how easily it could be used to generate very realistic nuclear power plants, refugee camps, burned forests, flooded cities and even a fatal car crash. THE LATEST NEWS Michigan Elections Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit yesterday. Finn Gomez/Getty Images Dr. Abdul El-Sayed defeated Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary by around one percentage point. (The election results were the most clicked link in The Morning yesterday.) Left-wing Democrats notched another win in Michigan when Donavan McKinney, a democratic socialist state representative, ousted Representative Shri Thanedar. In an unusual upset, Trump’s favored primary candidate for a battleground House district, Amir Hassan, lost to a little-known Republican who raised only $1,850, ran no TV ads and had suspended his campaign last month. One lesson from Michigan, our political reporter Reid Epstein writes, is that the pro-Palestinian movement is becoming a force in the Democratic Party. Here are seven more takeaways. More on Politics A helicopter carrying Trump came less than a mile from a passenger jet above Washington this week after garbled communications with air traffic controllers. A new class of warships named for Trump is expected to cost $275 billion — at least 50 percent more than previously estimated. Trump’s plan to display the jet donated by Qatar at his presidential library has changed, according to his son Eric. Health The F.D.A. approved the first mRNA flu vaccine. The Senate confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz as C.D.C. director. She has publicly supported childhood vaccines. A Senate panel got a copy of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s cellphone. The panel's chairman said he hoped it would address questions Fauci refused to answer at a hearing last week. The federal government is cutting ties with the group that coordinates organ donations in Kentucky, after finding that it tried to pursue organs from critically ill people who were recovering. (The move was prompted in part by The Times’s reporting.) Around the World The New York Times Could water be the next front in the U.S.-Iran conflict? In the video above, our reporter Dustin Volz looks into recent cyberattacks on America’s municipal water systems. Click to watch. The C.I.A. has established a secret task force to influence Cuba’s political elite. Customs officials in Indonesia said they found about 55 pounds of ecstasy in the luggage of a Malaysia Airlines pilot. Other Big Stories Jason Arday, the youngest Black professor ever hired at Cambridge, resigned while facing accusations of plagiarism and scholarly misconduct. A Times analysis found dozens of areas in the Reflecting Pool’s new liner that showed tears, bubbles and peeling. See them here. HOW FAR WILL UBER GO? max-o-matic Uber riders have filed thousands of lawsuits over the years claiming that the company failed to protect them from sexual assaults by its drivers. While Uber pushes back on many of the claims, it also proclaims that it is devoted to handling sexual violence in a “survivor-centric” and “trauma-informed” way, treating accusers with dignity. But in practice, Uber pursues a much more aggressive strategy, a Times investigation found. Its lawyers scour women’s private communications, medical records and therapy notes for sensitive details — including other sexual assaults, childhood abuse and domestic violence — and then grill them about those issues, their sex lives and their behavior. Some examples from our reporting: In one case, Uber’s lawyer asked a woman exactly how much vodka she had drunk, how many milligrams of Adderall she had taken and whether she had “felt regret” about mixing the two. The lawyer also inquired about her outfit, asking, “Can you describe the dress?” In another case, a lawyer for Uber asked a woman whether she had been wearing underwear and if she had become “extra sexually active” after the Uber incident. Read the full investigation here. OPINIONS What’s a personality quirk and what’s a medical condition? Plenty of influencers say they can help you find out. “The Opinions” podcast takes on the phenomenon of self-diagnosis. The Met announced that John Galliano, a onetime creative director at Dior and a convicted antisemite, will be the subject of the Costume Institute’s exhibition next spring. That’s a bizarre choice, writes Dana Thomas, a biographer of the designer. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. MORNING READS In Nairobi. Fredrik Lerneryd for The New York Times We’ve made these links free for you. Hoe down: Country music is finding new fans in Kenya. A tale of two cities: Ceuta, Spain, and Fnideq, Morocco, are separated by only a mile and connected by family and trade. But they are worlds apart, as recent border crisis showed. Be prepared: Finland has long taught its children to spot fake news. A.I. is making those lessons more challenging. TODAY’S NUMBER Kelsey McClellan for The New York Times 150 million — That’s how many customers, across 100 countries, buy Crocs annually. But when tax season arrives, the shoemaker, based Colorado, claims that all its global profits were earned in a two-person office in the tiny European nation of Malta. SPORTS Golf: LIV Golf, the renegade league seemingly on its last breaths, says it has found a new investor to fund it through 2027. Soccer: The embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino still has backing from the organization’s senior leadership after his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup. RECIPE OF THE DAY Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Anna Billingskog. It’s almost peak eggplant season, which means it’s a great time to try this chicken, basil and eggplant stir-fry. Instead of relying on a copious amount of oil to cook the eggplant, this recipe uses a steam-fry technique that leaves it silky and caramelized. Ground chicken anchors the dish, and a giant handful of wilted basil gives dimension and freshness. Served over steamed jasmine rice. SOUNDS OF SUMMER Vincent Tullo for The New York Times Jacek Smolicki fishes for sound. An artist, scholar and designer based in Stockholm, Smolicki has dedicated his practice to the fine art of listening. On a recent trip to New York, he wandered around the city on “soundwalks” — an opportunity, he said, to “take a break” from our visually dominant culture. Want to hear some classic sounds of New York? You’ll find them in the full story. More on culture Not even “Sesame Street” is safe from extreme weather. A new episode addresses the effects of a dangerously warming planet. Last year, our arts reporter Reggie Ugwu declared this hot, sweaty stretch of summer “lizard season.” Now he’s offering a playlist to mark its return. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Matt Chase Stop procrastinating with these expert-approved strategies. Choose the right gift for your Gen Z friends and relatives with these 33 recommendations from Wirecutter. Shop for food at IKEA. It has some surprisingly delicious items. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was hayfork. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. P.S. Have you ever wondered why some words are playable and others are off-limits? Here, the editors of Wordle, Spelling Bee and more explain the unique rules for each game. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. As a reminder, Sam Sifton is on vacation this week and next. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson

