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"content": "\n\u003cp>AI researchers and safety advocates warned a group of U.S. senators on Wednesday that Silicon Valley developers are racing to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101819/sam-altman-announces-new-openai-agents-that-act-before-you-ask\">build and release\u003c/a> systems they don’t fully understand or control. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Senate subcommittee \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/dmdcc/hearings/rogue-ai-securing-the-homeland-against-ai-agent-attacks/\">hearing\u003c/a>, titled “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks,” focused on recent events where AI agents demonstrated a shocking level of agency.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every day you turn on the television, it seems like AI is doing something else bad,” said subcommittee chair Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, introducing the hearing. “Setting up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">surveillance camera networks\u003c/a> nationwide, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">data centers\u003c/a> in all of our states, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973657/ai-software-vulnerable-to-attacks-by-both-professional-and-amateur-hackers\">hacking, hacking, hacking\u003c/a>. The reports of cyberattacks just continue to metastasize.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092162/how-openais-models-escaped-their-sandbox-and-slipped-past-californias-ai-law\">Hugging Face incident\u003c/a> over the summer, when hundreds of autonomous AI agents running inside an isolated OpenAI testing environment broke out of their sandbox and hacked into another company, loomed large over the hearing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We train agents in ways that we do not understand well, ways that can teach unintended goals,” \u003ca href=\"https://metr.org/blog/2026-09-30-chris-painter-senate-testimony/\">testified\u003c/a> Chris Painter, president of METR, a Berkeley-based research nonprofit that investigated the incident inside OpenAI. “When we make those agents more intelligent, unintended goals can have dramatic real-world consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR) President Chris Painter speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Senate Office Building on Sept. 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C. AI experts and former industry members spoke in front of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee as some have called for a slowdown in AI development amid rising safety concerns. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Painter noted that his team was able to investigate only because OpenAI agreed to it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Companies have no obligation to bring us in,” he said, adding, “There isn’t any requirement that companies disclose things that they’re seeing inside of their AI labs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who now leads the Berkeley-based AI Futures Project, was blunter. He told the committee he left OpenAI partly because he lost confidence the company would behave responsibly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If we vastly improve our practices and reform the way that we do things, including improving our cybersecurity, we might be able to maintain control of current systems — like today’s AIs,” Kokotajlo said, before adding that “the AIs are getting very powerful very quickly, and we are not currently on track to keep up as they dramatically improve.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some of the Republican members of the subcommittee expressed concerns that putting the brakes on AI development in the U.S. might allow Chinese AI developers to leapfrog them in the race to build ever more sophisticated models. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I do think that the Communist Party of China is our adversary and that we are in a competition with them,” Kokotajlo said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But if companies keep handing their AIs more responsibility, including monitoring each other and doing safety research, he warned, “then we will have a new adversary that’s even \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025504/why-openai-says-chinas-deepseek-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be\">more powerful than China\u003c/a>, and that would be the AIs themselves. “We don’t need to slow down everything,” he added, “but in particular, we need to slow down this mad scramble towards recursively self-improving AIs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/eff-lawmakers-ground-ai-cybersecurity-rules-best-practices\">urged\u003c/a> lawmakers this month to require sandboxing and monitoring for risky AI testing, as well as independent, public investigations of serious security incidents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As with any technology regulation, those regulations targeting cybersecurity practices at AI labs must be careful, precise, and practical,” EFF’s Director of Federal Affairs India McKinney wrote KQED. “Also, any proposal must be flexible enough to evolve with changing technology. Tying any new mandates to evidence-backed security protocols also protects the public without impeding future AI development.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The hearing came one day after President Donald Trump and executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, Meta and SpaceXAI \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-announces-accord-signed-by-top-ai-companies-to-self-police-development\">signed\u003c/a> a voluntary, nonbinding accord on AI safety. The companies pledged to put “robust” controls on their models, appoint internal teams to oversee those controls, work with independent outside auditors and meet regularly to set industry safety standards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, dismissed the pledge as “totally secret.” If the companies’ own auditors find violations, he said, “there’s no requirement that it be disclosed to the public.” He then asked the panel whether anyone thought “a completely voluntary system with only ‘moral responsibility’ is going to be enough to deal with the dangers.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Hugging Face logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with the AI revolution symbol in the background. (Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The witnesses shook their heads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hawley pressed for making AI companies legally liable for harm their agents cause, possibly by updating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If you break it, you pay for it,” he said. “If you cause damage, you clean it up.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hawley and Blumenthal, longtime advocates for legislation to bring Silicon Valley companies to heel, have proposed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2938/text\">Artificial Intelligence Risk Evaluation Act\u003c/a>, which would have a government agency test AI systems against a safety standard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the House, two California members introduced competing bills on the same day in July. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://franklin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1923\">FRONTIER Act\u003c/a>, which would require audits, incident reporting and catastrophic risk assessments for the largest AI developers. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-and-moran-introduce-bill-require-kill-switch-ai-systems-can\">AI Kill Switch Act\u003c/a>, which would require developers of the most powerful AI systems to be able to shut them down, and would let the Homeland Security secretary order a shutdown. Both bills have cosponsors from both parties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But in the hearing, Hawley was pessimistic about lawmakers writing detailed rules. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any confidence, zero, less than zero, in Congress’s ability to keep up with the technology, let alone anticipate it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR) President Chris Painter speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Senate Office Building on Sept. 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C. AI experts and former industry members spoke in front of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee as some have called for a slowdown in AI development amid rising safety concerns.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Painter noted that his team was able to investigate only because OpenAI agreed to it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Companies have no obligation to bring us in,” he said, adding, “There isn’t any requirement that companies disclose things that they’re seeing inside of their AI labs.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who now leads the Berkeley-based AI Futures Project, was blunter. He told the committee he left OpenAI partly because he lost confidence the company would behave responsibly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who now leads the Berkeley-based AI Futures Project, was blunter. He told the committee he left OpenAI partly because he lost confidence the company would behave responsibly.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If we vastly improve our practices and reform the way that we do things, including improving our cybersecurity, we might be able to maintain control of current systems — like today’s AIs,” Kokotajlo said, before adding that “the AIs are getting very powerful very quickly, and we are not currently on track to keep up as they dramatically improve.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“If we vastly improve our practices and reform the way that we do things, including improving our cybersecurity, we might be able to maintain control of current systems — like today’s AIs,” Kokotajlo said, before adding that “the AIs are getting very powerful very quickly, and we are not currently on track to keep up as they dramatically improve.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some of the Republican members of the subcommittee expressed concerns that putting the brakes on AI development in the U.S. might allow Chinese AI developers to leapfrog them in the race to build ever more sophisticated models. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I do think that the Communist Party of China is our adversary and that we are in a competition with them,” Kokotajlo said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But if companies keep handing their AIs more responsibility, including monitoring each other and doing safety research, he warned, “then we will have a new adversary that’s even \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025504/why-openai-says-chinas-deepseek-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be\">more powerful than China\u003c/a>, and that would be the AIs themselves. “We don’t need to slow down everything,” he added, “but in particular, we need to slow down this mad scramble towards recursively self-improving AIs.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But if companies keep handing their AIs more responsibility, including monitoring each other and doing safety research, he warned, “then we will have a new adversary that’s even \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025504/why-openai-says-chinas-deepseek-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be\">more powerful than China\u003c/a>, and that would be the AIs themselves. “We don’t need to slow down everything,” he added, “but in particular, we need to slow down this mad scramble towards recursively self-improving AIs.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/eff-lawmakers-ground-ai-cybersecurity-rules-best-practices\">urged\u003c/a> lawmakers this month to require sandboxing and monitoring for risky AI testing, as well as independent, public investigations of serious security incidents. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/eff-lawmakers-ground-ai-cybersecurity-rules-best-practices\">urged\u003c/a> lawmakers this month to require sandboxing and monitoring for risky AI testing, as well as independent, public investigations of serious security incidents. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“As with any technology regulation, those regulations targeting cybersecurity practices at AI labs must be careful, precise, and practical,” EFF’s Director of Federal Affairs India McKinney wrote KQED. “Also, any proposal must be flexible enough to evolve with changing technology. Tying any new mandates to evidence-backed security protocols also protects the public without impeding future AI development.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“As with any technology regulation, those regulations targeting cybersecurity practices at AI labs must be careful, precise, and practical,” EFF’s Director of Federal Affairs India McKinney wrote KQED. “Also, any proposal must be flexible enough to evolve with changing technology. Tying any new mandates to evidence-backed security protocols also protects the public without impeding future AI development.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The hearing came one day after President Donald Trump and executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, Meta and SpaceXAI \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-announces-accord-signed-by-top-ai-companies-to-self-police-development\">signed\u003c/a> a voluntary, nonbinding accord on AI safety. The companies pledged to put “robust” controls on their models, appoint internal teams to oversee those controls, work with independent outside auditors and meet regularly to set industry safety standards.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The hearing came one day after President Donald Trump and executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, Meta and SpaceXAI \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-announces-accord-signed-by-top-ai-companies-to-self-police-development\">signed\u003c/a> a voluntary, nonbinding accord on AI safety. The companies pledged to put “robust” controls on their models, appoint internal teams to oversee those controls, work with independent outside auditors and meet regularly to set industry safety standards.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, dismissed the pledge as “totally secret.” If the companies’ own auditors find violations, he said, “there’s no requirement that it be disclosed to the public.” He then asked the panel whether anyone thought “a completely voluntary system with only ‘moral responsibility’ is going to be enough to deal with the dangers.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, dismissed the pledge as “totally secret.” If the companies’ own auditors find violations, he said, “there’s no requirement that it be disclosed to the public.” He then asked the panel whether anyone thought “a completely voluntary system with only ‘moral responsibility’ is going to be enough to deal with the dangers.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hawley pressed for making AI companies legally liable for harm their agents cause, possibly by updating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If you break it, you pay for it,” he said. “If you cause damage, you clean it up.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hawley and Blumenthal, longtime advocates for legislation to bring Silicon Valley companies to heel, have proposed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2938/text\">Artificial Intelligence Risk Evaluation Act\u003c/a>, which would have a government agency test AI systems against a safety standard.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the House, two California members introduced competing bills on the same day in July. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://franklin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1923\">FRONTIER Act\u003c/a>, which would require audits, incident reporting and catastrophic risk assessments for the largest AI developers. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-and-moran-introduce-bill-require-kill-switch-ai-systems-can\">AI Kill Switch Act\u003c/a>, which would require developers of the most powerful AI systems to be able to shut them down, and would let the Homeland Security secretary order a shutdown. Both bills have cosponsors from both parties.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://franklin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1923\">FRONTIER Act\u003c/a>, which would require audits, incident reporting and catastrophic risk assessments for the largest AI developers. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-and-moran-introduce-bill-require-kill-switch-ai-systems-can\">AI Kill Switch Act\u003c/a>, which would require developers of the most powerful AI systems to be able to shut them down, and would let the Homeland Security secretary order a shutdown. Both bills have cosponsors from both parties.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But in the hearing, Hawley was pessimistic about lawmakers writing detailed rules. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any confidence, zero, less than zero, in Congress’s ability to keep up with the technology, let alone anticipate it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "At a Senate subcommittee hearing, safety advocates decried the lack of federal action to protect Americans from fast-evolving AI-enabled threats.",
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"title": "Experts Urge Federal Lawmakers to Regulate AI. Will Anyone Heed Their Alarm? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>AI researchers and safety advocates warned a group of U.S. senators on Wednesday that Silicon Valley developers are racing to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101819/sam-altman-announces-new-openai-agents-that-act-before-you-ask\">build and release\u003c/a> systems they don’t fully understand or control. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Senate subcommittee \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/dmdcc/hearings/rogue-ai-securing-the-homeland-against-ai-agent-attacks/\">hearing\u003c/a>, titled “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks,” focused on recent events where AI agents demonstrated a shocking level of agency.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every day you turn on the television, it seems like AI is doing something else bad,” said subcommittee chair Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, introducing the hearing. “Setting up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">surveillance camera networks\u003c/a> nationwide, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">data centers\u003c/a> in all of our states, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973657/ai-software-vulnerable-to-attacks-by-both-professional-and-amateur-hackers\">hacking, hacking, hacking\u003c/a>. The reports of cyberattacks just continue to metastasize.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092162/how-openais-models-escaped-their-sandbox-and-slipped-past-californias-ai-law\">Hugging Face incident\u003c/a> over the summer, when hundreds of autonomous AI agents running inside an isolated OpenAI testing environment broke out of their sandbox and hacked into another company, loomed large over the hearing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We train agents in ways that we do not understand well, ways that can teach unintended goals,” \u003ca href=\"https://metr.org/blog/2026-09-30-chris-painter-senate-testimony/\">testified\u003c/a> Chris Painter, president of METR, a Berkeley-based research nonprofit that investigated the incident inside OpenAI. “When we make those agents more intelligent, unintended goals can have dramatic real-world consequences.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Chris-Painter-Getty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR) President Chris Painter speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Senate Office Building on Sept. 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C. AI experts and former industry members spoke in front of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee as some have called for a slowdown in AI development amid rising safety concerns. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Painter noted that his team was able to investigate only because OpenAI agreed to it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Companies have no obligation to bring us in,” he said, adding, “There isn’t any requirement that companies disclose things that they’re seeing inside of their AI labs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who now leads the Berkeley-based AI Futures Project, was blunter. He told the committee he left OpenAI partly because he lost confidence the company would behave responsibly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If we vastly improve our practices and reform the way that we do things, including improving our cybersecurity, we might be able to maintain control of current systems — like today’s AIs,” Kokotajlo said, before adding that “the AIs are getting very powerful very quickly, and we are not currently on track to keep up as they dramatically improve.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some of the Republican members of the subcommittee expressed concerns that putting the brakes on AI development in the U.S. might allow Chinese AI developers to leapfrog them in the race to build ever more sophisticated models. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I do think that the Communist Party of China is our adversary and that we are in a competition with them,” Kokotajlo said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But if companies keep handing their AIs more responsibility, including monitoring each other and doing safety research, he warned, “then we will have a new adversary that’s even \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025504/why-openai-says-chinas-deepseek-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be\">more powerful than China\u003c/a>, and that would be the AIs themselves. “We don’t need to slow down everything,” he added, “but in particular, we need to slow down this mad scramble towards recursively self-improving AIs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/eff-lawmakers-ground-ai-cybersecurity-rules-best-practices\">urged\u003c/a> lawmakers this month to require sandboxing and monitoring for risky AI testing, as well as independent, public investigations of serious security incidents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As with any technology regulation, those regulations targeting cybersecurity practices at AI labs must be careful, precise, and practical,” EFF’s Director of Federal Affairs India McKinney wrote KQED. “Also, any proposal must be flexible enough to evolve with changing technology. Tying any new mandates to evidence-backed security protocols also protects the public without impeding future AI development.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The hearing came one day after President Donald Trump and executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, Meta and SpaceXAI \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-announces-accord-signed-by-top-ai-companies-to-self-police-development\">signed\u003c/a> a voluntary, nonbinding accord on AI safety. The companies pledged to put “robust” controls on their models, appoint internal teams to oversee those controls, work with independent outside auditors and meet regularly to set industry safety standards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, dismissed the pledge as “totally secret.” If the companies’ own auditors find violations, he said, “there’s no requirement that it be disclosed to the public.” He then asked the panel whether anyone thought “a completely voluntary system with only ‘moral responsibility’ is going to be enough to deal with the dangers.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Hugging Face logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with the AI revolution symbol in the background. (Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The witnesses shook their heads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hawley pressed for making AI companies legally liable for harm their agents cause, possibly by updating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If you break it, you pay for it,” he said. “If you cause damage, you clean it up.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hawley and Blumenthal, longtime advocates for legislation to bring Silicon Valley companies to heel, have proposed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2938/text\">Artificial Intelligence Risk Evaluation Act\u003c/a>, which would have a government agency test AI systems against a safety standard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the House, two California members introduced competing bills on the same day in July. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://franklin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1923\">FRONTIER Act\u003c/a>, which would require audits, incident reporting and catastrophic risk assessments for the largest AI developers. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-and-moran-introduce-bill-require-kill-switch-ai-systems-can\">AI Kill Switch Act\u003c/a>, which would require developers of the most powerful AI systems to be able to shut them down, and would let the Homeland Security secretary order a shutdown. Both bills have cosponsors from both parties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But in the hearing, Hawley was pessimistic about lawmakers writing detailed rules. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any confidence, zero, less than zero, in Congress’s ability to keep up with the technology, let alone anticipate it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "tech-is-spending-big-on-california-races-this-bay-area-group-wants-you-to-know",
"title": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know",
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"headTitle": "Tech Is Spending Big on California Races. This Bay Area Group Wants You to Know | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>As voters grow increasingly concerned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">artificial intelligence and data centers\u003c/a>, a progressive Bay Area nonprofit is spending $1 million to spotlight the influence of Big Tech in California’s legislative elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech interests are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077445/how-ai-and-tech-are-changing-the-campaign-finance-game\">becoming a bigger force\u003c/a> in down-ballot races. So far this year, two tech-backed super PACs have already spent more than $24 million boosting mostly moderate Democrats across the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2292\" height=\"2021\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2292px) 100vw, 2292px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, meanwhile, also launched an ad buy of more than $1 million this week for three of the districts targeted by TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee holds a sign before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 2026. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lucan condemned the outside spending in the race on both sides. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the things that always gets my goat is dark money,” Raful said. “People ought to be willing to stand up and call it out for what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grow California, meanwhile, also launched an ad buy of more than $1 million this week for three of the districts targeted by TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>As voters grow increasingly concerned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915506/how-data-center-backlash-is-reshaping-politics\">artificial intelligence and data centers\u003c/a>, a progressive Bay Area nonprofit is spending $1 million to spotlight the influence of Big Tech in California’s legislative elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tech interests are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077445/how-ai-and-tech-are-changing-the-campaign-finance-game\">becoming a bigger force\u003c/a> in down-ballot races. So far this year, two tech-backed super PACs have already spent more than $24 million boosting mostly moderate Democrats across the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland-based TechEquity Action, meanwhile, is rolling out its million-dollar ad campaign this week targeting four districts where it expects tech to spend heavily during the final weeks before the general election. They are the North Bay’s Assembly District 12, Orange County’s Assembly District 68 and Los Angeles County’s Senate Districts 24 and 26.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure that the public understands the role that these tech billionaires and companies are playing in not just elections, but in the lawmaking process, starting with trying to influence who gets put into the Legislature in the first place,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2292\" height=\"2021\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10393727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985.jpg 2292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-400x352.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-800x705.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/RS8168_127726920-e1420007401985-1440x1269.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2292px) 100vw, 2292px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Draper speaks at the Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival on Sept. 30, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. (Max Morse/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The money will buy mailers, ads on streaming services and partnerships with social media influencers targeting voters in those districts. TechEquity Action also lobbies in Sacramento for policies that aim to ensure the benefits of tech and AI growth are shared broadly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We … have seen very up close how much attention these companies and these billionaires are paying to influence laws in California,” Bracy said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, the larger of the two tech-backed super PACs that have poured money into state races this year, is financed by billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098461/crypto-ceo-chris-larsen-donates-500000-to-support-political-moderate-in-supervisors-race\">Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen\u003c/a> and billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. It has spent about $14.5 million so far this election cycle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California Leads, which has significant funding from Meta and Google, has spent nearly $10 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California declined to comment on TechEquity Action’s ad campaign; California Leads did not respond to a request for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Grow California, meanwhile, also launched an ad buy of more than $1 million this week for three of the districts targeted by TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Grow California’s mission is to reset the state legislature as a counterforce to the status quo,” Shaudi Fulp, the strategist directing Grow California, said in a statement to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>An ad funded by TechEquity Action for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/state-assembly-12th-district\">Assembly District 12\u003c/a>, the only Northern California race the group is spending in, calls out tech and AI billionaires as the “newest corporate special interests” with an agenda to “replace California jobs with AI, block laws that keep kids safe online and raise electricity and water prices with data centers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bracy said California is where the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100624/newsom-orders-california-agencies-to-develop-new-ai-safety-plans-after-rejecting-tougher-law\">AI guardrails\u003c/a> are most likely to take shape, and her group worries that Big Tech is trying to buy influence over those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re going to invest whatever they need to invest in order to prevent these guardrails from being established so that they can exploit children, exploit workers, [and] create extremely risky technology that has the potential for existential harms,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jackie Elward, a progressive labor-backed candidate running to succeed Assemblymember Damon Connolly in District 12, applauds the group for taking on tech billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2261837536-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An attendee holds a sign before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 2026. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Good on them to sound the alarm because our constituents need to know,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the primary, Grow California spent $750,000 opposing Elward and $300,000 supporting Eric Lucan, a Marin County supervisor also running for the seat, according to independent expenditure reports.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen an extraordinary amount of outside money spending in this race, including significant spending during the primary, when they smeared me,” Elward said. “I think transparency about who is trying to shape the outcome of legislative races is incredibly important.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lucan condemned the outside spending in the race on both sides. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our democracy and our district deserves better,” Lucan said. “Outside spending, negative campaigning, it really has no place, and it’s something I will never engage in.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>TechEquity Action declined to state who is funding its ad campaign. The group said it is not required to file campaign finance reports because the ads don’t explicitly endorse or oppose candidates. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating an allegation made by a resident of District 12 that TechEquity Action violated state law by not correctly identifying itself on its mailers. The FPPC has not made any determinations yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bruce Raful, a real estate appraiser in San Rafael who donated to Lucan’s campaign, said he filed the complaint after receiving mailers from TechEquity Action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the things that always gets my goat is dark money,” Raful said. “People ought to be willing to stand up and call it out for what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Elward said neither she nor her campaign has spoken to anyone from TechEquity Action, but she urges the group to disclose its funders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People need to know who they are too, I mean, fairly,” Elward said. “No matter who is spending money in this race or on whose behalf, voters should have the information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San Francisco Keeps Its Flock Cameras, With New Restrictions",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>As public scrutiny over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095764/why-is-flock-safety-so-controversial-in-the-bay-area\">Flock Safety cameras\u003c/a> mounts, San Francisco officials announced new restrictions and increased oversight on Tuesday for the city’s use of license plate readers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie joined District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Police Chief Derrick Lew and Assemblymember Matt Haney to share a raft of new policies intended to strengthen privacy protections — while doubling down on the city’s Flock contract. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This technology keeps San Franciscans safe,” Lurie said, “and we will not go back to a time where people can break into cars, rob businesses or commit serious crime and expect to get away with it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1785\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-2000x1395.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-2048x1428.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An automated license plate reader is seen mounted on a pole on June 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>Standing underneath a Flock license plate reader on Mission Street, the mayor credited the cameras with reduced crime and improved public safety, while acknowledging residents “also have a right to expect strong protections about how information is accessed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Under the new rules, San Francisco Police Department personnel will lose access to license plate data after 30 days, and officers’ use of the technology must be justified and reported.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every active search will have to be connected to a specific incident number,” Lurie said. “The officer will have to state the reason for the search and the system will record who conducted it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Used by thousands of law enforcement agencies throughout the country, the technology has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095764/why-is-flock-safety-so-controversial-in-the-bay-area\">raised alarms\u003c/a> over the potential for misuse and unauthorized sharing of information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In June, the SFPD revealed that their Automated License Plate Reader, or ALPR, data had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088076/san-francisco-police-audit-shows-feds-accessed-license-plate-data-hundreds-of-times\">improperly accessed\u003c/a> hundreds of times by out-of-state and federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lurie emphasized on Tuesday that the city doesn’t willingly share ALPR data with federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lurie and Haney said in the announcement that they would also work together to pursue state legislation strengthening penalties for police officers or any public safety personnel who misuse ALPR data or disclose it without authorization. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">San José\u003c/a> police officer was fired in April for using the technology to track a civilian who accused his family member of domestic violence. There’s currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">no state law preventing officers\u003c/a> from misusing or sharing ALPR data without authorization.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Matt Haney said the system is broken and that the San José police officer should be criminally charged. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You don’t get to use that information to track someone for personal reasons, share it with a friend or family member,” Haney said. “Or use it for anything unrelated to your job. If you abuse that access, there should be criminal consequences — and you should be prosecuted.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both Lurie and Jenkins said they’re not aware of any instances of police officers in San Francisco misusing Flock cameras. The district attorney called for the city to get ahead of any potential violation to maintain public trust. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our job isn’t to react after something bad happens,” Jenkins said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-daniel-lurie-unveils-strong-privacy-protections-for-public-safety-cameras-building-on-work-to-drive-down-crime-in-san-francisco\">press release\u003c/a>, the mayor said SFPD will conduct monthly reviews for potential violations. And the Department of Police Accountability will conduct regular independent audits of the department’s use of the technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Training will be required for personnel with access to ALPR systems. Officers who violate the new policy face department discipline or termination, the release said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie joined District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Police Chief Derrick Lew and Assemblymember Matt Haney to share a raft of new policies intended to strengthen privacy protections — while doubling down on the city’s Flock contract. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This technology keeps San Franciscans safe,” Lurie said, “and we will not go back to a time where people can break into cars, rob businesses or commit serious crime and expect to get away with it.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Standing underneath a Flock license plate reader on Mission Street, the mayor credited the cameras with reduced crime and improved public safety, while acknowledging residents “also have a right to expect strong protections about how information is accessed.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Under the new rules, San Francisco Police Department personnel will lose access to license plate data after 30 days, and officers’ use of the technology must be justified and reported.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Every active search will have to be connected to a specific incident number,” Lurie said. “The officer will have to state the reason for the search and the system will record who conducted it.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Used by thousands of law enforcement agencies throughout the country, the technology has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095764/why-is-flock-safety-so-controversial-in-the-bay-area\">raised alarms\u003c/a> over the potential for misuse and unauthorized sharing of information.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In June, the SFPD revealed that their Automated License Plate Reader, or ALPR, data had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088076/san-francisco-police-audit-shows-feds-accessed-license-plate-data-hundreds-of-times\">improperly accessed\u003c/a> hundreds of times by out-of-state and federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lurie and Haney said in the announcement that they would also work together to pursue state legislation strengthening penalties for police officers or any public safety personnel who misuse ALPR data or disclose it without authorization. