All posts tagged: crisis

Can OpenAI’s ‘Master of Disaster’ Fix AI’s Reputation Crisis?

Can OpenAI’s ‘Master of Disaster’ Fix AI’s Reputation Crisis?

Published by skeptic

Three months ago, OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman told me his concerns about a mounting public relations crisis facing artificial intelligence companies: Despite the popularity of tools like ChatGPT, an increasingly large share of the population said they viewed AI negatively. Since then, the backlash has only intensified. College commencement speakers are now getting booed for talking about AI in optimistic terms. Last month, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home and wrote a manifesto advocating for crimes against AI executives. No one has more to lose from this reputation crisis than OpenAI. The person tasked with trying to fix it is Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief of global affairs and a veteran political operative. I sat down with him this week to discuss what I’d argue are his two biggest challenges yet: convincing the world to embrace OpenAI’s technology, while at the same time persuading lawmakers to adopt regulations that won’t hamper the company’s growth. Lehane views these goals as one in the same. “When I was in the White …

The looming crisis putting Europe’s energy security at risk  – POLITICO

The looming crisis putting Europe’s energy security at risk  – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

With a smaller proportion of oil and gas supplies likely to be compliant, less availability means there’s a real risk this looming crisis will affect energy affordability for households and businesses alike. Remember, these rules have nothing to do with lowering levels of methane, which the legislation does not demand until 2030, but are about adhering to measurement, reporting, certification and verification standards for which neither the European Commission nor member states have done the work to establish in time for implementation.    With a smaller proportion of oil and gas supplies likely to be compliant, less availability means there’s a real risk this looming crisis will affect energy affordability for households and businesses alike.    Consumers will ultimately bear the burden through anticipated higher gas and/or fuel prices; Wood Mackenzie say gasoline and diesel prices could increase by 24 percent and 16 percent respectively. The Commission knows this but appears unwilling to make the necessary changes to reduce the cost burden on its citizens.  High energy costs would further damage the competitiveness of Europe’s energy intensive industries like steel, chemicals and manufacturing — leading the bloc further down …

Meta Is in Crisis, Google Search’s Makeover, and AI Gets Booed by Graduates

Meta Is in Crisis, Google Search’s Makeover, and AI Gets Booed by Graduates

Published by skeptic

Leah Feiger: Let’s invest. Zoë Schiffer: They have that going for a while. Leah Feiger: It wasn’t full Google, but it— Zoë Schiffer: Somewhat there. Leah Feiger: —had that vibe. To me, someone so on the outside of this in every single way, I know about these layoffs because they’ve been, A) so chaotic, but B) in some ways, needlessly so. Not to say that other tech companies aren’t firing scores of workers all the time. That feels like something we discuss on this podcast frequently, but this is happening with such a large runway and in a way that’s making employees feel so terrible about themselves. Brian Barrett: Well, because it’s not just the layoffs, right? It’s also, even if you stay there, if you’re not culled from the herd, you are going to have to deal with this world in which you’ve got spyware on your laptops training AI to probably take your job at some point, right? Zoë Schiffer: Explain that a little bit. Brian Barrett: Meta announced, and this was more …

Americans can’t spot a deepfake, and that’s a business crisis, not just a consumer problem

Americans can’t spot a deepfake, and that’s a business crisis, not just a consumer problem

Published by skeptic

Presented by Veriff Americans can’t reliably distinguish real from AI-generated content, and that’s not just a media literacy problem; it’s a direct threat to how businesses verify identity online. New research finds that while many people are aware of deepfakes, their ability to distinguish them from reality is barely better than a coin flip. A 2026 survey conducted by Veriff and Kantar among 3,000 respondents in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil shows Americans scoring just 0.07 on a scale where 0 represents random guessing. If people can’t distinguish authentic visual content, they can’t reliably distinguish authentic identities. In practice, that means the same users interacting with digital services are often unable to tell whether the person on the other side of a screen is real. That ineffectiveness has direct consequences for every digital business that relies on image- and video-based identity verification to confirm who is on the other side of a screen. That includes everything from customer bank onboarding and account recovery to marketplace seller verification, high-value ecommerce transactions, social platform …

