Following the recent rollout of digital driver's licenses in Virginia and Oklahoma, Apple Wallet is expected to add support for Utah, Kentucky, and North Carolina in the near future. Utah has reportedly been detected in Apple's backend systems, Kentucky has completed a digital ID system upgrade tied to its planned launch, and North Carolina has publicly committed to Apple Wallet support by early 2027 as part of its new digital license system.
President Trump used a UN address to declare that the US government will replace the term "artificial intelligence" with "super intelligence" across official documents. He had previewed the change days earlier on Truth Social, arguing the existing term was inaccurate and inelegant, and floated alternatives like "Superior Intelligence" and "Extreme Intelligence" before settling on "super."
Paramount reached a settlement with a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California's Rob Bonta, who had sued to block its $11 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. The company agreed to establish an editorial independence board overseeing CBS News and CNN, commit to 30 theatrical releases annually, and protect CBS News Broadcast writers from layoffs for five years while paying $17.5 million to the Writers Guild's health fund. The merger is now expected to close in early October, giving Paramount chief David Ellison control over franchises including DC and Harry Potter.
Fast Company's Impact Council published a reflection tied to the America 250 celebration, examining how the country's founding spirit of risk-taking has driven technological breakthroughs from aviation to computing. The piece argues that sustaining this innovative edge for another quarter millennium requires deliberate policy and industry choices rather than assuming continuity.
The U.S. House approved H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which amends the 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act to require state regulators and non-regulated utilities to consider adopting a federal standard within two years. Under the bill, data centers drawing 100 megawatts or more would have to cover the full incremental cost of generation, transmission, or distribution upgrades built to serve them, even if they later cancel their power contracts.
A philosophical essay contends that if materialism—the view that consciousness arises purely from physical processes—is correct, then large, complex systems of interacting people, like the United States as a collective entity, could plausibly qualify as conscious. The piece was published without full article content available, but the headline argument draws on longstanding debates in philosophy of mind about what physical conditions are sufficient for consciousness to emerge.
American AI governance discussions focus largely on existential risks and protecting humanity from potential harms of advanced systems. Chinese authorities, by contrast, prioritize AI rules that shield the Communist Party's authority and political stability, reflecting fundamentally different visions of what 'safe' AI should look like.
King Charles III addressed AI industry leaders, calling on them to ensure the technology remains under human control and does not develop harmful or uncontrollable capabilities. The remarks come amid mounting international anxiety over an AI race largely dominated by the United States and China.
States United Action, a nonpartisan election-protection nonprofit, has identified 197 candidates who have denied or questioned the legitimacy of past election results running in congressional and statewide races across 43 states this November. The list includes a sitting member of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 results, a former state legislator who blended QAnon theories into election denial, and local officials pushing unsubstantiated noncitizen-voting claims.
Uber and Costco have widened their delivery partnership from 17 states to 47, meaning almost 600 Costco warehouses now offer Uber Eats delivery to members. Shoppers must verify Costco membership before ordering, and the app will let some members buy Costco memberships or get discounts on Uber One, its paid subscription.
Researchers analyzed a 2021 survey of 3,227 non-Hispanic white Americans conducted through the Cooperative Election Study (CES), a major academic polling platform run via YouGov. The team purchased questionnaire space across five CES modules to examine how demographic traits, partisanship and geography relate to support for white nationalist views. Respondents were drawn from an opt-in panel weighted to approximate a nationally representative sample of US adults.
New data shows that more than 70% of recently added solar power capacity in the United States is being built in states that voted for Donald Trump. This trend continues despite Republican-backed policies at the federal level that could slow renewable energy expansion going forward.
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