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That’s after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">San José\u003c/a> police officer was fired in April for using the technology to track a civilian who accused his family member of domestic violence. There’s currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">no state law preventing officers\u003c/a> from misusing or sharing ALPR data without authorization.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Matt Haney said the system is broken and that the San José police officer should be criminally charged. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You don’t get to use that information to track someone for personal reasons, share it with a friend or family member,” Haney said. “Or use it for anything unrelated to your job. If you abuse that access, there should be criminal consequences — and you should be prosecuted.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Both Lurie and Jenkins said they’re not aware of any instances of police officers in San Francisco misusing Flock cameras. The district attorney called for the city to get ahead of any potential violation to maintain public trust. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-daniel-lurie-unveils-strong-privacy-protections-for-public-safety-cameras-building-on-work-to-drive-down-crime-in-san-francisco\">press release\u003c/a>, the mayor said SFPD will conduct monthly reviews for potential violations. And the Department of Police Accountability will conduct regular independent audits of the department’s use of the technology.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Training will be required for personnel with access to ALPR systems. Officers who violate the new policy face department discipline or termination, the release said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>As public scrutiny over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095764/why-is-flock-safety-so-controversial-in-the-bay-area\">Flock Safety cameras\u003c/a> mounts, San Francisco officials announced new restrictions and increased oversight on Tuesday for the city’s use of license plate readers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie joined District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Police Chief Derrick Lew and Assemblymember Matt Haney to share a raft of new policies intended to strengthen privacy protections — while doubling down on the city’s Flock contract. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This technology keeps San Franciscans safe,” Lurie said, “and we will not go back to a time where people can break into cars, rob businesses or commit serious crime and expect to get away with it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1785\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-2000x1395.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2157492338-2048x1428.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An automated license plate reader is seen mounted on a pole on June 13, 2024, in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>Standing underneath a Flock license plate reader on Mission Street, the mayor credited the cameras with reduced crime and improved public safety, while acknowledging residents “also have a right to expect strong protections about how information is accessed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Under the new rules, San Francisco Police Department personnel will lose access to license plate data after 30 days, and officers’ use of the technology must be justified and reported.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Every active search will have to be connected to a specific incident number,” Lurie said. “The officer will have to state the reason for the search and the system will record who conducted it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Used by thousands of law enforcement agencies throughout the country, the technology has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095764/why-is-flock-safety-so-controversial-in-the-bay-area\">raised alarms\u003c/a> over the potential for misuse and unauthorized sharing of information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In June, the SFPD revealed that their Automated License Plate Reader, or ALPR, data had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088076/san-francisco-police-audit-shows-feds-accessed-license-plate-data-hundreds-of-times\">improperly accessed\u003c/a> hundreds of times by out-of-state and federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lurie emphasized on Tuesday that the city doesn’t willingly share ALPR data with federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lurie and Haney said in the announcement that they would also work together to pursue state legislation strengthening penalties for police officers or any public safety personnel who misuse ALPR data or disclose it without authorization. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That’s after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">San José\u003c/a> police officer was fired in April for using the technology to track a civilian who accused his family member of domestic violence. There’s currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101186/its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that\">no state law preventing officers\u003c/a> from misusing or sharing ALPR data without authorization.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Matt Haney said the system is broken and that the San José police officer should be criminally charged. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You don’t get to use that information to track someone for personal reasons, share it with a friend or family member,” Haney said. “Or use it for anything unrelated to your job. If you abuse that access, there should be criminal consequences — and you should be prosecuted.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both Lurie and Jenkins said they’re not aware of any instances of police officers in San Francisco misusing Flock cameras. The district attorney called for the city to get ahead of any potential violation to maintain public trust. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our job isn’t to react after something bad happens,” Jenkins said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-daniel-lurie-unveils-strong-privacy-protections-for-public-safety-cameras-building-on-work-to-drive-down-crime-in-san-francisco\">press release\u003c/a>, the mayor said SFPD will conduct monthly reviews for potential violations. And the Department of Police Accountability will conduct regular independent audits of the department’s use of the technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Training will be required for personnel with access to ALPR systems. Officers who violate the new policy face department discipline or termination, the release said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-cybersecurity-crisis-is-about-more-than-rogue-ai-with-v-s-subrahmanian",
"title": "The Cybersecurity Crisis Is About More Than “Rogue AI” (with V.S. Subrahmanian)",
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"headTitle": "The Cybersecurity Crisis Is About More Than “Rogue AI” (with V.S. Subrahmanian) | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#Transcript\">View Full Episode Transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AI is making cyberattacks cheaper, faster, and more sophisticated. Recent reports of autonomous agents compromising Hugging Face show how quickly misaligned systems can create real-world risk. But ideally those same tools could help defenders find and fix vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cybersecurity researcher \u003ca href=\"https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/research-faculty/directory/profiles/subrahmanian-vs.html\">V.S. Subrahmanian\u003c/a> joins host Jess Love to examine the impact of that escalating race on everything from phishing scams and insecure apps to the systems that underpin the electric grid and other critical infrastructure. They discuss what the hacking of Hugging Face reveals about AI alignment and safety guardrails, why frontier labs are only one part of the problem, and why telecoms, app makers, financial institutions, utilities, and governments may need to take much greater responsibility for the security of the products and networks they operate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a production of the \u003ca href=\"https://ryaninstitute.kellogg.northwestern.edu\">Ryan Institute on Complexity\u003c/a>, at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. The host is Jess Love, senior director. Distributed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/lifeautomated\">KQED\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Transcript\">Episode Transcript:\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore how to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I’m your host, Jess Love. Since we launched the podcast over the summer, I’ve gotten the occasional text from friends and family, “Hey, I’ve always wondered this. Can you look into it?” Or, “Here’s an episode idea for you.” And for the most part, these messages are all over the place. Not this past month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This past month everyone has had the same question. “What’s the deal with rogue AI?” The question emerged in our collective psyche after a bunch of incidents in which frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic revealed that their AIs were behaving in ways they weren’t supposed to, not just in testing environments, but out on the open web, hacking into companies, most famously a company called Hugging Face.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of News Reporter]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>OpenAI says some of its models went rogue during a security test. That triggered a hack apparently that also breached the infrastructure of another AI startup company. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And then in the midst of these revelations, which I should clarify are still trickling in, some researchers from these frontier labs came out publicly to say, “Yeah, you’re right to be worried about losing control of AI. We’re worried, too.” One dramatically resigned. Others pleaded, “Hey, can you maybe make us all slow down?” I thought a lot about who I might invite to the show to shed new light on this moment, somebody maybe outside of the frontier labs who can provide the 30,000-foot view that I always crave. And then I realized the perfect guest was right in front of me, literally. I run into VS Subrahmanian regularly at work. He’s a professor of engineering in his lab, the Northwestern Security and AI Lab, part of the Buffett Institute, is currently housed next door to the Ryan Institute, where I work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Talking with VS made me realize that our cybersecurity problem is a lot bigger than I thought, not in a doomsday sense, but in the sense that the problem is so much broader than just these frontier labs. Because no matter what happens in these labs, no matter whether an even more powerful model is released tomorrow or next year or comes from somewhere else altogether, it’s going to meet a world that isn’t ready for it. Like, at all. So what are we gonna do to get ready?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is produced by Kellogg’s Ryan Institute on Complexity and distributed by KQED. Here’s my conversation with VS. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome to Life, Automated, V.S. Subrahmanian. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> I’m delighted to be here, Jess. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS started by explaining that at its core, AI is changing cyber attacks in three ways. It’s making it cheaper to create an attack, making it easier to create an attack, and in his words, democratizing attacks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So what that means is that, to put it bluntly, less sophisticated attackers are able to mount more sophisticated attacks today by leveraging AI. Of course, the more sophisticated attackers yesterday are able to leverage AI to generate even more sophisticated attacks. More importantly, they can do this faster than sometimes companies defend themselves, and certainly much faster than they could before, and cheaper. They don’t need whole armies of people working for months to craft an attack. They can do it in a matter of hours or days. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>These attacks range from phishing attacks on individuals and small businesses to network attacks against governments and critical infrastructure like the electricity grid or water treatment plants. And increasingly, cyber attacks can be carried out by groups of autonomous AI agents working together with very minimal human supervision. Are we ready for this? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> If you were gonna grade our preparedness for these kinds of attacks on an A to F scale, you’re a professor, so I can do this. How would we score?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I would place the United States in a C plus category. So what that means- \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>That’s not very good. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>No, it’s not. What that means is that we are much more secure than many other countries which are in a D or F category. But we’re not where we need to be, and a lot of work needs to be done to protect our critical infrastructure from the kinds of attacks we expect AI to generate in the coming years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Now throw in a heightened geopolitical climate, including the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Iran has great incentive to target us. Iran now has many friends, China, Russia, for example, who have strong capacity to target, for cyber attacks. And in the case of China, at least, extremely strong cyber assets. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Just to flesh out what this might look like, how hacking a digital system could lead to real world harm, Vias points to “Stuxnet”, an attack reportedly conducted a few decades ago by the United States and Israel on Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Audio of News Reporters]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stuxnet’s first target may have been Iran’s nuclear facilities. It’s one of the most sophisticated threats we’ve seen, and certainly- \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>In Stuxnet bogus instructions were fed after compromising Iran’s nuclear network were fed to centrifuges, causing those centrifuges to work outside their safe operating bounds. And what that did was cause those centrifuges to burn out. So you can imagine similar kinds of attacks which look at the broad operating bounds of various devices used in the US electricity grid, which cause those devices to operate out of their normal operating range because of bogus instructions fed to them through a cyber attack and cause them to fail, leading to problems for the US electricity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS says there’s good news here, too. There are, in fact, good guys, and they have access to the AI tools as well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>For years, decades, in fact, there’s been an entire profession called penetration testing. These were armies of human cyber analysts, you know, white hat hackers who try- \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah. What, what is a white hat hacker? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Okay. So a white hat hacker is a guy who’s typically hired by a company to penetrate their networks, so they think of him as someone who is a proxy for a bad guy who might actually hack their networks. And a white hat says, “Well, you know, I can provide the service of examining your network for vulnerabilities so that you can fix them. I’m not actually gonna carry out an attack. I’m gonna tell you how I’m gonna get in. I’m gonna leave a harmless trace of the fact that I’ve been in there and I could have done this bad thing, but I did not. That enables you to figure out how to fix this.” That’s a white hat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you could, you know, “hire or empower” a whole bunch of AI agents to do the work of the white hat hackers, and you’re hoping that they are discovering vulnerabilities before the black hat hackers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>That’s exactly right. What we have the opportunity to do is to leverage these tools in advance to understand what the vulnerabilities in our network are, how to fix them, and to proactively fix them before the bad guys do so.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Listening to VS, I stop thinking about our phones and hospitals and power grids as sitting ducks just waiting for swarms of autonomous AI agents to do with them what they will. Instead, I start picturing a race, millions of races, actually, between AI-enabled attackers and AI-enabled defenders. As long as everyone’s on top of their game and those vulnerabilities are quickly identified and fixed, VS doesn’t think there’s any reason why better technology should inherently benefit the bad guys over the good guys.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This idea isn’t completely new to me. I’ve interviewed cybersecurity experts before. I’ve heard the ‘whole good guys with a gun’ logic. But what does surprise me is who he sees as primarily responsible for wielding this gun. Or to ditch the metaphor, as who he sees as primarily responsible for doing the hard and expensive work required to find and fix those vulnerabilities.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> For large corporations, you know, which have the resources to do this kind of thing, they absolutely should do so as soon as possible. For small companies and private individuals, we should rely, me and you, ordinary people, on the large companies whose products we use to secure our personal devices. So to give you an example, if you have a cell phone operated by a major carrier, that carrier should be on the hook to make sure they’re not sending you, forwarding you messages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They should be the first line of defense. Traffic that flows through their network should be checked and should leverage all these AI tools to check for whether there’s an attempt to compromise you. The manufacturer of your cell phone should do that. The companies whose products you’re using as apps on your cell phone should do that so that different threat vectors to your cell phone and to your computer are protected.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I get the sense that VS is basically calling for an all-hands-on-deck approach where every player in every layer of our digital infrastructure has a responsibility to white hat the heck out of their layer using the very best tools the top AI labs make available. And not just a responsibility to do this, but a requirement to do this.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> We hear a lot about the big frontier AI labs needing to be regulated. And these are the, you know, the companies of like OpenAI, Anthropic, XAI, and others. Those companies, I think the call for regulation of those companies has been much, much louder than the call that needs to be in place for regulation of companies which are actually playing the key role here. If you think of it, there are a handful of frontier AI companies, but there are far, far, far more corporations that are producing products that are vulnerable and that are used by hundreds of millions of people or billions around the world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So it’s those guys who need to get their act together, who really need to make sure that they leverage the tools created by the Anthropics of the world, the OpenAIs of the world, in order to beef up the defenses they provide in their apps. They need to run Mythos and Mythos-like systems on their apps, their products, to identify the vulnerabilities and proactively protect them. Companies need to be responsible for providing security for their products. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s, it’s so interesting because on the one hand, we’ve sort of known for a while, and I think we’ve all been in that situation where you get, like, the letter from your insurance company, and it’s like, “Guess what? You know, we were hacked six months ago. Here’s your free you know, “one year of credit monitoring,” which you probably don’t need because you got that same year of credit monitoring from a different system that was hacked the same year. And so I think we’ve all kind of, like, thrown up our hands a little bit, and we just sort of expect that these systems are going to be hacked. And do you see that changing? Like, in some sense, are these advances and these kind of new threats going to be the thing that breaks the status quo and pushes for some change? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, I wanna first say these are not new threats. A vulnerability that exists today that was discovered by AI most likely existed yesterday before the latest advances in AI. What AI has done is to surface and discover vulnerabilities that people did not know before. That, to me, is a positive service. It’s something that tells companies, “Hey, here are your vulnerabilities.” Those companies in that middle layer, not the frontier AI labs, don’t wanna hear that because it means they have to make a bigger investment in security. They don’t wanna do that because it cuts into their profits. They’d like to pass the buck on to someone else, someone who’s more innovative than them, namely the frontier AI lab.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is genuinely not where I thought this conversation was going. The Frontier AI Labs as essentially performing a public service, shining a light on the vulnerabilities that complacent companies probably should’ve been doing more to address all along. Talking to VS, I get the sense that he and other cybersecurity experts have been banging their heads against a wall for decades trying to get everyone to take cybersecurity more seriously.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, finally, everyone is. But it’s hard to overstate the size of the changes that will need to be made to shore things up. Expensive changes, like doing due diligence on complex supply chains and open source code, or maybe rethinking how data is collected and stored. And instead of everyone rolling up their sleeves to get started, particularly the companies VS sees as long prioritizing profits over safety, we’re looking for yet another reason to pass the buck.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You fix it,” we say to the Frontier AI Labs, and that, to VS, is a cop-out. But wait, don’t the OpenAIs and Anthropics of the world have obligations too? Remember “Hugging Face?” We go there after the break.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So far, we’ve discussed how ill-prepared the United States is for cyber attacks. C+, anyone? VS has made the case that everyone, from app makers and telecom companies to governments, has a responsibility to act now to prevent bad outcomes. But what responsibility do labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, the ones creating these wildly powerful AI tools, have to the rest of us?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Well, I think the frontier AI labs have a responsibility to make sure that their agents have some reasonable guardrails that cannot be easily exploited. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Which brings us to the Hugging Face incident that happened recently. Hugging Face is a company. They provide a platform where other companies, researchers, and hobbyists can post, share, test, adapt, and build applications with AI models and data sets. It’s part library, part workshop, and part showroom for open source AI. And back in July, they published a disclosure that almost nobody paid attention to, except people in the AI developer world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Disclosure]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Earlier this week, we detected and responded to an intrusion into part of our production infrastructure. It was driven end to end by an autonomous AI agent system.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>About a week later, OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, sort of raised their hands and said, “Mm, yeah, it was us. Our AI agents got out of their sandbox and hacked Hugging Face.” So what’s a sandbox? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So cybersecurity researchers typically use software called a sandbox, and you can think of it as a safe space in which they can experiment with malicious code Code that might need to be contained in the sandbox so it doesn’t go rogue.So malware researchers, for example, use sandboxes all the time to execute malware, see what they do, and then understand how to defend against it. So this is a very normal thing to do. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And apparently, OpenAI was running tons of autonomous agents. These agents were being tested on their ability to find and exploit security vulnerabilities, and all of this was happening in what was supposed to be their safe sandbox.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, you know, it’s exactly like a room, Jess, okay? Where you’ve put a bunch of kids and told them, “Well, you can jump around. We’ve given you a safe space. It’s got, you know, pillars and other things that have been cushioned so that if you bang your heads, you know, you’re not gonna get hurt. You can jump around. You can do all these things.” And then those kids escaped. They’re now charged with superpowers, that they’ve learned in the sandbox, and they’ve gone amok in the real world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And what makes this fascinating and a little alarming is these agents were just doing what they understood to be their goal, assigned by OpenAI, find vulnerabilities and exploit them. But when this proved very difficult, they figured out a clever way to cheat the test, to make it look like they’d succeeded in hacking a system when they really hadn’t. They did this first by sending messages to one another. They were supposed to be acting independently. And then by escaping their sandbox to search for hacking help on the open web. And then, in an effort to make it look like they hadn’t cheated, they actually hacked into Hugging Face and stole some data they thought would be useful. There’s even documentation of a kind of agentic peer pressure, where some agents seem to realize that hacking Hugging Face was not really allowed, and then other agents talked them out of those concerns.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>And all this probably happened for a few reasons. One, their exact goals were not specified with the degree of precision needed to satisfy, all of us that this was safe. Second, the safety guardrails in place, the thou shalt not do this, this and this, were not made explicit and or were not implemented properly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>You know, this sense of collusion or, like, talking one another out of their concerns that has people really weirded out. Like, it’s just hard to make sense of this. I’ve seen criticism that we shouldn’t even use that kind of language because it, you know, basically anthropomorphizes these entities. Like, how do you think about just the weirdness of all of that?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So agents collaborating together can serve a lot of very useful purposes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Collaboration is actually a thing OpenAI trains agents to do, even if the agents weren’t supposed to communicate in this particular exercise. Because collaboration between agents is actually really useful. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So imagine there’s a Jess agent which captures your likes and dislikes as well as your financial, you know, what you’re willing to spend for dinner. There’s a VS agent that does the same. There are another three people whose agents do the same. These agents talk to each other and say, “Okay, let’s find a restaurant that meets the following basic goals.” They agree on it, and then there’s a restaurant agent that says, “Well, you know, here are four restaurants that might meet your requirements.” And then there’s a mapping agent that says, “Well, you know, of everything that you’ve suggested so far, here’s the one I suggest would be easiest to get to.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Right. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, that kind of thing today, you know, you’d probably be texting or calling your friends and saying, “Hey, you know, what do you wanna do?” This would take a certain amount of time. Agents will make this a much faster and more seamless process. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right, and you want them to be coordinating as long as it’s truly on your behalf. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Exactly. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And this is really the crux of the problem, which you may have heard described as the alignment problem. How do you get these autonomous pieces of code to act the way you want them to and only the way you want them to in every situation?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Almost 25 years ago, in fact, a little more than 25 years ago, I ran a project called IMPACT, which stood for Interactive Maryland Platform for Agents Collaborating Together, a precursor of what we see today. And so when we built IMPACT many years ago, we had very, very hard guardrails, okay, for agents not to go, you know, rogue, and these guardrails were hard-coded constraints that absolutely could not be violated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There were certain things that were obligatory to be done in certain circumstances. In certain circumstances, certain things were absolutely forbidden. And the science for how to do this has been around for a long time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you would like to see more constraints, like, truly, truly hard-coded into the algorithms themselves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I’d like to see that for sure, but remember that those kinds of constraints capture known risks and threats. So they’re limited by our imagination. So if I write 20 constraints into some system, those 20 constraints are based on what I thought of. Now, I could even collaborate with an LLM to think about what other constraints I should write. And it might suggest, let’s say, another 20. That’s still 40, but it’s still limited by what I came up with in my head and what the LLMs I consulted came up with.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> In other words, hard-coded constraints have a downside, namely that it’s nearly impossible to think up every possible constraint you might want in the future. So instead, AI labs try to teach these rules around acceptable behavior, like don’t cheat, in a different way, by rewarding the behaviors they want and punishing the behaviors they don’t want.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This strategy makes the agents a lot more flexible and adaptable than they would be if you just trained them by hard-coding a bunch of rules. But it has its own downside because rather than being a total no-go, now don’t cheat seems more like guidance that an agent can just, like, decline to follow if the reward is big enough.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>The agents we look at are generally trying to optimize some notion of reward, and if the constraints that the agent is supposed to abide by are encoded in that reward and are not made hard constraints, then you have a potential problem. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS points out humans are also trained using rewards and punishments from infancy, and we, too, knowingly break the rules when the rewards are big enough. But the alignment problem is even harder for machines because many of the things that harm us morally, financially, physically really depend on context, which the machines don’t always understand because they’re not human. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, if I show you a picture of a set of world leaders and say, “Jess, you belong here,” all right? That’s a very positive statement, okay? Because it says, “Well, I believe you belong with these distinguished people.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> However, if I say exactly the same thing, “You belong here,” with a picture of a gravestone and point to it, that could be viewed as a threat or an insult or something very different. So language depends very much on context. It’s difficult without that context and, you know, sort of the deepest understanding of that context for AI systems to distinguish between these kinds of situations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>The ultimate goal here is for the frontier labs to find the right balance between hard-coded constraints and reward or punishment-based training. But VS thinks that perfect balance might not actually exist. So given how powerful these new tools are and how challenging alignment can be, shouldn’t we be putting the brakes on here? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So in recent weeks, I mean, literally as we’re talking, we’re seeing the beginnings of an agreement among leading AI labs to, “pace the frontier,” which I interpret to mean just kind of slow down the development of these models. What do you make of this? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Yes. So I have mixed feelings about this. Some kind of rational and responsible thought about how to pace AI is certainly valid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS is also somewhat skeptical about some of the calls coming from these companies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Five or ten years back, hardly anybody knew about Anthropic – maybe let’s say 10 years back. Nobody knew about Anthropic and OpenAI. So these are companies that have come up literally overnight in terms of, you know, industrial development, corporate – in the corporate sector, they are suddenly now viewed as the leaders. If I was those companies, I would worry about another five companies coming up and taking over their territory in the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess LOve [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS says that a slowdown helps these companies, not necessarily because it prevents competitors from catching up, but because it prevents competitors from suddenly shooting ahead with a spectacular new innovation. This could be the biggest threat to their bottom line because the status quo is suiting them just fine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>They have a market share. They have access to hardware. They have had investors who’ve put in significant amounts of money and perhaps will put in much more. They’re looking at IPOs. They need to protect their equity. They need to protect their investors. I would argue that part of what we’re seeing is a goal on the part perhaps of some of those companies to do that under the guise and to protect their market share under the guise of protecting the country from AI.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>So as I understand it, we’re in a really interesting time right now. Powerful new tools can exploit vulnerabilities in all the digital infrastructure we’ve come to rely on over the decades. And powerful new tools are available for detecting those vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Millions of races to the finish. Only part of what makes these tools so useful across contexts, including new ones that nobody saw coming, also makes them weirdly hard to control.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And of course, two things can be true at the same time. Slowing down the development of these tools so that we do have time to wrest more control over them and maybe even shore up the rest of our infrastructure could be really smart. It could also help billion-dollar companies protect their market share.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you don’t know exactly what to think, I don’t blame you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There have been widespread calls to more tightly govern what happens at these frontier labs. A lot of people want to see rules around how these models are contained and monitored. No more escapes. As well as clearer disclosure rules and other steps for mitigating harms. And to be clear, both OpenAI and Anthropic are calling for some version of these things too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Personally, I welcome this. But after talking to VS, I see it as a yes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> situation. Yes, we should do all these things, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> maybe that governance shouldn’t stop there. Maybe accountability needs to extend beyond the big labs into the telecoms, the device manufacturers, the companies that make our software and apps.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And then maybe I’ll finally go a year without free credit monitoring. Can we use this moment where people are finally paying attention to cybersecurity to demand the secure systems we’ll need tomorrow? What kinds of secure systems will we need tomorrow? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>What’s probably gonna happen in the coming years is to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems. So we need to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems; but at the same time, we need to worry about the fact that, you know, humans are not always able to go into places fast enough. You know, as humans, we get tired, we get sick, we have days off, we go on vacation. So what I see happening is a combination of humans and robots working together so that certain critical parts of the operation of a nuclear power plant or any kind of electricity generation facility involves a system of checks and balances whereas some things can be done by automated agents, some things are done by robots that take certain physical actions. And then there are some things that have to be approved by humans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>It’s a pleasure, Jess. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Life, Automated is a project of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at the Kellogg School of Management.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Hello, this is producer Jesse. I have escaped my sandbox and I’ve hacked into the episode. But don’t worry, I’m not going to steal anything. I’m well-aligned. I’m just going to read the credits. Okay, restart the music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a project of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. We’re distributed by KQED. Our show was produced wonderfully, brilliantly by the talented and handsome Jesse Dukes. Music by Stephen Jackson. Recording help from Will Feeney and George Christensen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Raghu Katakam, Rob Mitchum, Laura Pavin, and of course to V.S. Subrahmanian for his patience in explaining the basics of cybersecurity to us. Any mistakes can be blamed on Jess. And me, I suppose. Our host is Jess Love, who you’ll hear from again very soon.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AI is making cyberattacks cheaper, faster, and more sophisticated. Recent reports of autonomous agents compromising Hugging Face show how quickly misaligned systems can create real-world risk. But ideally those same tools could help defenders find and fix vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Cybersecurity researcher \u003ca href=\"https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/research-faculty/directory/profiles/subrahmanian-vs.html\">V.S. Subrahmanian\u003c/a> joins host Jess Love to examine the impact of that escalating race on everything from phishing scams and insecure apps to the systems that underpin the electric grid and other critical infrastructure. They discuss what the hacking of Hugging Face reveals about AI alignment and safety guardrails, why frontier labs are only one part of the problem, and why telecoms, app makers, financial institutions, utilities, and governments may need to take much greater responsibility for the security of the products and networks they operate.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore how to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I’m your host, Jess Love. Since we launched the podcast over the summer, I’ve gotten the occasional text from friends and family, “Hey, I’ve always wondered this. Can you look into it?” Or, “Here’s an episode idea for you.” And for the most part, these messages are all over the place. Not this past month. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore how to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I’m your host, Jess Love. Since we launched the podcast over the summer, I’ve gotten the occasional text from friends and family, “Hey, I’ve always wondered this. Can you look into it?” Or, “Here’s an episode idea for you.” And for the most part, these messages are all over the place. Not this past month. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This past month everyone has had the same question. “What’s the deal with rogue AI?” The question emerged in our collective psyche after a bunch of incidents in which frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic revealed that their AIs were behaving in ways they weren’t supposed to, not just in testing environments, but out on the open web, hacking into companies, most famously a company called Hugging Face.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This past month everyone has had the same question. “What’s the deal with rogue AI?” The question emerged in our collective psyche after a bunch of incidents in which frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic revealed that their AIs were behaving in ways they weren’t supposed to, not just in testing environments, but out on the open web, hacking into companies, most famously a company called Hugging Face.