OUR PICKSIs Pete Hegseth Out of His Depth as War Secretary? | The Liftoff Scenario That Terrifies A.I. Doomsayers | Why Trump Won’t Talk Tough on AI, and more

Is Pete Hegseth Out of His Depth as War Secretary?  (Michael Evans, The Times)

Critics say the former TV presenter is floundering after his purge left the armed forces leaderless at a time of war. President Trump seems to disagree

Mathematicians Fear AI Curbs May Come Too Late to Save Humanity  (Tom Whipple, The Times)
Winners of the Fields Medal are among those expressing concern to the Royal Society after the technology solved a problem at the forefront of research.

Mar-a-Lago Dinners and Dollars: Why Trump Won’t Talk Tough on AI  (David Charter, The Times)
Close ties with tech titans and their vast fortunes keep the president from regulating artificial intelligence to deliver a promised ‘Golden Age’.

The Liftoff Scenario That Terrifies A.I. Doomsayers  (Cade Metz, New York Times)
“Recursive self-improvement” is the idea that artificial intelligence could learn to build and train itself, creating exponential new progress — and risk.

Sen. Cassidy Says Measles Surge Will be Administration’s ‘Terrible Legacy’  (Rachel Roubein, Washington Post)
Under questioning by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Trump’s surgeon general pick Nicole Saphier called a combined vaccine “our greatest tool for combating measles infections.”

ICE Likely Violated First Amendment by Issuing Warning to Critic, Judge Rules  (Joanna Slater, Washington Post)
Federal agents came to the home of a Rochester, New York, man who had written a scathing email to ICE’s acting director. He later sued DHS.

Why Existential AI Fears Have Hit a Crescendo  (Economist)
And the complicated geopolitics of slowing down the technology’s development.