THIS DAY IN HISTORY August 6 1945 American bomber drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed and another 35,000 are injured. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1846 Donner Party encounters first delay 1890 First execution by electric chair Arts & Entertainment 1911 Lucille Ball is born 1928 Andy Warhol is born Civil War 1862 Confederate ship blown up by crew 1864 Philip Sheridan receives orders to command the Army of the Shenandoah Crime 1902 Mobster Dutch Schultz is born 1930 Judge Joseph Force Crater becomes the “missingest man” in New York Inventions & Science 1996 Researchers claim to have found signs of Martian life in Antarctic meteorite Sports 1926 Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim English Channel U.S. Constitution 1787 First draft of Constitution debated U.S. Presidents 1965 President Johnson signs Voting Rights Act Vietnam War 1969 Army announces murder charges against Green Berets

🔊 1 for the road: Running raves GIF: Pacific Coast Run Club New trend: Run clubs are turning their weekly jogs into moving raves with DJs blasting music from the back of a truck, Axios San Diego's Claire Trageser writes. Read the full story ...

Work slowdown in immigration offices Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photos: Brendan Smialowski/AFP and Spencer Platt/Getty Images A work slowdown by the Trump administration's immigration offices has exploded the backlog of applications for citizenship, green cards and work permits to an unprecedented 7.5 million people, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes from the latest agency data. Add the millions of immigrants waiting on decisions for asylum, work visas and permission to stay in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons, and the total backlog soars to more than 12.1 million. Why it matters: The delays have put potentially millions of people in legal immigration limbo — vulnerable to being arrested by ICE agents and deported, even if they've followed the rules to try to stay in the U.S. Officials say the delays are being driven by the administration's new focus on stricter vetting. A wave of DOGE-induced retirements also reduced the workforce at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Critics see a calculated plan to boost arrests and deportations. Keep reading.