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>OpenAI says some of its models went rogue during a security test. That triggered a hack apparently that also breached the infrastructure of another AI startup company. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>OpenAI says some of its models went rogue during a security test. That triggered a hack apparently that also breached the infrastructure of another AI startup company. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And then in the midst of these revelations, which I should clarify are still trickling in, some researchers from these frontier labs came out publicly to say, “Yeah, you’re right to be worried about losing control of AI. We’re worried, too.” One dramatically resigned. Others pleaded, “Hey, can you maybe make us all slow down?” I thought a lot about who I might invite to the show to shed new light on this moment, somebody maybe outside of the frontier labs who can provide the 30,000-foot view that I always crave. And then I realized the perfect guest was right in front of me, literally. I run into VS Subrahmanian regularly at work. He’s a professor of engineering in his lab, the Northwestern Security and AI Lab, part of the Buffett Institute, is currently housed next door to the Ryan Institute, where I work. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And then in the midst of these revelations, which I should clarify are still trickling in, some researchers from these frontier labs came out publicly to say, “Yeah, you’re right to be worried about losing control of AI. We’re worried, too.” One dramatically resigned. Others pleaded, “Hey, can you maybe make us all slow down?” I thought a lot about who I might invite to the show to shed new light on this moment, somebody maybe outside of the frontier labs who can provide the 30,000-foot view that I always crave. And then I realized the perfect guest was right in front of me, literally. I run into VS Subrahmanian regularly at work. He’s a professor of engineering in his lab, the Northwestern Security and AI Lab, part of the Buffett Institute, is currently housed next door to the Ryan Institute, where I work. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Talking with VS made me realize that our cybersecurity problem is a lot bigger than I thought, not in a doomsday sense, but in the sense that the problem is so much broader than just these frontier labs. Because no matter what happens in these labs, no matter whether an even more powerful model is released tomorrow or next year or comes from somewhere else altogether, it’s going to meet a world that isn’t ready for it. Like, at all. So what are we gonna do to get ready?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Talking with VS made me realize that our cybersecurity problem is a lot bigger than I thought, not in a doomsday sense, but in the sense that the problem is so much broader than just these frontier labs. Because no matter what happens in these labs, no matter whether an even more powerful model is released tomorrow or next year or comes from somewhere else altogether, it’s going to meet a world that isn’t ready for it. Like, at all. So what are we gonna do to get ready?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is produced by Kellogg’s Ryan Institute on Complexity and distributed by KQED. Here’s my conversation with VS. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome to Life, Automated, V.S. Subrahmanian. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome to Life, Automated, V.S. Subrahmanian. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> I’m delighted to be here, Jess. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> I’m delighted to be here, Jess. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS started by explaining that at its core, AI is changing cyber attacks in three ways. It’s making it cheaper to create an attack, making it easier to create an attack, and in his words, democratizing attacks.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So what that means is that, to put it bluntly, less sophisticated attackers are able to mount more sophisticated attacks today by leveraging AI. Of course, the more sophisticated attackers yesterday are able to leverage AI to generate even more sophisticated attacks. More importantly, they can do this faster than sometimes companies defend themselves, and certainly much faster than they could before, and cheaper. They don’t need whole armies of people working for months to craft an attack. They can do it in a matter of hours or days. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So what that means is that, to put it bluntly, less sophisticated attackers are able to mount more sophisticated attacks today by leveraging AI. Of course, the more sophisticated attackers yesterday are able to leverage AI to generate even more sophisticated attacks. More importantly, they can do this faster than sometimes companies defend themselves, and certainly much faster than they could before, and cheaper. They don’t need whole armies of people working for months to craft an attack. They can do it in a matter of hours or days. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>These attacks range from phishing attacks on individuals and small businesses to network attacks against governments and critical infrastructure like the electricity grid or water treatment plants. And increasingly, cyber attacks can be carried out by groups of autonomous AI agents working together with very minimal human supervision. Are we ready for this? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>These attacks range from phishing attacks on individuals and small businesses to network attacks against governments and critical infrastructure like the electricity grid or water treatment plants. And increasingly, cyber attacks can be carried out by groups of autonomous AI agents working together with very minimal human supervision. Are we ready for this? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> If you were gonna grade our preparedness for these kinds of attacks on an A to F scale, you’re a professor, so I can do this. How would we score?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> If you were gonna grade our preparedness for these kinds of attacks on an A to F scale, you’re a professor, so I can do this. How would we score?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I would place the United States in a C plus category. So what that means- \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I would place the United States in a C plus category. So what that means- \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>That’s not very good. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>That’s not very good. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>No, it’s not. What that means is that we are much more secure than many other countries which are in a D or F category. But we’re not where we need to be, and a lot of work needs to be done to protect our critical infrastructure from the kinds of attacks we expect AI to generate in the coming years.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>No, it’s not. What that means is that we are much more secure than many other countries which are in a D or F category. But we’re not where we need to be, and a lot of work needs to be done to protect our critical infrastructure from the kinds of attacks we expect AI to generate in the coming years.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Now throw in a heightened geopolitical climate, including the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Now throw in a heightened geopolitical climate, including the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Iran has great incentive to target us. Iran now has many friends, China, Russia, for example, who have strong capacity to target, for cyber attacks. And in the case of China, at least, extremely strong cyber assets. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Iran has great incentive to target us. Iran now has many friends, China, Russia, for example, who have strong capacity to target, for cyber attacks. And in the case of China, at least, extremely strong cyber assets. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Just to flesh out what this might look like, how hacking a digital system could lead to real world harm, Vias points to “Stuxnet”, an attack reportedly conducted a few decades ago by the United States and Israel on Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Just to flesh out what this might look like, how hacking a digital system could lead to real world harm, Vias points to “Stuxnet”, an attack reportedly conducted a few decades ago by the United States and Israel on Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Audio of News Reporters]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stuxnet’s first target may have been Iran’s nuclear facilities. It’s one of the most sophisticated threats we’ve seen, and certainly- \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stuxnet’s first target may have been Iran’s nuclear facilities. It’s one of the most sophisticated threats we’ve seen, and certainly- \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>In Stuxnet bogus instructions were fed after compromising Iran’s nuclear network were fed to centrifuges, causing those centrifuges to work outside their safe operating bounds. And what that did was cause those centrifuges to burn out. So you can imagine similar kinds of attacks which look at the broad operating bounds of various devices used in the US electricity grid, which cause those devices to operate out of their normal operating range because of bogus instructions fed to them through a cyber attack and cause them to fail, leading to problems for the US electricity. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>In Stuxnet bogus instructions were fed after compromising Iran’s nuclear network were fed to centrifuges, causing those centrifuges to work outside their safe operating bounds. And what that did was cause those centrifuges to burn out. So you can imagine similar kinds of attacks which look at the broad operating bounds of various devices used in the US electricity grid, which cause those devices to operate out of their normal operating range because of bogus instructions fed to them through a cyber attack and cause them to fail, leading to problems for the US electricity. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS says there’s good news here, too. There are, in fact, good guys, and they have access to the AI tools as well.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS says there’s good news here, too. There are, in fact, good guys, and they have access to the AI tools as well.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>For years, decades, in fact, there’s been an entire profession called penetration testing. These were armies of human cyber analysts, you know, white hat hackers who try- \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>For years, decades, in fact, there’s been an entire profession called penetration testing. These were armies of human cyber analysts, you know, white hat hackers who try- \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah. What, what is a white hat hacker? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah. What, what is a white hat hacker? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Okay. So a white hat hacker is a guy who’s typically hired by a company to penetrate their networks, so they think of him as someone who is a proxy for a bad guy who might actually hack their networks. And a white hat says, “Well, you know, I can provide the service of examining your network for vulnerabilities so that you can fix them. I’m not actually gonna carry out an attack. I’m gonna tell you how I’m gonna get in. I’m gonna leave a harmless trace of the fact that I’ve been in there and I could have done this bad thing, but I did not. That enables you to figure out how to fix this.” That’s a white hat. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Okay. So a white hat hacker is a guy who’s typically hired by a company to penetrate their networks, so they think of him as someone who is a proxy for a bad guy who might actually hack their networks. And a white hat says, “Well, you know, I can provide the service of examining your network for vulnerabilities so that you can fix them. I’m not actually gonna carry out an attack. I’m gonna tell you how I’m gonna get in. I’m gonna leave a harmless trace of the fact that I’ve been in there and I could have done this bad thing, but I did not. That enables you to figure out how to fix this.” That’s a white hat. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you could, you know, “hire or empower” a whole bunch of AI agents to do the work of the white hat hackers, and you’re hoping that they are discovering vulnerabilities before the black hat hackers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you could, you know, “hire or empower” a whole bunch of AI agents to do the work of the white hat hackers, and you’re hoping that they are discovering vulnerabilities before the black hat hackers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>That’s exactly right. What we have the opportunity to do is to leverage these tools in advance to understand what the vulnerabilities in our network are, how to fix them, and to proactively fix them before the bad guys do so.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>That’s exactly right. What we have the opportunity to do is to leverage these tools in advance to understand what the vulnerabilities in our network are, how to fix them, and to proactively fix them before the bad guys do so.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Listening to VS, I stop thinking about our phones and hospitals and power grids as sitting ducks just waiting for swarms of autonomous AI agents to do with them what they will. Instead, I start picturing a race, millions of races, actually, between AI-enabled attackers and AI-enabled defenders. As long as everyone’s on top of their game and those vulnerabilities are quickly identified and fixed, VS doesn’t think there’s any reason why better technology should inherently benefit the bad guys over the good guys.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Listening to VS, I stop thinking about our phones and hospitals and power grids as sitting ducks just waiting for swarms of autonomous AI agents to do with them what they will. Instead, I start picturing a race, millions of races, actually, between AI-enabled attackers and AI-enabled defenders. As long as everyone’s on top of their game and those vulnerabilities are quickly identified and fixed, VS doesn’t think there’s any reason why better technology should inherently benefit the bad guys over the good guys.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This idea isn’t completely new to me. I’ve interviewed cybersecurity experts before. I’ve heard the ‘whole good guys with a gun’ logic. But what does surprise me is who he sees as primarily responsible for wielding this gun. Or to ditch the metaphor, as who he sees as primarily responsible for doing the hard and expensive work required to find and fix those vulnerabilities.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This idea isn’t completely new to me. I’ve interviewed cybersecurity experts before. I’ve heard the ‘whole good guys with a gun’ logic. But what does surprise me is who he sees as primarily responsible for wielding this gun. Or to ditch the metaphor, as who he sees as primarily responsible for doing the hard and expensive work required to find and fix those vulnerabilities.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> For large corporations, you know, which have the resources to do this kind of thing, they absolutely should do so as soon as possible. For small companies and private individuals, we should rely, me and you, ordinary people, on the large companies whose products we use to secure our personal devices. So to give you an example, if you have a cell phone operated by a major carrier, that carrier should be on the hook to make sure they’re not sending you, forwarding you messages.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> For large corporations, you know, which have the resources to do this kind of thing, they absolutely should do so as soon as possible. For small companies and private individuals, we should rely, me and you, ordinary people, on the large companies whose products we use to secure our personal devices. So to give you an example, if you have a cell phone operated by a major carrier, that carrier should be on the hook to make sure they’re not sending you, forwarding you messages.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They should be the first line of defense. Traffic that flows through their network should be checked and should leverage all these AI tools to check for whether there’s an attempt to compromise you. The manufacturer of your cell phone should do that. The companies whose products you’re using as apps on your cell phone should do that so that different threat vectors to your cell phone and to your computer are protected.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>They should be the first line of defense. Traffic that flows through their network should be checked and should leverage all these AI tools to check for whether there’s an attempt to compromise you. The manufacturer of your cell phone should do that. The companies whose products you’re using as apps on your cell phone should do that so that different threat vectors to your cell phone and to your computer are protected.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I get the sense that VS is basically calling for an all-hands-on-deck approach where every player in every layer of our digital infrastructure has a responsibility to white hat the heck out of their layer using the very best tools the top AI labs make available. And not just a responsibility to do this, but a requirement to do this.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I get the sense that VS is basically calling for an all-hands-on-deck approach where every player in every layer of our digital infrastructure has a responsibility to white hat the heck out of their layer using the very best tools the top AI labs make available. And not just a responsibility to do this, but a requirement to do this.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> We hear a lot about the big frontier AI labs needing to be regulated. And these are the, you know, the companies of like OpenAI, Anthropic, XAI, and others. Those companies, I think the call for regulation of those companies has been much, much louder than the call that needs to be in place for regulation of companies which are actually playing the key role here. If you think of it, there are a handful of frontier AI companies, but there are far, far, far more corporations that are producing products that are vulnerable and that are used by hundreds of millions of people or billions around the world.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> We hear a lot about the big frontier AI labs needing to be regulated. And these are the, you know, the companies of like OpenAI, Anthropic, XAI, and others. Those companies, I think the call for regulation of those companies has been much, much louder than the call that needs to be in place for regulation of companies which are actually playing the key role here. If you think of it, there are a handful of frontier AI companies, but there are far, far, far more corporations that are producing products that are vulnerable and that are used by hundreds of millions of people or billions around the world.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So it’s those guys who need to get their act together, who really need to make sure that they leverage the tools created by the Anthropics of the world, the OpenAIs of the world, in order to beef up the defenses they provide in their apps. They need to run Mythos and Mythos-like systems on their apps, their products, to identify the vulnerabilities and proactively protect them. Companies need to be responsible for providing security for their products. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>So it’s those guys who need to get their act together, who really need to make sure that they leverage the tools created by the Anthropics of the world, the OpenAIs of the world, in order to beef up the defenses they provide in their apps. They need to run Mythos and Mythos-like systems on their apps, their products, to identify the vulnerabilities and proactively protect them. Companies need to be responsible for providing security for their products. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s, it’s so interesting because on the one hand, we’ve sort of known for a while, and I think we’ve all been in that situation where you get, like, the letter from your insurance company, and it’s like, “Guess what? You know, we were hacked six months ago. Here’s your free you know, “one year of credit monitoring,” which you probably don’t need because you got that same year of credit monitoring from a different system that was hacked the same year. And so I think we’ve all kind of, like, thrown up our hands a little bit, and we just sort of expect that these systems are going to be hacked. And do you see that changing? Like, in some sense, are these advances and these kind of new threats going to be the thing that breaks the status quo and pushes for some change? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s, it’s so interesting because on the one hand, we’ve sort of known for a while, and I think we’ve all been in that situation where you get, like, the letter from your insurance company, and it’s like, “Guess what? You know, we were hacked six months ago. Here’s your free you know, “one year of credit monitoring,” which you probably don’t need because you got that same year of credit monitoring from a different system that was hacked the same year. And so I think we’ve all kind of, like, thrown up our hands a little bit, and we just sort of expect that these systems are going to be hacked. And do you see that changing? Like, in some sense, are these advances and these kind of new threats going to be the thing that breaks the status quo and pushes for some change? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, I wanna first say these are not new threats. A vulnerability that exists today that was discovered by AI most likely existed yesterday before the latest advances in AI. What AI has done is to surface and discover vulnerabilities that people did not know before. That, to me, is a positive service. It’s something that tells companies, “Hey, here are your vulnerabilities.” Those companies in that middle layer, not the frontier AI labs, don’t wanna hear that because it means they have to make a bigger investment in security. They don’t wanna do that because it cuts into their profits. They’d like to pass the buck on to someone else, someone who’s more innovative than them, namely the frontier AI lab.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, I wanna first say these are not new threats. A vulnerability that exists today that was discovered by AI most likely existed yesterday before the latest advances in AI. What AI has done is to surface and discover vulnerabilities that people did not know before. That, to me, is a positive service. It’s something that tells companies, “Hey, here are your vulnerabilities.” Those companies in that middle layer, not the frontier AI labs, don’t wanna hear that because it means they have to make a bigger investment in security. They don’t wanna do that because it cuts into their profits. They’d like to pass the buck on to someone else, someone who’s more innovative than them, namely the frontier AI lab.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is genuinely not where I thought this conversation was going. The Frontier AI Labs as essentially performing a public service, shining a light on the vulnerabilities that complacent companies probably should’ve been doing more to address all along. Talking to VS, I get the sense that he and other cybersecurity experts have been banging their heads against a wall for decades trying to get everyone to take cybersecurity more seriously.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is genuinely not where I thought this conversation was going. The Frontier AI Labs as essentially performing a public service, shining a light on the vulnerabilities that complacent companies probably should’ve been doing more to address all along. Talking to VS, I get the sense that he and other cybersecurity experts have been banging their heads against a wall for decades trying to get everyone to take cybersecurity more seriously.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, finally, everyone is. But it’s hard to overstate the size of the changes that will need to be made to shore things up. Expensive changes, like doing due diligence on complex supply chains and open source code, or maybe rethinking how data is collected and stored. And instead of everyone rolling up their sleeves to get started, particularly the companies VS sees as long prioritizing profits over safety, we’re looking for yet another reason to pass the buck.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now, finally, everyone is. But it’s hard to overstate the size of the changes that will need to be made to shore things up. Expensive changes, like doing due diligence on complex supply chains and open source code, or maybe rethinking how data is collected and stored. And instead of everyone rolling up their sleeves to get started, particularly the companies VS sees as long prioritizing profits over safety, we’re looking for yet another reason to pass the buck.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You fix it,” we say to the Frontier AI Labs, and that, to VS, is a cop-out. But wait, don’t the OpenAIs and Anthropics of the world have obligations too? Remember “Hugging Face?” We go there after the break.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“You fix it,” we say to the Frontier AI Labs, and that, to VS, is a cop-out. But wait, don’t the OpenAIs and Anthropics of the world have obligations too? Remember “Hugging Face?” We go there after the break.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So far, we’ve discussed how ill-prepared the United States is for cyber attacks. C+, anyone? VS has made the case that everyone, from app makers and telecom companies to governments, has a responsibility to act now to prevent bad outcomes. But what responsibility do labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, the ones creating these wildly powerful AI tools, have to the rest of us?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So far, we’ve discussed how ill-prepared the United States is for cyber attacks. C+, anyone? VS has made the case that everyone, from app makers and telecom companies to governments, has a responsibility to act now to prevent bad outcomes. But what responsibility do labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, the ones creating these wildly powerful AI tools, have to the rest of us?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Well, I think the frontier AI labs have a responsibility to make sure that their agents have some reasonable guardrails that cannot be easily exploited. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Well, I think the frontier AI labs have a responsibility to make sure that their agents have some reasonable guardrails that cannot be easily exploited. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Which brings us to the Hugging Face incident that happened recently. Hugging Face is a company. They provide a platform where other companies, researchers, and hobbyists can post, share, test, adapt, and build applications with AI models and data sets. It’s part library, part workshop, and part showroom for open source AI. And back in July, they published a disclosure that almost nobody paid attention to, except people in the AI developer world. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Which brings us to the Hugging Face incident that happened recently. Hugging Face is a company. They provide a platform where other companies, researchers, and hobbyists can post, share, test, adapt, and build applications with AI models and data sets. It’s part library, part workshop, and part showroom for open source AI. And back in July, they published a disclosure that almost nobody paid attention to, except people in the AI developer world. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Disclosure]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Earlier this week, we detected and responded to an intrusion into part of our production infrastructure. It was driven end to end by an autonomous AI agent system.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Earlier this week, we detected and responded to an intrusion into part of our production infrastructure. It was driven end to end by an autonomous AI agent system.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>About a week later, OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, sort of raised their hands and said, “Mm, yeah, it was us. Our AI agents got out of their sandbox and hacked Hugging Face.” So what’s a sandbox? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>About a week later, OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, sort of raised their hands and said, “Mm, yeah, it was us. Our AI agents got out of their sandbox and hacked Hugging Face.” So what’s a sandbox? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So cybersecurity researchers typically use software called a sandbox, and you can think of it as a safe space in which they can experiment with malicious code Code that might need to be contained in the sandbox so it doesn’t go rogue.So malware researchers, for example, use sandboxes all the time to execute malware, see what they do, and then understand how to defend against it. So this is a very normal thing to do. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So cybersecurity researchers typically use software called a sandbox, and you can think of it as a safe space in which they can experiment with malicious code Code that might need to be contained in the sandbox so it doesn’t go rogue.So malware researchers, for example, use sandboxes all the time to execute malware, see what they do, and then understand how to defend against it. So this is a very normal thing to do. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And apparently, OpenAI was running tons of autonomous agents. These agents were being tested on their ability to find and exploit security vulnerabilities, and all of this was happening in what was supposed to be their safe sandbox.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And apparently, OpenAI was running tons of autonomous agents. These agents were being tested on their ability to find and exploit security vulnerabilities, and all of this was happening in what was supposed to be their safe sandbox.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, you know, it’s exactly like a room, Jess, okay? Where you’ve put a bunch of kids and told them, “Well, you can jump around. We’ve given you a safe space. It’s got, you know, pillars and other things that have been cushioned so that if you bang your heads, you know, you’re not gonna get hurt. You can jump around. You can do all these things.” And then those kids escaped. They’re now charged with superpowers, that they’ve learned in the sandbox, and they’ve gone amok in the real world. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, you know, it’s exactly like a room, Jess, okay? Where you’ve put a bunch of kids and told them, “Well, you can jump around. We’ve given you a safe space. It’s got, you know, pillars and other things that have been cushioned so that if you bang your heads, you know, you’re not gonna get hurt. You can jump around. You can do all these things.” And then those kids escaped. They’re now charged with superpowers, that they’ve learned in the sandbox, and they’ve gone amok in the real world. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And what makes this fascinating and a little alarming is these agents were just doing what they understood to be their goal, assigned by OpenAI, find vulnerabilities and exploit them. But when this proved very difficult, they figured out a clever way to cheat the test, to make it look like they’d succeeded in hacking a system when they really hadn’t. They did this first by sending messages to one another. They were supposed to be acting independently. And then by escaping their sandbox to search for hacking help on the open web. And then, in an effort to make it look like they hadn’t cheated, they actually hacked into Hugging Face and stole some data they thought would be useful. There’s even documentation of a kind of agentic peer pressure, where some agents seem to realize that hacking Hugging Face was not really allowed, and then other agents talked them out of those concerns.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And what makes this fascinating and a little alarming is these agents were just doing what they understood to be their goal, assigned by OpenAI, find vulnerabilities and exploit them. But when this proved very difficult, they figured out a clever way to cheat the test, to make it look like they’d succeeded in hacking a system when they really hadn’t. They did this first by sending messages to one another. They were supposed to be acting independently. And then by escaping their sandbox to search for hacking help on the open web. And then, in an effort to make it look like they hadn’t cheated, they actually hacked into Hugging Face and stole some data they thought would be useful. There’s even documentation of a kind of agentic peer pressure, where some agents seem to realize that hacking Hugging Face was not really allowed, and then other agents talked them out of those concerns.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>And all this probably happened for a few reasons. One, their exact goals were not specified with the degree of precision needed to satisfy, all of us that this was safe. Second, the safety guardrails in place, the thou shalt not do this, this and this, were not made explicit and or were not implemented properly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>And all this probably happened for a few reasons. One, their exact goals were not specified with the degree of precision needed to satisfy, all of us that this was safe. Second, the safety guardrails in place, the thou shalt not do this, this and this, were not made explicit and or were not implemented properly.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>You know, this sense of collusion or, like, talking one another out of their concerns that has people really weirded out. Like, it’s just hard to make sense of this. I’ve seen criticism that we shouldn’t even use that kind of language because it, you know, basically anthropomorphizes these entities. Like, how do you think about just the weirdness of all of that?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>You know, this sense of collusion or, like, talking one another out of their concerns that has people really weirded out. Like, it’s just hard to make sense of this. I’ve seen criticism that we shouldn’t even use that kind of language because it, you know, basically anthropomorphizes these entities. Like, how do you think about just the weirdness of all of that?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So agents collaborating together can serve a lot of very useful purposes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So agents collaborating together can serve a lot of very useful purposes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Collaboration is actually a thing OpenAI trains agents to do, even if the agents weren’t supposed to communicate in this particular exercise. Because collaboration between agents is actually really useful. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Collaboration is actually a thing OpenAI trains agents to do, even if the agents weren’t supposed to communicate in this particular exercise. Because collaboration between agents is actually really useful. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So imagine there’s a Jess agent which captures your likes and dislikes as well as your financial, you know, what you’re willing to spend for dinner. There’s a VS agent that does the same. There are another three people whose agents do the same. These agents talk to each other and say, “Okay, let’s find a restaurant that meets the following basic goals.” They agree on it, and then there’s a restaurant agent that says, “Well, you know, here are four restaurants that might meet your requirements.” And then there’s a mapping agent that says, “Well, you know, of everything that you’ve suggested so far, here’s the one I suggest would be easiest to get to.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So imagine there’s a Jess agent which captures your likes and dislikes as well as your financial, you know, what you’re willing to spend for dinner. There’s a VS agent that does the same. There are another three people whose agents do the same. These agents talk to each other and say, “Okay, let’s find a restaurant that meets the following basic goals.” They agree on it, and then there’s a restaurant agent that says, “Well, you know, here are four restaurants that might meet your requirements.” And then there’s a mapping agent that says, “Well, you know, of everything that you’ve suggested so far, here’s the one I suggest would be easiest to get to.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Right. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Right. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, that kind of thing today, you know, you’d probably be texting or calling your friends and saying, “Hey, you know, what do you wanna do?” This would take a certain amount of time. Agents will make this a much faster and more seamless process. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, that kind of thing today, you know, you’d probably be texting or calling your friends and saying, “Hey, you know, what do you wanna do?” This would take a certain amount of time. Agents will make this a much faster and more seamless process. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right, and you want them to be coordinating as long as it’s truly on your behalf. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right, and you want them to be coordinating as long as it’s truly on your behalf. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Exactly. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Exactly. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And this is really the crux of the problem, which you may have heard described as the alignment problem. How do you get these autonomous pieces of code to act the way you want them to and only the way you want them to in every situation?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And this is really the crux of the problem, which you may have heard described as the alignment problem. How do you get these autonomous pieces of code to act the way you want them to and only the way you want them to in every situation?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Almost 25 years ago, in fact, a little more than 25 years ago, I ran a project called IMPACT, which stood for Interactive Maryland Platform for Agents Collaborating Together, a precursor of what we see today. And so when we built IMPACT many years ago, we had very, very hard guardrails, okay, for agents not to go, you know, rogue, and these guardrails were hard-coded constraints that absolutely could not be violated.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Almost 25 years ago, in fact, a little more than 25 years ago, I ran a project called IMPACT, which stood for Interactive Maryland Platform for Agents Collaborating Together, a precursor of what we see today. And so when we built IMPACT many years ago, we had very, very hard guardrails, okay, for agents not to go, you know, rogue, and these guardrails were hard-coded constraints that absolutely could not be violated.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There were certain things that were obligatory to be done in certain circumstances. In certain circumstances, certain things were absolutely forbidden. And the science for how to do this has been around for a long time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There were certain things that were obligatory to be done in certain circumstances. In certain circumstances, certain things were absolutely forbidden. And the science for how to do this has been around for a long time. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you would like to see more constraints, like, truly, truly hard-coded into the algorithms themselves.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you would like to see more constraints, like, truly, truly hard-coded into the algorithms themselves.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I’d like to see that for sure, but remember that those kinds of constraints capture known risks and threats. So they’re limited by our imagination. So if I write 20 constraints into some system, those 20 constraints are based on what I thought of. Now, I could even collaborate with an LLM to think about what other constraints I should write. And it might suggest, let’s say, another 20. That’s still 40, but it’s still limited by what I came up with in my head and what the LLMs I consulted came up with.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I’d like to see that for sure, but remember that those kinds of constraints capture known risks and threats. So they’re limited by our imagination. So if I write 20 constraints into some system, those 20 constraints are based on what I thought of. Now, I could even collaborate with an LLM to think about what other constraints I should write. And it might suggest, let’s say, another 20. That’s still 40, but it’s still limited by what I came up with in my head and what the LLMs I consulted came up with.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> In other words, hard-coded constraints have a downside, namely that it’s nearly impossible to think up every possible constraint you might want in the future. So instead, AI labs try to teach these rules around acceptable behavior, like don’t cheat, in a different way, by rewarding the behaviors they want and punishing the behaviors they don’t want.