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Bill Gates addressed the Telluride Film Festival this past weekend, following the release of a 6,000-word essay outlining concerns about artificial intelligence's potential dangers. The Microsoft co-founder used the appearance to reinforce his cautionary message about the technology's societal impact.
The White House quietly took down 'Build the Wall,' a Tetris-style browser game framed as stopping a 'zombie border siege,' just days after launching an arcade-themed section of its website. The removal follows criticism of the game's content and comes after Tetris Company said it was reviewing the situation. Other Trump-agenda-themed games, including a Flappy Bird clone and a Tapper-style title, remain live on the site.
An internal Microsoft email from January 2003, later made public through litigation records, shows Bill Gates recounting a frustrating attempt to download Windows Movie Maker and a Digital Plus pack from Microsoft's own website. Gates described slow load times, a confusing list of 45 unfiltered download options, failed searches for 'moviemaker' and 'movie maker,' and being redirected to Windows Update just to find the software.
After his daughter Lucy suffered a brain hemorrhage that left her blind, billionaire Bill Ackman used his connections to secure her advanced care at Mount Sinai and pursue an experimental treatment. In May, the FDA granted her medical team first-time emergency authorization to transplant mitochondria from her leg muscle into her eyes in an attempt to repair her optic nerves. Ackman has since pledged over $400 million to establish an institute focused on longevity and brain health research.
A California bill aimed at regulating surveillance-based pricing — where retailers use personal data to set individualized prices — failed to advance to Governor Newsom's desk before the legislative deadline. The California Retailers Association responded by expressing hope that lawmakers can restart negotiations next year by focusing on points of existing consensus.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly attempted to influence California Governor Gavin Newsom before state lawmakers passed a bill regulating how AI chatbots interact with minors. The legislation, aimed at establishing safety guardrails for children's use of companion chatbots, has cleared the legislature but still awaits Newsom's signature to become law.
California lawmakers passed AB 1709, which would bar platforms from offering recommendation algorithms and basic follow/like features to users under 16 starting in January. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is asking Governor Gavin Newsom to veto the bill, arguing it effectively locks minors out of most modern digital services by banning tools essential to how those platforms function.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told the Katie Miller Podcast that he views philanthropy as often a 'net negative on the world,' arguing that charitable foundations tend to get 'captured by ideology.' Despite an estimated net worth of $8.7 billion, Armstrong said he has decided not to pursue large-scale giving, contrasting his stance with figures like Bill Gates.
California's Assembly Bill 1856 has passed both chambers of the state legislature and now heads to Engrossing and Enrolling before reaching Governor Gavin Newsom's desk. The bill retains an amendment carving out open-source operating systems from its age-verification mandates, an exemption first added back in May. Covered operating systems will need to collect birth date or age information during account setup and share a coarse age-range signal with app stores and developers via API.
In a lengthy new blog post and media interviews, Bill Gates has shifted from AI optimism to alarm, warning that the technology could become either the greatest equalizer or the worst source of inequality in history. He told Semafor he's shocked others aren't as worried as he is, arguing AI's breadth means virtually no job will be untouched.
MIT Technology Review has published its annual Kids issue, exploring how children are experiencing and adapting to a world saturated with AI and technology, including topics like AI companionship, monitoring apps, and schools' use of AI. Separately, in an interview featured in the same roundup, Bill Gates told MIT Technology Review's Mat Honan that he believes society has already crossed certain safety thresholds with artificial intelligence, expressing concern about risks ranging from economic disruption to loss of control over AI systems.
In a lengthy essay, Bill Gates cautioned that artificial intelligence is advancing faster than governments and institutions can prepare for, with no coordinated strategy in place to manage its effects. He called for regulation and international cooperation to address risks to employment, safety and general well-being.