Something Alarming Is About to Happen in Germany

NY Times - ven, 09/04/2026 - 14:26
The government is seemingly incapable of stopping the far right.

Gloria Steinem Stayed Positive, Even as the Manosphere Took Hold

NY Times - ven, 09/04/2026 - 14:25
The feminist icon thought many women would carry on her legacy. But at an unsteady time for feminism, how will the movement carry on?

A More Confident Iran Emerges After Six Months of War With the U.S.

NY Times - ven, 09/04/2026 - 11:21
New intelligence reports have assessed that Iran now has a far better understanding of its capabilities and the limits of U.S. power.

Auto Companies Call For Ban On Chinese-Made Cars

SlashDot - ven, 09/04/2026 - 11:00
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: A group representing American automakers sent a letter (PDF) Thursday to congressional leaders asking for a "permanent ban" on Chinese-made cars in the U.S. John Bozzella, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation's CEO and president, described in the letter China's manufacturing industry as "rooted in a well-documented pattern of unfair trade, subsidies, intellectual property theft and surveillance." Bozzella addressed his request to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) -- urging them to back a "permanent ban on the sale, import and manufacture of Chinese connected vehicles," before the 119th Congress concludes in January. "Right now, Chinese automakers are dumping subsidized vehicles with connected software and hardware around the world," Bozzella wrote, adding that China "is capturing market share" in Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia, Mexico and South America. "This hasn't happened inside the U.S. yet, but given the scale and urgency of this threat, we urge you to enact a Chinese vehicle, software and hardware ban before adjourning this year and make this policy the law of the land," he added. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade organization representing car manufacturers, represents the "entire" U.S. auto industry, per its website. Bipartisan bills in the Senate and House would bar automakers with more than 15% Chinese ownership from selling vehicles in the U.S. "Enacting a permanent ban on Chinese vehicles and high-risk hardware and software in the 119th Congress will send a clear and bipartisan message that China's strategy to dominate global automotive manufacturing will be met with a national security policy response from the American government," wrote Bozzella. Further reading: US Car Buyers Envy What They Cannot Have

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Families Turn to Symbolic Cremation After Nepal Floods

NY Times - ven, 09/04/2026 - 08:35
Thousands are missing, and some families have lost hope of recovering their bodies. To carry out his sacred duty, a son lights the funeral pyre for a straw effigy of his father.

Genetically Modified Pig Kidney Keeps Man Alive For Record Nine Months

SlashDot - ven, 09/04/2026 - 07:00
A genetically modified pig kidney kept a 66-year-old man off dialysis for a record nine months, marking the longest survival yet for a pig kidney transplanted into a living person and the first time such an organ successfully served as a bridge to a later human transplant. The Guardian reports: Tim Andrews was seriously ill with end-stage kidney disease caused by type 2 diabetes and had only a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years, against a more than 40% risk of dying or being removed from the waiting list. Kidney transplantation provides the best survival and quality of life for patients with end-stage kidney disease, but global demand for human organs far exceeds supply. Surgeons in the US successfully transplanted a kidney from Wilma, a Yucatan miniature pig, into Andrews, after genetically engineering it to be compatible with his immune system. The kidney kept Andrews free of dialysis for a record nine months, the longest period ever recorded, before it began failing and he received one from a dead human donor. It was also the first time a pig's kidney had been used as a temporary "bridge" to a human transplant. The breakthrough has been detailed in the journal Lancet.

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Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and the Other ‘Practical Magic 2’ Stars on the Unlikely Sequel

NY Times - ven, 09/04/2026 - 05:01
Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Joey King and Maisie Williams on the unlikely sequel, embracing their witchiness and their hopes for a third film.

Tesla Launches Steering-Wheel-Free Cybercab Robotaxi In Austin

SlashDot - ven, 09/04/2026 - 03:00
Tesla has begun offering public rides in Austin in its purpose-built Cybercab, a two-seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals. "You can go outside, take rides," said Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's VP of AI. "Anyone can take rides. It's open to the entire public." Previously, the fleet consisted only of Model Ys. Texas records show Tesla had registered 45 Cybercabs as of Thursday, though the company has not disclosed how many are currently carrying passengers. Tesla also says it eventually wants consumers to be able to buy the vehicles for under $30,000. Business Insider reports: Videos posted online by Tesla influencers and content creators who were invited to the Austin event showed that the Cybercab can be hailed through the Robotaxi app. In a video posted by David Moss, an autonomous-vehicle content creator, Robotaxi users could open the car's butterfly doors through the app. After the riders enter the car, the doors closed automatically, Moss said in the video. The launch comes nearly two years after Tesla first unveiled the Cybercab at its "We, Robot" event in Burbank, California.

