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Are you worried about losing your job to AI? Don’t sweat it, because Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei believes AI could unleash a wave of bioterrorism that may wipe us all from the face of Earth.
His 20K-word “The Adolescence of Technology: Confronting and Overcoming the Risk of Powerful AI” essay is a must-read.
He notes that AI will eventually be more capable than any Nobel Prize winner, statesman or technologist.
Everyone will have a genius in their pocket, “essentially making everyone a PhD virologist who can be walked through the process of designing, synthesizing, and releasing a biological weapon step-by-step,” he wrote.
A disturbed loner who wants to kill people but lacks the discipline or skill to do so will now be elevated to the capability level of the PhD virologist, who is unlikely to have this motivation.
Renting powerful AI gives intelligence to malicious (but otherwise average) people, wrote Amodei. “I am worried there are potentially a large number of such people out there, and that if they have access to an easy way to kill millions of people, sooner or later one of them will do it.”
What if the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski had access to AI?
Calling for a do-over… Almost six in ten (58 percent) of Americans say Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown has gone too far.
Twelve percent say ICE hasn’t gone far enough in tracking down illegal immigrants, while 26 percent believe ICE’s tactics are just about right.
The Reuter/Ipsos poll was released Jan 27 and conducted from Jan 23 to Jan. 25. That’s before and after the Jan 24 murder of Alex Pretti.
It’s a safe bet that more Americans disapprove of ICE’s reign of terror after the killing of nurse Pretti.
An updated poll is needed.
He takes yet another bow... Master negotiator Trump says it’s very nice that his handler and Russia boss Vladimir Putin has agreed to an energy ceasefire with Ukraine due to the frigid cold.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this . . . extraordinary cold,” he said during his Jan. 29 cabinet meeting. “And he agreed to do that. And I have to tell you, it was very nice.” No, Don. It's very nice that Putin is suspending his war-criminal rampage against the civilians of Ukraine.
Trump added that “we’re very happy” because missiles falling on Ukraine “is not what they need.”
What Ukraine really needs is for the US to return as its indispensable and highly engaged partner. and supplier of weapons needed to fight the Russians.
It also needs Trump to slap tougher sanctions on Russia and his pal, Vlad.
Nine percent of US adults think it was okay for Donald Trump to post an image depicting himself as Jesus Christ. Oh Lord!... It’s hard to shed a tear for a billionaire, especially one with a thin skin like Citadel chief Ken Griffin... A Republican group plans to support GOP candidates who want to restore foreign aid cuts made by Elon Musk's DOGE.
The death of Ted Turner, CNN's visionary founder, highlights the network's uncertain future under Paramount Skydance ownership... Anti-Defamation League reports a 33% drop in antisemitic incidents in 2025. But hold the cheers because 2025 was the third most violent year for American Jews... AI could use some PR according to Yale Youth Poll... Omnicom Media Intelligence warns that ad frequency can result in brand damage... Wall Street gives Bronx cheer to Coinbase's decision to fire about 700 people.
Struggling WPP and rampaging Omnicom have something in common. It's 6.7 percent... Nonsensical Comey indictment and Melania's war on Jimmy Kimmel are sure signs that Team Trump is falling apart... Black Rock pulls the plug on offshore wind project to please the nation's No. 1 hater of 'ugly' offshore windmills. 
“Having been born in the US” is tied for dead last in the “What does it mean to be American” survey conducted by Ipsos US Public Affairs... Defense Secretary Hegseth's boneheaded move... FTI Consulting chief Steven Gunby is the firm's $10M man... Book bans in the US near record level... Can Kevin Warsh avoid the fate of Kevin McCarthy?
Reed Hastings, the genius behind Netflix's DVD-by-mail strategy, steps down. If O'Dwyer's had a Corporate Hall of Fame, Reed would be in it... Donald Trump's revenge tour rolls on as his team strips $11M from Catholic Charities that is used to run shelters for migrant children who have entered the US alone... Crusader Pete Hegseth should lay off the biblical stuff for a while, or at least until the world has moved on from his boss’ depiction of himself as Jesus.
