Finance
I didn’t know what TikTok was. My student took my phone, made an account, and changed my career.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Phillip Cook. It has been edited for length and clarity. A physicist or a mathematician might argue with me, but I believe chemistry is the best way to understand how the world works. Once you understand atoms, the underpinnings of the world…
15 unforgettable Bob Mackie designs, from Cher to Taylor Swift
Bob Mackie and Cher were collaborators and friends for decades. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images Bob Mackie, the legendary designer, died on Monday. He was 87. Mackie dressed stars from every era, from Mitzi Gaynor to Sabrina Carpenter. His work with Cher, Dolly Parton, and Tina…
‘Never let a lack of motivation put you on Iranian TV’: US airman shares intense Iran survival story after shootdown
An Air Force officer who survived behind enemy lines for two days in Iran after his F-15E fighter jet was shot down said he hit the ground hard after the shoulder-fired missile that struck his Strike Eagle also shredded part of his parachute. Severely wounded and stranded in hostile territory, the…
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella posts an internal warning to employees about AI safety
In an internal memo, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella weighed in on the growing debate over whether the AI industry is moving too fast. Nadella said AI should remain under human control, endorsed broader third-party testing, and warned that companies must take time to make the technology safety…
The AI doom debate is getting carried away. AI is a product, not a god.
AI is either going to cure cancer or kill us all. That’s the polarizing thrust of a panic-infused debate that erupted across the industry in recent days. The truth is likely more mundane, and the risks more manageable than some researchers at leading AI labs would have you believe. That’s according…
Google finally lets all engineers use Anthropic’s Claude
Googlers have some of the best perks in Silicon Valley, but there’s one thing many of them have long been denied: access to Anthropic’s Claude. That just changed. The company recently made one of Anthropic’s strongest coding models available to engineers across the company through its internal…
The timing of AI leaders’ calls for a slowdown is too convenient to ignore
Imagine a pharmaceutical company spends nearly four years touting a ground-breaking new medicine that will cure all diseases. Early evidence supporting those claims is limited, and massive questions remain, but the company continues to make progress. Criticism and concerns, while addressed, don’t…
Instagram wants you to pay for its AI photo-editing filters
I was having some unfettered fun playing with Instagram’s new filters. Then I got hit with a paywall. “Upgrade to Meta One Core to apply more AI effects or wait until tomorrow,” a pop-up said on my screen. Curious, I clicked “Upgrade.” I was given the option for a free trial of Meta One, a
A 27-year-old AI researcher shot to fame after speaking out against AI’s threat to humanity. Was it a smart career move?
Didn’t know who Jacob Coxon was a couple of weeks ago? You’re not alone. As of last week, the 27-year-old former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher has become the poster child for AI panic. In an X post on Tuesday, Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic, saying that neither AI lab was “acting…
The 10 states that vaccinate the most — and the 10 that vaccinate the least
The likelihood of experiencing a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak has much to do with where you live. A September report from the personal finance website WalletHub analyzed US vaccination rates across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using data from the US Census Bureau, the Centers…