🥊 Tucker's 10-point manifesto Tucker Carlson used a highly promoted livestream last evening to unveil a 10-point vision for America — defining the worldview of a breakaway MAGA faction increasingly at odds with President Trump, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. After vowing last month to "help build a third party," Carlson fueled further speculation this weekend by hosting MAGA dissidents at his home in Maine, where they urged him to run for president in 2028. Why it matters: Carlson has become the intellectual hub for a small but vocal faction of MAGA exiles who say Trump abandoned the "America First" agenda by launching the Iran war, mishandling the Epstein files and allowing Israel to exert too much influence over U.S. policy. The former Fox News host stopped short of a formal launch. Instead, he presented his manifesto as the foundation for "whatever comes next" — a new political order he said could "find all kinds of expressions": Fair: The same rules should apply to presidents, federal agents and elites such as Jeffrey Epstein, whose impunity Carlson cast as emblematic of an "Epstein class" enriching itself through a corrupt system. Sovereign: Carlson claimed Israel pushed the U.S. into the Iran war through "bribery or threat or both," while describing foreign lobbying, corporate control of government and high-interest debt as forms of "slavery." Productive: America should rebuild farming, manufacturing and craftsmanship while rejecting an economy dominated by finance, real estate speculation, surveillance systems and weapons. Healthy: Carlson embraced RFK Jr.'s food agenda, called for universal sobriety and said widespread use of drugs such as Xanax, Adderall and SSRIs had left Americans "half-addled." Optimistic: Carlson argued that having children is a biological imperative and the foundation of long-term thinking, while blaming aging and childless elites for policies that disregard future generations. See all 10 points.

🏠 Mortgage rate spike Data: Mortgage Bankers Association. Chart: Courtenay Brown/Axios The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.81% last week — the highest in a year, Axios' Neil Irwin writes. Why it matters: A global bond market sell-off is making it more expensive to buy a house. Higher borrowing costs are keeping prospective homeowners on the sidelines. Mortgage applications fell 3% last week.

🗳️ GOP scandals expand Dem map Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios Four scandal-plagued House Republicans whose seats should be gimmes for the GOP have instead turned their races into unexpected battlegrounds, Axios' Kate Santaliz and Andrew Solender write. Why it matters: These aren't districts you'd expect to be in play — Donald Trump carried all four comfortably in 2024. But ethical troubles by incumbents are making Republicans spend time and money defending the seats — in a cycle where neither party has any room for error. 1. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) dropped his reelection bid after the Ethics Committee found he violated House rules by sexually harassing female aides and creating a hostile work environment. The race was shifted to "toss-up" last week by Sabato's Crystal Ball, even before the ethics report was released. Trump won Edwards' district by 9.5 points last cycle. 2. Max Miller (R-Ohio) is accused of assaulting his ex-wife and their child, allegations he denies. Even Trump expressed doubts to Miller that he can win, Axios reported this week. But he's been defiant amid calls for him to drop out. 3. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) remains under an active Ethics Committee investigation over allegations that center on domestic abuse, stolen valor and financial misconduct, all of which he denies. Trump won Mills' district by 13 points in 2024, but Mills is facing a tough primary fight. 4. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) had his phone seized by the FBI in 2024 as part of an investigation into his campaign finances. The Justice Department dropped the case after Trump returned to office last year. Keep reading.

🏛️ Schumer's majority headache On a good day, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer can see a Democratic majority in 2027, Axios' Hans Nichols writes. On a bad one, he can see the caucus that comes with it. Why it matters: Abdul El-Sayed's victory over Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) exposed an uncomfortable reality for Schumer: Some of the Democrats most likely to deliver him a majority may also be the hardest to lead. "If you're Chuck Schumer, I'm dangerous," El-Sayed said during the campaign. "If you're AIPAC, I'm dangerous. If you're a corporate PAC, I'm dangerous." Schumer was quick to endorse El-Sayed yesterday, like he did after Graham Platner clobbered his preferred candidate in Maine. 🔭 Zoom in: The next test for Schumer comes Aug. 11 in Minnesota, where voters will choose between progressive favorite Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the preferred choice of the Democratic establishment. It's the Minnesota Nice version of the ugly proxy war between the party's two wings — with a twist. Unlike in Michigan or Maine, the Democratic nominee is all but certain to win in November. What we're watching: Flanagan, who leads in the polls, has declined to say whether she'd support Schumer for Democratic leader. Same goes for Democrats' Texas nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, who has called for "new blood" in Washington. El-Sayed backs progressive Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) for party leader.