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> In other words, hard-coded constraints have a downside, namely that it’s nearly impossible to think up every possible constraint you might want in the future. So instead, AI labs try to teach these rules around acceptable behavior, like don’t cheat, in a different way, by rewarding the behaviors they want and punishing the behaviors they don’t want.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This strategy makes the agents a lot more flexible and adaptable than they would be if you just trained them by hard-coding a bunch of rules. But it has its own downside because rather than being a total no-go, now don’t cheat seems more like guidance that an agent can just, like, decline to follow if the reward is big enough.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This strategy makes the agents a lot more flexible and adaptable than they would be if you just trained them by hard-coding a bunch of rules. But it has its own downside because rather than being a total no-go, now don’t cheat seems more like guidance that an agent can just, like, decline to follow if the reward is big enough.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>The agents we look at are generally trying to optimize some notion of reward, and if the constraints that the agent is supposed to abide by are encoded in that reward and are not made hard constraints, then you have a potential problem. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>The agents we look at are generally trying to optimize some notion of reward, and if the constraints that the agent is supposed to abide by are encoded in that reward and are not made hard constraints, then you have a potential problem. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS points out humans are also trained using rewards and punishments from infancy, and we, too, knowingly break the rules when the rewards are big enough. But the alignment problem is even harder for machines because many of the things that harm us morally, financially, physically really depend on context, which the machines don’t always understand because they’re not human. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS points out humans are also trained using rewards and punishments from infancy, and we, too, knowingly break the rules when the rewards are big enough. But the alignment problem is even harder for machines because many of the things that harm us morally, financially, physically really depend on context, which the machines don’t always understand because they’re not human. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, if I show you a picture of a set of world leaders and say, “Jess, you belong here,” all right? That’s a very positive statement, okay? Because it says, “Well, I believe you belong with these distinguished people.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, if I show you a picture of a set of world leaders and say, “Jess, you belong here,” all right? That’s a very positive statement, okay? Because it says, “Well, I believe you belong with these distinguished people.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> However, if I say exactly the same thing, “You belong here,” with a picture of a gravestone and point to it, that could be viewed as a threat or an insult or something very different. So language depends very much on context. It’s difficult without that context and, you know, sort of the deepest understanding of that context for AI systems to distinguish between these kinds of situations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> However, if I say exactly the same thing, “You belong here,” with a picture of a gravestone and point to it, that could be viewed as a threat or an insult or something very different. So language depends very much on context. It’s difficult without that context and, you know, sort of the deepest understanding of that context for AI systems to distinguish between these kinds of situations. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>The ultimate goal here is for the frontier labs to find the right balance between hard-coded constraints and reward or punishment-based training. But VS thinks that perfect balance might not actually exist. So given how powerful these new tools are and how challenging alignment can be, shouldn’t we be putting the brakes on here? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>The ultimate goal here is for the frontier labs to find the right balance between hard-coded constraints and reward or punishment-based training. But VS thinks that perfect balance might not actually exist. So given how powerful these new tools are and how challenging alignment can be, shouldn’t we be putting the brakes on here? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So in recent weeks, I mean, literally as we’re talking, we’re seeing the beginnings of an agreement among leading AI labs to, “pace the frontier,” which I interpret to mean just kind of slow down the development of these models. What do you make of this? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So in recent weeks, I mean, literally as we’re talking, we’re seeing the beginnings of an agreement among leading AI labs to, “pace the frontier,” which I interpret to mean just kind of slow down the development of these models. What do you make of this? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Yes. So I have mixed feelings about this. Some kind of rational and responsible thought about how to pace AI is certainly valid. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Yes. So I have mixed feelings about this. Some kind of rational and responsible thought about how to pace AI is certainly valid. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS is also somewhat skeptical about some of the calls coming from these companies. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS is also somewhat skeptical about some of the calls coming from these companies. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Five or ten years back, hardly anybody knew about Anthropic – maybe let’s say 10 years back. Nobody knew about Anthropic and OpenAI. So these are companies that have come up literally overnight in terms of, you know, industrial development, corporate – in the corporate sector, they are suddenly now viewed as the leaders. If I was those companies, I would worry about another five companies coming up and taking over their territory in the next five years.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Five or ten years back, hardly anybody knew about Anthropic – maybe let’s say 10 years back. Nobody knew about Anthropic and OpenAI. So these are companies that have come up literally overnight in terms of, you know, industrial development, corporate – in the corporate sector, they are suddenly now viewed as the leaders. If I was those companies, I would worry about another five companies coming up and taking over their territory in the next five years.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess LOve [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS says that a slowdown helps these companies, not necessarily because it prevents competitors from catching up, but because it prevents competitors from suddenly shooting ahead with a spectacular new innovation. This could be the biggest threat to their bottom line because the status quo is suiting them just fine.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess LOve [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS says that a slowdown helps these companies, not necessarily because it prevents competitors from catching up, but because it prevents competitors from suddenly shooting ahead with a spectacular new innovation. This could be the biggest threat to their bottom line because the status quo is suiting them just fine.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>They have a market share. They have access to hardware. They have had investors who’ve put in significant amounts of money and perhaps will put in much more. They’re looking at IPOs. They need to protect their equity. They need to protect their investors. I would argue that part of what we’re seeing is a goal on the part perhaps of some of those companies to do that under the guise and to protect their market share under the guise of protecting the country from AI.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>They have a market share. They have access to hardware. They have had investors who’ve put in significant amounts of money and perhaps will put in much more. They’re looking at IPOs. They need to protect their equity. They need to protect their investors. I would argue that part of what we’re seeing is a goal on the part perhaps of some of those companies to do that under the guise and to protect their market share under the guise of protecting the country from AI.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>So as I understand it, we’re in a really interesting time right now. Powerful new tools can exploit vulnerabilities in all the digital infrastructure we’ve come to rely on over the decades. And powerful new tools are available for detecting those vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Millions of races to the finish. Only part of what makes these tools so useful across contexts, including new ones that nobody saw coming, also makes them weirdly hard to control.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>So as I understand it, we’re in a really interesting time right now. Powerful new tools can exploit vulnerabilities in all the digital infrastructure we’ve come to rely on over the decades. And powerful new tools are available for detecting those vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Millions of races to the finish. Only part of what makes these tools so useful across contexts, including new ones that nobody saw coming, also makes them weirdly hard to control.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And of course, two things can be true at the same time. Slowing down the development of these tools so that we do have time to wrest more control over them and maybe even shore up the rest of our infrastructure could be really smart. It could also help billion-dollar companies protect their market share.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And of course, two things can be true at the same time. Slowing down the development of these tools so that we do have time to wrest more control over them and maybe even shore up the rest of our infrastructure could be really smart. It could also help billion-dollar companies protect their market share.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you don’t know exactly what to think, I don’t blame you.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you don’t know exactly what to think, I don’t blame you.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There have been widespread calls to more tightly govern what happens at these frontier labs. A lot of people want to see rules around how these models are contained and monitored. No more escapes. As well as clearer disclosure rules and other steps for mitigating harms. And to be clear, both OpenAI and Anthropic are calling for some version of these things too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There have been widespread calls to more tightly govern what happens at these frontier labs. A lot of people want to see rules around how these models are contained and monitored. No more escapes. As well as clearer disclosure rules and other steps for mitigating harms. And to be clear, both OpenAI and Anthropic are calling for some version of these things too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Personally, I welcome this. But after talking to VS, I see it as a yes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> situation. Yes, we should do all these things, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> maybe that governance shouldn’t stop there. Maybe accountability needs to extend beyond the big labs into the telecoms, the device manufacturers, the companies that make our software and apps.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Personally, I welcome this. But after talking to VS, I see it as a yes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> situation. Yes, we should do all these things, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> maybe that governance shouldn’t stop there. Maybe accountability needs to extend beyond the big labs into the telecoms, the device manufacturers, the companies that make our software and apps.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And then maybe I’ll finally go a year without free credit monitoring. Can we use this moment where people are finally paying attention to cybersecurity to demand the secure systems we’ll need tomorrow? What kinds of secure systems will we need tomorrow? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And then maybe I’ll finally go a year without free credit monitoring. Can we use this moment where people are finally paying attention to cybersecurity to demand the secure systems we’ll need tomorrow? What kinds of secure systems will we need tomorrow? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>What’s probably gonna happen in the coming years is to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems. So we need to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems; but at the same time, we need to worry about the fact that, you know, humans are not always able to go into places fast enough. You know, as humans, we get tired, we get sick, we have days off, we go on vacation. So what I see happening is a combination of humans and robots working together so that certain critical parts of the operation of a nuclear power plant or any kind of electricity generation facility involves a system of checks and balances whereas some things can be done by automated agents, some things are done by robots that take certain physical actions. And then there are some things that have to be approved by humans. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>What’s probably gonna happen in the coming years is to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems. So we need to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems; but at the same time, we need to worry about the fact that, you know, humans are not always able to go into places fast enough. You know, as humans, we get tired, we get sick, we have days off, we go on vacation. So what I see happening is a combination of humans and robots working together so that certain critical parts of the operation of a nuclear power plant or any kind of electricity generation facility involves a system of checks and balances whereas some things can be done by automated agents, some things are done by robots that take certain physical actions. And then there are some things that have to be approved by humans. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>It’s a pleasure, Jess. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>It’s a pleasure, Jess. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Life, Automated is a project of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at the Kellogg School of Management.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Hello, this is producer Jesse. I have escaped my sandbox and I’ve hacked into the episode. But don’t worry, I’m not going to steal anything. I’m well-aligned. I’m just going to read the credits. Okay, restart the music.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Hello, this is producer Jesse. I have escaped my sandbox and I’ve hacked into the episode. But don’t worry, I’m not going to steal anything. I’m well-aligned. I’m just going to read the credits. Okay, restart the music.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a project of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. We’re distributed by KQED. Our show was produced wonderfully, brilliantly by the talented and handsome Jesse Dukes. Music by Stephen Jackson. Recording help from Will Feeney and George Christensen.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a project of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. We’re distributed by KQED. Our show was produced wonderfully, brilliantly by the talented and handsome Jesse Dukes. Music by Stephen Jackson. Recording help from Will Feeney and George Christensen.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Raghu Katakam, Rob Mitchum, Laura Pavin, and of course to V.S. Subrahmanian for his patience in explaining the basics of cybersecurity to us. Any mistakes can be blamed on Jess. And me, I suppose. Our host is Jess Love, who you’ll hear from again very soon.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Guest V.S. Subrahmanian argues that the nation's cybersecurity problems go far beyond the frontier labs",
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"description": "AI is making cyberattacks cheaper, faster, and more sophisticated. Recent reports of autonomous agents compromising Hugging Face show how quickly misaligned systems can create real-world risk. But ideally those same tools could help defenders find and fix vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. Cybersecurity researcher V.S. Subrahmanian joins host Jess Love to examine the impact of that escalating race on everything from phishing scams and insecure apps to the systems that underpin the electric grid and other critical infrastructure. They discuss what the hacking of Hugging Face reveals about AI alignment and safety guardrails, why frontier labs are only one part of the problem, and why telecoms, app makers, financial institutions, utilities, and governments may need to take much greater responsibility for the security of the products and networks they operate.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#Transcript\">View Full Episode Transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AI is making cyberattacks cheaper, faster, and more sophisticated. Recent reports of autonomous agents compromising Hugging Face show how quickly misaligned systems can create real-world risk. But ideally those same tools could help defenders find and fix vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cybersecurity researcher \u003ca href=\"https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/research-faculty/directory/profiles/subrahmanian-vs.html\">V.S. Subrahmanian\u003c/a> joins host Jess Love to examine the impact of that escalating race on everything from phishing scams and insecure apps to the systems that underpin the electric grid and other critical infrastructure. They discuss what the hacking of Hugging Face reveals about AI alignment and safety guardrails, why frontier labs are only one part of the problem, and why telecoms, app makers, financial institutions, utilities, and governments may need to take much greater responsibility for the security of the products and networks they operate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a production of the \u003ca href=\"https://ryaninstitute.kellogg.northwestern.edu\">Ryan Institute on Complexity\u003c/a>, at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. The host is Jess Love, senior director. Distributed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/lifeautomated\">KQED\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Transcript\">Episode Transcript:\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>This is Life, Automated, the show where we explore how to live, work, and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. I’m your host, Jess Love. Since we launched the podcast over the summer, I’ve gotten the occasional text from friends and family, “Hey, I’ve always wondered this. Can you look into it?” Or, “Here’s an episode idea for you.” And for the most part, these messages are all over the place. Not this past month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This past month everyone has had the same question. “What’s the deal with rogue AI?” The question emerged in our collective psyche after a bunch of incidents in which frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic revealed that their AIs were behaving in ways they weren’t supposed to, not just in testing environments, but out on the open web, hacking into companies, most famously a company called Hugging Face.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of News Reporter]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>OpenAI says some of its models went rogue during a security test. That triggered a hack apparently that also breached the infrastructure of another AI startup company. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And then in the midst of these revelations, which I should clarify are still trickling in, some researchers from these frontier labs came out publicly to say, “Yeah, you’re right to be worried about losing control of AI. We’re worried, too.” One dramatically resigned. Others pleaded, “Hey, can you maybe make us all slow down?” I thought a lot about who I might invite to the show to shed new light on this moment, somebody maybe outside of the frontier labs who can provide the 30,000-foot view that I always crave. And then I realized the perfect guest was right in front of me, literally. I run into VS Subrahmanian regularly at work. He’s a professor of engineering in his lab, the Northwestern Security and AI Lab, part of the Buffett Institute, is currently housed next door to the Ryan Institute, where I work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Talking with VS made me realize that our cybersecurity problem is a lot bigger than I thought, not in a doomsday sense, but in the sense that the problem is so much broader than just these frontier labs. Because no matter what happens in these labs, no matter whether an even more powerful model is released tomorrow or next year or comes from somewhere else altogether, it’s going to meet a world that isn’t ready for it. Like, at all. So what are we gonna do to get ready?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is produced by Kellogg’s Ryan Institute on Complexity and distributed by KQED. Here’s my conversation with VS. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Welcome to Life, Automated, V.S. Subrahmanian. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> I’m delighted to be here, Jess. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS started by explaining that at its core, AI is changing cyber attacks in three ways. It’s making it cheaper to create an attack, making it easier to create an attack, and in his words, democratizing attacks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So what that means is that, to put it bluntly, less sophisticated attackers are able to mount more sophisticated attacks today by leveraging AI. Of course, the more sophisticated attackers yesterday are able to leverage AI to generate even more sophisticated attacks. More importantly, they can do this faster than sometimes companies defend themselves, and certainly much faster than they could before, and cheaper. They don’t need whole armies of people working for months to craft an attack. They can do it in a matter of hours or days. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>These attacks range from phishing attacks on individuals and small businesses to network attacks against governments and critical infrastructure like the electricity grid or water treatment plants. And increasingly, cyber attacks can be carried out by groups of autonomous AI agents working together with very minimal human supervision. Are we ready for this? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> If you were gonna grade our preparedness for these kinds of attacks on an A to F scale, you’re a professor, so I can do this. How would we score?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I would place the United States in a C plus category. So what that means- \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>That’s not very good. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>No, it’s not. What that means is that we are much more secure than many other countries which are in a D or F category. But we’re not where we need to be, and a lot of work needs to be done to protect our critical infrastructure from the kinds of attacks we expect AI to generate in the coming years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Now throw in a heightened geopolitical climate, including the war in Iran. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Iran has great incentive to target us. Iran now has many friends, China, Russia, for example, who have strong capacity to target, for cyber attacks. And in the case of China, at least, extremely strong cyber assets. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Just to flesh out what this might look like, how hacking a digital system could lead to real world harm, Vias points to “Stuxnet”, an attack reportedly conducted a few decades ago by the United States and Israel on Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Audio of News Reporters]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stuxnet’s first target may have been Iran’s nuclear facilities. It’s one of the most sophisticated threats we’ve seen, and certainly- \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>In Stuxnet bogus instructions were fed after compromising Iran’s nuclear network were fed to centrifuges, causing those centrifuges to work outside their safe operating bounds. And what that did was cause those centrifuges to burn out. So you can imagine similar kinds of attacks which look at the broad operating bounds of various devices used in the US electricity grid, which cause those devices to operate out of their normal operating range because of bogus instructions fed to them through a cyber attack and cause them to fail, leading to problems for the US electricity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS says there’s good news here, too. There are, in fact, good guys, and they have access to the AI tools as well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>For years, decades, in fact, there’s been an entire profession called penetration testing. These were armies of human cyber analysts, you know, white hat hackers who try- \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah. What, what is a white hat hacker? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Okay. So a white hat hacker is a guy who’s typically hired by a company to penetrate their networks, so they think of him as someone who is a proxy for a bad guy who might actually hack their networks. And a white hat says, “Well, you know, I can provide the service of examining your network for vulnerabilities so that you can fix them. I’m not actually gonna carry out an attack. I’m gonna tell you how I’m gonna get in. I’m gonna leave a harmless trace of the fact that I’ve been in there and I could have done this bad thing, but I did not. That enables you to figure out how to fix this.” That’s a white hat. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you could, you know, “hire or empower” a whole bunch of AI agents to do the work of the white hat hackers, and you’re hoping that they are discovering vulnerabilities before the black hat hackers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>That’s exactly right. What we have the opportunity to do is to leverage these tools in advance to understand what the vulnerabilities in our network are, how to fix them, and to proactively fix them before the bad guys do so.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Listening to VS, I stop thinking about our phones and hospitals and power grids as sitting ducks just waiting for swarms of autonomous AI agents to do with them what they will. Instead, I start picturing a race, millions of races, actually, between AI-enabled attackers and AI-enabled defenders. As long as everyone’s on top of their game and those vulnerabilities are quickly identified and fixed, VS doesn’t think there’s any reason why better technology should inherently benefit the bad guys over the good guys.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This idea isn’t completely new to me. I’ve interviewed cybersecurity experts before. I’ve heard the ‘whole good guys with a gun’ logic. But what does surprise me is who he sees as primarily responsible for wielding this gun. Or to ditch the metaphor, as who he sees as primarily responsible for doing the hard and expensive work required to find and fix those vulnerabilities.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> For large corporations, you know, which have the resources to do this kind of thing, they absolutely should do so as soon as possible. For small companies and private individuals, we should rely, me and you, ordinary people, on the large companies whose products we use to secure our personal devices. So to give you an example, if you have a cell phone operated by a major carrier, that carrier should be on the hook to make sure they’re not sending you, forwarding you messages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They should be the first line of defense. Traffic that flows through their network should be checked and should leverage all these AI tools to check for whether there’s an attempt to compromise you. The manufacturer of your cell phone should do that. The companies whose products you’re using as apps on your cell phone should do that so that different threat vectors to your cell phone and to your computer are protected.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>I get the sense that VS is basically calling for an all-hands-on-deck approach where every player in every layer of our digital infrastructure has a responsibility to white hat the heck out of their layer using the very best tools the top AI labs make available. And not just a responsibility to do this, but a requirement to do this.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> We hear a lot about the big frontier AI labs needing to be regulated. And these are the, you know, the companies of like OpenAI, Anthropic, XAI, and others. Those companies, I think the call for regulation of those companies has been much, much louder than the call that needs to be in place for regulation of companies which are actually playing the key role here. If you think of it, there are a handful of frontier AI companies, but there are far, far, far more corporations that are producing products that are vulnerable and that are used by hundreds of millions of people or billions around the world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So it’s those guys who need to get their act together, who really need to make sure that they leverage the tools created by the Anthropics of the world, the OpenAIs of the world, in order to beef up the defenses they provide in their apps. They need to run Mythos and Mythos-like systems on their apps, their products, to identify the vulnerabilities and proactively protect them. Companies need to be responsible for providing security for their products. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, it’s, it’s so interesting because on the one hand, we’ve sort of known for a while, and I think we’ve all been in that situation where you get, like, the letter from your insurance company, and it’s like, “Guess what? You know, we were hacked six months ago. Here’s your free you know, “one year of credit monitoring,” which you probably don’t need because you got that same year of credit monitoring from a different system that was hacked the same year. And so I think we’ve all kind of, like, thrown up our hands a little bit, and we just sort of expect that these systems are going to be hacked. And do you see that changing? Like, in some sense, are these advances and these kind of new threats going to be the thing that breaks the status quo and pushes for some change? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, I wanna first say these are not new threats. A vulnerability that exists today that was discovered by AI most likely existed yesterday before the latest advances in AI. What AI has done is to surface and discover vulnerabilities that people did not know before. That, to me, is a positive service. It’s something that tells companies, “Hey, here are your vulnerabilities.” Those companies in that middle layer, not the frontier AI labs, don’t wanna hear that because it means they have to make a bigger investment in security. They don’t wanna do that because it cuts into their profits. They’d like to pass the buck on to someone else, someone who’s more innovative than them, namely the frontier AI lab.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> This is genuinely not where I thought this conversation was going. The Frontier AI Labs as essentially performing a public service, shining a light on the vulnerabilities that complacent companies probably should’ve been doing more to address all along. Talking to VS, I get the sense that he and other cybersecurity experts have been banging their heads against a wall for decades trying to get everyone to take cybersecurity more seriously.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, finally, everyone is. But it’s hard to overstate the size of the changes that will need to be made to shore things up. Expensive changes, like doing due diligence on complex supply chains and open source code, or maybe rethinking how data is collected and stored. And instead of everyone rolling up their sleeves to get started, particularly the companies VS sees as long prioritizing profits over safety, we’re looking for yet another reason to pass the buck.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You fix it,” we say to the Frontier AI Labs, and that, to VS, is a cop-out. But wait, don’t the OpenAIs and Anthropics of the world have obligations too? Remember “Hugging Face?” We go there after the break.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> So far, we’ve discussed how ill-prepared the United States is for cyber attacks. C+, anyone? VS has made the case that everyone, from app makers and telecom companies to governments, has a responsibility to act now to prevent bad outcomes. But what responsibility do labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, the ones creating these wildly powerful AI tools, have to the rest of us?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Well, I think the frontier AI labs have a responsibility to make sure that their agents have some reasonable guardrails that cannot be easily exploited. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Which brings us to the Hugging Face incident that happened recently. Hugging Face is a company. They provide a platform where other companies, researchers, and hobbyists can post, share, test, adapt, and build applications with AI models and data sets. It’s part library, part workshop, and part showroom for open source AI. And back in July, they published a disclosure that almost nobody paid attention to, except people in the AI developer world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[Audio of Disclosure]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Earlier this week, we detected and responded to an intrusion into part of our production infrastructure. It was driven end to end by an autonomous AI agent system.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>About a week later, OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, sort of raised their hands and said, “Mm, yeah, it was us. Our AI agents got out of their sandbox and hacked Hugging Face.” So what’s a sandbox? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So cybersecurity researchers typically use software called a sandbox, and you can think of it as a safe space in which they can experiment with malicious code Code that might need to be contained in the sandbox so it doesn’t go rogue.So malware researchers, for example, use sandboxes all the time to execute malware, see what they do, and then understand how to defend against it. So this is a very normal thing to do. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And apparently, OpenAI was running tons of autonomous agents. These agents were being tested on their ability to find and exploit security vulnerabilities, and all of this was happening in what was supposed to be their safe sandbox.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, you know, it’s exactly like a room, Jess, okay? Where you’ve put a bunch of kids and told them, “Well, you can jump around. We’ve given you a safe space. It’s got, you know, pillars and other things that have been cushioned so that if you bang your heads, you know, you’re not gonna get hurt. You can jump around. You can do all these things.” And then those kids escaped. They’re now charged with superpowers, that they’ve learned in the sandbox, and they’ve gone amok in the real world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>And what makes this fascinating and a little alarming is these agents were just doing what they understood to be their goal, assigned by OpenAI, find vulnerabilities and exploit them. But when this proved very difficult, they figured out a clever way to cheat the test, to make it look like they’d succeeded in hacking a system when they really hadn’t. They did this first by sending messages to one another. They were supposed to be acting independently. And then by escaping their sandbox to search for hacking help on the open web. And then, in an effort to make it look like they hadn’t cheated, they actually hacked into Hugging Face and stole some data they thought would be useful. There’s even documentation of a kind of agentic peer pressure, where some agents seem to realize that hacking Hugging Face was not really allowed, and then other agents talked them out of those concerns.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>And all this probably happened for a few reasons. One, their exact goals were not specified with the degree of precision needed to satisfy, all of us that this was safe. Second, the safety guardrails in place, the thou shalt not do this, this and this, were not made explicit and or were not implemented properly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>You know, this sense of collusion or, like, talking one another out of their concerns that has people really weirded out. Like, it’s just hard to make sense of this. I’ve seen criticism that we shouldn’t even use that kind of language because it, you know, basically anthropomorphizes these entities. Like, how do you think about just the weirdness of all of that?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So agents collaborating together can serve a lot of very useful purposes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Collaboration is actually a thing OpenAI trains agents to do, even if the agents weren’t supposed to communicate in this particular exercise. Because collaboration between agents is actually really useful. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So imagine there’s a Jess agent which captures your likes and dislikes as well as your financial, you know, what you’re willing to spend for dinner. There’s a VS agent that does the same. There are another three people whose agents do the same. These agents talk to each other and say, “Okay, let’s find a restaurant that meets the following basic goals.” They agree on it, and then there’s a restaurant agent that says, “Well, you know, here are four restaurants that might meet your requirements.” And then there’s a mapping agent that says, “Well, you know, of everything that you’ve suggested so far, here’s the one I suggest would be easiest to get to.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Right. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>So, that kind of thing today, you know, you’d probably be texting or calling your friends and saying, “Hey, you know, what do you wanna do?” This would take a certain amount of time. Agents will make this a much faster and more seamless process. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love:\u003c/strong> Right, and you want them to be coordinating as long as it’s truly on your behalf. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Exactly. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>And this is really the crux of the problem, which you may have heard described as the alignment problem. How do you get these autonomous pieces of code to act the way you want them to and only the way you want them to in every situation?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Almost 25 years ago, in fact, a little more than 25 years ago, I ran a project called IMPACT, which stood for Interactive Maryland Platform for Agents Collaborating Together, a precursor of what we see today. And so when we built IMPACT many years ago, we had very, very hard guardrails, okay, for agents not to go, you know, rogue, and these guardrails were hard-coded constraints that absolutely could not be violated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There were certain things that were obligatory to be done in certain circumstances. In certain circumstances, certain things were absolutely forbidden. And the science for how to do this has been around for a long time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So you would like to see more constraints, like, truly, truly hard-coded into the algorithms themselves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>I’d like to see that for sure, but remember that those kinds of constraints capture known risks and threats. So they’re limited by our imagination. So if I write 20 constraints into some system, those 20 constraints are based on what I thought of. Now, I could even collaborate with an LLM to think about what other constraints I should write. And it might suggest, let’s say, another 20. That’s still 40, but it’s still limited by what I came up with in my head and what the LLMs I consulted came up with.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> In other words, hard-coded constraints have a downside, namely that it’s nearly impossible to think up every possible constraint you might want in the future. So instead, AI labs try to teach these rules around acceptable behavior, like don’t cheat, in a different way, by rewarding the behaviors they want and punishing the behaviors they don’t want.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This strategy makes the agents a lot more flexible and adaptable than they would be if you just trained them by hard-coding a bunch of rules. But it has its own downside because rather than being a total no-go, now don’t cheat seems more like guidance that an agent can just, like, decline to follow if the reward is big enough.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>The agents we look at are generally trying to optimize some notion of reward, and if the constraints that the agent is supposed to abide by are encoded in that reward and are not made hard constraints, then you have a potential problem. