A US dronemaker is partnering with a Taiwanese tech firm to build scalable systems for the country’s military, as the rush to augment autonomous defense capabilities intensifies on both sides of the strait.
“While technological successes are celebrated, the social fabric is progressively eroded, as if by a silent virus.” — Pope Leo XIV The artificial intelligence industry likes to refer to its massive “hyperscale” data centres as “campuses.” That’s complete bullshit. A data centre hosts no students, no laughter and no libraries. The poet William Blake would have [...]
The strangest storyline emerging from the UFC fights on Sunday night came not from the White House lawn but from a former UFC fighter’s Twitter page. A few hours before the fights, Daniel Cormier, a heavyweight fighter who retired in 2020, posted screenshots of D.M.s between him and Eric Trump, in which the president’s son asks if any of the bouts are going to be rigged so he can bet on them.“I’m probably going to get a lot of flak for bringing this to light, however I refuse to stay silent,” Cormier wrote. “The UFC is a sport that I am deeply passionate about. I will not tolerate this type of insider behavior. Shame on anyone trying to ruin this beautiful event.”Cormier quickly deleted the post, but it was captured by many online, including a few journalists. The younger Trump claimed the screenshots were “AI generated,” that he has never spoken to Cormier, and that the fighter deleting his post was proof the messages were “clearly fabricated.” But Trump’s denial raises more questions than it answers. (Trump recently deleted this post as well, while leaving up other vague rebuttals.)First off, Cormier deleting the post has no bearing on whether the messages are real or not. Using that as an excuse is obviously weak. Trump also insinuated that Cormier was unaware the messages were fake—but the messages included those sent by Cormier, and Cormier himself posted them! So that also doesn’t make much sense.Cormier intentionally posting fake messages also doesn’t add up. He is currently a UFC commentator, as well as a coach. Fabricating something like this would destroy all his professional credibility and probably get him fired. And for what—to create a minor scandal for Eric Trump that he probably wouldn’t face any repercussions for anyway? The younger Trump is already no stranger to grifting through shady crypto deals.Cormier has now backtracked and said the messages are fake, as well. “I got hacked or something. Who believes stuff like that? That’s crazy,” he told journalist Nicholas Ballasy while leaving the fight. Here is an excerpt of the private messages Cormier tweeted out. You can come to your own conclusions:TRUMP: You placing any bets?CORMIER: Nah I’m actually not allowed to bet on any cards or anything.TRUMP: Are any of the fighters injured that you know of?CORMIER: I’m not quite sure why you’re asking me this but I think they’re all in good shape..TRUMP: I’ll just cut to the chase. Are any of the fights tomorrow rigged? I’ve been eyeing the Lopes fight and I think an upset wouldn’t be too unrealistic. $$CORMIER: No none of our fights rigged and honestly I am appalled that you would even ask me something like that.