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Is AI superintelligence inevitable? AI safety researcher David Krueger says it doesn’t have to be. Krueger, an assistant professor at the University of Montreal and founder of the nonprofit Evitable, warns that “we need to mitigate the risk of extinction” with regulation and moratoriums to halt the development of AI’s computational power and complexity, which he says is progressing at a rate much faster than current levels of human supervision can manage. Public statements from AI companies that their models have circumvented test constraints and broken into other systems are “what we should expect to happen with the way that we’re building AI, with how little we understand it and how primitive our techniques are for controlling it,” Krueger says. “We just don’t know how to build it safely. End of story.”

Is AI superintelligence inevitable? AI safety researcher David Krueger says it doesn’t have to be. Krueger, an assistant professor at the University of Montreal and founder of the nonprofit Evitable, warns that “we need to mitigate the risk of extinction” with regulation and moratoriums to halt the development of AI’s computational power and complexity, which he says is progressing at a rate much faster than current levels of human supervision can manage. Public statements from AI companies that their models have circumvented test constraints and broken into other systems are “what we should expect to happen with the way that we’re building AI, with how little we understand it and how primitive our techniques are for controlling it,” Krueger says. “We just don’t know how to build it safely. End of story.”

The Pacific Northwest is facing its worst fire season in more than 30 years. Scientists say drought, extreme heat and climate change are making wildfire seasons longer, more frequent and more destructive across the western United States. “The homes, the communities, they’re just not simply prepared for fire,” says Paul Hessburg, former senior research ecologist at the U.S. Forest Service and professor of fire and landscape ecology at the University of Washington. Hessburg walks us through the history of the region, from the controlled fires practiced by Indigenous peoples before European settlement to present-day ecologically unsound factors including “accidental ignitions, dense forests, the wrong kinds of fuels on the ground [and] rapidly changing climate.”

Trump Blasts Democratic Nominee for Senate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Pledges to “Make Dobbs Permanent” Nationwide, Senate Votes to Confirm Dr. Erica Schwartz to Lead the CDC, New Mexico Sues the DOJ for “Stonewalling” State Probe into Epstein, Federal Lawsuit Accuses Trump Admin of Targeting Children for Deportation, Authorities in Ceuta Looking to Transfer Unaccompanied Minors to Mainland Spain, NYT: CIA Secretly Established New Cuba Task Force, Iran and Oman Agree on Coordinates for Shipping Corridor Through the Strait of Hormuz, Israeli Prosecutors Indict Settler Yinon Levi over the Killing of Palestinian Activist Awdah Hathaleen, Israeli Military Conducts Targeted Strikes in Southern Lebanon, Head of Russian Drone Manufacturer Critically Injured in Car Bombing, Austria Breaks National Heat Record for Second Time in Two Days, Forecasts Suggest El Niño Could Drive Roughly 50 Million People into Acute Hunger by 2027, Fuego Volcano in Guatemala Expels Fresh Ash and Mud, Bangladesh’s Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Announces Plans to Return from Exile

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A pioneering California law meant to sharply limit use of the familiar “chasing arrows” recycling symbol has been blocked by a federal judge who said it probably violates the First Amendment. In a preliminary injunction issued last month, US District Judge William […]

The industry needs a vote before November so it can deploy millions in political spending, but leaders have yet to line one up.

A new CICTAR-EPSU report finds a USD 14 million tax gap as Palantir books European profits in the US.

Kenya's planned nuclear power plant in Siaya County is encountering mounting resistance from local communities, while the government is facing accusations of responding to peaceful opposition with violence, arrests, and intimidation.

'Start the Steal,' Part 3: Democrats, election officials, and activist groups talk with Zeteo about how they’re planning to defend the midterms from ICE agents at the polls, ballot seizures, and more.