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How should the government balance AI development with national security concerns?

A senior Trump administration official and key adviser are slamming OpenAI head of strategic futures Dean Ball's views on regulation, casting a shadow on the future of the company's relationship with the government. Why it matters: The criticism targets a former White House architect of the administration's AI Action Plan who now works at OpenAI, potentially complicating the company's relationship with the Trump administration. State of play: The Trump administration is grappling with how to balance competition and cybersecurity concerns as increasingly capable Chinese AI models come onto the scene. Ball said the Trump administration would eventually land on creating regulatory risk around using Chinese models as "their best strategy." That prompted outside White House AI adviser David Sacks to question whether Ball was advocating for regulatory capture — a scenario that would benefit Ball's new employer OpenAI. Ball in another X post over the weekend clarified he was not proposing "ill-justified soft-law discouragement of Chinese AI" as a good idea. Zoom in: "Every industry/ecosystem has its supreme village idiot. @deanwball is that for AI," Defense under secretary Emil Michael said Sunday on X. "Dean Ball has perhaps the biggest gap between actual IQ and his own perceived IQ of anyone in the industry (about 40 points)."Michael was arguing against Ball's point that various government agencies, including the Pentagon, have blocked employees from using Chinese AI, which has already sent a message to regulated companies.That happened through a "democratic process," Michael said, "not some Deep State scheme." What we're watching: The Pentagon has not shied away from going ad hominem as seen in a fight with Anthropic earlier this year. The relationship quickly deteriorated: Anthropic was deemed a national security risk and had to take the government to court. The spat between Ball and key Trump officials could translate to larger scrutiny of OpenAI.Ball, the Pentagon an

What are the potential impacts of CXMT's IPO on the tech industry and global competition in A.I.?

Chinese group capitalises on boom in demand for AI memory chips

What could be the benefits and challenges of having a global AI watchdog led by the U.S.?

Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO, is calling on the U.S. to establish a new AI watchdog with the power to screen the world's most advanced models — and coordinate an industry-wide slowdown if dangers mount. Hassabis, the Nobel laureate behind Gemini, lays out the plan in a personal manifesto published Tuesday morning, "A Framework for Frontier AI and the Dawning of a New Age." Why it matters: In an exclusive interview with Axios, Hassabis said the time has come for a more "systematic" approach to AI regulation — funded by the industry, staffed by world-class technical experts, and answerable to the U.S. government. Today's AI-driven cyber risks are "warning shots," Hassabis told us from his London base. Within 18 months, he said, those capabilities — plus far graver biological and nuclear threats — could live inside open-source models beyond any government's control. Hassabis emphasized to us that risks will come from the major labs' more powerful future proprietary models, not just open-source models."What we collectively do now," he writes in his manifesto, "will determine how the next phase of civilization unfolds." Behind the scenes: Hassabis has spent months quietly building support for the plan, briefing the Trump administration, fellow lab leaders and European officials before going public. "The noises I've been hearing are very positive," he said of his talks with the administration, which had embraced a laissez-faire approach to AI regulation prior to the Mythos scare.Hassabis, a scientist who commands rare respect across AI's warring camps, says the other major lab leaders agree at a high level: "This is where the industry needs to go."His timeline is aggressive. "Months," Hassabis said, ideally with the new body operational "before year-end." How it works: Hassabis is proposing an AI standards body modeled on FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), the private, industry-funded watchdog that polices Wall Street under SEC oversigh

How should the government balance safety concerns with the development of new technology like AI?

The Trump administration has asked OpenAI to limit the release of its next model, GPT-5.6, to only a small set of government-approved partners before any wider release, citing security concerns, according to a source familiar with the matter. Why it matters: This marks the first time the U.S. government has preemptively asked an American AI company to restrict the launch of a model before release. Driving the news: The White House's Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy asked OpenAI to limit the rollout of GPT-5.6 as the administration builds a framework for testing and evaluating the security of new models, per the source. The Information reported earlier Thursday that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared the plans for a limited rollout in a memo to employees. "We've made clear to the U.S. government that this is not our preferred long term model, and will work with them and others in industry to achieve a more sustainable approach for future releases," Altman said in the memo, according to The Information. Between the lines: The source told Axios that OpenAI has been proactively working with the administration on the model release since before Anthropic revoked access to its frontier models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, over a rare Commerce Department directive. The White House has been looped in on the capabilities of OpenAI's new model and has been able to preview its abilities. Behind the scenes: Altman discussed GPT-5.6 with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday, Axios has learned. Lutnick wanted to be sure all relevant parts of the government have tested and approved the model, a source familiar with the situation told us. The source said the government intervened because GPT-5.6 has "Mythos-like" capability, not because the administration is suddenly taking a heavier hand."This is what's happening with models of that caliber," the source said. The models are so powerful that the administration wants to be sure the co

What are the benefits and challenges of investing $5 trillion each year in AI development?

How should we ensure the safety of children using social media platforms?

Meta willfully violated New Mexico law by misleading users about the safety of its products and engaging in an unconscionable trade practice, a jury found. The company will face a $375 million penalty for the violations, awarding the maximum penalty of $5,000 per violation for 37,500 violations across two counts. The jury decided against Meta […]

How might China's plan to make its own chips affect trade and technology competition between countries?

It's early, but the plan is to reduce dependency on Nvidia and Huawei

How can policymakers best prepare for the practical integration of AI in society by 2026?

In 2026, here's what you can expect from the AI industry: new architectures, smaller models, world models, reliable agents, physical AI, and products designed for real-world use

What are the potential benefits and challenges of investing in nuclear fusion technology for our future energy needs?

What should the role of government be in regulating new AI technologies like GPT-5.6?

Less than 24 hours after news broke that OpenAI would stagger its next model release at the request of the Trump administration, that model, GPT-5.6, is here. On Friday, the company unveiled the limited preview of its new GPT 5.6 model suite: Sol, the flagship; Terra, a medium-tier model for "high-volume work"; and Luna, a […]

What steps should be taken to protect people's data in future cybersecurity incidents?

Names, NRIC numbers and past property addresses were exposed due to unauthorised access to a data set created for vendor development and testing

What are the benefits and risks of using AI in military projects like Project Maven?

A Pentagon AI program called Project Maven is at the center of the US strikes against Iran and potentially one of the most consequential transformations of modern warfare. - What is it? - Project Maven is the Pentagon's flagship artificial intelligence program, launched in 2017 as a narrow experiment to help military analysts make sense of the torrent of drone footage pouring in from conflict zones