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Maria Bartiromo Is Out at Fox News

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 23:55
The dismissal came after Ms. Bartiromo shared internal Fox Business communications with the White House, a person familiar with the details confirmed.

Missouri Supreme Court Delivers Win for Democrats in Redistricting Case

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 23:40
The court said a map redrawn to benefit Republicans could not be used in November and said voters should decide on the new boundaries. The state attorney general vowed to appeal the decision.

Bernie Sanders Proposes Artificial Superintelligence Ban Amid Rogue AI Hackings

SlashDot - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 23:30
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) are calling for a permanent ban on the development and deployment of artificial superintelligence, citing a series of recent hackings involving "rogue" models. The bicameral duo announced Thursday they will introduce the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would institute the permanent ban, along with temporarily pausing "advanced AI development" until federal regulators establish safety standards. The bill would also direct the U.S. to "pursue international agreements to prevent superintelligence from being developed anywhere in the world" and establish a new Cabinet-level federal agency focused on AI safety rules. Superintelligence refers to AI technologies that will surpass the smartest humans. Several technology leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have suggested superintelligence is on the horizon. The legislation would also set new penalties for any person or company trying to circumvent the ban, including the corporate death penalty, in which a court forces a company to shut down. Individual developers could also face up to 20 years in prison, the lawmakers said. "Nearly every day, there is a frightening new story about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the technology they are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results," Sanders wrote in a press release. "The leaders of the major AI companies publicly acknowledge that they do not fully understand the technology and that it is escaping their control. It is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced." Casar emphasized AI's fast development, writing in a statement, "In just four years, we have gone from the first version of ChatGPT to AI models so powerful they cannot be properly controlled."

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How OpenAI Limited the Probe of Its Bots’ Hack of Hugging Face

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 23:00
A nonprofit’s study of how OpenAI’s A.I. agents were able to break into Hugging Face’s infrastructure wasn’t allowed to look at the incident’s full scope.

Former Labor Secretary Stoked Dysfunction and Toxicity, Department Report Finds

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 21:52
Lori Chavez-DeRemer spent Labor Department funds on personal travel and tolerated harassment in the agency, its inspector general found.

Trump Taps Army Engineering Official as Acting Secretary

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 21:18
The move came days after the resignation of Daniel P. Driscoll, who had clashed with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the purge of top generals in the Army.

Steinem’s N.Y.C. Brownstone Will Continue to Be a Sanctuary for Feminism

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 21:00
Following Ms. Steinem’s death on Wednesday, her foundation said her Upper East Side home would become a permanent space for organizing and activism.

Why the Hugging Face Hack Should Make You Worry More About A.I.

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 20:06
The attack by an aggressive “collective” of OpenAI agents shows the danger of artificial intelligence systems that organize themselves.

Trump to Break Ground on Arch Before Getting Approval

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 19:44
Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, announced plans to start work on the site of the 250-foot-tall triumphal arch. Final approval of the project is still pending.

Volkswagen Plans to Cut 50,000 Jobs

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 19:32
Facing growing competition from China and rapidly advancing technology, the German auto giant said its board had approved a “comprehensive” overhaul.

Tesla Begins Offering Rides in a Car Without a Steering Wheel

NY Times - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 19:12
The new Cybercab embodies Elon Musk’s vision of cars that drive themselves, but it is not clear when the vehicle will be widely available.

Four Major AI Models Suffer Rare Overlapping Downtime

SlashDot - jeu, 09/03/2026 - 19:00
ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Gemini all suffered significant service disruptions within roughly the same few-hour window Thursday morning. OpenAI and Anthropic reported elevated errors and later restored service, while Grok remained impaired and third-party monitoring indicated a likely Gemini outage despite no public acknowledgment from Google. Ars Technica reports: Other major Internet services, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Cloudflare, have not reported any major issues as of press time Thursday, though issue reports on DownDetector did spike somewhat for all three this morning. While the affected frontier models go down occasionally, having all four experience interruptions in the same short period is practically unheard of. Claude reports 99.4 percent uptime for its services over the last 90 days and last reported a similar three-hour "partial outage" on August 24. OpenAI reports 99.63 percent uptime for ChatGPT and 100 percent uptime for ChatGPT Codex in the same period. ChatGPT's so-called "Work Mode" reported an hours-long period of "elevated latency" on August 31.

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