This week, we’re terraforming the desert, sniffing Oreos, and attempting to capture a person’s essence in a photograph.
THE DISCOURSE
Citrini moves markets: Despite a caveat at the top of The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis by Citrini and Alap Shah that what followed was an imagined scenario, many in the tech and finance sectors viewed the doomer vision of AI-driven economic collapse as if it were news from the future. And the market took notice: the post was cited as a reason the stock market plunged earlier this week. Michael Burry described it as a “brilliant, gut-wrenching approach” to predicting AI futures, while Noah Smith described it as “just a scary bedtime story.” Regardless of the accuracy of the narrative itself, it’s hard not to notice when a work of speculative fiction can move very real markets (and inspire financial firms to publish rebuttals).
Anthropic vs the Pentagon: The federal government and the AI company Anthropic clashed this week over the company’s hard limits on the use of its technology for mass surveillance or lethal autonomous weapons without human oversight. As of Friday evening, the Trump administration seemed ready to make good on its threat to designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” which would bar government contractors from using its products and could, per Scott Alexander, be fatal to the company’s business. Employees at OpenAI and Google have signed open letters urging their own leaders to back Anthropic and commit to the same stances. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s hippy history and its tech present collided on Hippy Hill, where a “Peace Claude” rally took place.
CBK dominates fashion discourse (again): Ryan Murphy’s show chronicling the love story of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy has led to a new generation’s obsession with her ’90s minimalism. anastasiacng writes about CBK’s discernment as the real reason behind her enduring popularity, while Viv Chen reports that a “CBK tax” on vintage basics has hit eBay and laura reilly lists the (many) brands trying to capitalize on the moment. Allison Bornstein reminds us that CBK’s consistent sense of style reflects the fact that she spent only a few years in the public eye before her tragic death. And for those ready to move on from CBK but perhaps not from the ’90s,
