Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 11h

They promised us new drugs to cure cancer…

…and gave us an AI that creates #deepfakes of dead celebrities.

#OpenAI #Sora #regulation

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

AI videos of dead celebrities are horrifying many of their families

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI’s new tool lets users make realistic AI videos of dead public figures like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson. Many have responded with crude and racist memes.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 12h

Imagine #politics becoming like #media: a loose collection of self-centered influencers replacing established parties/brands.

What could go wrong…?

#polarization #fragmentation #democracy

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12h

Not long ago, Marjorie Taylor Greene was a hard-line MAGA acolyte. Lately she’s been breaking with her party, Will Gottsegen writes in The Atlantic Daily. https://theatln.tc/EbeVZhtD

Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 12h

Maybe Qatar will become the 51st state? 🤔

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 12h

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the United States will host a Qatari air force training facility at an Idaho air base. The base will remain under U.S. jurisdiction, he said.

Here’s what to know:

Why Qatar is building an air force training facility at a U.S. military base

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho will host Qatari pilots at the military facility. The base will remain under U.S. jurisdiction.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Karsten Lemm

visualcap.bsky.social @visualcap.bsky.social · 12h

How Small Are Microplastics? We Put Things Into Perspective 🔬

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-small-are-microplastics-we-put-things-into-perspective/

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Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 15h

"They built their businesses on disposability": Author Saabira Chaudhuri says brands made single-use plastic inescapable.

How Plastic Goods Took Over the World, Creating a Throwaway Culture

Author Saabira Chaudhuri writes about brands’ drive for disposability in her new book, Consumed.

bloom.bg

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Reposted by Karsten Lemm

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 16h

The US wants the world to buy its fossil fuels. China wants to sell the world its clean-energy technologies.

There is one clear winner — for now

China Is Beating the US in the Battle for Energy Export Dominance

China’s exports of clean energy technology hit a record in August, with $20 billion shipped globally.

bloom.bg

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Reposted by Karsten Lemm

NPR @npr.org · 16h

Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying that Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting that the country's immigration policy is "inhuman."

Pope Leo XIV says 'inhuman treatment of immigrants' in the U.S. isn't 'pro-life'

Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying that Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting that the country's immigration policy is "inhuman."

n.pr

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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 17h

Exclusive: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel delivered four off-the-record lectures in San Francisco, connecting government oversight of Silicon Valley to an apocalyptic future, according to recordings reviewed by The Post.

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

wapo.st

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Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 17h

Trump’s Gaza peace plan “is a mile wide and an inch deep: he left the details vague, and the negotiators in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh did not even try to clarify them. Instead they deferred the fine print to future talks.”

@economist.com analysis

www.economist.com/briefing/202...

Israel and Hamas agree to the first phase of Donald Trump’s peace plan

But neither side is fully reconciled to what is supposed to come next

www.economist.com

Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 19h

In the “land of the free and the brave”, you must now be brave enough to flee if your work incites the anger of the MAGA mob.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n...

Rutgers Expert on Antifa Flees to Spain After Death Threats

www.nytimes.com

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Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 1d

For the ultimate selfie trip, try Sora.

“This tool can put me, myself and I in every video, every situation, no matter how realistic or surreal…”

We might soon be sorry this thing exists…

#OpenAI #SocialMedia

www.wsj.com/tech/persona...

I Tried the Hot New AI Video App. It Made Me Lonelier Than Ever.

OpenAI’s Sora video-generation app may look like TikTok, but its core feature plays to the Narcissus in all of us.

www.wsj.com

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Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 1d

Peter Thiel is clearly going off the rails…

“In private lectures on Christianity”, Thiel warned “that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and critics of technology or artificial intelligence are ‘legionnaires of the Antichrist’”, @washingtonpost.com reports.

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

www.washingtonpost.com

Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 1d

“The White House on Friday criticized the Nobel Prize committee's decision to grant the peace prize to a Venezuelan opposition leader instead of U.S. President Donald Trump…”

www.reuters.com/world/americ...

www.reuters.com

Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 1d

MIT cryptographer Yael Tauman Kalai recently told me we shold think of #AI “as an adversarial entity… in case it behaves maliciously”.