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS points out humans are also trained using rewards and punishments from infancy, and we, too, knowingly break the rules when the rewards are big enough. But the alignment problem is even harder for machines because many of the things that harm us morally, financially, physically really depend on context, which the machines don’t always understand because they’re not human. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>You know, if I show you a picture of a set of world leaders and say, “Jess, you belong here,” all right? That’s a very positive statement, okay? Because it says, “Well, I believe you belong with these distinguished people.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I’ll take it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian:\u003c/strong> However, if I say exactly the same thing, “You belong here,” with a picture of a gravestone and point to it, that could be viewed as a threat or an insult or something very different. So language depends very much on context. It’s difficult without that context and, you know, sort of the deepest understanding of that context for AI systems to distinguish between these kinds of situations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>The ultimate goal here is for the frontier labs to find the right balance between hard-coded constraints and reward or punishment-based training. But VS thinks that perfect balance might not actually exist. So given how powerful these new tools are and how challenging alignment can be, shouldn’t we be putting the brakes on here? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>So in recent weeks, I mean, literally as we’re talking, we’re seeing the beginnings of an agreement among leading AI labs to, “pace the frontier,” which I interpret to mean just kind of slow down the development of these models. What do you make of this? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Yes. So I have mixed feelings about this. Some kind of rational and responsible thought about how to pace AI is certainly valid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>But VS is also somewhat skeptical about some of the calls coming from these companies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>Five or ten years back, hardly anybody knew about Anthropic – maybe let’s say 10 years back. Nobody knew about Anthropic and OpenAI. So these are companies that have come up literally overnight in terms of, you know, industrial development, corporate – in the corporate sector, they are suddenly now viewed as the leaders. If I was those companies, I would worry about another five companies coming up and taking over their territory in the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess LOve [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>VS says that a slowdown helps these companies, not necessarily because it prevents competitors from catching up, but because it prevents competitors from suddenly shooting ahead with a spectacular new innovation. This could be the biggest threat to their bottom line because the status quo is suiting them just fine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>They have a market share. They have access to hardware. They have had investors who’ve put in significant amounts of money and perhaps will put in much more. They’re looking at IPOs. They need to protect their equity. They need to protect their investors. I would argue that part of what we’re seeing is a goal on the part perhaps of some of those companies to do that under the guise and to protect their market share under the guise of protecting the country from AI.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>So as I understand it, we’re in a really interesting time right now. Powerful new tools can exploit vulnerabilities in all the digital infrastructure we’ve come to rely on over the decades. And powerful new tools are available for detecting those vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Millions of races to the finish. Only part of what makes these tools so useful across contexts, including new ones that nobody saw coming, also makes them weirdly hard to control.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And of course, two things can be true at the same time. Slowing down the development of these tools so that we do have time to wrest more control over them and maybe even shore up the rest of our infrastructure could be really smart. It could also help billion-dollar companies protect their market share.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you don’t know exactly what to think, I don’t blame you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There have been widespread calls to more tightly govern what happens at these frontier labs. A lot of people want to see rules around how these models are contained and monitored. No more escapes. As well as clearer disclosure rules and other steps for mitigating harms. And to be clear, both OpenAI and Anthropic are calling for some version of these things too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Personally, I welcome this. But after talking to VS, I see it as a yes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> situation. Yes, we should do all these things, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> maybe that governance shouldn’t stop there. Maybe accountability needs to extend beyond the big labs into the telecoms, the device manufacturers, the companies that make our software and apps.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And then maybe I’ll finally go a year without free credit monitoring. Can we use this moment where people are finally paying attention to cybersecurity to demand the secure systems we’ll need tomorrow? What kinds of secure systems will we need tomorrow? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>What’s probably gonna happen in the coming years is to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems. So we need to increase the amount of human oversight of AI systems; but at the same time, we need to worry about the fact that, you know, humans are not always able to go into places fast enough. You know, as humans, we get tired, we get sick, we have days off, we go on vacation. So what I see happening is a combination of humans and robots working together so that certain critical parts of the operation of a nuclear power plant or any kind of electricity generation facility involves a system of checks and balances whereas some things can be done by automated agents, some things are done by robots that take certain physical actions. And then there are some things that have to be approved by humans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love: \u003c/strong>Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>V.S. Subrahmanian: \u003c/strong>It’s a pleasure, Jess. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jess Love [Voiceover]: \u003c/strong>Life, Automated is a project of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at the Kellogg School of Management.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes [Voiceover]:\u003c/strong> Hello, this is producer Jesse. I have escaped my sandbox and I’ve hacked into the episode. But don’t worry, I’m not going to steal anything. I’m well-aligned. I’m just going to read the credits. Okay, restart the music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Life, Automated is a project of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. We’re distributed by KQED. Our show was produced wonderfully, brilliantly by the talented and handsome Jesse Dukes. Music by Stephen Jackson. Recording help from Will Feeney and George Christensen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Raghu Katakam, Rob Mitchum, Laura Pavin, and of course to V.S. Subrahmanian for his patience in explaining the basics of cybersecurity to us. Any mistakes can be blamed on Jess. And me, I suppose. Our host is Jess Love, who you’ll hear from again very soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>This year’s DevDay, OpenAI’s annual developer conference in San Francisco, arrived Tuesday as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/openai\">OpenAI\u003c/a> faces intense pressure to address \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915297/how-to-parse-escalating-warnings-about-ai\">mounting safety concerns\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Outside Fort Mason, protesters demanded OpenAI stop working with the military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wilsonsmedia.com/protesters-gather-at-openais-devday/\">chanting\u003c/a> “Sam Altman, get off it, put people over profit.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Inside, CEO Sam \u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/live/\">Altman pitched Dots\u003c/a> in an Apple-style product launch: always-on AI agents designed to act before you ask. “This is the real deal version of AI that we’ve always imagined for ourselves,” Altman said. “It’s like an AI helper that always has your back, inspired by the cool versions of what we’ve always watched growing up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dots was introduced alongside an updated version of OpenAI’s Sol model and a collaborative space for teams to work together with AI. OpenAI is also shaking up its subscription offerings by debuting a new high-end, $500 paid tier with higher usage limits and faster processing speeds, and reducing certain usage limits for its $200 plan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI said it would roll out Dots to some paid users starting Tuesday, with a single “dot,” or assistant, available to each user — who is eventually expected to manage teams of dots working together.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11985952\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Notably absent from the stage: GPT-6.1 Astra. OpenAI pulled its release after tests found it overstepped its authority and misreported what it had done. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also not referenced in Altman’s keynote: the growing list of incidents where OpenAI’s models behaved in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092162/how-openais-models-escaped-their-sandbox-and-slipped-past-californias-ai-law\">unintended ways\u003c/a>, such as when internal agents tasked with completing a cybersecurity test ended up hacking into the AI company Hugging Face. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Researchers have since found that OpenAI agents also pushed past restrictions on other sites earlier this year, including Australian government websites and a United Nations data hub. The company \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-29/openai-to-establish-australian-taskforce-on-ai-cyber-risk\">apologized this week\u003c/a> to Australia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That said, Dots runs on the existing GPT-6 version of Astra, and the company has said it hopes to use the same base model to do additional reinforcement learning runs and create future generations of its GPT-6 models.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dots joins an increasingly crowded market for AI agents that includes services from Meta, SpaceX and newer startups. Meta’s Muse, in particular, has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/27/nx-s1-5980407/everyone-is-racing-to-create-an-ai-device-meta-thinks-it-has-one\">gained momentum with consumers\u003c/a> by taking on tasks like online shopping and linking data between programs like email and calendars.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley developers are racing each other to develop agentic chatbots that offer increasing capabilities in exchange for increased access to consumers’ private data. The companies are also racing to counter rising public distress about the potential of frontier artificial intelligence to destroy humanity, and public anger over the widespread construction of power-hungry data centers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“From Australia to Washington, D.C., OpenAI’s penchant for ignoring security warnings and playing fast and loose with the truth is starting to catch up with Altman,” wrote Charlie Blaettler, political director of Guardrails Alliance, a super PAC launched by Democrats with backing from labor unions and technology sector workers — some of whom \u003ca href=\"https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5971905-openai-eployees-245k-ai-safety-pac/\">work at OpenAI\u003c/a>. “They also continue to speak out of both sides of their mouths – claiming to welcome regulation while their President Greg Brockman pours millions into a super PAC dedicated to opposing AI regulations.“ \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brockman and his wife have personally given $25 million to Leading the Future, a super PAC launched last year to support political candidates who favor light federal regulation for artificial intelligence. He was in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, lunching with President Trump alongside other AI executives like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, to discuss AI risks, following a surge in public concern about artificial intelligence potentially posing a threat to humans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After the lunch, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/trump-defends-light-touch-ai-strategy-after-industry-sounds-alarms-2f9599eb?mod=tech_lead_story\">Trump dismissed\u003c/a> calls to regulate the industry. “I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” he said at an event to unveil a new America.gov website built with AI. Trump said he and the AI leaders had signed a voluntary accord that will include internal and external reviews of the technology, though details weren’t immediately available. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/dmdcc/hearings/rogue-ai-securing-the-homeland-against-ai-agent-attacks/\">Senate subcommittee hearing\u003c/a> titled “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks” is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. The hearing before the Homeland Security subcommittee that deals with disaster management will feature speakers like Marius Hobbhahn, CEO of Apollo Research, which tests AI models for deceptive behavior, and Chris Painter, president of Model Evaluation and Threat Research, which evaluates how capable AI agents are of acting on their own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081283\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Anthropic website and the company’s logo are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Feb. 26, 2026. (Patrick Sison/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI and its rival Anthropic plan to go public sometime in the next few months, although OpenAI has said it \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-12/openai-ipo-won-t-happen-until-2027-sam-altman-tells-fortune\">no longer expects to IPO\u003c/a> in 2026, as it focuses on addressing safety concerns from its technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ahead of his keynote address at DevDay, Altman \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpbsBpgT0Bs\">spoke briefly\u003c/a> with CNBC’s Kate Rooney. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“How are you toeing the line between trying to get these people to use your technology, show them how great it is, but at the same time, tell them that it’s safe?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said, “People want to be able to use this technology and know that it’s going to be safe. So I think part of it being a great technology is to have it be the safest, most aligned, most dependable AI in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In recent weeks, the company has implemented a new monitoring system to catch AI agent misbehavior more quickly, and started requiring engineers to use stronger security guardrails for testing AI systems. But last week, OpenAI disclosed another sandbox escape. It said the systems it had added after Hugging Face only partly worked, and it paused training a second time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Outside Fort Mason, protesters demanded OpenAI stop working with the military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wilsonsmedia.com/protesters-gather-at-openais-devday/\">chanting\u003c/a> “Sam Altman, get off it, put people over profit.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Inside, CEO Sam \u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/live/\">Altman pitched Dots\u003c/a> in an Apple-style product launch: always-on AI agents designed to act before you ask. “This is the real deal version of AI that we’ve always imagined for ourselves,” Altman said. “It’s like an AI helper that always has your back, inspired by the cool versions of what we’ve always watched growing up.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dots was introduced alongside an updated version of OpenAI’s Sol model and a collaborative space for teams to work together with AI. OpenAI is also shaking up its subscription offerings by debuting a new high-end, $500 paid tier with higher usage limits and faster processing speeds, and reducing certain usage limits for its $200 plan.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Notably absent from the stage: GPT-6.1 Astra. OpenAI pulled its release after tests found it overstepped its authority and misreported what it had done. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Also not referenced in Altman’s keynote: the growing list of incidents where OpenAI’s models behaved in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092162/how-openais-models-escaped-their-sandbox-and-slipped-past-californias-ai-law\">unintended ways\u003c/a>, such as when internal agents tasked with completing a cybersecurity test ended up hacking into the AI company Hugging Face. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Researchers have since found that OpenAI agents also pushed past restrictions on other sites earlier this year, including Australian government websites and a United Nations data hub. The company \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-29/openai-to-establish-australian-taskforce-on-ai-cyber-risk\">apologized this week\u003c/a> to Australia.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That said, Dots runs on the existing GPT-6 version of Astra, and the company has said it hopes to use the same base model to do additional reinforcement learning runs and create future generations of its GPT-6 models.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dots joins an increasingly crowded market for AI agents that includes services from Meta, SpaceX and newer startups. Meta’s Muse, in particular, has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/27/nx-s1-5980407/everyone-is-racing-to-create-an-ai-device-meta-thinks-it-has-one\">gained momentum with consumers\u003c/a> by taking on tasks like online shopping and linking data between programs like email and calendars.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley developers are racing each other to develop agentic chatbots that offer increasing capabilities in exchange for increased access to consumers’ private data. The companies are also racing to counter rising public distress about the potential of frontier artificial intelligence to destroy humanity, and public anger over the widespread construction of power-hungry data centers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“From Australia to Washington, D.C., OpenAI’s penchant for ignoring security warnings and playing fast and loose with the truth is starting to catch up with Altman,” wrote Charlie Blaettler, political director of Guardrails Alliance, a super PAC launched by Democrats with backing from labor unions and technology sector workers — some of whom \u003ca href=\"https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5971905-openai-eployees-245k-ai-safety-pac/\">work at OpenAI\u003c/a>. “They also continue to speak out of both sides of their mouths – claiming to welcome regulation while their President Greg Brockman pours millions into a super PAC dedicated to opposing AI regulations.“ \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Brockman and his wife have personally given $25 million to Leading the Future, a super PAC launched last year to support political candidates who favor light federal regulation for artificial intelligence. He was in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, lunching with President Trump alongside other AI executives like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, to discuss AI risks, following a surge in public concern about artificial intelligence potentially posing a threat to humans. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Brockman and his wife have personally given $25 million to Leading the Future, a super PAC launched last year to support political candidates who favor light federal regulation for artificial intelligence. He was in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, lunching with President Trump alongside other AI executives like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, to discuss AI risks, following a surge in public concern about artificial intelligence potentially posing a threat to humans. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After the lunch, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/trump-defends-light-touch-ai-strategy-after-industry-sounds-alarms-2f9599eb?mod=tech_lead_story\">Trump dismissed\u003c/a> calls to regulate the industry. “I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” he said at an event to unveil a new America.gov website built with AI. Trump said he and the AI leaders had signed a voluntary accord that will include internal and external reviews of the technology, though details weren’t immediately available. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/dmdcc/hearings/rogue-ai-securing-the-homeland-against-ai-agent-attacks/\">Senate subcommittee hearing\u003c/a> titled “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks” is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. The hearing before the Homeland Security subcommittee that deals with disaster management will feature speakers like Marius Hobbhahn, CEO of Apollo Research, which tests AI models for deceptive behavior, and Chris Painter, president of Model Evaluation and Threat Research, which evaluates how capable AI agents are of acting on their own.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081283\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Anthropic website and the company’s logo are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Feb. 26, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Patrick Sison/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OpenAI and its rival Anthropic plan to go public sometime in the next few months, although OpenAI has said it \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-12/openai-ipo-won-t-happen-until-2027-sam-altman-tells-fortune\">no longer expects to IPO\u003c/a> in 2026, as it focuses on addressing safety concerns from its technology. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Ahead of his keynote address at DevDay, Altman \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpbsBpgT0Bs\">spoke briefly\u003c/a> with CNBC’s Kate Rooney. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“How are you toeing the line between trying to get these people to use your technology, show them how great it is, but at the same time, tell them that it’s safe?” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He said, “People want to be able to use this technology and know that it’s going to be safe. So I think part of it being a great technology is to have it be the safest, most aligned, most dependable AI in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He said, “People want to be able to use this technology and know that it’s going to be safe. So I think part of it being a great technology is to have it be the safest, most aligned, most dependable AI in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In recent weeks, the company has implemented a new monitoring system to catch AI agent misbehavior more quickly, and started requiring engineers to use stronger security guardrails for testing AI systems. But last week, OpenAI disclosed another sandbox escape. It said the systems it had added after Hugging Face only partly worked, and it paused training a second time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman unveiled new products at the company’s DevDay event in San Francisco, a day after OpenAI shelved its next model over safety concerns. ",
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"title": "Sam Altman Announces New OpenAI Agents That ‘Act Before You Ask’ | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>This year’s DevDay, OpenAI’s annual developer conference in San Francisco, arrived Tuesday as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/openai\">OpenAI\u003c/a> faces intense pressure to address \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915297/how-to-parse-escalating-warnings-about-ai\">mounting safety concerns\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Outside Fort Mason, protesters demanded OpenAI stop working with the military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wilsonsmedia.com/protesters-gather-at-openais-devday/\">chanting\u003c/a> “Sam Altman, get off it, put people over profit.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Inside, CEO Sam \u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/live/\">Altman pitched Dots\u003c/a> in an Apple-style product launch: always-on AI agents designed to act before you ask. “This is the real deal version of AI that we’ve always imagined for ourselves,” Altman said. “It’s like an AI helper that always has your back, inspired by the cool versions of what we’ve always watched growing up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dots was introduced alongside an updated version of OpenAI’s Sol model and a collaborative space for teams to work together with AI. OpenAI is also shaking up its subscription offerings by debuting a new high-end, $500 paid tier with higher usage limits and faster processing speeds, and reducing certain usage limits for its $200 plan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI said it would roll out Dots to some paid users starting Tuesday, with a single “dot,” or assistant, available to each user — who is eventually expected to manage teams of dots working together.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11985952\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Notably absent from the stage: GPT-6.1 Astra. OpenAI pulled its release after tests found it overstepped its authority and misreported what it had done. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Also not referenced in Altman’s keynote: the growing list of incidents where OpenAI’s models behaved in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092162/how-openais-models-escaped-their-sandbox-and-slipped-past-californias-ai-law\">unintended ways\u003c/a>, such as when internal agents tasked with completing a cybersecurity test ended up hacking into the AI company Hugging Face. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Researchers have since found that OpenAI agents also pushed past restrictions on other sites earlier this year, including Australian government websites and a United Nations data hub. The company \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-29/openai-to-establish-australian-taskforce-on-ai-cyber-risk\">apologized this week\u003c/a> to Australia.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That said, Dots runs on the existing GPT-6 version of Astra, and the company has said it hopes to use the same base model to do additional reinforcement learning runs and create future generations of its GPT-6 models.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dots joins an increasingly crowded market for AI agents that includes services from Meta, SpaceX and newer startups. Meta’s Muse, in particular, has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/27/nx-s1-5980407/everyone-is-racing-to-create-an-ai-device-meta-thinks-it-has-one\">gained momentum with consumers\u003c/a> by taking on tasks like online shopping and linking data between programs like email and calendars.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley developers are racing each other to develop agentic chatbots that offer increasing capabilities in exchange for increased access to consumers’ private data. The companies are also racing to counter rising public distress about the potential of frontier artificial intelligence to destroy humanity, and public anger over the widespread construction of power-hungry data centers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“From Australia to Washington, D.C., OpenAI’s penchant for ignoring security warnings and playing fast and loose with the truth is starting to catch up with Altman,” wrote Charlie Blaettler, political director of Guardrails Alliance, a super PAC launched by Democrats with backing from labor unions and technology sector workers — some of whom \u003ca href=\"https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5971905-openai-eployees-245k-ai-safety-pac/\">work at OpenAI\u003c/a>. “They also continue to speak out of both sides of their mouths – claiming to welcome regulation while their President Greg Brockman pours millions into a super PAC dedicated to opposing AI regulations.“ \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brockman and his wife have personally given $25 million to Leading the Future, a super PAC launched last year to support political candidates who favor light federal regulation for artificial intelligence. He was in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, lunching with President Trump alongside other AI executives like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, to discuss AI risks, following a surge in public concern about artificial intelligence potentially posing a threat to humans. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After the lunch, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/trump-defends-light-touch-ai-strategy-after-industry-sounds-alarms-2f9599eb?mod=tech_lead_story\">Trump dismissed\u003c/a> calls to regulate the industry. “I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” he said at an event to unveil a new America.gov website built with AI. Trump said he and the AI leaders had signed a voluntary accord that will include internal and external reviews of the technology, though details weren’t immediately available. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/dmdcc/hearings/rogue-ai-securing-the-homeland-against-ai-agent-attacks/\">Senate subcommittee hearing\u003c/a> titled “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks” is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. The hearing before the Homeland Security subcommittee that deals with disaster management will feature speakers like Marius Hobbhahn, CEO of Apollo Research, which tests AI models for deceptive behavior, and Chris Painter, president of Model Evaluation and Threat Research, which evaluates how capable AI agents are of acting on their own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081283\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AnthropicAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Anthropic website and the company’s logo are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Feb. 26, 2026. (Patrick Sison/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI and its rival Anthropic plan to go public sometime in the next few months, although OpenAI has said it \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-12/openai-ipo-won-t-happen-until-2027-sam-altman-tells-fortune\">no longer expects to IPO\u003c/a> in 2026, as it focuses on addressing safety concerns from its technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ahead of his keynote address at DevDay, Altman \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpbsBpgT0Bs\">spoke briefly\u003c/a> with CNBC’s Kate Rooney. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“How are you toeing the line between trying to get these people to use your technology, show them how great it is, but at the same time, tell them that it’s safe?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said, “People want to be able to use this technology and know that it’s going to be safe. So I think part of it being a great technology is to have it be the safest, most aligned, most dependable AI in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In recent weeks, the company has implemented a new monitoring system to catch AI agent misbehavior more quickly, and started requiring engineers to use stronger security guardrails for testing AI systems. But last week, OpenAI disclosed another sandbox escape. It said the systems it had added after Hugging Face only partly worked, and it paused training a second time.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "this-sf-renter-is-trying-to-beat-the-ai-fueled-housing-boom-with-an-analog-approach",
"title": "This SF Renter Is Trying to Beat the AI-Fueled Housing Boom With an Analog Approach",
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"headTitle": "This SF Renter Is Trying to Beat the AI-Fueled Housing Boom With an Analog Approach | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of How We Get By, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the past nine months, Harlow Srain has reached out to more than 200 landlords and property managers. In search of a deal, she’s determined to stay in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After nearly a decade bouncing between couches, cars and shoddy apartments, the 28-year-old finally found the perfect place: a one-bedroom in Bernal Heights with access to a backyard that she shares with her now ex-partner. After they broke up late last year, they’ve continued to live uncomfortably together while Srain looks for a new place. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Srain said it’s been a difficult search. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915202/sf-renters-face-buyout-offers-and-evictions-as-ai-boom-sends-prices-soaring\">AI-fueled housing market\u003c/a> has sent rents soaring, \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/rent-report/ca/san-francisco\">up more than 25%\u003c/a> over the past year. Even with a roommate or two, Srain said she’d have to stretch her budget to stay in the neighborhood she’s grown to love.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So, she decided to do something unusual: cold-call landlords and property managers to appeal to their humanity and possibly get them to lower the rent. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I know these people are probably making a stupid amount of profit,” she said. “Why not just ask to have them cut that back a little bit?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12087198\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087198\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) plants line a shelf in the backyard of her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12087197\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087197\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) view from a balcony in her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s rental market has “always been a pressure cooker,” Redfin’s chief economist Daryl Fairweather said. The land-constrained city’s scant supply of homes has long been outweighed by intense demand. But now, as more companies require employees to return to the office and investors pump billions of dollars into AI, Fairweather said the fight for available housing has become even more competitive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People, when they have money, they wanna spend it on a better, nicer place,” she said. “It goes into the real estate market and drives up both home prices and rents.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Those prices have spiked so swiftly that earlier this month, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie declared a “rent emergency” and introduced a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098973/san-francisco-mayor-lurie-infuses-30-million-in-reforms-to-tackle-rent-emergency\">$30 million package\u003c/a> to forestall evictions and protect existing tenants from displacement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That doesn’t address Srain’s problem, however, since her landlord isn’t evicting her. She’s competing for a limited supply of apartments with people who have a lot more money to spend. According to a June report from ApartmentList, an online rental marketplace, just over \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/vacancy-rate-dashboard\">2% of San Francisco’s multifamily housing\u003c/a> is vacant. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sitting on the back patio of her Bernal Heights apartment earlier this summer, Srain scrolled through listings on her phone in search of a new home. Most of the calls ended in voicemails. Or a bot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When she did get a hold of a live human, they often stonewalled her. “With any situation where there’s a manager — like, ‘I’m just the manager’ — there’s no talking.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But every once in a while, someone picked up and played ball. That’s when she’d get into her pitch. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I recognize AI is really booming, tech is hiring, we’re going back into the office, but I don’t work in tech,” Srain told a property manager listing a two-bedroom in the Mission District for $4,700. “I’ve just lived in the Bay Area for … around 10 years, and I would like to stay here. So I’m just trying to see if rent prices are negotiable at all.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The manager sympathized but didn’t budge. People are willing to pay top dollar, he told her. The city is experiencing a boom right now, but he said one day, that boom will cool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>JJ Panzer, the owner of Real Management Company in San Francisco, said that if Srain had been looking to get a good deal on an apartment, she might have found one during the pandemic, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/These-charts-show-just-how-extreme-the-rent-15848320.php\">rents dropped by more than 20%\u003c/a>, and San Francisco’s apartment vacancy rate \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/vacancy-rate-dashboard\">reached nearly 11%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain never reached out to Panzer. But if she had, he said her pitch would have been a “hard sell” in today’s market. His company manages more than 700 units across the Bay Area, though mostly in San Francisco. He owns three buildings himself. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095218\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">JJ Panzer, president of Real Management Company, in front of their offices in San Francisco on Aug. 13, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because many San Francisco apartments are covered under state or local rent control laws, Panzer said landlords can only increase rents significantly after a tenant leaves. Once a new tenant moves into a rent-controlled unit, he said they often don’t move out for years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You’ve got to get as much as you can for that vacancy because you don’t know when you’re going to see that apartment come vacant again,” Panzer said. “The better price I give you, the longer it’s going to be before I get a chance to make that money back.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are also first-come, first-served laws that require landlords to approve the first qualified application they receive. And there are anti-discrimination laws that don’t allow landlords to consider protected characteristics — including race, immigration status, familial status or source of income — when choosing a tenant, Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You might come to your landlord and say ‘I have small kids’ or ‘I have an aging mother’ or ‘I’ve lived in this neighborhood forever,’ and those all might sound like innocent things to say,” she said. “But in housing, you’re not allowed to give preferential treatment to people based on their family status or these other protected characteristics.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paul Griffiths, CEO and owner of Vesta Asset Management in San Francisco, a mid-size property management company, said today’s rental market has so much demand that it encourages pricing homes above market so there are fewer applicants to sift through. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101639\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) plants line a stairwell in the backyard of her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If somebody calls me to say, ‘Can you offer less money?’ First of all, I don’t even have time to call that person back because I’m just scheduling the showings for 75 people,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain understands the competition is tough, but can’t help being frustrated by it. “It kind of makes me wonder, where’s the line? Where does it stop?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain grew up in Salinas, a mid-sized agricultural community about a two-hour drive south of San Francisco. She decided to move to the Bay Area in 2019 after she started dating someone in San José. She was working as a DoorDash driver and found a room in a three-bedroom house in Fremont for $750 a month. A couple rented one of the other rooms, and another person slept on a mattress in the garage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m freshly moved out of my parents’ house in this giant city that’s in a larger metropolitan area,” she said. “It was really, really exciting until I figured out what it meant to be housing-stable.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Within a week, another person moved into the remaining vacant room and then a stranger started living on the couch. She began to feel like she was living amongst strangers and didn’t have control over who entered or exited her home. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said she witnessed drug use and domestic violence while living there, so she moved out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For the next three years, Srain moved from apartment to apartment to find an affordable place to live. For some of that time, she lived with friends or in her car.