AI Billionaires Are Flooding Money Into Politics to Influence Elections, But It’s Backfiring; Futurism, October 24, 2026

Frank Landymore, Futurism ; AI Billionaires Are Flooding Money Into Politics to Influence Elections, But It’s Backfiring

Even a whiff of AI money seems to disgust voters.

"Unreasonably wealthy AI plutocrats are pouring billions of dollars into US elections. 

Elon Musk alone has pumped more than $445 million into Republican campaigns ahead of the midterms, after spending a near-equal sum to get president Donald Trump elected in the last election cycle. Leading The Future, a Super PAC backed by OpenAI and Palantir cofounders and prominent tech venture capitalists including Marc Andreessen, has amassed $140 million to dole out to pro-AI candidates.

But all that money doesn’t seem to be helping the AI industry’s interests, because its image is still in the toilet.

A new analysis from Guardrails Action, an AI accountability advocacy group, found that voters in key battleground states still harbor mostly negative feelings towards the AI industry, with the tech being such a toxic topic that it’s potentially driving voters to cross the aisle."

Put Your A.I. Agents to Work With These 5 Killer Tasks; The New York Times, October 25, 2026

 Brian X. Chen, The New York Times; Put Your A.I. Agents to Work With These 5 Killer Tasks

When you start using Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s dots for these tasks — like applying for jobs and booking hard-to-get restaurant tables — you may never go back.

"Since its debut last month, Meta’s Muse, the artificially intelligent assistant that performs tasks on a user’s behalf, has been the most downloaded phone app. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has responded with a competitor called dots, a similar assistant that costs $100 a month to use.

Welcome to the era of agents, digital assistants that use our devices for us. Though they share many similarities with chatbots, agents like Muse and dots serve a different purpose. Chatbots primarily provide answers to questions. Agents are essentially bots with their own computer and web browser, so they can do more complicated things like applying for jobs, booking restaurant tables and sending emails."

Most Americans say AI is bad for society, oppose more data centers: ABC/Post/Ipsos poll; ABC News, October 23, 2026

 Emily Guskin, ABC News; Most Americans say AI is bad for society, oppose more data centers: ABC/Post/Ipsos poll

"A majority of Americans say artificial intelligence is a bad thing for society and about two-thirds oppose the construction of new data centers in the U.S., with opposition even higher to building data centers in people's own communities, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel...

Younger Americans are more likely to say AI is bad for society than older Americans: 65% of Americans under 30 say AI is bad for society along with 59% of those 30 to 39. A slimmer majority of Americans 40 and older say AI is bad for society (53%)...

Risks and benefits of AI

When Americans were asked about various potential risks with the growth of AI, majorities say that most of the possible consequences are a "high risk."

Nearly three-quarters of Americans, 73%, say there is a high risk of AI hacking secure computer systems, including majorities across partisan groups and age groups...

Two-thirds of Americans say the federal government is not doing enough to regulate the growth and development of AI technology, including majorities of Democrats (80%), independents (66%) and Republicans (54%)...

Two-thirds of Americans (66%) oppose the construction of new data centers in the U.S., growing to 72% when asked about building a new data center in their community."

Trump’s ‘Smart Wall’ of A.I. Cameras Is Watching the Border, and More Than a Million People; The New York Times, October 22, 2026

Bora Erden and Nicholas Nehamas, The New York Times; Trump’s ‘Smart Wall’ of A.I. Cameras Is Watching the Border, and More Than a Million People

"For decades, Republicans and Democrats agreed that a “smart wall” of surveillance cameras and other high-tech equipment would be a potent tool to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking across the southern border.

Now, the smart wall has arrived — and it is more powerful than many could have imagined.

Already, more than one million people in the United States and Mexico live in areas along the border where they can be seen by A.I.-powered surveillance towers, a New York Times analysis found. At least four million more live within view of an older generation of cameras that the government plans to retrofit with A.I. technology.

