TL;DR: An AI gun detection system mistakes a student’s bag of crisps for a weapon, leading to police drawing guns. Meanwhile, an unintentional Bryan Cranston deepfake forces OpenAI to strengthen Sora 2 protections, President Trump posts AI-generated videos attacking protesters, and Prince Harry joins Geoffrey Hinton in calling for a ban on AI superintelligence. Plus: OpenAI launches its ‘ChatGPT Atlas’ browser, new research reveals one in 10 US news articles now contains AI-generated text, Anthropic builds an AI to detect nuclear weapons queries, the Titan submersible’s recovered memory card was found empty, one in 10 children plays outside just once a week, and defence startups prepare for orbital war.
Student handcuffed at gunpoint after AI mistakes crisps for weapon
Police officers drew their guns and handcuffed a student at a Baltimore high school after an artificial intelligence gun detection system mistakenly identified his bag of crisps – or chips, whichever you prefer – as a weapon. The incident occurred at Kenwood High School after student Taki Allen finished football practice, reports WBAL-TV 11 News. Allen told the station that police arrived, made him get on his knees, and cuffed him before searching him and finding nothing but a bag of chips on the floor where he was standing.
Source: WBAL-TV 11 News
Cranston deepfake forces OpenAI to strengthen Sora 2 actor protections
Bryan Cranston’s voice and likeness were generated in Sora 2 outputs without consent or compensation when OpenAI launched the AI video platform in an invite-only release two weeks ago, prompting the company to strengthen guardrails. SAG-AFTRA, OpenAI, Cranston, and talent agencies released a joint statement addressing the incident, with OpenAI expressing regret for the unintentional generations. Cranston brought the issue to SAG-AFTRA’s attention, stating he was “deeply concerned” for all performers.
Source: SAG-AFTRA / OpenAI
Trump posts AI video dumping sludge on No Kings protesters
President Donald Trump reposted an AI-generated video showing himself flying a fighter plane emblazoned with “King Trump” and dumping brown sludge onto protesters, in apparent response to “No Kings” protests against his second presidency. The 19-second video, posted by Trump on Saturday night, depicts the president wearing a gold crown as protesters in an AI-generated cityscape are covered in the brown liquid. The post is the latest in a series of AI-generated content shared by the president.
Source: The Guardian
Prince Harry and Hinton call for ban on AI superintelligence development
Prince Harry and Meghan, artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, and former White House strategist Steve Bannon are part of a group calling for a ban on AI superintelligence until that technology can be deployed safely, reports Bloomberg. In a statement organised by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute (FLI), the group advocated for a prohibition on superintelligence development – AI vastly more capable than humans – until a broad scientific consensus on safety is reached.
Source: Bloomberg
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Atlas browser with built-in AI agent capabilities
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, a web browser with ChatGPT built into its core, enabling the AI assistant to understand browsing context, complete tasks, and remember details from visited sites. The browser allows ChatGPT to work within any webpage without users needing to copy and paste. An “agent mode” for Plus, Pro and Business users enables ChatGPT to research, automate tasks, and plan events while users browse.
Source: OpenAI
One in 10 US news articles contains AI-generated text, Pangram study reveals
Nearly one in 10 news articles (9.1 per cent) published by American newspapers contains artificial intelligence-generated text, according to new research examining 186,000 articles. The study by University of Maryland researchers and AI transparency firm Pangram found usage is rarely disclosed. Smaller local outlets (9.3 per cent) were far more likely to use AI than major publications (1.7 per cent), a disparity researchers linked to collapsing news economies.
Source: University of Maryland / Pangram
Anthropic AI classifier detects nuclear queries with 96% accuracy
Anthropic has developed an AI classifier that distinguishes between concerning and benign nuclear-related conversations with 96 per cent accuracy in preliminary testing. The AI safety company partnered with the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to monitor Claude for nuclear proliferation risks. NNSA shared curated risk indicators to help the classifier differentiate benign discussions from potentially dangerous queries.
Source: Anthropic / NNSA
One in 10 kids play outdoors just once a week as screens dominate
One in 10 parents of preschoolers and toddlers report their child plays outside just once a week or less, whilst nearly a third say their child engages in media play such as video games daily, according to a national US poll. The University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital poll found three in five parents say their child watches TV or videos daily. Poll Co-Director Sarah Clark said “Play is the key to how young children learn and develop.”
Source: University of Michigan Health
Titan submersible’s memory card survives but held no fatal dive footage
Recovery teams have found an undamaged SD card inside a specialist underwater camera retrieved from the Titan submersible wreckage, but the device contained no images or videos from the fatal dive, reports Tom’s Hardware. The SubC-branded camera, rated for 6,000 metres, was recovered with its casing intact but its lens shattered. Inside, investigators found an undamaged SanDisk Extreme Pro 512GB memory card, which was confirmed to hold no data from the dive.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Space Force shifts from punchline to priority as startups prep for orbital war
A new generation of defence technology startups is positioning space as the next major conflict domain, with companies building systems to defend US orbital assets against potential threats from China and Russia, reports Bloomberg. Executives outlined the growing likelihood of space-based conflict at LA Tech Week, arguing America’s newest military branch is essential as rivals develop weapons to jam, disable or destroy US satellites. The Space Force, established in 2019, consolidated programmes into a single service focused on orbital defence.
Source: Bloomberg
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