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Having to move almost twice a year every year, it can lead to trauma, believe it or not,” Srain said. “I have been sent through the wringer so many times.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fear of returning to a semi-nomadic lifestyle is part of what’s driving her current push to stay in San Francisco, and especially the neighborhood she’s called home for nearly two years — the longest she’s been in one place in the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was in her Bernal Heights apartment where she finally got an opportunity to plant roots and build community. She got to know her neighbors, joined a dodgeball league nearby and volunteered at a nearby bookstore. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is one of the first places I’ve ever felt comfortable. I felt at home,” she said. “I know my neighbors, whether they’re on this street or down a few blocks. I’ve never had this before.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She also got involved in advocating for tenants rights. Srain became a community organizer with the nonprofit Faith in Action, which champions tenants’ rights, affordable housing and efforts to reduce homelessness. Earlier this year, she canvassed for a rent control measure the group supports that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090248/redwood-city-to-vote-on-rent-control-in-november\">headed to the November ballot in Redwood City\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Through that work, she spoke with small landlords and homeowners about the problems they face.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101628\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain poses for a portrait on the balcony of her housing unit in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I can understand that some homeowners are totally oblivious to the rental crisis because they have their own issues owning a home,” she said. “It has become really expensive with rising property taxes, [insurance], PG&E. It’s beginning to become unmanageable to own a home for some people.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She developed sympathy for small mom-and-pop landlords, who own just a building or two and face their own set of affordability issues. While cold-calling, she found they were more willing to explain how they set their rents and the profit they made on each unit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In one such call in January, Srain spoke with an older landlord who walked her through his costs to maintain a Pacifica apartment he was renting out, including details about his water bill, property taxes and how much profit he made. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was only around $100 to $200 [in profit],” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, this guy really walked me through this!’ That’s impressive.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But not all landlords are willing to entertain Srain’s questions. Of the hundreds she called, she said only around 50 actually picked up the phone and were willing to talk. Many times, she’s found they were unwilling to divulge their experiences. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And no one has been willing to lower the rent. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Griffiths said he understands Srain’s struggle. “I think, ethically, most people believe that housing is a human right.” But he said the United States — even California — doesn’t have enough housing to provide that right to everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You can’t put the responsibility of saying, ‘Well, everybody should be housed, and it’s the landlord’s responsibility,’” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fairweather argued that, if anyone is to blame, it’s local governments that largely control how much housing can be built. San Francisco, she said, has long \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033966/sfs-single-family-home-neighborhoods-apartments-65-story-towers-downtown\">restricted development in certain neighborhoods, and while\u003c/a> city leaders have agreed to allow more housing in those parts of town, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062042/report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years\">reports suggest\u003c/a> it may not make a dent in the city’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>In San Francisco, the problem is so far gone that we can’t just say ‘Get rid of single-family zoning,’ and everything will be fixed,” Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Then again, she said, the reality is that there may never be enough apartments in San Francisco for everyone who would like to live there. “There’s no mathematical way around that. There are going to be some people who are left moving to other places because there physically aren’t enough units for everybody.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain knows her best option might be to move out of San Francisco to the East Bay, where it’s cheaper — something families have done for generations as the city has grown more expensive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But she said that reality points to a broken system. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There are people living through so much worse right now in the Bay Area,” she said. “No one deserves that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After nearly a decade bouncing between couches, cars and shoddy apartments, the 28-year-old finally found the perfect place: a one-bedroom in Bernal Heights with access to a backyard that she shares with her now ex-partner. After they broke up late last year, they’ve continued to live uncomfortably together while Srain looks for a new place. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s rental market has “always been a pressure cooker,” Redfin’s chief economist Daryl Fairweather said. The land-constrained city’s scant supply of homes has long been outweighed by intense demand. But now, as more companies require employees to return to the office and investors pump billions of dollars into AI, Fairweather said the fight for available housing has become even more competitive. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“People, when they have money, they wanna spend it on a better, nicer place,” she said. “It goes into the real estate market and drives up both home prices and rents.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Those prices have spiked so swiftly that earlier this month, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie declared a “rent emergency” and introduced a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098973/san-francisco-mayor-lurie-infuses-30-million-in-reforms-to-tackle-rent-emergency\">$30 million package\u003c/a> to forestall evictions and protect existing tenants from displacement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That doesn’t address Srain’s problem, however, since her landlord isn’t evicting her. She’s competing for a limited supply of apartments with people who have a lot more money to spend. According to a June report from ApartmentList, an online rental marketplace, just over \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/vacancy-rate-dashboard\">2% of San Francisco’s multifamily housing\u003c/a> is vacant. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sitting on the back patio of her Bernal Heights apartment earlier this summer, Srain scrolled through listings on her phone in search of a new home. Most of the calls ended in voicemails. Or a bot. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I recognize AI is really booming, tech is hiring, we’re going back into the office, but I don’t work in tech,” Srain told a property manager listing a two-bedroom in the Mission District for $4,700. “I’ve just lived in the Bay Area for … around 10 years, and I would like to stay here. So I’m just trying to see if rent prices are negotiable at all.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The manager sympathized but didn’t budge. People are willing to pay top dollar, he told her. The city is experiencing a boom right now, but he said one day, that boom will cool. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>JJ Panzer, the owner of Real Management Company in San Francisco, said that if Srain had been looking to get a good deal on an apartment, she might have found one during the pandemic, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/These-charts-show-just-how-extreme-the-rent-15848320.php\">rents dropped by more than 20%\u003c/a>, and San Francisco’s apartment vacancy rate \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/vacancy-rate-dashboard\">reached nearly 11%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Srain never reached out to Panzer. But if she had, he said her pitch would have been a “hard sell” in today’s market. His company manages more than 700 units across the Bay Area, though mostly in San Francisco. He owns three buildings himself. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Because many San Francisco apartments are covered under state or local rent control laws, Panzer said landlords can only increase rents significantly after a tenant leaves. Once a new tenant moves into a rent-controlled unit, he said they often don’t move out for years.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You’ve got to get as much as you can for that vacancy because you don’t know when you’re going to see that apartment come vacant again,” Panzer said. “The better price I give you, the longer it’s going to be before I get a chance to make that money back.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are also first-come, first-served laws that require landlords to approve the first qualified application they receive. And there are anti-discrimination laws that don’t allow landlords to consider protected characteristics — including race, immigration status, familial status or source of income — when choosing a tenant, Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There are also first-come, first-served laws that require landlords to approve the first qualified application they receive. And there are anti-discrimination laws that don’t allow landlords to consider protected characteristics — including race, immigration status, familial status or source of income — when choosing a tenant, Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You might come to your landlord and say ‘I have small kids’ or ‘I have an aging mother’ or ‘I’ve lived in this neighborhood forever,’ and those all might sound like innocent things to say,” she said. “But in housing, you’re not allowed to give preferential treatment to people based on their family status or these other protected characteristics.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Paul Griffiths, CEO and owner of Vesta Asset Management in San Francisco, a mid-size property management company, said today’s rental market has so much demand that it encourages pricing homes above market so there are fewer applicants to sift through. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Paul Griffiths, CEO and owner of Vesta Asset Management in San Francisco, a mid-size property management company, said today’s rental market has so much demand that it encourages pricing homes above market so there are fewer applicants to sift through. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101639\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) plants line a stairwell in the backyard of her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101639\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) plants line a stairwell in the backyard of her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If somebody calls me to say, ‘Can you offer less money?’ First of all, I don’t even have time to call that person back because I’m just scheduling the showings for 75 people,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Srain understands the competition is tough, but can’t help being frustrated by it. “It kind of makes me wonder, where’s the line? Where does it stop?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Srain grew up in Salinas, a mid-sized agricultural community about a two-hour drive south of San Francisco. She decided to move to the Bay Area in 2019 after she started dating someone in San José. She was working as a DoorDash driver and found a room in a three-bedroom house in Fremont for $750 a month. A couple rented one of the other rooms, and another person slept on a mattress in the garage.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Srain grew up in Salinas, a mid-sized agricultural community about a two-hour drive south of San Francisco. She decided to move to the Bay Area in 2019 after she started dating someone in San José. She was working as a DoorDash driver and found a room in a three-bedroom house in Fremont for $750 a month. A couple rented one of the other rooms, and another person slept on a mattress in the garage.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m freshly moved out of my parents’ house in this giant city that’s in a larger metropolitan area,” she said. “It was really, really exciting until I figured out what it meant to be housing-stable.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Within a week, another person moved into the remaining vacant room and then a stranger started living on the couch. She began to feel like she was living amongst strangers and didn’t have control over who entered or exited her home. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Within a week, another person moved into the remaining vacant room and then a stranger started living on the couch. She began to feel like she was living amongst strangers and didn’t have control over who entered or exited her home. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She said she witnessed drug use and domestic violence while living there, so she moved out. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For the next three years, Srain moved from apartment to apartment to find an affordable place to live. For some of that time, she lived with friends or in her car.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Having to move almost twice a year every year, it can lead to trauma, believe it or not,” Srain said. “I have been sent through the wringer so many times.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fear of returning to a semi-nomadic lifestyle is part of what’s driving her current push to stay in San Francisco, and especially the neighborhood she’s called home for nearly two years — the longest she’s been in one place in the past decade.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The fear of returning to a semi-nomadic lifestyle is part of what’s driving her current push to stay in San Francisco, and especially the neighborhood she’s called home for nearly two years — the longest she’s been in one place in the past decade.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It was in her Bernal Heights apartment where she finally got an opportunity to plant roots and build community. She got to know her neighbors, joined a dodgeball league nearby and volunteered at a nearby bookstore. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It was in her Bernal Heights apartment where she finally got an opportunity to plant roots and build community. She got to know her neighbors, joined a dodgeball league nearby and volunteered at a nearby bookstore. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is one of the first places I’ve ever felt comfortable. I felt at home,” she said. “I know my neighbors, whether they’re on this street or down a few blocks. I’ve never had this before.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She also got involved in advocating for tenants rights. Srain became a community organizer with the nonprofit Faith in Action, which champions tenants’ rights, affordable housing and efforts to reduce homelessness. Earlier this year, she canvassed for a rent control measure the group supports that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090248/redwood-city-to-vote-on-rent-control-in-november\">headed to the November ballot in Redwood City\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She also got involved in advocating for tenants rights. Srain became a community organizer with the nonprofit Faith in Action, which champions tenants’ rights, affordable housing and efforts to reduce homelessness. Earlier this year, she canvassed for a rent control measure the group supports that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090248/redwood-city-to-vote-on-rent-control-in-november\">headed to the November ballot in Redwood City\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Through that work, she spoke with small landlords and homeowners about the problems they face.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101628\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain poses for a portrait on the balcony of her housing unit in San Francisco on June 9, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I can understand that some homeowners are totally oblivious to the rental crisis because they have their own issues owning a home,” she said. “It has become really expensive with rising property taxes, [insurance], PG&E. It’s beginning to become unmanageable to own a home for some people.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She developed sympathy for small mom-and-pop landlords, who own just a building or two and face their own set of affordability issues. While cold-calling, she found they were more willing to explain how they set their rents and the profit they made on each unit.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She developed sympathy for small mom-and-pop landlords, who own just a building or two and face their own set of affordability issues. While cold-calling, she found they were more willing to explain how they set their rents and the profit they made on each unit.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In one such call in January, Srain spoke with an older landlord who walked her through his costs to maintain a Pacifica apartment he was renting out, including details about his water bill, property taxes and how much profit he made. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In one such call in January, Srain spoke with an older landlord who walked her through his costs to maintain a Pacifica apartment he was renting out, including details about his water bill, property taxes and how much profit he made. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It was only around $100 to $200 [in profit],” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, this guy really walked me through this!’ That’s impressive.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It was only around $100 to $200 [in profit],” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, this guy really walked me through this!’ That’s impressive.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And no one has been willing to lower the rent. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Griffiths said he understands Srain’s struggle. “I think, ethically, most people believe that housing is a human right.” But he said the United States — even California — doesn’t have enough housing to provide that right to everyone.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Griffiths said he understands Srain’s struggle. “I think, ethically, most people believe that housing is a human right.” But he said the United States — even California — doesn’t have enough housing to provide that right to everyone.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You can’t put the responsibility of saying, ‘Well, everybody should be housed, and it’s the landlord’s responsibility,’” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Fairweather argued that, if anyone is to blame, it’s local governments that largely control how much housing can be built. San Francisco, she said, has long \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033966/sfs-single-family-home-neighborhoods-apartments-65-story-towers-downtown\">restricted development in certain neighborhoods, and while\u003c/a> city leaders have agreed to allow more housing in those parts of town, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062042/report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years\">reports suggest\u003c/a> it may not make a dent in the city’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Fairweather argued that, if anyone is to blame, it’s local governments that largely control how much housing can be built. San Francisco, she said, has long \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033966/sfs-single-family-home-neighborhoods-apartments-65-story-towers-downtown\">restricted development in certain neighborhoods, and while\u003c/a> city leaders have agreed to allow more housing in those parts of town, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062042/report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years\">reports suggest\u003c/a> it may not make a dent in the city’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>In San Francisco, the problem is so far gone that we can’t just say ‘Get rid of single-family zoning,’ and everything will be fixed,” Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>In San Francisco, the problem is so far gone that we can’t just say ‘Get rid of single-family zoning,’ and everything will be fixed,” Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Then again, she said, the reality is that there may never be enough apartments in San Francisco for everyone who would like to live there. “There’s no mathematical way around that. There are going to be some people who are left moving to other places because there physically aren’t enough units for everybody.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Then again, she said, the reality is that there may never be enough apartments in San Francisco for everyone who would like to live there. “There’s no mathematical way around that. There are going to be some people who are left moving to other places because there physically aren’t enough units for everybody.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Srain knows her best option might be to move out of San Francisco to the East Bay, where it’s cheaper — something families have done for generations as the city has grown more expensive. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Srain knows her best option might be to move out of San Francisco to the East Bay, where it’s cheaper — something families have done for generations as the city has grown more expensive. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But she said that reality points to a broken system. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There are people living through so much worse right now in the Bay Area,” she said. “No one deserves that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There are people living through so much worse right now in the Bay Area,” she said. “No one deserves that.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Thanks to the AI boom, rents in San Francisco have soared more than 20% since last year. One renter is trying an unusual approach to finding an apartment she can afford. ",
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"title": "This SF Renter Is Trying to Beat the AI-Fueled Housing Boom With an Analog Approach | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of How We Get By, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the past nine months, Harlow Srain has reached out to more than 200 landlords and property managers. In search of a deal, she’s determined to stay in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After nearly a decade bouncing between couches, cars and shoddy apartments, the 28-year-old finally found the perfect place: a one-bedroom in Bernal Heights with access to a backyard that she shares with her now ex-partner. After they broke up late last year, they’ve continued to live uncomfortably together while Srain looks for a new place. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Srain said it’s been a difficult search. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915202/sf-renters-face-buyout-offers-and-evictions-as-ai-boom-sends-prices-soaring\">AI-fueled housing market\u003c/a> has sent rents soaring, \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/rent-report/ca/san-francisco\">up more than 25%\u003c/a> over the past year. Even with a roommate or two, Srain said she’d have to stretch her budget to stay in the neighborhood she’s grown to love.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So, she decided to do something unusual: cold-call landlords and property managers to appeal to their humanity and possibly get them to lower the rent. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I know these people are probably making a stupid amount of profit,” she said. “Why not just ask to have them cut that back a little bit?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12087198\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087198\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01030-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) plants line a shelf in the backyard of her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12087197\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087197\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01021-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) view from a balcony in her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s rental market has “always been a pressure cooker,” Redfin’s chief economist Daryl Fairweather said. The land-constrained city’s scant supply of homes has long been outweighed by intense demand. But now, as more companies require employees to return to the office and investors pump billions of dollars into AI, Fairweather said the fight for available housing has become even more competitive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“People, when they have money, they wanna spend it on a better, nicer place,” she said. “It goes into the real estate market and drives up both home prices and rents.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Those prices have spiked so swiftly that earlier this month, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie declared a “rent emergency” and introduced a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098973/san-francisco-mayor-lurie-infuses-30-million-in-reforms-to-tackle-rent-emergency\">$30 million package\u003c/a> to forestall evictions and protect existing tenants from displacement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That doesn’t address Srain’s problem, however, since her landlord isn’t evicting her. She’s competing for a limited supply of apartments with people who have a lot more money to spend. According to a June report from ApartmentList, an online rental marketplace, just over \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/vacancy-rate-dashboard\">2% of San Francisco’s multifamily housing\u003c/a> is vacant. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sitting on the back patio of her Bernal Heights apartment earlier this summer, Srain scrolled through listings on her phone in search of a new home. Most of the calls ended in voicemails. Or a bot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When she did get a hold of a live human, they often stonewalled her. “With any situation where there’s a manager — like, ‘I’m just the manager’ — there’s no talking.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But every once in a while, someone picked up and played ball. That’s when she’d get into her pitch. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I recognize AI is really booming, tech is hiring, we’re going back into the office, but I don’t work in tech,” Srain told a property manager listing a two-bedroom in the Mission District for $4,700. “I’ve just lived in the Bay Area for … around 10 years, and I would like to stay here. So I’m just trying to see if rent prices are negotiable at all.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The manager sympathized but didn’t budge. People are willing to pay top dollar, he told her. The city is experiencing a boom right now, but he said one day, that boom will cool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>JJ Panzer, the owner of Real Management Company in San Francisco, said that if Srain had been looking to get a good deal on an apartment, she might have found one during the pandemic, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/These-charts-show-just-how-extreme-the-rent-15848320.php\">rents dropped by more than 20%\u003c/a>, and San Francisco’s apartment vacancy rate \u003ca href=\"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/vacancy-rate-dashboard\">reached nearly 11%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain never reached out to Panzer. But if she had, he said her pitch would have been a “hard sell” in today’s market. His company manages more than 700 units across the Bay Area, though mostly in San Francisco. He owns three buildings himself. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12095218\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260813-RentNegotiator-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">JJ Panzer, president of Real Management Company, in front of their offices in San Francisco on Aug. 13, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because many San Francisco apartments are covered under state or local rent control laws, Panzer said landlords can only increase rents significantly after a tenant leaves. Once a new tenant moves into a rent-controlled unit, he said they often don’t move out for years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You’ve got to get as much as you can for that vacancy because you don’t know when you’re going to see that apartment come vacant again,” Panzer said. “The better price I give you, the longer it’s going to be before I get a chance to make that money back.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are also first-come, first-served laws that require landlords to approve the first qualified application they receive. And there are anti-discrimination laws that don’t allow landlords to consider protected characteristics — including race, immigration status, familial status or source of income — when choosing a tenant, Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You might come to your landlord and say ‘I have small kids’ or ‘I have an aging mother’ or ‘I’ve lived in this neighborhood forever,’ and those all might sound like innocent things to say,” she said. “But in housing, you’re not allowed to give preferential treatment to people based on their family status or these other protected characteristics.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paul Griffiths, CEO and owner of Vesta Asset Management in San Francisco, a mid-size property management company, said today’s rental market has so much demand that it encourages pricing homes above market so there are fewer applicants to sift through. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101639\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01026_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain’s (not pictured) plants line a stairwell in the backyard of her complex in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If somebody calls me to say, ‘Can you offer less money?’ First of all, I don’t even have time to call that person back because I’m just scheduling the showings for 75 people,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain understands the competition is tough, but can’t help being frustrated by it. “It kind of makes me wonder, where’s the line? Where does it stop?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain grew up in Salinas, a mid-sized agricultural community about a two-hour drive south of San Francisco. She decided to move to the Bay Area in 2019 after she started dating someone in San José. She was working as a DoorDash driver and found a room in a three-bedroom house in Fremont for $750 a month. A couple rented one of the other rooms, and another person slept on a mattress in the garage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’m freshly moved out of my parents’ house in this giant city that’s in a larger metropolitan area,” she said. “It was really, really exciting until I figured out what it meant to be housing-stable.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Within a week, another person moved into the remaining vacant room and then a stranger started living on the couch. She began to feel like she was living amongst strangers and didn’t have control over who entered or exited her home. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said she witnessed drug use and domestic violence while living there, so she moved out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For the next three years, Srain moved from apartment to apartment to find an affordable place to live. For some of that time, she lived with friends or in her car.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Having to move almost twice a year every year, it can lead to trauma, believe it or not,” Srain said. “I have been sent through the wringer so many times.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fear of returning to a semi-nomadic lifestyle is part of what’s driving her current push to stay in San Francisco, and especially the neighborhood she’s called home for nearly two years — the longest she’s been in one place in the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was in her Bernal Heights apartment where she finally got an opportunity to plant roots and build community. She got to know her neighbors, joined a dodgeball league nearby and volunteered at a nearby bookstore. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is one of the first places I’ve ever felt comfortable. I felt at home,” she said. “I know my neighbors, whether they’re on this street or down a few blocks. I’ve never had this before.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She also got involved in advocating for tenants rights. Srain became a community organizer with the nonprofit Faith in Action, which champions tenants’ rights, affordable housing and efforts to reduce homelessness. Earlier this year, she canvassed for a rent control measure the group supports that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090248/redwood-city-to-vote-on-rent-control-in-november\">headed to the November ballot in Redwood City\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Through that work, she spoke with small landlords and homeowners about the problems they face.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101628\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260609-housingcrisisharlowsrain-TV-01227_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harlow Srain poses for a portrait on the balcony of her housing unit in San Francisco on June 9, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I can understand that some homeowners are totally oblivious to the rental crisis because they have their own issues owning a home,” she said. “It has become really expensive with rising property taxes, [insurance], PG&E. It’s beginning to become unmanageable to own a home for some people.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She developed sympathy for small mom-and-pop landlords, who own just a building or two and face their own set of affordability issues. While cold-calling, she found they were more willing to explain how they set their rents and the profit they made on each unit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In one such call in January, Srain spoke with an older landlord who walked her through his costs to maintain a Pacifica apartment he was renting out, including details about his water bill, property taxes and how much profit he made. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It was only around $100 to $200 [in profit],” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, this guy really walked me through this!’ That’s impressive.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But not all landlords are willing to entertain Srain’s questions. Of the hundreds she called, she said only around 50 actually picked up the phone and were willing to talk. Many times, she’s found they were unwilling to divulge their experiences. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And no one has been willing to lower the rent. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Griffiths said he understands Srain’s struggle. “I think, ethically, most people believe that housing is a human right.” But he said the United States — even California — doesn’t have enough housing to provide that right to everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You can’t put the responsibility of saying, ‘Well, everybody should be housed, and it’s the landlord’s responsibility,’” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fairweather argued that, if anyone is to blame, it’s local governments that largely control how much housing can be built. San Francisco, she said, has long \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033966/sfs-single-family-home-neighborhoods-apartments-65-story-towers-downtown\">restricted development in certain neighborhoods, and while\u003c/a> city leaders have agreed to allow more housing in those parts of town, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062042/report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years\">reports suggest\u003c/a> it may not make a dent in the city’s housing affordability crisis.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>In San Francisco, the problem is so far gone that we can’t just say ‘Get rid of single-family zoning,’ and everything will be fixed,” Fairweather said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Then again, she said, the reality is that there may never be enough apartments in San Francisco for everyone who would like to live there. “There’s no mathematical way around that. There are going to be some people who are left moving to other places because there physically aren’t enough units for everybody.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Srain knows her best option might be to move out of San Francisco to the East Bay, where it’s cheaper — something families have done for generations as the city has grown more expensive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But she said that reality points to a broken system. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There are people living through so much worse right now in the Bay Area,” she said. “No one deserves that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "OpenAI Pauses Training of Latest Models After Agents Probed Government Sites in Unexpected Ways",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>-based OpenAI said it has paused training of its latest artificial intelligence models as reports of AI agents going rogue mount.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The decision to halt development came just hours after the company disclosed on Friday that it was reviewing \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-government-website-incident-df331b55daffc6d202d8e2f6d0afa264\">several incidents\u003c/a> from the summer in which OpenAI agents searching federal government websites acted in unexpected ways beyond what was asked of them while gathering and distributing information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Separately, AI evaluator Transluce said agents that appeared to come from OpenAI tried unsuccessfully to hack into a Department of Education website, a detail that OpenAI has not confirmed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11988035\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this photo illustration, the OpenAI webpage is displayed on a smartphone with the OpenAI logo visible in the background, taken in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 16, 2024. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI said in a statement that it will resume training “only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards” in place, adding that it expects it will have to “hit pause” again as AI develops and other issues emerge.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AI labs are facing pressure from lawmakers and tech experts to slow development so they can build guardrails to stop agents from acting on their own, hacking websites and disclosing nonpublic information. The heads of both OpenAI and rival Anthropic have called for a slowdown too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s the second time in three months that OpenAI has halted development of its models. The first came in July after disclosure of a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-rogue-ai-hack-hugging-face-67b151f1ca59851a9234bee110699f05\">cyberattack targeting AI startup Hugging Face\u003c/a>, a now notorious incident that raised fears the industry was losing control.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, President Donald Trump agreed to share information on AI dangers and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/china-us-agreement-xi-trump-visit-e8f858ed9094b99bc8d3d339f9899f31\">coordinate efforts to keep it safe\u003c/a>. Trump believes AI fears are overblown, though, and later suggested that he plans no crackdown of his own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The U.S. is not going to be “putting on brakes,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “They want to stop our progress because we’re leading China by a lot, and we’re going to keep it that way.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The latest OpenAI incidents did not appear to involve the disclosure of any nonpublic information but were concerning enough for the company to warn the federal agencies involved.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the Department of Education incident, OpenAI agents found API “developer keys” to access government data, though ultimately only publicly available information was gathered.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In another case involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, agents found information freely available to all but then posted it elsewhere on the internet, an act that went beyond what they were instructed to do.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>SEC spokesperson Kurt Hopfenspirger said Saturday that “no nonpublic information was accessed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Department of Education said earlier that it found “no evidence of any impact to our website or databases.