And the Trump administration has secured more than $1 billion to build 1,500 new A.I. towers. The goal is full coverage along the U.S. border with Mexico, and there are plans to install towers near Canada, as well as in coastal areas and in Puerto Rico.

But a rising public backlash against A.I. and growing anxiety over mass surveillance have left some communities with an uncomfortable question: Is the potential loss of privacy worth it?"

Deciding with fake images: More candidates are using AI in political ads to get your vote; NBC NEWS, October 23, 2026

 Anagilmara Vílchez, NBC; Deciding with fake images: More candidates are using AI in political ads to get your vote

At least 220 ads — mostly Republican — generated or enhanced with artificial intelligence have circulated in the lead-up to the midterms, at a cost of almost $137 million.

"Evette is not the only one whose image was manipulated in the lead-up to the midterm elections. The Wesleyan Media Project, a group of experts that tracks political propaganda in campaigns, identified at least 220 ads produced or enhanced with artificial intelligence by candidates or political action committees this election cycle. They cost just under $137 million.

It’s a significant leap in the use of this technology compared to 2024, when the investment in AI was less than $50,000 during the presidential election. As of May of this year, the money spent on these AI ads was already $20 million."

Supreme Court recusals stop music case in its tracks, strike warning note; NPR, October 21, 2026

Carrie Johnson, NPR; Supreme Court recusals stop music case in its tracks, strike warning note

"No quorum, because four of the nine justices recused themselves. The court did not explain why Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson stepped away from the case.

But the watchdog group Fix the Court has an idea: All four of those justices have book deals with Penguin Random House, part of a German conglomerate that's a party in the music copyright case.

"When you have a financial stake in a party or your finances could somehow be impacted by the outcome of a case, under federal law and the Supreme Court code of conduct, the justices are supposed to recuse," said Gabe Roth, who leads Fix the Court...

Three years ago, the Supreme Court published a code of conduct. But the long and short of it is, the justices largely police themselves.

Blackman, the law professor, said Congress should pass legislation to address the book royalties issue...

Tim Kappel is a lawyer for the songwriter in the case the court declined to hear. In a written statement, Kappel said the recusal speaks to the broad impact of copyright law and the expansive definition of what it means to be an artist."

Publisher cuts ties with Quebec author accused of AI use in award-winning novel; CBC, October 21, 2026

Annabelle Olivier , CBC; Publisher cuts ties with Quebec author accused of AI use in award-winning novel

Thélyson Orélien had denied AI use, admitted to past plagiarism

"Montreal publishing house Éditions du Boréal announced Wednesday it is ending its professional relationship with Thélyson Orélien — a Haitian-born, Quebec-based author. 

In a news release, the publisher said new information, confirmed over the course of recent days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process of Orélien's novel, C’était ça ou mourir, published earlier this year."

Meta quietly delays controversial update that critics say will allow website scraping; Fast Company, October 23, 2026

 SARAH FIELDING, Fast Company; Meta quietly delays controversial update that critics say will allow website scraping

"Earlier this month, Meta Platforms announced controversial new commercial terms of use for business accounts that critics said would give the social media giant broad authority to crawl and scrape web content associated with those accounts.

The new commercial terms—met by strong outrage from news publishers that produce online content and rely on Meta’s platforms for distribution—were set to go into effect on Friday, October 30.

Now, without any notice, Meta has pushed back the date of the change by three weeks to Friday, November 20. The delay comes one day after a major trade group for news publishers sent a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding that the forthcoming terms be withdrawn.

Despite the delayed date, the controversial language in the updated terms appeared to still be intact as of Friday...

On Thursday, October 22, the News/Media Alliance, which represents over 2,000 publications, wrote an open letter to Zuckerberg demanding that the company withdraw the updated commercial terms of use before they go into effect. 

The letter points to concerns that Meta will use publishers’ own content to compete with them, while giving them minimal ability to use Meta’s services and block ad crawlers. It further states that the new terms of use “grant Meta the right to exploit, without prior permission or fair compensation, journalism”

“These harms threaten the financial viability of the free press,” the letter, signed by News/Media Alliance president and CEO Danielle Coffey, further states.

