OUR PICKSDo China’s A.I. Advances Mean U.S. Technology Controls Have Failed? | What an Undervaccinated America Would Look Like | Alleged Terrorist Plot to Destroy Baltimore-Area Power Grid, and more

What an Undervaccinated America Would Look Like (Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic)
At first, much the same. But inevitably dangerous diseases would resurge in a country that isn’t prepared for them.

DeepSeek’s Popular AI App Is Explicitly Sending US Data to China  (Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman, Wired)
Amid ongoing fears over TikTok, Chinese generative AI platform DeepSeek says it’s sending heaps of US user data straight to its home country, potentially setting the stage for greater scrutiny.

Do China’s A.I. Advances Mean U.S. Technology Controls Have Failed?  (Ana Swanson and Meaghan Tobin, New York Times)
DeepSeek’s A.I. models show that China is making rapid gains in the field, despite American efforts to hinder it.

RFK Jr. Disparaged Vaccines Dozens of Times in Recent Years and Made Baseless Claims on Race  (Lauren Weber and Caitlin Gilbert, Washington Post)
An examination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s statements finds the candidate for the nation’s top health post has falsely linked vaccines to autism.

RFK Jr. Is an Excellent Conspiracy Theorist  (Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic)
He has an unusual talent for sounding reasonable.

Neo-Nazi Leader on Trial in Maryland for Alleged Terrorist Plot to Destroy Baltimore-Area Power Grid  (J.T. Moodee Lockman and Tara Lynch, CBS News)
A Florida man is heading to trial in Maryland on Monday for an alleged terrorist plot to destroy the power grid in the Baltimore region.  The trial began with jury selection. On Monday, more than 27 jurors were chosen to sit on the 36-member body. Court is adjourned until Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 9:15 a.m. According to court documents, Brandon Clint Russell of Orlando, Fla., planned to carry out attacks against electrical substations between 2022 and 2023 in furtherance of his neo-Nazi beliefs.  Russell encouraged using Mylar or foil balloons to short out a power transformer.

Ministers Reject Call to Widen Extremism Definition  (Henry Zeffman, Tom Symonds and Helen Catt, BBC)
Ministers have rejected civil servant advice to widen the definition of extremism to include potentially violent environmentalists, the far left, conspiracy theorists and men prejudiced against women. It comes after parts of a report - commissioned by the Home Office last summer - were leaked to the right-leaning Policy Exchange think tank, which criticized the recommendations. Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said the government “rejected this advice” adding: “Islamist extremism followed by far-right extremism are the biggest threats we face.” Asked about the report, Keir Starmer said his government was “looking carefully” at how it addresses extremism.”