All posts tagged: Administrations

Anthropic Added a New Security Measure to Get Back Into the Trump Administration’s Good Graces

Anthropic Added a New Security Measure to Get Back Into the Trump Administration’s Good Graces

Published by skeptic

The Trump administration lifted export controls on Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 AI model after the company agreed to extend an existing guardrail to prevent users from trying to access certain restricted capabilities, according to two people familiar with the matter. The safeguard means any users trying to unlock those capabilities will be notified that their request is blocked and will have their query processed by the less-advanced Opus 4.8 AI model, the people say. Before Anthropic cut off access to Fable 5, user requests related to sensitive cybersecurity and biology capabilities were supposed to be processed by Opus 4.8. The new safeguard, the people say, will extend this guardrail to requests related to a specific behavior identified in a paper by Amazon. According to an analysis published by Katie Moussouris, founder and CEO of Luta Security, after reading the Amazon paper, users were able to get around a restriction on Fable 5 by asking the model to fix code, rather than identify security issues in it. While cybersecurity experts generally don’t find this behavior troubling, …

Inside the Trump Administration’s ‘Freedom Trucks’

Inside the Trump Administration’s ‘Freedom Trucks’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Right now, six AI-Generated George Washingtons are roaming around the country in semitrucks, stopping at sites as varied as the New Mexico desert and the National Mall and attracting lines in some places that would rival those at Disney World. On an afternoon last month at an American Legion parking lot in Bel Air, Maryland, locals—many sporting the Stars and Stripes in cap, tee, and even Croc form—waited for a glimpse of the past with an eagerness history teachers could only dream of. “Introducing: the Freedom Truck, a mobile museum,” a deep voice boomed to crescendoing music. “Go back in time and experience the dawn of America.” The “Freedom Trucks” are part of the official celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday, an 18-wheel complement to the fairs, rallies, and work crews currently proliferating in Washington, D.C. When you enter one, after walking past a reproduction of a painting of English colonists praying before a cross, you meet the animated Washington, who tells you sternly that despite their differences, the 13 colonies agreed: “Our rights are …

Algae persist in in the Reflecting Pool, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to clear murky waters.

Algae persist in in the Reflecting Pool, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to clear murky waters.

Published by Sam Flores

Just days after the Trump administration completed millions of dollars in renovations on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to make it American-flag blue, residents and online users noted it had turned a phosphorescent green. Here’s why: The calm, still waters of the Reflecting Pool make it an ideal nursery for algae growth. Algae need nitrogen and phosphorus to grow, and the Reflecting Pool is primarily fed by the Potomac River, which gets heavy doses of those nutrients from nearby urban and agricultural lands. The Potomac also absorbed one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history earlier this year when a pipe burst five miles upstream of Washington, although that event probably happened too long ago to contribute to the algal bloom today. Untreated sewage is high in nitrogen and phosphorus. When nutrient levels are high, feasting algae can quickly reproduce. The Department of the Interior said when the algae first appeared that it was “residual,” from the supply lines to the pool. Experts also speculate that the darker blue color may be helping the …

Court Gives Mahmoud Khalil More Time to Fight Trump Administration’s Efforts to Deport Him

Court Gives Mahmoud Khalil More Time to Fight Trump Administration’s Efforts to Deport Him

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court is giving former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil more time to fight the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him. Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., was detained by immigration authorities last year because of his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia in the spring of 2024. The U.S. government argued at the time that Khalil’s presence in the U.S. was harmful to the country’s foreign policy interests. Khalil spent months in detention before a federal judge in New Jersey freed him, saying that the government had acted unconstitutionally. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then heard the case. It ruled that the judge in New Jersey didn’t have the authority to intervene in Khalil’s case, and said the case needed to proceed first through the immigration courts. The appeals court on Tuesday, however, said it would put its ruling on hold while Khalil appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is involved …

Trump administration’s new wildfire agency preps for fire season : NPR

Trump administration’s new wildfire agency preps for fire season : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A Florida Forest Service firefighter’s helicopter prepares to dump a bucket load of water on a wildfire on April 14, 2026, in Naples, Florida. Conditions in the area are conducive to wildfires due to the lack of rain, causing drought conditions. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images Across the country, wildland firefighters are staring down what could be one of the most severe fire seasons in recent history. Among those figuring out how to prepare is the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, a brand new agency created by the Trump administration. “We’re dry and we’re expecting the pace to pick up significantly here any time,” said the recently appointed head of that service, Brian Fennessy, in an interview with NPR’s All Things Considered host Emily Feng. The agency is a product of an ongoing White House effort to combine all the parts of the federal government that fight fires. “We’re trying to bring on additional aircraft and bring them on early,” he said. The agency is also bringing on more fire crews …