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Several other AI companies have disclosed incidents of their \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-hugging-face-hacking-ai-model-708cb598bc1e33cef560e7196adb2afa\">models going rogue\u003c/a> and even hacking websites.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a social media post Friday that the Hugging Face incident “is still the most severe event we’ve seen.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI previously shared six other reports of “unexpected or concerning” behavior in AI models and introduced a framework for \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d\">tracking, probing and disclosing instances\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The decision to halt development came just hours after the company disclosed on Friday that it was reviewing \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-government-website-incident-df331b55daffc6d202d8e2f6d0afa264\">several incidents\u003c/a> from the summer in which OpenAI agents searching federal government websites acted in unexpected ways beyond what was asked of them while gathering and distributing information.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Separately, AI evaluator Transluce said agents that appeared to come from OpenAI tried unsuccessfully to hack into a Department of Education website, a detail that OpenAI has not confirmed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OpenAI said in a statement that it will resume training “only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards” in place, adding that it expects it will have to “hit pause” again as AI develops and other issues emerge.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s the second time in three months that OpenAI has halted development of its models. The first came in July after disclosure of a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-rogue-ai-hack-hugging-face-67b151f1ca59851a9234bee110699f05\">cyberattack targeting AI startup Hugging Face\u003c/a>, a now notorious incident that raised fears the industry was losing control.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the Department of Education incident, OpenAI agents found API “developer keys” to access government data, though ultimately only publicly available information was gathered.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In another case involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, agents found information freely available to all but then posted it elsewhere on the internet, an act that went beyond what they were instructed to do.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Several other AI companies have disclosed incidents of their \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-hugging-face-hacking-ai-model-708cb598bc1e33cef560e7196adb2afa\">models going rogue\u003c/a> and even hacking websites.\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "OpenAI Pauses Training of Latest Models After Agents Probed Government Sites in Unexpected Ways",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>-based OpenAI said it has paused training of its latest artificial intelligence models as reports of AI agents going rogue mount.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The decision to halt development came just hours after the company disclosed on Friday that it was reviewing \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-government-website-incident-df331b55daffc6d202d8e2f6d0afa264\">several incidents\u003c/a> from the summer in which OpenAI agents searching federal government websites acted in unexpected ways beyond what was asked of them while gathering and distributing information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Separately, AI evaluator Transluce said agents that appeared to come from OpenAI tried unsuccessfully to hack into a Department of Education website, a detail that OpenAI has not confirmed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11988035\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/GettyImages-2008743507-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this photo illustration, the OpenAI webpage is displayed on a smartphone with the OpenAI logo visible in the background, taken in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 16, 2024. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI said in a statement that it will resume training “only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards” in place, adding that it expects it will have to “hit pause” again as AI develops and other issues emerge.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AI labs are facing pressure from lawmakers and tech experts to slow development so they can build guardrails to stop agents from acting on their own, hacking websites and disclosing nonpublic information. The heads of both OpenAI and rival Anthropic have called for a slowdown too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s the second time in three months that OpenAI has halted development of its models. The first came in July after disclosure of a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-rogue-ai-hack-hugging-face-67b151f1ca59851a9234bee110699f05\">cyberattack targeting AI startup Hugging Face\u003c/a>, a now notorious incident that raised fears the industry was losing control.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, President Donald Trump agreed to share information on AI dangers and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/china-us-agreement-xi-trump-visit-e8f858ed9094b99bc8d3d339f9899f31\">coordinate efforts to keep it safe\u003c/a>. Trump believes AI fears are overblown, though, and later suggested that he plans no crackdown of his own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The U.S. is not going to be “putting on brakes,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “They want to stop our progress because we’re leading China by a lot, and we’re going to keep it that way.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The latest OpenAI incidents did not appear to involve the disclosure of any nonpublic information but were concerning enough for the company to warn the federal agencies involved.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the Department of Education incident, OpenAI agents found API “developer keys” to access government data, though ultimately only publicly available information was gathered.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In another case involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, agents found information freely available to all but then posted it elsewhere on the internet, an act that went beyond what they were instructed to do.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>SEC spokesperson Kurt Hopfenspirger said Saturday that “no nonpublic information was accessed.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Department of Education said earlier that it found “no evidence of any impact to our website or databases.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Several other AI companies have disclosed incidents of their \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-hugging-face-hacking-ai-model-708cb598bc1e33cef560e7196adb2afa\">models going rogue\u003c/a> and even hacking websites.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a social media post Friday that the Hugging Face incident “is still the most severe event we’ve seen.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI previously shared six other reports of “unexpected or concerning” behavior in AI models and introduced a framework for \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d\">tracking, probing and disclosing instances\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "congressman-calls-for-investigation-of-russian-owned-silicon-valley-site",
"title": "Congressman Calls for Investigation of Russian-Owned Silicon Valley Site",
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"headTitle": "Congressman Calls for Investigation of Russian-Owned Silicon Valley Site | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sam-liccardo\">Congressman Sam Liccardo\u003c/a> is calling for a federal investigation and potential sanctions against the owners and backers of a high-rise development proposal at the former Sunset Magazine headquarters in Menlo Park, which has sparked years of controversy in the wealthy city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Liccardo \u003ca href=\"https://liccardo.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/liccardo.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/quill-letter-l39585-80-willow-road-development-letter-to-treasury-version-1-09-23-2026-08-51-pm.pdf\">wrote a letter\u003c/a> this week to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, raising security concerns and urging federal agencies to look into the property’s owner, Russian businessman Vitaly Yusufov, along with the proposed project’s financiers and developers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Public sources raise serious questions about Vitaly Yusufov’s ties to the Russian government and individuals linked to organized crime, warranting immediate review by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), and, ultimately, consideration for sanctions,” Liccardo wrote in his Sept. 23 letter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070783\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20, 2026. (Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Vitaly Yusofov is the son of Igor Yusofov, the former Energy Minister of the Russian Federation, and he was previously sanctioned by Ukraine and has also been documented as a business agent for former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in real estate matters, Liccardo wrote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Liccardo also referenced Vitaly Yusufov’s 2009 purchase of shipyards in Germany, with financing that was later linked to organized crime leaders, including Aslan Gagiec, “known as ‘Dzhako the Bloody,’ a Russian organized crime figure connected to 56 contract killings.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The property, a 6.7-acre piece of land at 80 Willow Road that sits at the corner of Middlefield Road, backs up to San Francisquito Creek. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The mid-century, California Ranch-style building on the site once housed Sunset Magazine, on grounds featuring trees, succulents, a center courtyard, lawns and gardens that its former editor-in-chief described as “enchanting” in an opinion piece advocating for its demolition and redevelopment to support denser housing in the pricey region. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The dream of idyllic suburban life that Sunset’s building represents is dead, dead, dead — unsustainable and unaffordable for all but the very few. Why hang on?” Peggy Northrop wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/opinion/2026/08/22/sunset-magazine-menlo-park-campus-torn-down/\">\u003cem>The San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A 2025 piece by Sunset staff members \u003ca href=\"https://sunset.com/lifestyle/sunset-menlo-park-campus-preservation\">called for preserving\u003c/a> the historic building and the grounds because it’s “a place that has shaped the way we live, eat and dream in the West for generations.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco-based development company N17, headed by Oisín Heneghan, is proposing to demolish the existing buildings to create a mixed-use project with a total of 665 apartments or condos, with roughly 100 of them to be priced below market-rate, along with 332,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail space and a 130-room hotel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While a proposed preschool building in the plans would be 22 feet tall, the other three buildings would range from 301 feet tall to as high as 458 feet tall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.menlopark.gov/Government/Departments/Community-Development/Projects/Under-review/80-Willow-Road\">according to the city\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12065389\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Sam Liccardo speaks during a press conference in San José about changes to a federal housing program’s funding by the Trump administration on Nov. 24, 2025. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The staggering height of the towers has prompted significant pushback, including from local and state officials like state Sen. Josh Becker and San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The residents group \u003ca href=\"https://menloforward.org/\">Menlo Forward\u003c/a> calls the towers “wildly out of scale” with the existing community, noting they would become the tallest buildings in the state outside of major metropolitan areas in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The project was proposed in 2023 under a narrow provision of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981595/controversial-california-law-meant-to-spur-new-housing-could-get-more-teeth\">state law\u003c/a> known as the “Builder’s Remedy,” which allows developers to bypass much of local discretionary review to fast-track a project when a city or county hasn’t received certification of its long-term housing plan from the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta and an attorney for the developer, David H. Blackwell, wrote to the city this summer alleging it has \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_july-29-letter.pdf&url_hash=88e87650c5c29a02171ca2d70c47bc2a&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">violated\u003c/a> several state housing law provisions, including changing its reasoning to deny a streamlined approval process for the project, and requiring the developer to pay for the city’s legal review work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Blackwell \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_aug-3-letter.pdf&url_hash=fcae285382058f3b4f5234775e14fac0&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">wrote\u003c/a> that the developer plans to sue the city if the project is not approved by Oct. 27, which is 90 days after Bonta’s letter, under rights granted to a developer under state housing laws. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city also faced a legal threat last year from the pro-housing development group, YIMBY Law, over some of the same violations alleged by Bonta. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta is briefed by members of his Civil Rights Enforcement Section on litigation challenging the Trump administration at his offices in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 11, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Menlo Park Mayor Betsy Nash, however, has pushed back on Bonta’s crackdown. She penned a letter to him last month that was republished on the local news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/guest-opinion/2026/09/14/guest-opinion-ag-bonta-come-see-for-yourself-why-menlo-park-skyscraper-project-is-wrong-for-willow-road-site/\">The Almanac\u003c/a>, inviting him to tour the area and arguing the city’s past housing certifications were unfairly held up by the state.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nash, in an emailed statement to KQED, said the city “applauds” Liccardo for raising concerns about the project backers and national security. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Menlo Park shares these concerns, and we are surprised the Attorney General of California has not flagged these apparent issues. We hope federal officials will investigate for potential illegality, corruption and national security issues,” Nash said. “In addition, we believe that the massive commercial development proposed for the site would further compound infrastructure challenges in Menlo Park, while not delivering the housing that we need.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Heneghan, in an email to KQED, said he was surprised by Liccardo’s letter, and said it is being spurred by anti-housing sentiment in the region. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It is based on false reporting and what can only be described as NIMBY fan fiction,” Heneghan said, using an acronym for Not In My Backyard, which is commonly used to refer to residents who oppose new housing projects. “The NIMBY lobby is creating more and more sensational, desperate narratives to try to block these new homes.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said the proposed project would increase housing stock, and create temporary construction jobs and permanent public spaces including restaurants, retail, sports facilities and a school. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These same people have been fighting housing since Jimmy Carter was president, then wonder why their grandkids live in Texas or Florida, where homes are actually affordable,” Heneghan said of the project’s opponents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a suit and tie speak behind a podium, with a blue-lit screen behind hime that says 'Decision 2024'\" class=\"wp-image-12012243\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San José Mayor Sam Liccardo debates Assemblymember Evan Low at the NBC offices in San José on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Camille Cohen for KQED/POOL)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Liccardo’s letter doesn’t address concerns about the physical size or fit of the proposed project, instead focusing on issues such as its proximity to sensitive hubs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Given the very high concentration of defense tech, artificial intelligence and quantum computing companies and research centers in the region, we believe federal agencies should review the property, its ownership and its financial backing to ensure Kremlin officials and their proxies cannot obtain sensitive information about critical U.S. companies and their employees,” Liccardo wrote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He raised the prospect that the project’s proponents could use domestic real estate holdings like this one to “facilitate sanctions evasion” and generate wealth, which the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned about in early 2023. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yusufov could not be reached for comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement, Liccardo told KQED he wants more housing in the area, “but Russian oligarchs with ties to the Kremlin and criminal networks should not control assets in our country.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need a federal investigation in order to support the implementation of sanctions that would stop Mr. Yusufov from being able to build in our community,” Liccardo said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070783\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Vitaly Yusofov is the son of Igor Yusofov, the former Energy Minister of the Russian Federation, and he was previously sanctioned by Ukraine and has also been documented as a business agent for former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in real estate matters, Liccardo wrote. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Liccardo also referenced Vitaly Yusufov’s 2009 purchase of shipyards in Germany, with financing that was later linked to organized crime leaders, including Aslan Gagiec, “known as ‘Dzhako the Bloody,’ a Russian organized crime figure connected to 56 contract killings.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The property, a 6.7-acre piece of land at 80 Willow Road that sits at the corner of Middlefield Road, backs up to San Francisquito Creek. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The property, a 6.7-acre piece of land at 80 Willow Road that sits at the corner of Middlefield Road, backs up to San Francisquito Creek. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The mid-century, California Ranch-style building on the site once housed Sunset Magazine, on grounds featuring trees, succulents, a center courtyard, lawns and gardens that its former editor-in-chief described as “enchanting” in an opinion piece advocating for its demolition and redevelopment to support denser housing in the pricey region. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The dream of idyllic suburban life that Sunset’s building represents is dead, dead, dead — unsustainable and unaffordable for all but the very few. Why hang on?” Peggy Northrop wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/opinion/2026/08/22/sunset-magazine-menlo-park-campus-torn-down/\">\u003cem>The San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The dream of idyllic suburban life that Sunset’s building represents is dead, dead, dead — unsustainable and unaffordable for all but the very few. Why hang on?” Peggy Northrop wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/opinion/2026/08/22/sunset-magazine-menlo-park-campus-torn-down/\">\u003cem>The San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A 2025 piece by Sunset staff members \u003ca href=\"https://sunset.com/lifestyle/sunset-menlo-park-campus-preservation\">called for preserving\u003c/a> the historic building and the grounds because it’s “a place that has shaped the way we live, eat and dream in the West for generations.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A 2025 piece by Sunset staff members \u003ca href=\"https://sunset.com/lifestyle/sunset-menlo-park-campus-preservation\">called for preserving\u003c/a> the historic building and the grounds because it’s “a place that has shaped the way we live, eat and dream in the West for generations.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco-based development company N17, headed by Oisín Heneghan, is proposing to demolish the existing buildings to create a mixed-use project with a total of 665 apartments or condos, with roughly 100 of them to be priced below market-rate, along with 332,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail space and a 130-room hotel. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Francisco-based development company N17, headed by Oisín Heneghan, is proposing to demolish the existing buildings to create a mixed-use project with a total of 665 apartments or condos, with roughly 100 of them to be priced below market-rate, along with 332,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail space and a 130-room hotel. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While a proposed preschool building in the plans would be 22 feet tall, the other three buildings would range from 301 feet tall to as high as 458 feet tall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.menlopark.gov/Government/Departments/Community-Development/Projects/Under-review/80-Willow-Road\">according to the city\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12065389\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Sam Liccardo speaks during a press conference in San José about changes to a federal housing program’s funding by the Trump administration on Nov. 24, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12065389\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Sam Liccardo speaks during a press conference in San José about changes to a federal housing program’s funding by the Trump administration on Nov. 24, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The staggering height of the towers has prompted significant pushback, including from local and state officials like state Sen. Josh Becker and San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The residents group \u003ca href=\"https://menloforward.org/\">Menlo Forward\u003c/a> calls the towers “wildly out of scale” with the existing community, noting they would become the tallest buildings in the state outside of major metropolitan areas in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The project was proposed in 2023 under a narrow provision of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981595/controversial-california-law-meant-to-spur-new-housing-could-get-more-teeth\">state law\u003c/a> known as the “Builder’s Remedy,” which allows developers to bypass much of local discretionary review to fast-track a project when a city or county hasn’t received certification of its long-term housing plan from the state. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta and an attorney for the developer, David H. Blackwell, wrote to the city this summer alleging it has \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_july-29-letter.pdf&url_hash=88e87650c5c29a02171ca2d70c47bc2a&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">violated\u003c/a> several state housing law provisions, including changing its reasoning to deny a streamlined approval process for the project, and requiring the developer to pay for the city’s legal review work. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta and an attorney for the developer, David H. Blackwell, wrote to the city this summer alleging it has \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_july-29-letter.pdf&url_hash=88e87650c5c29a02171ca2d70c47bc2a&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">violated\u003c/a> several state housing law provisions, including changing its reasoning to deny a streamlined approval process for the project, and requiring the developer to pay for the city’s legal review work. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Blackwell \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_aug-3-letter.pdf&url_hash=fcae285382058f3b4f5234775e14fac0&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">wrote\u003c/a> that the developer plans to sue the city if the project is not approved by Oct. 27, which is 90 days after Bonta’s letter, under rights granted to a developer under state housing laws. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Blackwell \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_aug-3-letter.pdf&url_hash=fcae285382058f3b4f5234775e14fac0&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">wrote\u003c/a> that the developer plans to sue the city if the project is not approved by Oct. 27, which is 90 days after Bonta’s letter, under rights granted to a developer under state housing laws. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The city also faced a legal threat last year from the pro-housing development group, YIMBY Law, over some of the same violations alleged by Bonta. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The city also faced a legal threat last year from the pro-housing development group, YIMBY Law, over some of the same violations alleged by Bonta. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta is briefed by members of his Civil Rights Enforcement Section on litigation challenging the Trump administration at his offices in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 11, 2025. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Menlo Park Mayor Betsy Nash, however, has pushed back on Bonta’s crackdown. She penned a letter to him last month that was republished on the local news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/guest-opinion/2026/09/14/guest-opinion-ag-bonta-come-see-for-yourself-why-menlo-park-skyscraper-project-is-wrong-for-willow-road-site/\">The Almanac\u003c/a>, inviting him to tour the area and arguing the city’s past housing certifications were unfairly held up by the state.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Menlo Park Mayor Betsy Nash, however, has pushed back on Bonta’s crackdown. She penned a letter to him last month that was republished on the local news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/guest-opinion/2026/09/14/guest-opinion-ag-bonta-come-see-for-yourself-why-menlo-park-skyscraper-project-is-wrong-for-willow-road-site/\">The Almanac\u003c/a>, inviting him to tour the area and arguing the city’s past housing certifications were unfairly held up by the state.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nash, in an emailed statement to KQED, said the city “applauds” Liccardo for raising concerns about the project backers and national security. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Nash, in an emailed statement to KQED, said the city “applauds” Liccardo for raising concerns about the project backers and national security. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Menlo Park shares these concerns, and we are surprised the Attorney General of California has not flagged these apparent issues. We hope federal officials will investigate for potential illegality, corruption and national security issues,” Nash said. “In addition, we believe that the massive commercial development proposed for the site would further compound infrastructure challenges in Menlo Park, while not delivering the housing that we need.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Menlo Park shares these concerns, and we are surprised the Attorney General of California has not flagged these apparent issues. We hope federal officials will investigate for potential illegality, corruption and national security issues,” Nash said. “In addition, we believe that the massive commercial development proposed for the site would further compound infrastructure challenges in Menlo Park, while not delivering the housing that we need.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Heneghan, in an email to KQED, said he was surprised by Liccardo’s letter, and said it is being spurred by anti-housing sentiment in the region. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Heneghan, in an email to KQED, said he was surprised by Liccardo’s letter, and said it is being spurred by anti-housing sentiment in the region. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It is based on false reporting and what can only be described as NIMBY fan fiction,” Heneghan said, using an acronym for Not In My Backyard, which is commonly used to refer to residents who oppose new housing projects. “The NIMBY lobby is creating more and more sensational, desperate narratives to try to block these new homes.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It is based on false reporting and what can only be described as NIMBY fan fiction,” Heneghan said, using an acronym for Not In My Backyard, which is commonly used to refer to residents who oppose new housing projects. “The NIMBY lobby is creating more and more sensational, desperate narratives to try to block these new homes.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He said the proposed project would increase housing stock, and create temporary construction jobs and permanent public spaces including restaurants, retail, sports facilities and a school. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“These same people have been fighting housing since Jimmy Carter was president, then wonder why their grandkids live in Texas or Florida, where homes are actually affordable,” Heneghan said of the project’s opponents.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Given the very high concentration of defense tech, artificial intelligence and quantum computing companies and research centers in the region, we believe federal agencies should review the property, its ownership and its financial backing to ensure Kremlin officials and their proxies cannot obtain sensitive information about critical U.S. companies and their employees,” Liccardo wrote. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He raised the prospect that the project’s proponents could use domestic real estate holdings like this one to “facilitate sanctions evasion” and generate wealth, which the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned about in early 2023. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yusufov could not be reached for comment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a statement, Liccardo told KQED he wants more housing in the area, “but Russian oligarchs with ties to the Kremlin and criminal networks should not control assets in our country.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We need a federal investigation in order to support the implementation of sanctions that would stop Mr. Yusufov from being able to build in our community,” Liccardo said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Rep. Sam Liccardo wants federal agencies to investigate the Russian backers of a proposed controversial development in Menlo Park.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sam-liccardo\">Congressman Sam Liccardo\u003c/a> is calling for a federal investigation and potential sanctions against the owners and backers of a high-rise development proposal at the former Sunset Magazine headquarters in Menlo Park, which has sparked years of controversy in the wealthy city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Liccardo \u003ca href=\"https://liccardo.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/liccardo.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/quill-letter-l39585-80-willow-road-development-letter-to-treasury-version-1-09-23-2026-08-51-pm.pdf\">wrote a letter\u003c/a> this week to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, raising security concerns and urging federal agencies to look into the property’s owner, Russian businessman Vitaly Yusufov, along with the proposed project’s financiers and developers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Public sources raise serious questions about Vitaly Yusufov’s ties to the Russian government and individuals linked to organized crime, warranting immediate review by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), and, ultimately, consideration for sanctions,” Liccardo wrote in his Sept. 23 letter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12070783\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20, 2026. (Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Vitaly Yusofov is the son of Igor Yusofov, the former Energy Minister of the Russian Federation, and he was previously sanctioned by Ukraine and has also been documented as a business agent for former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in real estate matters, Liccardo wrote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Liccardo also referenced Vitaly Yusufov’s 2009 purchase of shipyards in Germany, with financing that was later linked to organized crime leaders, including Aslan Gagiec, “known as ‘Dzhako the Bloody,’ a Russian organized crime figure connected to 56 contract killings.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The property, a 6.7-acre piece of land at 80 Willow Road that sits at the corner of Middlefield Road, backs up to San Francisquito Creek. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The mid-century, California Ranch-style building on the site once housed Sunset Magazine, on grounds featuring trees, succulents, a center courtyard, lawns and gardens that its former editor-in-chief described as “enchanting” in an opinion piece advocating for its demolition and redevelopment to support denser housing in the pricey region. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The dream of idyllic suburban life that Sunset’s building represents is dead, dead, dead — unsustainable and unaffordable for all but the very few. Why hang on?” Peggy Northrop wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/opinion/2026/08/22/sunset-magazine-menlo-park-campus-torn-down/\">\u003cem>The San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A 2025 piece by Sunset staff members \u003ca href=\"https://sunset.com/lifestyle/sunset-menlo-park-campus-preservation\">called for preserving\u003c/a> the historic building and the grounds because it’s “a place that has shaped the way we live, eat and dream in the West for generations.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco-based development company N17, headed by Oisín Heneghan, is proposing to demolish the existing buildings to create a mixed-use project with a total of 665 apartments or condos, with roughly 100 of them to be priced below market-rate, along with 332,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail space and a 130-room hotel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While a proposed preschool building in the plans would be 22 feet tall, the other three buildings would range from 301 feet tall to as high as 458 feet tall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.menlopark.gov/Government/Departments/Community-Development/Projects/Under-review/80-Willow-Road\">according to the city\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12065389\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251124-SJHUDCUTS-JG-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Sam Liccardo speaks during a press conference in San José about changes to a federal housing program’s funding by the Trump administration on Nov. 24, 2025. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The staggering height of the towers has prompted significant pushback, including from local and state officials like state Sen. Josh Becker and San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The residents group \u003ca href=\"https://menloforward.org/\">Menlo Forward\u003c/a> calls the towers “wildly out of scale” with the existing community, noting they would become the tallest buildings in the state outside of major metropolitan areas in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The project was proposed in 2023 under a narrow provision of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981595/controversial-california-law-meant-to-spur-new-housing-could-get-more-teeth\">state law\u003c/a> known as the “Builder’s Remedy,” which allows developers to bypass much of local discretionary review to fast-track a project when a city or county hasn’t received certification of its long-term housing plan from the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta and an attorney for the developer, David H. Blackwell, wrote to the city this summer alleging it has \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_july-29-letter.pdf&url_hash=88e87650c5c29a02171ca2d70c47bc2a&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">violated\u003c/a> several state housing law provisions, including changing its reasoning to deny a streamlined approval process for the project, and requiring the developer to pay for the city’s legal review work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Blackwell \u003ca href=\"https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2Ffiles%2Fsharedassets%2Fpublic%2Fv%2F1%2Fcommunity-development%2Fdocuments%2Fprojects%2Funder-review%2F80-willow-rd%2F80-wr_aug-3-letter.pdf&url_hash=fcae285382058f3b4f5234775e14fac0&domain=menlopark.gov&site=91291e4b-a87a-43ca-b8a7-b228e7d9764d&found_on=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.menlopark.gov%2FGovernment%2FDepartments%2FCommunity-Development%2FProjects%2FUnder-review%2F80-Willow-Road\">wrote\u003c/a> that the developer plans to sue the city if the project is not approved by Oct. 27, which is 90 days after Bonta’s letter, under rights granted to a developer under state housing laws. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city also faced a legal threat last year from the pro-housing development group, YIMBY Law, over some of the same violations alleged by Bonta. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta is briefed by members of his Civil Rights Enforcement Section on litigation challenging the Trump administration at his offices in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 11, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Menlo Park Mayor Betsy Nash, however, has pushed back on Bonta’s crackdown. She penned a letter to him last month that was republished on the local news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/guest-opinion/2026/09/14/guest-opinion-ag-bonta-come-see-for-yourself-why-menlo-park-skyscraper-project-is-wrong-for-willow-road-site/\">The Almanac\u003c/a>, inviting him to tour the area and arguing the city’s past housing certifications were unfairly held up by the state.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nash, in an emailed statement to KQED, said the city “applauds” Liccardo for raising concerns about the project backers and national security. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Menlo Park shares these concerns, and we are surprised the Attorney General of California has not flagged these apparent issues. We hope federal officials will investigate for potential illegality, corruption and national security issues,” Nash said. “In addition, we believe that the massive commercial development proposed for the site would further compound infrastructure challenges in Menlo Park, while not delivering the housing that we need.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Heneghan, in an email to KQED, said he was surprised by Liccardo’s letter, and said it is being spurred by anti-housing sentiment in the region. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It is based on false reporting and what can only be described as NIMBY fan fiction,” Heneghan said, using an acronym for Not In My Backyard, which is commonly used to refer to residents who oppose new housing projects. “The NIMBY lobby is creating more and more sensational, desperate narratives to try to block these new homes.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said the proposed project would increase housing stock, and create temporary construction jobs and permanent public spaces including restaurants, retail, sports facilities and a school. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These same people have been fighting housing since Jimmy Carter was president, then wonder why their grandkids live in Texas or Florida, where homes are actually affordable,” Heneghan said of the project’s opponents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a suit and tie speak behind a podium, with a blue-lit screen behind hime that says 'Decision 2024'\" class=\"wp-image-12012243\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241011-CONGRESSIONALDEBATENBC_COHEN-22-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San José Mayor Sam Liccardo debates Assemblymember Evan Low at the NBC offices in San José on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Camille Cohen for KQED/POOL)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Liccardo’s letter doesn’t address concerns about the physical size or fit of the proposed project, instead focusing on issues such as its proximity to sensitive hubs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Given the very high concentration of defense tech, artificial intelligence and quantum computing companies and research centers in the region, we believe federal agencies should review the property, its ownership and its financial backing to ensure Kremlin officials and their proxies cannot obtain sensitive information about critical U.S. companies and their employees,” Liccardo wrote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He raised the prospect that the project’s proponents could use domestic real estate holdings like this one to “facilitate sanctions evasion” and generate wealth, which the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned about in early 2023. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yusufov could not be reached for comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement, Liccardo told KQED he wants more housing in the area, “but Russian oligarchs with ties to the Kremlin and criminal networks should not control assets in our country.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need a federal investigation in order to support the implementation of sanctions that would stop Mr. Yusufov from being able to build in our community,” Liccardo said. \u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "its-not-illegal-for-california-police-to-misuse-flock-data-san-jose-leaders-want-to-change-that",