It continues: “Once Meta has copied publishers’ content and built it into its products, the harm will be practically impossible to undo.”

The Myth of Safe AI; The Atlantic, October 22, 2026

 Matteo Wong , The Atlantic; The Myth of Safe AI

Silicon Valley promises to make AI benevolent. That may be technically impossible.

"Three months prior to the launch of ChatGPT, OpenAI published what would prove to be a prescient blog outlining the firm’s approach to ensuring that its AI models would be safe and beneficent. This goal, known as “alignment”—as in, aligning AI with human values—is nebulous, grand, and perhaps the AI industry’s most foundational promise. The notion is right there in OpenAI’s mission statement to ensure AI “benefits all of humanity” and listed as one of Anthropic’s “primary” goals.

Yet even in the summer of 2022, OpenAI was admitting a sort of defeat: “There is currently no known indefinitely scalable solution to the alignment problem,” three of its researchers wrote in that same blog post, adding that developing one “is likely very difficult.”

If the goal of keeping AI beneficial to mankind sounds rather vague, it is. Four years later, the alignment problem remains unsolved, and for that matter, there isn’t consensus about what the problem even is. Meanwhile, AI bots are autonomously hacking sovereign nations. And sending fake murder tips to police hotlines. And creating aliases to launch phishing campaigns. OpenAI and Anthropic still can’t really tell you what an aligned AI model looks like. But anybody can tell you it doesn’t look like this.

The most influential AI executives and investors in the world fundamentally disagree about the nature of the technology and, more pragmatically, how to make their products safe."

Writers get some plagiarism protection with new AI-cloaking tool; AV Club, October 20, 2026

 Dennis Perkins  , AV Club; Writers get some plagiarism protection with new AI-cloaking tool

"With writers everywhere understandably pissed that voracious AI tools are increasingly stealing their original works to train other AI tools, the Writers Guild of America East has some welcome relief. According to a WGAE press release today, all guild members will have access to Cloak, a patent-pending new software which will prevent most AI engines from “ingesting” their content. 

According to the Guild, writers can use Cloak to submit work to producers, agents, actors, and other actual humans who might want to read it, while ensuring no AI snooping agents can pilfer their hard work for nefarious, tech bro, copyright-dodging purposes."

Hundreds Sue Meta for Copyright Infringement, Rejecting Class Action Payouts; Publishers Weekly, October 21, 2026

Ed Nawotka , Publishers Weekly; Hundreds Sue Meta for Copyright Infringement, Rejecting Class Action Payouts

"Nearly 300 authors filed copyright infringement claims against Meta Platforms on October 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the company trained its AI models on pirated copies of their books and, more recently, on physical books it bought and scanned without a license.

Rather than join a class action suit, in which a few named plaintiffs sue on behalf of everyone, each author is pursuing an individual claim...

Plaintiffs range in prominence: Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries; Reyna Grande, a memoirist; Mark Spragg, a novelist; Rachel Nuwer, a journalist; Silvia Foti, author of The Nazi’s Granddaughter; and Minxin Pei, a scholar on China.

All of the authors signed up through ClaimsHero, a platform that partnered with Freedman Normand Friedland and Stris & Maher last fall to recruit authors to opt out of the $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement and sue on their own. The new suits arrive as the first cases from that effort approach trial.

Suits brought by Chicken Soup for the Soul, by academic publisher Cognella and by Cambronne, the company of journalist John Carreyrou, are among the related cases against Meta scheduled for jury trials beginning May 3, 2027."

Acclaimed Author Denies Using A.I. but Admits Plagiarism; The New York Times, October 13, 2026

Ségolène Le Stradic, The New York Times; Acclaimed Author Denies Using A.I. but Admits Plagiarism

"A Haitian-Canadian author accused of literary malpractice — including plagiarizing other writers and using artificial intelligence to write his award-winning new novel — has admitted to the plagiarism but denied using A.I. to write parts of the book.

