Energy Department undersecretary Darío Gil is taking a long-term view of science and technology. Why it matters: While President Trump's second term has been marked by high-drama fights over AI policy, Gil's been working behind the scenes to strengthen U.S. competitiveness in science and tech. The big picture: A familiar pattern is unfolding in AI policy. - An AI lab comes out with a frighteningly powerful model, sending officials scrambling, and states advance AI laws — which spark congressional efforts to get a federal standard in place. - Gil is trying to spearhead a different approach where the federal government plays a larger role in shaping emerging technologies before crises emerge or competitors like China gain an…
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated Tuesday that the Golden Dome missile defense system will cost about $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy and operate over the next 20 years. In a 12-page report, the CBO stated that acquisition costs for a national missile defense system would total more than $1 trillion. That includes funding for interceptor layers, a space-based missile warning and tracking system, research and development and improvements in the system’s integration and performance. #GoldenDome #IronDome #Trump #Pentagon #DefenseDepartment #USMilitary
Anthropic , the AI lab whose identity is wrapped around warning the world about AI risk, is claiming "early signs" of AI not just coding its own products but building itself. Why it matters: Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark predicted this week that there's a 60%+ chance of an AI model fully training its successor by the end of 2028. "What I'm looking at is a technological trend where, if anything, the speed will accelerate further," Clark told us. In the new research agenda for The Anthropic Institute — first shared with us, and out Thursday — the company says it's seeing signs of "AI contributing to speeding up the research and development of AI itself," a process known as recursive self-improvement. And Anthropic researchers think…
