Winner of the Prix Goncourt literary prize admits to using AI; The Guardian, November 5, 2026

 Emma Loffhagen, The Guardian; Winner of the Prix Goncourt literary prize admits to using AI

"The winner of France’s most prestigious literary prize has admitted using artificial intelligence while writing his novel, barely a day after collecting an award whose jury had thrown out another book over suspected AI use.

Philippe Jaenada, who won the Prix Goncourt on Tuesday for L’Inconnue du quai de Javel (The Unknown Woman of the Quai de Javel), told France Inter radio on Wednesday that he had turned to AI “three times” while writing it.

The first, he said, was to slip in a sentence written by ChatGPT in order to “play with the reader”. He said he had revealed which sentence it was only to the Goncourt jurors, on the day of the award. “If it gets out, I’ll know where it came from,” he said.

He also included a section of AI-generated text to poke fun at ChatGPT, which gave “completely absurd answers about a technical detail”, and for research...

The admission comes after the Académie Goncourt removed Thélyson Orélien’s book C’était ça ou Mourir (It Was That or Die) from its longlist in September. The Canadian-Haitian writer’s debut had been the breakout hit of France’s rentrée littéraire – the period between late August and early November which sees many books published in France – selling more than 35,000 copies and winning the Prix du roman Fnac (Fnac novel prize), before the journalist Samuel Fitoussi ran it through the AI-detection tool Pangram and concluded that much of it had been machine-generated. However, the accuracy of AI-detection software has been called into question.

In a statement on 25 September, the academy said analyses by researchers and journalists showed the novel was “in all likelihood very largely the product of an artificial intelligence”. It said it wanted to protect the integrity of a prize that exists to honour “literature written by women and men”, and to send “a clear message” that it did not endorse texts generated with the help of AI...

The contrast has prompted some accusations of a racial double standard online. “So when it’s an old white man it’s fine, but when it’s a young writer of colour he gets stoned in the public square?” one user wrote on X. Another said Jaenada had faced “no media lynching, no banishment” over his use of AI – “a leniency denied to Thélyson Orélien”."

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Standing in the way of slop bowls: the woman blocking food delivery robots; The Guardian, November 7, 2026

 Arwa Mahdawi with visuals by Kriston Jae Bethel, The Guardian; Standing in the way of slop bowls: the woman blocking food delivery robots

"The semi-retired University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) communications professor has become something of a local celebrity after taking it upon herself to block the UberEats food delivery robots which have become a ubiquitous presence in the city’s downtown. She doesn’t do this every day – “I have a life” – but whenever a robot crosses her path she’ll stare it down as a protest against their incursion into public spaces.

Her antics have gone viral: so much so that some Philadelphians dressed up as Marvin and the robot for Halloween. But while she may have supporters, her protesting isn’t universally admired: a few weeks ago it got her in trouble with the law...

Halloween graphics on the screen that operates as its “face” and another has little zzz on it, indicating that it’s sleeping. I’ve got to admit, they look cute. And, of course, that’s by design. “Humanizing the robots is important, because they are a completely new entity,” a spokesperson for Avride told me when I called them for an interview a couple of days earlier. “We want people to feel comfortable around the robots and not to feel scared about some weird box travelling down the sidewalk.”...

“OMG,” a young passerby called Cadence says as she recognizes Marvin and her trademark blue visor. “It’s the queen! I feel like I met a celebrity!” Cadence, a 22-year-old recent graduate, is on board with the professor’s protest. “AI and robotics are supposed to make life easier for us and help us do the things we enjoy, not take the jobs of other people,” she effuses. “I will support any small business that doesn’t use AI. I appreciate what is made by humans.”

Passing kids, meanwhile, seem less concerned about the gig economy, and more interested in the robots’ cute faces. Every toddler who goes by points at them with delight. A couple of kids who pass have a heated discussion about whether the robot looks like a dog or a cat. (It looks like neither.) The only child we come across who isn’t enthralled looks around seven years old and yells “clanker!” at it. “I’ve watched enough movies to know that these things are going to hunt us down!” he says.

The people cheering Marvin on aren’t outliers: these protests have struck a chord with people because of a growing distrust around AI and automation. According to a recent study by Pew Research, a majority of Americans are deeply skeptical of AI; more adults are expecting it to have a negative impact than a positive one. And while I’m not sure if other people are blocking food delivery robots, we’re certainly seeing a rise in protests against datacenters and other symbols of automation. A few weeks ago in Philadelphia I passed a woman standing in front of a Waymo self-driving taxi (which is being tested in the city with human safety drivers) blocking its path and yelling “LAME-O”.

Despite this antipathy, robots are gradually being normalized. Pennsylvania legalized delivery robots via Act 106 of 2020, defining them as “pedestrians” and they’re slowly becoming part of the landscape...