The author, Thélyson Orélien, apologized in a statement on Tuesday for claiming “as my own texts that are not mine” — a reference to recent accusations that he had plagiarized the content of opinion articles and a short story that he published more than a decade ago.

But Mr. Orélien said that it was “slander and heresy” to claim that he had used A.I. to write parts of “It Was Either That or Die,” a novel published this year to initial acclaim.

“I did use research tools here and there, particularly when it came to foreign idioms,” Mr. Orélien said of writing that book, without clarifying what those tools were. “But no sentence in this book was created by a machine,” he added."

Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion for Deceiving Users on Privacy; The New York Times, October 21, 2026

  Eli Tan and Cecilia Kang, The New York Times ; Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion for Deceiving Users on Privacy

The penalty, one of the largest levied against the tech giant, stemmed from a lawsuit by New Mexico claiming the social media company had misled users about their data privacy.

"A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion on Wednesday for deceiving users about its data privacy practices, one of the largest penalties levied against a tech giant.

New Mexico sued Meta in 2021 over a scandal involving the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, saying the social media company had misled users with its public statements about their data privacy. Last month, after a two-week trial, a jury in the State District Court in Santa Fe ruled against Meta, saying the company had committed 43 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws. Each violation carried a penalty of up to $5,000.

On Wednesday, Judge Francis J. Mathew of the State District Court in Santa Fe issued the landmark penalty. 

The move was another blow to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as it has racked up court losses over the harms that its social media platforms have caused users. States and consumers have filed thousands of lawsuits over issues such as how Facebook and Instagram endangered child safety, led to social media addiction, used people’s data without their consent and infringed on their privacy."

Mom Calls Out School for Making an AI-Generated Photo of 6-Year-Old Daughter as an Adult (Exclusive); People,October 20, 2026

 Georgia Slater, People; Mom Calls Out School for Making an AI-Generated Photo of 6-Year-Old Daughter as an Adult (Exclusive)

"Anderson also raised concerns about how schools are using AI and whether parents are consenting to using these systems.

“I think the initial concern was ultimately the privacy implications. What software was used? Was it an outside platform? What happens to those pictures after? Did any of us actually consent to that?” she says. “Those are questions I think every parent deserves answers to.”

“Children cannot meaningfully consent to this sort of use; I think our children deserve protection, not only of their image, but of their minds,” Anderson adds."

New AI tool can predict cancer survival by a single patient selfie, study suggests; The Guardian, October 19, 2026

 Andrew Gregory, The Guardian; New AI tool can predict cancer survival by a single patient selfie, study suggests

"Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict a cancer patient’s chances of survival from a single photograph of their face.

The AI system was custom-built by experts at Mass General Brigham, a nonprofit, integrated academic healthcare system in Massachusetts, to estimate biological age and directly predict survival outcomes in patients diagnosed with cancer.

It is one of the most comprehensive demonstrations to date of how AI analysis of a selfie could help assess a patient’s health and potentially guide their medical care, and was trained on data from more than 40 million facial photographs across a range of ethnicities and ages.

Details of the breakthrough were published in the Lancet Digital Health journal."

AI agents are only as good as the personal information you share. That raises privacy concerns; WRAL News, October 19, 2026

 WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS , WRAL News; AI agents are only as good as the personal information you share. That raises privacy concerns

"Many have welcomed AI agents into their online lives, and raved about how personalized assistants like Muse can handle everyday tasks with ease — from snagging a dinner reservation or planning a trip, to organizing email inboxes. But like other AI bots, the agents are only as good as the information they have access to. They perform better the more they know about a user — and perhaps also that person’s friends, family and even colleagues. That raises privacy concerns."

