“If you think there’s a lot of money in politics now,” Marc Andreessen said in 2000, “you haven’t seen anything yet.” His firm is now the biggest known spender on this campaign cycle.
The first half of May is foreshadowing the future of Indo-Pacific security. Why it matters: Long-term competition between the U.S., China and their friends — on AI, chips, cybersecurity, freedom of navigation, narrative influence, supply chains and more — is reshaping the world. In just two weeks: - The U.S. and Japan, participating in Balikatan drills, fired a Tomahawk missile with a Typhon launcher and ship-sinking Type 88 missiles from the Philippines — a first and, from Beijing's view, a provocation. - Japan inked a defense cooperation agreement with Indonesia, hot on the heels of loosened arms-exporting restrictions. - Taiwan's legislature approved $25 billion in special funding to buy weapons. The move follows months of…
Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, fears the rising risk of unpopular AI and told us the solution might be a reorg of government and business. He offered two megapoints in a conversation Tuesday at OpenAI's new office in Washington: - The AI companies and government are so interdependent — the companies need light regs, contracts; government needs AI systems — that it might require a new public-private hybrid to manage them. - The AI companies could get crushed by bad politics if they don't find ways to share any wealth they create, much like Alaska shares oil & gas revenue with its residents. "People need to feel like they're gonna have a piece of this and participate in it ," Lehane said. "You can't talk beyond…
Disagreement among administration officials and a time crunch with President Trump's China summit are holding up efforts to launch a federal response to the next frontier of AI. Why it matters: There's not yet any new federal AI regulation weeks after Mythos — Anthropic's most advanced model yet — threw Washington for a loop. - Early talk of federal safety reviews of new AI models has slowed down as Trump administration comments have made it clear they aren't on the same page just yet. - Leaders across the government are spooked by the capabilities of leading AI labs' latest models, but the realities of Washington are slowing down any immediate action. Driving the news: AI is likely on the agenda for Trump's trip to Beijing this…
Marty Makary's departure from the Food and Drug Administration may remove one of the Trump administration's lightning rods for controversy. - But it won't solve the organizational upheaval and political jockeying that marked much of his 13-month tenure. Why it matters: There's lots of uncertainty around how the Senate will find the bandwidth to confirm another FDA commissioner while it considers President Trump's nominees for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and surgeon general . - The FDA itself is also facing other key internal vacancies, including for directors of the centers overseeing drugs and biologics. - And there are questions about whether a successor will continue efforts to streamline clinical trials and…
Sources close to President Trump say he's leaning towards more strikes in Iran to put pressure on them to end the ongoing conflict. This comes as Trump is headed to China to meet with Xi Jinping. #iran #trump #xijinping
Host Blake Burman discusses President Trump's visit to China to meet with Xi Jinping amid the ongoing ceasefire in Iran. Trump said he doesn't think they'll discuss the conflict much because he has Iran 'very much under control'. #iran #trump #xijinping #ceasefire