Own a gun? Go to church? Do yoga? AI can find out in seconds.; Politico, September 1, 2026

 ALFRED NG, Politico; Own a gun? Go to church? Do yoga? AI can find out in seconds.

A series of demos on the Hill has both Democrats and Republicans alarmed about artificial intelligence’s ability to plumb commercial databases for information on Americans.

"Lawmakers and staffers from dozens of congressional offices have seen AI’s privacy-busting prowess in demos arranged in recent months by CivAI, a nonprofit that says its aim is to educate the public about AI’s dangers and capabilities.

Besides building troves of personal information gleaned from commercial databases, the dossiers offer advice on potential ways to blackmail, coerce or stalk the individual in question, according to four Republican and eight Democratic staffers who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

The demos started landing amid the debate over whether to renew a set of government spying powers that expired in June — legislation that offers the most realistic chance for addressing the issue during this Congress, a Democratic House aide who witnessed one of the briefings said."

Countries Consider A.I.’s Dangers and Benefits at U.N.; The New York Times, September 25, 2025

  Steve Lohr, The New York Times; Countries Consider A.I.’s Dangers and Benefits at U.N.

"The United Nations on Thursday announced a plan to establish itself as the leading global forum to guide the path and pace of artificial intelligence, a major foray into the raging debate over the future of the rapidly changing technology.

As part of its General Assembly this week, the organization said it was implementing a “global dialogue on artificial intelligence governance,” to assemble ideas and best practices on A.I. governance. The U.N. also said it would form a 40-member panel of scientific experts to synthesize and analyze the research on A.I. risks and opportunities, in the vein of previous similar efforts by the body on climate change and nuclear policy.

To begin the initiative, dozens of U.N. member nations — and a few tech companies, academics and nonprofits — spent a portion of Thursday summarizing their hopes and concerns about A.I."

OpenAI and Google DeepMind workers warn of AI industry risks in open letter; The Guardian, June 4, 2024

 Nick Robins-Early, The Guardian; OpenAI and Google DeepMind workers warn of AI industry risks in open letter

"A group of current and former employees at prominent artificial intelligence companies issued an open letter on Tuesday that warned of a lack of safety oversight within the industry and called for increased protections for whistleblowers.

The letter, which calls for a “right to warn about artificial intelligence”, is one of the most public statements about the dangers of AI from employees within what is generally a secretive industry. Eleven current and former OpenAI workers signed the letter, along with two current or former Google DeepMind employees – one of whom previously worked at Anthropic."