Always on, always listening: New AI devices are pushing legal limits and could put users in jeopardy; CNBC, October 18, 2026

 MacKenzie, Sigalos, Annie Palmer , CNBC; Always on, always listening: New AI devices are pushing legal limits and could put users in jeopardy

"Many state wiretap and eavesdropping laws are written around whether a private communication was intercepted or its contents were acquired — not simply whether a conventional audio recording was created. 

Colin Zick, a privacy and data security attorney at Foley Hoag, said Apple appears to have learned from the first wave of litigation over voice assistants. But the new technology raises questions those earlier cases never had to answer: Can a system that is continuously listening, interpreting speech and turning it into a summary still amount to an interception if it never saves the underlying audio?

Some state laws define interception broadly. Massachusetts, for example, defines an intercepting device to include equipment capable of “transmitting, receiving, amplifying, or recording” a communication, while the “contents” of a communication can include its substance and meaning. 

In Zick’s view, a device that continuously receives speech and produces a written summary could potentially fall within that language even without retaining an audio file.

And in some states, the bigger legal risk may fall not on Apple, Amazon or other AI gadget makers but on the person wearing the device."

Consumer apprehension grows as US retailers adopt AI-assisted pricing tools; AP, October 18, 2026

  DEE-ANN DURBIN AND ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP; Consumer apprehension grows as US retailers adopt AI-assisted pricing tools

"U.S. consumers aren’t just frustrated with high prices. They’re angry and confused about the increasingly high-tech ways that restaurant chains and major retailers are setting those prices.

Digital price tags are rapidly replacing paper ones in grocery aisles. Artificial intelligence tools help businesses decide what to charge by predicting how customers might respond. Terms like “dynamic pricing” and “surveillance pricing” are stirring anxiety on social media, where users wonder if different people are getting different prices for the same product. 

Americans have grown accustomed to changing prices when booking flights, hotel rooms and rides, but the prospect of everyday spending shaped by algorithms they don’t understand and personal data they may not realize they’re sharing has touched a nerve.

“There are major tensions happening right now between who’s really going to have the power with some of these algorithms and usage of bots and AI: the companies or the shopper,” said Katie Thomas, who leads an internal consumer behavior think tank at the management consulting firm Kearney."

TikTok “Permanently Suspends” the ‘Musk’ Film Ad Account, Raising Suppression Fears (Exclusive); The Hollywood Reporter, October 17, 2026

 Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter ; TikTok “Permanently Suspends” the ‘Musk’ Film Ad Account, Raising Suppression Fears (Exclusive)

Move comes just as Alex Gibney doc film expands to nearly 500 screens. Distributor Bleecker Street says it is appealing.

"TikTok has banned the Musk film advertising account, citing a repeated pattern of political content that violates its policies. The move, which comes just as the Alex Gibney’s investigation into Elon Musk expands to more than 470 screens across North America, raises concerns about Big Tech suppression that the very film seeks to expose.

Distributor Bleecker Street was informed Friday afternoon a “permanent suspension” was coming regarding any ads it tried to buy, and the company was unable to do so shortly after. The native unpaid TikTok account, which generally allows more leeway on so-called political content, remains active, though Bleecker Street is not allowed to pay to boost its content, as many companies traditionally do. 

A spokesperson for the distributor confirmed that TikTok reps had informed them of the suspension and noted “disappointment” in the timing. After grossing $70,000 in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles in its first weekend of release, Musk is now playing in dozens of cities this weekend. The spokesperson said the company is in the process of appealing the move; even a reversal, however, could still prove costly if it doesn’t come during a weekend window when many people are likely to see the film."

Zuckerberg’s Meta Takes Down No Kings Instagram During Massive Protest Day; MeidasTouch, October 17, 2026

 Brett Meiselas, MedaisTouch ; Zuckerberg’s Meta Takes Down No Kings Instagram During Massive Protest Day

The protest coalition says Meta suspended its Instagram account for 90 minutes at the height of nationwide demonstrations—and even after restoring the page, locked organizers out of posting. Meta reportedly admitted it made a “bad call.”

