Pacing the frontier, AI's digital limits, AI commissars
Ben Thompson takes on Dario Amodei's weekend call for the industry to "pace the frontier" and argues it is unrealistic, and mostly geared toward political control of AI rather than safety.
The stack
4 picks · curatedFable 5.1 solves the Cyphral Distich, a 370-year-old cipher
Given Sir Thomas Urquhart's 64-number cryptogram as an open task, Fable 5.1 produced a solution in 44 minutes with no human help. The key was a clue in the surrounding text that centuries of frequency analysis had ignored.
The powerful millionaires hiding in plain sight
Owners of car dealerships, law firms, dental practices and restaurant chains collectively hold more wealth than the Forbes 400 and wield outsized political power, yet rarely show up in the conversation about who is rich in America.
Does AI assistance enhance or erode expertise?
A three-month randomized trial gave 133 patent lawyers an AI drafting assistant. Work quality rose for everyone, but the durable skill gain after AI was removed showed up only in senior lawyers; juniors bifurcated into more poor and more good scores.
Tech & capital
Hacker News · 376 c · 851 ptstxt
Why is Google still serving dodgy ads?
Hacker News · 256 c · 190 ptstxt
Mullenweg has returned as Automattic CEO after attempted board ouster
The Information · 17h · paywalled
Anthropic, OpenAI, Google quietly discussed an AI safety standards body
r/programming · release notestxt
Homebrew 7.0.0
The wire
AP Wire · 7h
Second federal judge freezes Trump mail ballot order with Supreme Court poised to weigh in
NPR · 2htxt
Beijing hits back at Anthropic CEO's call to curb China's AI development
Reuters · today
Sweden's centre-left ahead as far-right stumbles in tight election
Reuters · 9h
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan expect September Fed hike as inflation lingers
Faith
Mere Orthodoxy · todaytxt
After 'values'
Christianity Today · todaytxt
Wendell Berry, 'bad-weather churchgoer'
Mere Orthodoxy · todaytxt
Gluttony in the age of GLP-1s
Slow reads
Marginal Revolution · todaytxt
AI, redistribution, and the size of the pie
Marginal Revolution · todaytxt
Is it the screens? Or education systems?
Lobsters · guest post · Tao's blogtxt