While the automation industry has big plans to grow their fleets of robots, Marvin stages these protests because she wants to remind people that they have a say in all of this. They have a right to weigh in on whether private robots should be allowed on public streets.

“I’m very supportive of the kinds of things that AI is doing in terms of medical breakthroughs,” Marvin says. “And I think robots are fine on factory floors, but they don’t belong in public space. I take the position that this isn’t inevitable. But you have to have the will to do something. In Toronto they banned delivery robots from sidewalks in 2021. And I think, you know, the question is: who is public infrastructure designed to serve?”"

The Election Day Revolt That Threatens America’s AI Boom; Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2026

   

Will Parker

, 

Anissa Gardizy

 and 

Amrith Ramkumar, Wall Street Journal; The Election Day Revolt That Threatens America’s AI Boom

Data Center-Related Ballot Measures

Rows shaded in gray are for ballot measures that were more favorable toward development. The unshaded rows are for measures that were more prohibitive or restrictive of data centers.

  Page 1 of 6  

Table with 6 columns and 41 rows of data. Currently displaying rows 1 to 8. (column headers with buttons are sortable)

Alhambra	Calif.	✔	Prohibit data centers in the city	82% 82%	18% 18%
Ashville	Ohio	✘	Uphold a term summary to guide negotiations between the Village of Ashville and EdgeConneX regarding two data center	18% 18%	82% 82%
Bloomington	Ill.	✔	Advise the city to impose a moratorium on building large-scale data centers	78% 78%	22% 22%
Boulder City	Nev.	✘	Allow data centers within the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area	29% 29%	71% 71%
Chouteau (Madison County)	Ill.	✘	Advise officials to permit the construction and operation of new data centers in the township	17% 17%	83% 83%
Conneaut	Ohio	✔	Prohibit the construction of data centers with an aggregate monthly electrical demand or peak load greater than 25 megawatts	65% 65%	35% 35%
Defiance	Ohio	✔	Prohibit the construction of data centers with an aggregate demand or peak load greater than 25 megawatts	65% 65%	35% 35%
Downe (Cumberland County)	N.J.	✘	Advise support for data centers in Downe Township	13% 13%	87% 87%

  Page 1 of 6  

Note: Tap or click column headers to sort. Table shows measures that were voted on Nov. 3. Data are as of Wednesday afternoon. WSJ classified the measures as either more favorable or more restrictive.

As budgets tighten, people are breaking out their library cards; NPR, November 5, 2026

 Joe Hernandez, NPR ; As budgets tighten, people are breaking out their library cards

"It is something of a truism in the library world that, when economic conditions worsen, people use libraries more. Patrons and librarians across the U.S. tell NPR they're seeing that pan out now...

Data shared with NPR by several of the largest public library systems in the U.S. show recent upticks in cardholder membership, circulation and event attendance. Librarians say part of that can be attributed to the rising cost of living — and the growing recognition that libraries' resources extend far beyond physical books...

There is historical precedent for the idea that economic slumps are a boon to libraries.

An analysis by the American Library Association found that circulation increased at 18 large public library systems during a brief U.S. recession in 2001. Another study of 541 libraries found that library use was higher during the Great Recession than in previous years. (However, a 1986 article that tried to draw a similar correlation found no data to support that theory.)"

OpenAI pledges to pay for data center power after election highlights AI concerns; CNBC, November 5, 2026

 Ashley Capoot, CNBC ; OpenAI pledges to pay for data center power after election highlights AI concerns

"OpenAI reaffirmed its promise to pay the full cost of powering data centers as part of a series of commitments the company published Thursday, two days after voters at the polls roundly rejected the rapid expansion of AI.

The artificial intelligence company said in its commitments that for data centers it owns and operates, it will solicit community input, publish construction plans and stay away from use of non-disclosure agreements with public officials. Additionally, in a policy blueprint, OpenAI encouraged policymakers to enact similar commitments as laws. 

“What we’re doing with this blueprint is really laying out the best lessons that we have learned and committing to applying them as they go forward,” OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane told reporters during a Wednesday briefing. “This will help ensure that there is a very high floor in terms of how people move forward.”

On Tuesday, Americans issued a stinging rebuke of data centers at the polls. Out of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states, voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures for all but one, according to an analysis by Ballotpedia and additional results gathered by CNBC on Wednesday.

Opposition to AI data centers mounted swiftly over the summer across both sides of the political aisle. Consumers grappling with inflation, rising grocery prices and stubbornly high prices at the pump grew worried that the facilities could exacerbate environmental harms, raise utility bills and contribute to job loss. For many, they became a physical manifestation of the widespread antipathy and anxiety around AI."