[Kip Currier: Again, as stated previously here, this story about Meta allegedly restricting coverage of No Kings Day protests, if acccurate, is indicative of the anti-democratic impacts that are arguably evident from media consolidation in the hands of a coterie of tech billionaires:

• Larry and David Ellison and Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss have chilled free expression by CBS's 60 Minutes and the CBS Evening News.
• Elon Musk has curtailed free speech on Twitter-cum-X and capriciously decides when nations like Ukraine have access to Starlink satellites.
• Jeff Bezos has exercised editorial interference with the Washington Post on endorsement of political candidates and publication of editorial cartoons.]
• TikTok has "permanently suspended" an ad account for Alex Gibney's documentary film about Elon Musk

"Meta suspended the No Kings coalition’s Instagram account for approximately 90 minutes during nationwide protests.

Although Meta restored the account, organizers said administrators remained locked out and unable to post.

The coalition demanded answers, raising concerns about technology platforms’ influence over political organizing and speech."

A leading religious voice proposes a new test for AI: Humanity’s First Exam; Deseret News, October 17, 2026

 Tad Walch , Deseret News; A leading religious voice proposes a new test for AI: Humanity’s First Exam

"Elder Gong said artificial intelligence presents three opportunities.

The first is artificial intelligence can help religions widely share the good they provide. The Church of Jesus Christ uses AI for humanitarian and educational services, translation and communication, pastoral and community support and more, he said.

“We help individuals and families live and contribute for good in an increasingly complex world,” he said.

The second is that faith traditions can help establish benchmark evaluations and moral compass in AI.

Third, religions can influence AI companies to infuse their models with a moral compass that promotes human flourishing by valuing families and faith.

Elder Gong repeated his position that AI is not and cannot be God.

“Whatever our faith or ethical tradition,” he said, “we know AI is math and math is not conscious or alive. As a creation of God, man can create AI, but AI cannot create God.”

International Writers Groups Back AI Standards Charter; Publishers Weekly, October 15, 2026

Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly; International Writers Groups Back AI Standards Charter

"The U.K.’s Society of Authors (SoA) is leading an effort of international writers’ organizations and other creative industry bodies to launch a global charter setting out commitments to the responsible and ethical use of generative AI services.

The SoA has teamed with the Creators’ Rights Alliance in the U.K., the Authors Guild in the U.S., the Australian Society of Authors, the Writers’ Union of Canada and the New Zealand Society of Authors to create a Charter of Ethical AI Use in the Creative Industries.

The charter specifically addresses generative AI and how it should be deployed to help protect and support human creators. Its creation, the SoA said, comes as governments across the globe continue to drag their feet in in [sic] committing to AI regulation and oversight."

Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California; The Guardian, October 17, 2026

 Dara Kerr and Gabrielle Canon , The Guardian; Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California

"Rucci is among the new class of middlemen who inhabit the burgeoning world of datacenter development. The rapid rise of artificial intelligence – galvanized by Silicon Valley companies worth trillions of dollars – has fueled one of the biggest industrial construction booms in history. The technology requires far more computing power than traditional internet services, and that means building enormous new structures to house millions of servers."

Meta Withdraws $25 Million From Its Midterms Push; The New York Times, October 16, 2026

 Theodore Schleifer, The New York Times; Meta Withdraws $25 Million From Its Midterms Push

The company outlined a $65 million budget last year when it embarked on an effort to elect state politicians friendly to the A.I. industry.

"Meta’s effort to shape the midterm elections has quietly become $25 million smaller.

About a year ago, the Silicon Valley company announced an ambitious effort to elect state politicians who are friendly to the artificial intelligence industry, eventually outlining a $65 million budget for the operation. The subtext, heard loud and clear in states debating A.I. legislation, like California, Illinois and Texas: Meta’s political team was watching, and to be feared.

But this summer, with no announcement, Meta received $25 million of that cash back from political groups it had funded, according to filings made public this week. That made the company’s campaign budget about 40 percent smaller than at the outset."