America’s faith in war is a spiritual crisis — not just a political one 

America’s faith in war is a spiritual crisis — not just a political one 

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — We need to talk about war. The United States is back at war, this time in Iran, and as the war plays out, we will be having important and necessary conversations about the ongoing conflict. These conversations will happen in churches and schools, around dinner tables and at places of employment, and every one of them will be important. But the current and ongoing war in Iran is not being fought by otherwise irenic nations in a world generally marked by peace. The bombing of Iran — and the inevitable Iranian retaliations against targets in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East — is taking place in the context of a global landscape marked by wars in places like Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen. This means we have to look beyond Iran or any other individual conflict and talk about war itself. We need to ask if military violence is ever justifiable, if militarism is ever reasonable and if warfare ever brings healing and peace. With clear-eyed honesty we need to reckon …

Higher Education’s Identity Crisis – The Atlantic

Higher Education’s Identity Crisis – The Atlantic

Published by Daniella Wilson

Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts America’s colleges have had a rough go of it in recent years. After the Great Recession sent students flooding back to campus, schools have faced one evolving crisis after another: COVID, government interference, protests, and the chaos of AI tools in the classroom. Despite some positive enrollment trends, schools are also staring down a very near future where there will simply be fewer 18-year-olds to fill their seats. Students have not had it much easier. This spring, graduates are leaving their respective alma maters and entering a job market that is beleaguered with uncertainty. AI has promised to upend entire industries; it’s already changing how employers are thinking about entry-level jobs. There used to be a sequence of events—or at least students and families perceived a sequence of events—that went something like this: You go to college; you graduate with a degree; you get a good job. It was that simple. But that story was never quite right. Finding work after graduation …

The PFAS drinking water crisis is reshaping public health and infrastructure

The PFAS drinking water crisis is reshaping public health and infrastructure

Published by skeptic

Across Europe and North America, water utilities are confronting a problem that environmental scientists say could take decades to fully contain: PFAS contamination in drinking water. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a large group of synthetic chemicals used in everything from non-stick cookware and waterproof fabrics to industrial manufacturing and firefighting foams. Their resistance to heat, water and oil made them commercially valuable for decades. But that same chemical stability has created a growing environmental and public health crisis. Often referred to as “forever chemicals”, PFAS do not easily break down in soil or water. Instead, they accumulate in the environment and, increasingly, in human bodies. Researchers have linked exposure to certain PFAS compounds to health concerns including cancers, liver damage, immune system effects, fertility problems and developmental risks. Now regulators, scientists and water providers are facing the enormous challenge of removing them from drinking water systems that were never designed to handle this kind of contamination. A global contamination problem PFAS contamination has been detected in rivers, groundwater, reservoirs and drinking …

Why are drones suddenly terrifying Europe? – POLITICO

Why are drones suddenly terrifying Europe? – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

With drone alerts, emergency shelters and fighter jets over the Baltics, Europe’s security fears suddenly feel much less theoretical at the GLOBSEC forum in Prague. On the ground in Czechia for the Brussels Playbook Podcast, Zoya Sheftalovich and Nick Vinocur unpack the growing wave of drone incursions linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine. They also discuss why Baltic leaders are sounding the alarm and how the crisis in Latvia became serious enough to bring down the government. Then: Germany is growing impatient with the EU’s enlargement drift. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is pushing a new concept called “associate membership” that would pull countries like Ukraine and Moldova closer to EU institutions — even before full accession. And finally: Brussels’ next big institutional power struggle is already underway. António Costa looks increasingly safe as European Council president, while the European People’s Party scrambles to keep its grip on the EU’s top jobs and protect Roberta Metsola’s position as European Parliament president. Do you live in Baltic country? Have the recent drone incursions affected your everyday life? We’re …

Bolivia’s capital under siege as protests deepen crisis for President Paz : NPR

Bolivia’s capital under siege as protests deepen crisis for President Paz : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Demonstrators run across a street during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. Freddy Barragan/AP hide caption toggle caption Freddy Barragan/AP LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz faces a deepening crisis as widespread protests and blockades leave the political capital under siege less than six months after he took office. Two weeks of road closures — spearheaded by the Bolivian Workers’ Central, COB, peasant unions and miners — have emptied markets in La Paz and depleted vital hospital oxygen reserves. The government reported that at least three people died after emergency vehicles were blocked from reaching medical centers. On Monday, supporters of Bolivia’s influential ex-President Evo Morales clashed with police in the capital city as they joined multiple sectors demanding the resignation of the president, who lacks both a legislative majority and a robust political party to anchor his administration. The unrest presents the biggest challenge yet for Paz, a business-friendly centrist who came to power six months ago as a wave of conservative electoral wins swept the region. …