OUR PICKS LAST WEEKWhat Went Wrong in the Texas Floods? | Musk’s Chatbot Started Spouting Nazi Propaganda. That’s Not the Scariest Part. | A Band of Innovators Reimagines the Spy Game for a World with No Cover | What to Know About the Collapse of the F.D.A., and more
EXTREMISM
· Musk’s Chatbot Started Spouting Nazi Propaganda. That’s Not the Scariest Part.
· He Seeded Clouds Over Texas. Then Came the Conspiracy Theories.
· FEMA Is Holding Up $2.4 Billion in Grants to Fight Terrorism, States Say
· Playing with Hate: How Far-Right Extremists Use Minecraft to Gamify Radicalization
· “Dangerous Demonstration of Power”: Islamic Group Separates Genders at University Lecture at Berlin Charité
· What Zohran Mamdani Has Actually Said About Jews and Israel
· Idaho Firefighter Shooting Connected to 2001 Fire at Aryan Nation Compound, Internet Sleuths Claim
Private DC-area School Expels Jewish Siblings After Parents Report Antisemitic Bullying —Lawsuit
THE LONG VIEW
· A Band of Innovators Reimagines the Spy Game for a World with No Cover
· Firings Without Explanation Create Culture of Fear at Justice Dept., FBI
· What to Know About the Collapse of the F.D.A.
· Measles Cases Hit Record High, 25 Years After U.S. Eliminated the Disease
· We Can Adapt and Prepare for Floods. But Will We?
· A Pro-Russia Disinformation Campaign Is Using Free AI Tools to Fuel a “Content Explosion”
· A Group of Young Cybercriminals Poses the “Most Imminent Threat” of Cyberattacks Right Now
· Five Considerations for Military Action Against Mexican Drug Cartels
MORE PICKS
· Before Tragedy, Texas Repeatedly Rejected Pleas for Flood Alarm Funding
· Texts, Emails Bolster Whistleblower Account of DOJ Defying Court Order
· Viral ICE Deportation Claims Debunked
· Administration Takes Steps to Target 2 Officials Who Investigated Trump
· The “Russia Hoax,” Revisited
· What Went Wrong in the Texas Floods?
· Insurers Aren’t Saying Whether They’ll Cover Vaccines for Kids if Government Stops Recommending Them
· Sinaloa Cartel Used Phone Data and Surveillance Cameras to find FBI Informants, DOJ Says
· The Big Beautiful Bill Reveals the Hollowness of Trumponomics
· DOGE Has the Keys to Sensitive Data That Could Help Elon Musk
· Catholic Bishops Try to Rally Opposition to Trump’s Immigration Agenda
· Trump Says Ice Is Arresting the ‘Worst of the Worst’ —New Data Shows That’s Not True
· We Asked 5 AI Models to Fact-Check Trump. Here’s What We Learned.
· In Dramatic Reversal, Senate Kills AI-law Moratorium
· Pentagon Will No Longer Share Satellite Data That Tracks Hurricanes Overnight
EXTREMISM
Musk’s Chatbot Started Spouting Nazi Propaganda. That’s Not the Scariest Part. (Zeynep Tufekci, New York Times)
Last Tuesday, when an account on X using the name Cindy Steinberg started cheering the Texas floods because the victims were “white kids” and “future fascists,” Grok — the social media platform’s in-house chatbot — tried to figure out who was behind the account. The inquiry quickly veered into disturbing territory. “Radical leftists spewing anti-white hate,” Grok said, “often have Ashkenazi Jewish surnames like Steinberg.” Who could best address this problem? it was asked. “Adolf Hitler, no question,” it replied. “He’d spot the pattern and handle it decisively, every damn time.”
Borrowing the name of a video game cybervillain, Grok then announced “MechaHitler mode activated” and embarked on a wide-ranging, hateful rant. X eventually pulled the plug. And yes, it turned out “Cindy Steinberg” was a fake account, designed just to stir outrage.
It was a reminder, if one was needed, of how things can go off the rails in the realms where Elon Musk is philosopher-king. But the episode was more than that: It was a glimpse of deeper, systemic problems with large language models, or L.L.M.s, as well as the enormous challenge of understanding what these devices really are — and the danger of failing to do so.
He Seeded Clouds Over Texas. Then Came the Conspiracy Theories. (Will Oremus and Nicolás Rivero, Washington Post)
Cloud seeding couldn’t have caused the floods that killed more than 100 people, experts say. But rumormongers suggested a link to one company’s work.
FEMA Is Holding Up $2.4 Billion in Grants to Fight Terrorism, States Say (Benjamin Oreskes, New York Times)
FEMA officials are two months behind in posting grant application guidelines, which are expected to reflect President Trump’s demand for cooperation on his priorities.
