Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
Trump rejects calls for more A.I. regulationMany of America’s leading artificial intelligence executives spent the weekend warning about the technology’s risks to humanity and urging for a global slowdown in A.I. development. But President Trump doesn’t agree. So he called Nvidia’s chief executive during an event today in Los Angeles and spoke to the crowd over speaker phone. “It’s a hoax,” the president told Jensen Huang, who held a microphone next to his phone. “The robots are not going to be taking over the world. That’s not going to happen.” On social media, Trump made clear that he opposes calls to place new limits on A.I. — after some researchers argued that the technology could lead to mass unemployment, biological weapons and autonomous warfare. “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT,” the president said. Top lawmakers in both parties suggested this weekend that Congress should place new guardrails. But there has been little movement so far, and Trump has argued that imposing additional restrictions on American companies would allow Beijing to “win” the A.I. race. China, however, has its own anxieties. The country’s security minister recently called for stricter oversight and warned that A.I. poses a direct threat to the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power. For more: The Trump administration has accelerated its efforts to make A.I. an integral part of medical care.
E.P.A. erases limits on climate pollution from power plantsThe Trump administration announced today that the federal government will no longer limit the planet-warming pollution that power plants create by burning coal and gas. The agency plans to argue that greenhouse gases from power plants do not endanger human health or the environment, and that it therefore lacks the authority to regulate them. The move is expected to be challenged in court. If it survives, the shift would effectively complete Trump’s erasure of the most consequential climate policies of his Democratic predecessors. It could also prevent future presidents from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Another judge deals a blow to Trump’s mail-in ballot planA Trump-appointed judge in Washington, D.C., ruled late last night that the president’s plan to significantly change the mail-in balloting process ahead of the November elections is most likely illegal and should be blocked. The judge said the administration had not presented evidence showing that it would lead to widespread fraud. Voting officials around the country are awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court on a similar ruling by a different federal judge, who found that Trump’s plan was likely to be unconstitutional. Related: Federal agents may have broken state laws as part of an effort to find noncitizens on voter rolls, and it’s likely that they have improperly flagged eligible voters, a whistle-blower said.
Conservatives are pushing for changes in college requirementsThe range of courses college students can take to meet general education requirements is narrowing in some right-leaning states. In Texas, for example, students at some of the state’s biggest public universities can no longer use courses in women’s studies or climate change to fulfill graduation requirements. In Florida, public universities no longer allow introductory sociology courses to satisfy core requirements. Supporters of the changes argue that core curriculums should never have included classes that they see as advancing left-leaning ideologies. Critics say the process seems more about politics than pedagogy. For more on higher education:
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Who should win at tonight’s Emmys?HBO Max’s hit hospital show, “The Pitt,” is the favorite to win in the best drama category at the 78th Emmy Awards tonight in Los Angeles. If it does, the series would be the first to win television’s most prestigious award for its first two seasons since “Mad Men” did it in 2009. The comedy category is a tight showdown between the freshman horror-comedy series “Widow’s Bay” and an Emmy stalwart, “Hacks.” Cast your vote for the night’s top awards and see what other readers think. The broadcast, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC. We’re covering it live. For more: Hear from Emmy contenders in their own words.
The breakthrough show of New York Fashion WeekYou probably have never heard of Eckhaus Latta. Most people haven’t. But the brand, which has been treading the fine line between fashion and art for almost 15 years, proved this week that is ready for the big time, our fashion critic Vanessa Friedman writes. At its New York Fashion Week show, Eckhaus Latta broke out with a “mix of libido, D.I.Y. and the everyday, subverting the familiar in startling ways that make you look — and think — twice,” Vanessa said. More from fashion week:
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