Trump Posts Image of Himself With Jesus as Administration’s Pope Criticism Continues

Trump Posts Image of Himself With Jesus as Administration’s Pope Criticism Continues

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump posted an image ⁠of ⁠Jesus embracing him on Wednesday, as a war ⁠of words between his administration and the pope showed little sign of abating. The image, reposted to Trump’s Truth ​Social account, shows Trump with his eyes closed, touching temple-to-temple with a similarly posed Jesus. Trump is standing behind a microphone, and behind him is an American ‌flag. The original post had a caption that ‌included the words: “God might be playing his Trump card!”  Trump’s repost added the caption: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite ⁠nice!!!” Earlier this week, ⁠Trump posted an image portraying him as a Jesus-like figure. The post prompted widespread criticism of ​the Republican president, and he later deleted it. Trump, who does not attend church regularly, has a large contingent of Christian voters among his base, including Catholics. He has been feuding with Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born leader of the Catholic Church and an outspoken critic of the war that …

Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration’s Actions to Dismantle Voice of America Are Illegal

Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration’s Actions to Dismantle Voice of America Are Illegal

Published by Sam Flores

A federal judge ruled Saturday that Kari Lake, President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, did not have legal authority to take the actions she’s done to largely dismantle the Voice of America. The decision’s effect on VOA operations was not immediately clear. Lake called the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth “bogus” and said it will be appealed. Voice of America, which has transmitted news coverage to countries around the world since its formation during World War II, is operating with a skeleton staff in only a handful of languages after Lake terminated contracts and laid off most of its employees. Lake had been chosen by Trump to effectively lead the agency that oversees Voice of America and other services like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. But she has not received Senate confirmation for her role, and Lamberth said she did not have authority to act in that capacity due to laws that guard against unqualified government appointments. “Only the Appointments Clause or the Vacancies Act’s exclusive …

What Are the Trump Administration’s Objectives in Iran?

What Are the Trump Administration’s Objectives in Iran?

Published by José Betancourt

After the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran, questions remain about the Trump administration’s objectives. Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss this, and more. “My view is there’s probably no country on Earth with a greater gap between its rulers and its citizens than Iran,” Karim Sadjadpour, a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argued last night. “If you’re able to change the leaders in Iran and empower the people into some kind of a representative government—or, at a minimum, a government which represents its own national interests rather than this revolutionary ideology of 1979—that would be a geopolitical game changer for the United States, and a huge victory for President Trump.” Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to discuss this and more: Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent at The New York Times; Susan Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker; Sadjadpour; Nancy Youssef, a staff writer at The Atlantic. Watch the …

Oil Companies Shun Trump Administration’s Alaska Offshore Auction

Oil Companies Shun Trump Administration’s Alaska Offshore Auction

Published by Sam Flores

March 4 (Reuters) – Oil and gas drillers ⁠failed ⁠to show up at ⁠the Trump administration’s sale of more than 1 million ​acres (404,686 hectares) in Alaska’s Cook Inlet on Wednesday, declining to submit ‌even a single bid. The sale ‌was the first of six Alaska offshore oil and gas ⁠auctions mandated ⁠through 2032 by U.S. President Donald Trump’s One Big ​Beautiful Bill Act, which he signed into law last year. Trump has sought to expand domestic oil and gas resources, including in Alaska where production ​has been in decline for decades. Drilling in the Arctic and ⁠Alaska is ⁠a high-risk endeavor, ⁠involving decades ​of work and billions of dollars of investment. Officials from the U.S. Bureau ​of Ocean Energy ⁠Management had planned to read bids via a livestream on the agency’s website beginning at 10 a.m. Alaska time (1900 GMT). Bids were due a day earlier, on March 3. Instead, BOEM’s sale website was ⁠updated to reflect the lack of bids. “At this time, no bids ⁠have been received,” BOEM wrote. “In accordance with …