This @nytimes.com op-ed by author Stephen Witt (“The Thinking Machine”) illustrates why. Terrifying…

Gift link 🎁

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World

www.nytimes.com

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Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 1d

We’ll find out what happens very soon, because there actually are “no rules over hyper-realistic synthetic videos”.

#AI #regulation #Sora

NPR @npr.org · 1d

OpenAI's new hit app has unleashed a new wave of AI slop across the internet. But what happens when there are no rules over hyper-realistic synthetic videos? n.pr/3KLJLqk

Sora gives deepfakes 'a publicist and a distribution deal.' It could change the internet

OpenAI's new hit app has unleashed a new wave of AI slop across the internet. But what happens when there are no rules over hyper-realistic synthetic videos?

n.pr

Reposted by Karsten Lemm

NPR @npr.org · 1d

OpenAI's new hit app has unleashed a new wave of AI slop across the internet. But what happens when there are no rules over hyper-realistic synthetic videos? n.pr/3KLJLqk

Sora gives deepfakes 'a publicist and a distribution deal.' It could change the internet

OpenAI's new hit app has unleashed a new wave of AI slop across the internet. But what happens when there are no rules over hyper-realistic synthetic videos?

n.pr

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Reposted by Karsten Lemm

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 1d

As far as high-profile academics moving out of Trump's America goes, it doesn't get more high-profile than this.

🇺🇸 → 🇨🇭

Department of Economics @Universität Zürich 🇨🇭 @econ.uzh.ch · 1d

We are thrilled to welcome Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee as the new Lemann Foundation Professors to our department, beginning in the summer of 2026.

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Reposted by Karsten Lemm

Christian Odendahl @codendahl.bsky.social · 1d

"A 55% plunge in BEV sales to China was in stark contrast to a 213.5% jump in North America and a 60% increase in Europe."

Seems to work without subsidies for the well-off to buy EVs.

Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

Volkswagen's third-quarter sales lifted by Europe and EVs reut.rs/3J0crLF

Volkswagen's third-quarter sales lifted by Europe and EVs

Volkswagen Group reported a 1% increase in third-quarter global deliveries on Friday as new models helped sales in Western Europe.

reut.rs

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Reposted by Karsten Lemm

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 1d

Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela

Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.

www.theatlantic.com

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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 1d

Hooray!

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Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 1d

Bad #journalism alert. The subhead reads as if Trump had campaigned for María Corina Machado, not himself:

“Leader of country’s opposition receives award after intense public and private campaign by Donald Trump”

Cc @theguardian.com

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado wins Nobel peace prize

Leader of country’s opposition receives award after intense public and private campaign by Donald Trump

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Karsten Lemm

Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · 1d

The Nobel Peace Prize goes to someone trying to peacefully stand up to a dictatorship, not to somebody trying to build a dictatorship.

That seems appropriate.

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Reposted by Karsten Lemm

Lorcan Roche Kelly @lorcanrk.bsky.social · 1d

How long will Rubio keep his job after his boss finds out he put his name to this letter supporting Maria Corina Machando for the Nobel Prize? www.rickscott.senate.gov/services/fil...

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Karsten Lemm @lemmk.bsky.social · 1d

Now imagine this #infrastructure #IoT coming under attack from hackers, black hat or state sponsored… 👇

We need the best experts to build and secure it.

Wolfgang Blau @wblau.bsky.social · 1d

Internet of things? For years, we‘ve been told it would be about ‚smart fridges ordering milk on our behalf‘ and other useless non-sense. As it turns out, the power grid will be the ultimate internet of things with all power consuming, storing and producing devices talking to each other.

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Reposted by Karsten Lemm

Wolfgang Blau @wblau.bsky.social · 1d

Internet of things? For years, we‘ve been told it would be about ‚smart fridges ordering milk on our behalf‘ and other useless non-sense. As it turns out, the power grid will be the ultimate internet of things with all power consuming, storing and producing devices talking to each other.

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