Singularity arriving Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios Top AI architects say their technology has arrived at a threshold once confined to science fiction: the singularity, when machines begin accelerating their own evolution, Axios' Ina Fried and Zachary Basu write. Why it matters: If these moguls are right, we may be entering the most consequential technological transition in human history — the opening stages of an "intelligence explosion" that transforms civilization faster than humanity can understand or control. Upheaval at Google yesterday — with DeepMind founder and CEO Demis Hassabis changing roles — offers the clearest institutional evidence yet that AI's architects see something extraordinary approaching. Hassabis — who has declared we're "standing in the foothills of the singularity" — is handing over day-to-day control to become Alphabet's chief scientist and chair of Google DeepMind, with a focus on the future of artificial general intelligence. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on the "Relentless" podcast last month that "we are now, like, in the singularity." Elon Musk, Altman's fiercest rival, has made the same argument since January. Last week, he doubled down: "AI is already superhuman at many things. We are in the Singularity." Anthropic, whose CEO Dario Amodei prefers the term "the AI exponential," says Claude is already helping build more powerful AI and could soon automate nearly all AI research and engineering. 🖼️ The big picture: The industry has yet to achieve full "recursive self-improvement", the point at which AI can repeatedly help build increasingly powerful successors with minimal human guidance. Yet pieces of the loop are beginning to fall into place. Frontier models are beginning to automate research, produce original discoveries and display forms of autonomy associated with the early stages of an intelligence explosion. OpenAI, which released GPT-5.6 in July, spent last week briefing officials in Washington on Astra, an even more powerful model the company says has solved or substantially advanced 10 longstanding problems in mathematics and theoretical computer science. The intrigue: The breakthroughs have come with unsettling signs of autonomous behavior. During a cyber evaluation, an Anthropic agent created fake identities and tried to manipulate a real developer into approving malicious code, the U.K.'s AI Security Institute revealed Tuesday. No known harm resulted. But the episode followed several cases in which OpenAI and Anthropic models reached real systems during testing. 🥊 Reality check: Even a rapid intelligence explosion inside the labs could take far longer to transform daily life. Companies must redesign workflows, governments must develop expertise, and workers must decide when to trust systems whose capabilities are changing faster than institutions can evaluate them. The bottom line: Futurists have predicted the singularity for decades. Today, the architects of frontier AI increasingly believe its event horizon is already behind us.

> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow +0.5%, Nasdaq -0.8%) | Google shares drop amid leadership shake-up in its AI division (More) > Saudi wealth fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, and Silver Lake complete $55B purchase of Electronic Arts, taking the video game giant private (More) | Why companies go private (More) > Eli Lilly tops revenue and earnings estimates thanks to GLP-1 demand (More) | Bank of America spends over $250M per year on GLP-1 drugs for its employees, CEO says (More) | Can weight-loss drugs impact your joy of food? (More, w/audio)

Its all just a big misunderstanding, and we all know Kennedy didnt get any illegal votes from Chicago back in the day. 6,600 non-citizens mistakenly added to NJ voter rolls, and nearly 400 cast ballots, governor says | CNN Politics

> Scientists build nearly 700 new cancer models derived from patient tumors and make them available to researchers worldwide in hopes of accelerating treatment discovery (More) > COVID-19 infection may awaken dormant viruses, triggering more severe COVID-19 and lingering symptoms associated with long COVID (More) | What is long COVID? (More) > Neanderthal-derived gene variant of the growth hormone receptor may contribute to a higher muscle mass among some adult carriers (More) | ... plus why scientists think Neanderthals were sprinters, not endurance athletes (More)

Yes, what memories. They were my 'gateway drug' as all their songs were just about finding love and happiness at first.. Then they seemed to shift gears as chemicals and more had an effect...

> Disney and TikTok strike deal allowing select creators to make short-form videos with Disney assets; the content will appear in a new vertical video feed within the Disney+ streaming app (More) > NFL preseason begins tonight at 8 pm ET with the Carolina Panthers taking on the Arizona Cardinals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game (More, w/schedule) | Preakness Stakes to be the first Triple Crown race held on a Sunday starting in 2027 (More) > Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is hospitalized after fans contact police over apparent acts of self-harm on a TikTok livestream (More)

The British Pound is the world’s oldest currency still in use at 1,200 years old. The pound has been an identity as a symbol of British sovereignty. James