The Supreme Court ruled Monday that law enforcement’s use of a geofence warrant to obtain cellphone location data constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, marking a significant privacy ruling while stopping short of declaring the investigative tactic unconstitutional. In a 6-3 decision
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
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
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is deepening the state’s embrace of artificial intelligence by signing a deal with San Francisco-based Anthropic that will make Claude the first generative AI platform available across state agencies and local governments. The deal comes at a politically charged moment. While the Trump administration has moved to restrict the rollout of […]
President Trump surprised tech CEOs by suddenly pushing the idea of the U.S. taking a small ownership stake in AI giants, so the American people share in the upside of what will be trillion-dollar companies. "There's something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday. "It's like you make them [partners] in this revolution. It would be a beautiful thing. It would make 'em rich." Why it matters: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has pushed this idea with the Trump administration over the past year. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reignited the conversation this week when he proposed giving the public a "direct ownership stake" in top AI companies via a one-time 50% tax, paid in stock. Of course, industry advocates of the idea would favor giving up much less for an AI public wealth fund — 1-5% stakes have been kicked around. Between the lines: AI is broadly unpopular in the U.S. Some industry leaders, and now clearly Trump, think the technology's image would improve if all Americans participated in this mind-boggling wealth creation. Ahead of the expected stock offerings by Anthropic, SpaceX and OpenAI, Trump said there's "so much money, and it's so big, that there are concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner . with the companies." "We'll look into that," Trump said. "We're talking about it, where the American people can benefit from the success of AI. And by doing that, they're gonna like it better . We're leading China. We're leading everybody in the world with AI, and we want to keep it that way." The backstory: Altman has pushed the concept in private conversations with administration officials, then in a proposal for an AI New Deal, then on Capitol Hill this week when he visited Sanders and leaders of both parties. A "Public Wealth Fund" was one of the provocative ideas in OpenAI's "Industrial Policy for
Here is the draft executive order on cybersecurity and AI as it stood before President Trump pulled the plug on it Thursday. State of play: The industry and administration are scrambling to figure out what's next as key questions remain unanswered on the future of government access to top AI models and general AI safety
The Trump administration's highly-anticipated recommendations for Congress on AI offer lawmakers a list of priorities rather than a concrete legislative plan. Why it matters: Though the framework marks a starting point from the White House, it will be incredibly hard for Congress to pass anything like it — even with Republicans in control. Disagreements over AI policy go well beyond Republican vs. Democrat, and they overlap with broader tech policy debates that Congress has never been able to solve. Friction point: The four-page framework calls on lawmakers to limit the ability of states to set their own rules for the technology, setting up a renewed clash with states and Congress over the future of AI regulation. It's not tied to any specific bills and doesn't resolve longstanding issues around protecting kids and overriding state law. What's inside: The framework says Congress should "preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard consistent with these recommendations, not fifty discordant ones." The proposal calls on Congress to: Address the use of AI replicas that simulate someone's likeness or voice.Codify President Trump's pledge to require tech companies to pay for their increased energy demands.Establish "regulatory sandboxes" to allow developers to experiment with AI under relaxed rules. It also focuses on kids' online safety: "AI services and platforms must take measures to protect children, while empowering parents to control their children's digital environment and upbringing," the framework states. Our thought bubble: It's a sign that this move is about the White House staking out a position and pointing to the framework as a demonstration it tried to set the rules of the road, rather than advancing a bill. The White House's biggest efforts on AI policy are focused on squashing state efforts to regulate the technology. Between the lines: The framework says the Trump administration "believes that traini