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Jevman ran 100 games per AI model against scripted Pac-Man ghosts, with each game ending after three lost lives or a 5-minute cap. At every junction the model was asked to weigh the maze, pellets and ghost positions and output movement probabilities, with a 2-second deadline before a backup rule took over. Results were ranked by mean score with a 95% margin of error, and models within that margin were treated as tied.
America PAC, associated with Elon Musk, has allocated significant funds toward the most pivotal Senate races in the upcoming midterm elections. The group has spent nearly three times more on attacking Democratic candidates than supporting Republican ones, with notable expenditures in Texas and other battleground states. These efforts aim to influence the balance of power in the Senate amid concerns over a potential Democratic majority.
Federal filings analyzed by WIRED show Elon Musk's America PAC has spent $21 million of its $26.7 million total this cycle on seven competitive US Senate races. The spending as of October 6 skews heavily toward attacking Democratic candidates rather than directly supporting Republicans, with roughly double that ratio overall and triple in Senate contests specifically. This year's total spending is about a third of the $85.9 million America PAC had spent by the same point in 2024, when most money went to the presidential race.
According to the New York Times, OpenAI president Greg Brockman will not follow through on promised donations to Leading the Future, a super PAC focused on AI policy. The reported reversal follows significant public criticism of the group and its donors.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman has reversed a planned $25-million contribution to a political action committee supporting AI-friendly candidates. The reversal follows pushback from OpenAI employees who favor tougher AI regulation.
A Show HN project called PacBench evaluates how well different AI models and their supporting harnesses can recreate the classic game Pac-Man from a single prompt: 'Create a Pac-Man game in a single html page.' The benchmark measures how closely each model's generated code approximates a functioning Pac-Man game.
Volkswagen is integrating AirConsole, a gaming platform developed by N-Dream, into infotainment screens on 2027 Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, Tiguan, Golf GTI, Golf R and ID vehicles. The 20-title lineup includes Tetris, Pac-Man Championship Edition and Uno Car Party, with phones serving as wireless controllers and gameplay restricted to when the car is parked.
One year after cofounder Charlie Kirk's assassination, Turning Point is preparing to spend tens of millions of dollars backing Republican candidates in the 2026 midterms. Its super PAC is targeting $15-20 million in ads across three priority states—New Hampshire, Arizona and Nevada—while a separate nonprofit arm funds full-time field staff there and in seven other states where Democrats could flip seats. Key races include the New Hampshire Senate contest between John Sununu and Chris Pappas, and the Arizona governor's race pitting Katie Hobbs against Andy Biggs.
Elon Musk's super PAC, America PAC, disclosed its first midterm expenditures to the FEC, spending over $800,000 across seven Senate contests and several House races. The largest chunk, more than $247,000, went to Texas to boost Republican Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico, with additional funds directed to Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Alaska. The spending, categorized as mail advertising, marks the start of what Musk has reportedly pledged could grow to $120 million in Republican-focused election spending.
Build American AI, a new group tied to the super PAC Leading the Future, plans a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in Kansas, Ohio, and Wisconsin to build public support for local data centers. Leading the Future was seeded with over $50 million from investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz and OpenAI president Greg Brockman, and has mainly spent that money backing pro-AI candidates and opposing those skeptical of the technology.
Nvidia has registered a new federal political action committee that will collect voluntary donations of up to $5,000 a year from eligible employees to fund candidates and party committees. The company told staff that upcoming congressional decisions on AI regulation, export controls and infrastructure could significantly affect the industry. This move follows Nvidia's hiring of a new chief external affairs officer and five outside lobbying firms, alongside a jump in federal lobbying spending to over $2.5 million this year.
Nvidia has formed a political action committee to make donations to federal candidates, marking a new step in its efforts to build lobbying and political influence in Washington. The PAC will be funded through voluntary, capped contributions from eligible employees rather than corporate treasury funds. The move comes as Congress and the Trump administration debate a national AI regulatory framework ahead of the midterm elections.