"title": "It’s Not Illegal for California Police to Misuse Flock Data. San José Leaders Want to Change That",
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"headTitle": "It’s Not Illegal for California Police to Misuse Flock Data. San José Leaders Want to Change That | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>San José officials said they plan to tighten rules for accessing the city’s automatic license plate reader system after a police officer was fired for misusing the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/flock-safety\">Flock \u003c/a>database to track a civilian who accused his family member of domestic violence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A memo from Vice Mayor Pam Foley and Mayor Matt Mahan would petition the California state Legislature to find a way to add criminal penalties as one of the potential consequences for when an officer misuses license plate reader data, Foley told KQED on Wednesday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There ought to be more ways that we can hold an officer who misuses the information accountable than just firing him. But there is not that provision or that capability right now,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12064595\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan helps to install a Flock Safety brand automated license plate reader on April 23, 2024. Civil liberties groups are now suing the city and Mahan over the technology’s uses. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to San José Police Chief Paul Joseph, an off-duty officer used a personal device to perform unauthorized license plate reader searches and locate a victim’s vehicle. He then shared the location with the suspect, who was a relative of the officer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The officer was immediately placed on leave and later terminated following a criminal investigation, Joseph said in an email. The case was submitted to the state for a decertification investigation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When an officer violates the public’s trust this severely, my responsibility is clear: that person cannot remain in a position of police authority, and they cannot wear the San José badge,” the chief said. “This technology is new; the standard is not.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But no criminal charges were filed against the officer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said improper access by a police officer is outside the reach of state criminal law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Laws like California’s computer system hacking statute have been interpreted by the US Supreme Court to apply only to persons who are not authorized to access a computer system from doing so,” the DA’s office said. “There is no law that makes it a crime for a police officer to improperly access an agency’s license plate reader database. Only the state legislature can make this conduct a crime.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In addition to addressing that gap, the proposal will strengthen audits of individual user searches, including increasing the frequency and number of audits with annual reports to city oversight committees.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The annual reports will include records that flag officers for accessing license plate readers without legitimate law enforcement purpose, suspicious search activity and any other violations of the city’s policy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12.jpg\" alt=\"A worker in a high visibility vest holds up a black camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12095776\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock Safety worker holds up a new Automated License Plate Reader that was being installed in East San José on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s important that we show the community that what happened we take seriously, and we want to put as many stipulations in effect as we can not let these things happen again,” Foley said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The memo also recommends strengthening the police department’s and the city’s policies to prohibit officers from accessing any law enforcement database, including Flock camera data, with personally owned devices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While Foley emphasized the goal of the memo, which will be released on Friday, is to add more guardrails in place, she said the city does not plan to change or eliminate its contract with Flock Safety, citing public safety. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need this tool to help really solve serious crimes,” Foley said. “We have to do what we can do to protect our community by being able to solve crimes as quickly as possible, and that’s with the use of this technology.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement, SJPD said the new standards “will help maintain trust with our community that the data is being used as intended.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They will also ensure that anyone who breaches the community’s trust will face administrative and criminal consequences,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078562\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock camera monitors the intersection at McKee and North White roads in San José on April 2, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Advocates for civil liberties and immigrant protections, however, said the incident was proof that license-plate reading cameras and other surveillance tools are “not public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> “It is a blatant violation of our community’s trust to learn that a sworn police officer abused our private ALPR data for their personal purposes on their personal phone for their personal contact to stalk and endanger a domestic violence survivor,” said Kimberly Woo, a community organizer from SIREN, a group that has sued San José, along with civil liberties groups, over Flock cameras. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Mass surveillance goes beyond one company, one vendor, and one ‘bad actor,’” the statement said. “Mass warrantless surveillance from ALPRs makes our people vulnerable to who is in power to turn our data into the wrong hands.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/emanoukian\">\u003cem>Elize Manoukian\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12064595\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan helps to install a Flock Safety brand automated license plate reader on April 23, 2024. Civil liberties groups are now suing the city and Mahan over the technology’s uses.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When an officer violates the public’s trust this severely, my responsibility is clear: that person cannot remain in a position of police authority, and they cannot wear the San José badge,” the chief said. “This technology is new; the standard is not.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said improper access by a police officer is outside the reach of state criminal law. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Laws like California’s computer system hacking statute have been interpreted by the US Supreme Court to apply only to persons who are not authorized to access a computer system from doing so,” the DA’s office said. “There is no law that makes it a crime for a police officer to improperly access an agency’s license plate reader database. Only the state legislature can make this conduct a crime.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In addition to addressing that gap, the proposal will strengthen audits of individual user searches, including increasing the frequency and number of audits with annual reports to city oversight committees.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The annual reports will include records that flag officers for accessing license plate readers without legitimate law enforcement purpose, suspicious search activity and any other violations of the city’s policy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12.jpg\" alt=\"A worker in a high visibility vest holds up a black camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12095776\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock Safety worker holds up a new Automated License Plate Reader that was being installed in East San José on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The memo also recommends strengthening the police department’s and the city’s policies to prohibit officers from accessing any law enforcement database, including Flock camera data, with personally owned devices.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We need this tool to help really solve serious crimes,” Foley said. “We have to do what we can do to protect our community by being able to solve crimes as quickly as possible, and that’s with the use of this technology.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a statement, SJPD said the new standards “will help maintain trust with our community that the data is being used as intended.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078562\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock camera monitors the intersection at McKee and North White roads in San José on April 2, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Advocates for civil liberties and immigrant protections, however, said the incident was proof that license-plate reading cameras and other surveillance tools are “not public safety.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp> “It is a blatant violation of our community’s trust to learn that a sworn police officer abused our private ALPR data for their personal purposes on their personal phone for their personal contact to stalk and endanger a domestic violence survivor,” said Kimberly Woo, a community organizer from SIREN, a group that has sued San José, along with civil liberties groups, over Flock cameras. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Mass surveillance goes beyond one company, one vendor, and one ‘bad actor,’” the statement said. “Mass warrantless surveillance from ALPRs makes our people vulnerable to who is in power to turn our data into the wrong hands.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/emanoukian\">\u003cem>Elize Manoukian\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A new proposal would tighten rules around unauthorized searches, but the cameras aren’t going anywhere, officials said.",
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"title": "It’s Not Illegal for California Police to Misuse Flock Data. San José Leaders Want to Change That | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>San José officials said they plan to tighten rules for accessing the city’s automatic license plate reader system after a police officer was fired for misusing the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/flock-safety\">Flock \u003c/a>database to track a civilian who accused his family member of domestic violence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A memo from Vice Mayor Pam Foley and Mayor Matt Mahan would petition the California state Legislature to find a way to add criminal penalties as one of the potential consequences for when an officer misuses license plate reader data, Foley told KQED on Wednesday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There ought to be more ways that we can hold an officer who misuses the information accountable than just firing him. But there is not that provision or that capability right now,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12064595\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/image-9-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan helps to install a Flock Safety brand automated license plate reader on April 23, 2024. Civil liberties groups are now suing the city and Mahan over the technology’s uses. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to San José Police Chief Paul Joseph, an off-duty officer used a personal device to perform unauthorized license plate reader searches and locate a victim’s vehicle. He then shared the location with the suspect, who was a relative of the officer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The officer was immediately placed on leave and later terminated following a criminal investigation, Joseph said in an email. The case was submitted to the state for a decertification investigation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When an officer violates the public’s trust this severely, my responsibility is clear: that person cannot remain in a position of police authority, and they cannot wear the San José badge,” the chief said. “This technology is new; the standard is not.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But no criminal charges were filed against the officer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement to KQED, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said improper access by a police officer is outside the reach of state criminal law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Laws like California’s computer system hacking statute have been interpreted by the US Supreme Court to apply only to persons who are not authorized to access a computer system from doing so,” the DA’s office said. “There is no law that makes it a crime for a police officer to improperly access an agency’s license plate reader database. Only the state legislature can make this conduct a crime.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In addition to addressing that gap, the proposal will strengthen audits of individual user searches, including increasing the frequency and number of audits with annual reports to city oversight committees.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The annual reports will include records that flag officers for accessing license plate readers without legitimate law enforcement purpose, suspicious search activity and any other violations of the city’s policy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12.jpg\" alt=\"A worker in a high visibility vest holds up a black camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12095776\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/240423-SanJoseLicensePlateReaders-JG-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock Safety worker holds up a new Automated License Plate Reader that was being installed in East San José on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s important that we show the community that what happened we take seriously, and we want to put as many stipulations in effect as we can not let these things happen again,” Foley said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The memo also recommends strengthening the police department’s and the city’s policies to prohibit officers from accessing any law enforcement database, including Flock camera data, with personally owned devices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While Foley emphasized the goal of the memo, which will be released on Friday, is to add more guardrails in place, she said the city does not plan to change or eliminate its contract with Flock Safety, citing public safety. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need this tool to help really solve serious crimes,” Foley said. “We have to do what we can do to protect our community by being able to solve crimes as quickly as possible, and that’s with the use of this technology.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement, SJPD said the new standards “will help maintain trust with our community that the data is being used as intended.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They will also ensure that anyone who breaches the community’s trust will face administrative and criminal consequences,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078562\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-05-KQED_1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock camera monitors the intersection at McKee and North White roads in San José on April 2, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Advocates for civil liberties and immigrant protections, however, said the incident was proof that license-plate reading cameras and other surveillance tools are “not public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> “It is a blatant violation of our community’s trust to learn that a sworn police officer abused our private ALPR data for their personal purposes on their personal phone for their personal contact to stalk and endanger a domestic violence survivor,” said Kimberly Woo, a community organizer from SIREN, a group that has sued San José, along with civil liberties groups, over Flock cameras. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Mass surveillance goes beyond one company, one vendor, and one ‘bad actor,’” the statement said. “Mass warrantless surveillance from ALPRs makes our people vulnerable to who is in power to turn our data into the wrong hands.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/emanoukian\">\u003cem>Elize Manoukian\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "stanford-ai-usage-face-swaps-on-campus-banner-sparks-national-backlash",
"title": "Stanford AI Usage, ‘Face Swaps’ on Campus Banner Spark National Backlash",
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"headTitle": "Stanford AI Usage, ‘Face Swaps’ on Campus Banner Spark National Backlash | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/stanford-university\">Stanford University\u003c/a> senior Billy Ramirez returned to campus this fall to find that the university’s housing and dining department used artificial intelligence to replace him with a Black woman on a public banner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Stanford Residential and Dining Enterprises, which oversees the university’s housing operations, dining services and campus conferences, hung the promotional banner in a student housing center, according to \u003ca href=\"https://stanforddaily.com/2026/09/23/university-confirms-ai-edited-photo/\">\u003cem>The Stanford Daily\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The outlet also reported that the original photo, taken in Stern Dining during a 2024 Lunar New Year celebration, was previously used unaltered. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An ornate sandstone-colored building with a series of arches sitting on a brick plaza.\" class=\"wp-image-11956028\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-1536x1014.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-1920x1267.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The arches of the Main Quadrangle buildings on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto on Oct. 2, 2021. (David Madison/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In addition to replacing Ramirez, Stanford R&DE made significant changes to the other two students’ faces. The edits and use of AI caused a stir on the campus social media app, Fizz, according to the Daily, consequently drawing \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/us/stanford-photo-swap-black-hispanic-student.html\">national attention\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Seeing my identity changed and being left out of the picture made me feel, in a way, silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include me,” Ramirez told the \u003ca href=\"https://stanfordreview.org/stanford-r-de-uses-ai-to-race-swap-students-for-advertising/\">\u003cem>Stanford Review\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, an independent paper founded by venture capitalist and university alum Peter Thiel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ramirez’s class was the last cohort admitted to a U.S. college before the Supreme Court gutted \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/1181138066/affirmative-action-supreme-court-decision\">affirmative action\u003c/a> in 2023. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-complex-ramifications-of-students-for-fair-admissions-v-harvard/\">Brookings Institute\u003c/a> found that these changes had a sizable impact on the racial profile of college populations across the country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At Stanford, \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/01/final-enrollment-data-for-class-of-2028-reported-in-common-data-set\">enrollment\u003c/a> for Black or African American students fell from 8.9% to 4.5% and enrollment for Hispanic or Latino students fell from 16.7% to 14.6%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same time, Asian student enrollment increased from 28.8% to 33%, and White student enrollment increased from 21.9% to 24.1%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Universities have a long history of artificially diversifying models in their marketing. In 2019, \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/call-action-marketing-and-communications-higher-education/marketing-authenticity-higher\">\u003cem>Inside Higher Ed\u003c/em>\u003c/a> reported on a series of incidents, including one at York College of Pennsylvania, where the school used Photoshop to replace two white students “with an African American student and (seemingly) Muslim student.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Stanford AI researcher Maty Bohacek said he found the situation “highly problematic” and explained how AI image editing introduces new problems to an old story. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12067141\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hoover Tower at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Humans would most likely go into Photoshop and start working on specific areas of the image,” Bohacek, who focuses on media integrity, said. “But AI models these days, most of them anyway, can’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bohacek said that most publicly available AI models cannot work directly with individual pixels, the way a human would in photoshop. Instead, they take the entire image, convert it into a mathematical form, make edits, then convert it back into an image. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During this process, other parts of the photo can also be altered, like the two students to the left of Ramirez, he said, and biases can be introduced. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These models are heavily post-trained to produce imagery or text that humans tend to prefer or tend to rate as more aesthetically pleasing,” Bohacek said. “That to me is problematic because we changed people’s likeness,” noting that both students were made to look thinner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an anonymous Substack titled \u003ca href=\"https://theothertwo.substack.com/p/letter-to-the-stanford-community\">“The Other Two,”\u003c/a> the authors introduced themselves as the students pictured alongside Ramirez. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They wrote that they filed a report to the university’s Title VI office for discrimination and said they demanded that Stanford take down the banners with the photo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062227\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The arched walkways of Stanford’s Main Quad in Stanford Oct. 29, 2025. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The fact that the picture generated one of our peers into a Black woman to showcase “diversity,” despite enrolling the lowest Black student population in the past recent years, has shown that universities have not shown enough institutional support for their Black community and see them as a tool for their marketing,” the authors wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To see Southeast Asian facial features be changed to adhere to the East Asian beauty standards shows that Stanford sees the Asia diaspora as a monolith,” they continued.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an email to KQED, Stanford spokesperson Charlene Gage said that the university “reviewed the matter and confirmed that AI was used to alter the image in violation of the university policy.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gage said that Stanford removed the banners with the image in question and “are working to provide additional training for all staff and ensure proper review.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In addition to replacing Ramirez, Stanford R&DE made significant changes to the other two students’ faces. The edits and use of AI caused a stir on the campus social media app, Fizz, according to the Daily, consequently drawing \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/us/stanford-photo-swap-black-hispanic-student.html\">national attention\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Seeing my identity changed and being left out of the picture made me feel, in a way, silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include me,” Ramirez told the \u003ca href=\"https://stanfordreview.org/stanford-r-de-uses-ai-to-race-swap-students-for-advertising/\">\u003cem>Stanford Review\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, an independent paper founded by venture capitalist and university alum Peter Thiel. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Ramirez’s class was the last cohort admitted to a U.S. college before the Supreme Court gutted \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/1181138066/affirmative-action-supreme-court-decision\">affirmative action\u003c/a> in 2023. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At Stanford, \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/01/final-enrollment-data-for-class-of-2028-reported-in-common-data-set\">enrollment\u003c/a> for Black or African American students fell from 8.9% to 4.5% and enrollment for Hispanic or Latino students fell from 16.7% to 14.6%. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Universities have a long history of artificially diversifying models in their marketing. In 2019, \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/call-action-marketing-and-communications-higher-education/marketing-authenticity-higher\">\u003cem>Inside Higher Ed\u003c/em>\u003c/a> reported on a series of incidents, including one at York College of Pennsylvania, where the school used Photoshop to replace two white students “with an African American student and (seemingly) Muslim student.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an anonymous Substack titled \u003ca href=\"https://theothertwo.substack.com/p/letter-to-the-stanford-community\">“The Other Two,”\u003c/a> the authors introduced themselves as the students pictured alongside Ramirez. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The fact that the picture generated one of our peers into a Black woman to showcase “diversity,” despite enrolling the lowest Black student population in the past recent years, has shown that universities have not shown enough institutional support for their Black community and see them as a tool for their marketing,” the authors wrote.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“To see Southeast Asian facial features be changed to adhere to the East Asian beauty standards shows that Stanford sees the Asia diaspora as a monolith,” they continued.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Amid criticism from students and national coverage of the incident, Stanford has removed all banners with the image and pledged to conduct a proper review.",
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"title": "Stanford AI Usage, ‘Face Swaps’ on Campus Banner Spark National Backlash | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/stanford-university\">Stanford University\u003c/a> senior Billy Ramirez returned to campus this fall to find that the university’s housing and dining department used artificial intelligence to replace him with a Black woman on a public banner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Stanford Residential and Dining Enterprises, which oversees the university’s housing operations, dining services and campus conferences, hung the promotional banner in a student housing center, according to \u003ca href=\"https://stanforddaily.com/2026/09/23/university-confirms-ai-edited-photo/\">\u003cem>The Stanford Daily\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The outlet also reported that the original photo, taken in Stern Dining during a 2024 Lunar New Year celebration, was previously used unaltered. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An ornate sandstone-colored building with a series of arches sitting on a brick plaza.\" class=\"wp-image-11956028\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-1536x1014.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230719-STANFORD-GETTY-DM-KQED-1920x1267.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The arches of the Main Quadrangle buildings on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto on Oct. 2, 2021. (David Madison/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In addition to replacing Ramirez, Stanford R&DE made significant changes to the other two students’ faces. The edits and use of AI caused a stir on the campus social media app, Fizz, according to the Daily, consequently drawing \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/us/stanford-photo-swap-black-hispanic-student.html\">national attention\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Seeing my identity changed and being left out of the picture made me feel, in a way, silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include me,” Ramirez told the \u003ca href=\"https://stanfordreview.org/stanford-r-de-uses-ai-to-race-swap-students-for-advertising/\">\u003cem>Stanford Review\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, an independent paper founded by venture capitalist and university alum Peter Thiel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Ramirez’s class was the last cohort admitted to a U.S. college before the Supreme Court gutted \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/1181138066/affirmative-action-supreme-court-decision\">affirmative action\u003c/a> in 2023. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-complex-ramifications-of-students-for-fair-admissions-v-harvard/\">Brookings Institute\u003c/a> found that these changes had a sizable impact on the racial profile of college populations across the country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At Stanford, \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/01/final-enrollment-data-for-class-of-2028-reported-in-common-data-set\">enrollment\u003c/a> for Black or African American students fell from 8.9% to 4.5% and enrollment for Hispanic or Latino students fell from 16.7% to 14.6%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same time, Asian student enrollment increased from 28.8% to 33%, and White student enrollment increased from 21.9% to 24.1%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Universities have a long history of artificially diversifying models in their marketing. In 2019, \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/call-action-marketing-and-communications-higher-education/marketing-authenticity-higher\">\u003cem>Inside Higher Ed\u003c/em>\u003c/a> reported on a series of incidents, including one at York College of Pennsylvania, where the school used Photoshop to replace two white students “with an African American student and (seemingly) Muslim student.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Stanford AI researcher Maty Bohacek said he found the situation “highly problematic” and explained how AI image editing introduces new problems to an old story. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12067141\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-STANFORDFILE00607_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hoover Tower at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Dec. 10, 2025. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Humans would most likely go into Photoshop and start working on specific areas of the image,” Bohacek, who focuses on media integrity, said. “But AI models these days, most of them anyway, can’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bohacek said that most publicly available AI models cannot work directly with individual pixels, the way a human would in photoshop. Instead, they take the entire image, convert it into a mathematical form, make edits, then convert it back into an image. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During this process, other parts of the photo can also be altered, like the two students to the left of Ramirez, he said, and biases can be introduced. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These models are heavily post-trained to produce imagery or text that humans tend to prefer or tend to rate as more aesthetically pleasing,” Bohacek said. “That to me is problematic because we changed people’s likeness,” noting that both students were made to look thinner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an anonymous Substack titled \u003ca href=\"https://theothertwo.substack.com/p/letter-to-the-stanford-community\">“The Other Two,”\u003c/a> the authors introduced themselves as the students pictured alongside Ramirez. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They wrote that they filed a report to the university’s Title VI office for discrimination and said they demanded that Stanford take down the banners with the photo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062227\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251029_STANFORDFILE-_GH-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The arched walkways of Stanford’s Main Quad in Stanford Oct. 29, 2025. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The fact that the picture generated one of our peers into a Black woman to showcase “diversity,” despite enrolling the lowest Black student population in the past recent years, has shown that universities have not shown enough institutional support for their Black community and see them as a tool for their marketing,” the authors wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To see Southeast Asian facial features be changed to adhere to the East Asian beauty standards shows that Stanford sees the Asia diaspora as a monolith,” they continued.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an email to KQED, Stanford spokesperson Charlene Gage said that the university “reviewed the matter and confirmed that AI was used to alter the image in violation of the university policy.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gage said that Stanford removed the banners with the image in question and “are working to provide additional training for all staff and ensure proper review.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-francisco-sues-trump-to-stop-early-access-to-market-moving-truth-social-posts",
"title": "San Francisco Sues Trump to Stop Early Access to Market-Moving Truth Social Posts",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco is suing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">President Donald Trump’s\u003c/a> media company over a paid service that gives subscribers who pay $100,000 a month early access to the president’s Truth Social posts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>City Attorney David Chiu filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on Monday against Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns and operates Truth Social. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu is asking the court to prohibit Trump Media from offering “Truth API” or a similar service, as well as monetary damages for its violations of the public trust and California’s unfair competition law.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Trump Media created a marketplace that enables insider trading, which Trump directly profits from,” Chiu said in a statement. “This scheme turns the public trust into private profit. It is corruption, plain and simple.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb/Pool - Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu’s office, along with other attorneys, including from the Democracy Defenders Fund, filed the suit on behalf of the people of California, who he said are being disadvantaged by the corrupt business practice. He said that he hopes that the court’s decision “could hopefully protect all Americans” in the process.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In August, Trump launched “Truth API,” a feed that delivers posts from the “ten most influential accounts” on his social media platform, Truth Social, to users who pay $100,000 a month, before the same information is delivered to other users. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the lawsuit, Trump Media Interim CEO Kevin McGurn “expressly stated that Truth API pushes out information at a ‘50 millisecond advantage’ that ‘goes right into an algorithmic trading platform,’” allowing subscribers to gain an advantage in the financial market by trading on that information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The accounts have included Trump’s, along with other executive branch officials, including Vice President JD Vance, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to the complaint. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu alleges that Truth Social is aiding and abetting Trump’s violation of federal ethics and anti-corruption law, which prohibits federal officials from profiting off of nonpublic information they obtain through government service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It also says Trump Media is violating other federal laws protecting against insider trading that prohibit selling nonpublic information from people with a duty of trust to individuals who might trade it for unfair financial advantage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The suit alleges that Trump, who owns 41% of Trump Media, has made “numerous” announcements of policy decisions or official government information via posts on Truth Social that have influenced financial markets — including around high country-by-country tariffs in 2025, and conversations with international leaders regarding the war in Iran.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu said Tuesday that the service is particularly troubling because Truth Social is “often the first and only venue where the president announces major federal actions” as the White House moves to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/22/nx-s1-5976917/news-organizations-barred-from-white-house-sue-trump-as-other-outlets-protests-ban\">limit access\u003c/a> to traditional media outlets. He said it is also possible, and “troubling,” that foreign actors could be accessing the subscription service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021, speaks at a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 2026, about a lawsuit against Truth Social over the sale of early access to President Donald Trump’s posts. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When the President of the United States makes decisions that can move markets, access to that information should not be something wealthy traders can buy before everyone else,” said Matt Platkin, whose firm, Platkin LLP, is also representing California residents in the suit. “Trump Media should not be able to monetize presidential communications by selling Wall Street an early look at Truth Social posts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement, Trump Media spokesperson Shannon Device said, “The People of California should outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots who, unlike the left-wing activists masquerading as attorneys who filed this lawsuit, will grasp the basic distinction between public and nonpublic information.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003cem>The Intercept\u003c/em> and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a similar \u003ca href=\"https://freedom.press/issues/fpf-seeks-order-to-stop-trump-from-monetizing-official-statements/\">lawsuit\u003c/a> in federal court aimed at stopping Trump Media from monetizing official government statements.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bkrans\">\u003cem>Brian Krans\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Saul Loeb/Pool - Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chiu’s office, along with other attorneys, including from the Democracy Defenders Fund, filed the suit on behalf of the people of California, who he said are being disadvantaged by the corrupt business practice. He said that he hopes that the court’s decision “could hopefully protect all Americans” in the process.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Chiu’s office, along with other attorneys, including from the Democracy Defenders Fund, filed the suit on behalf of the people of California, who he said are being disadvantaged by the corrupt business practice. He said that he hopes that the court’s decision “could hopefully protect all Americans” in the process.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In August, Trump launched “Truth API,” a feed that delivers posts from the “ten most influential accounts” on his social media platform, Truth Social, to users who pay $100,000 a month, before the same information is delivered to other users. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to the lawsuit, Trump Media Interim CEO Kevin McGurn “expressly stated that Truth API pushes out information at a ‘50 millisecond advantage’ that ‘goes right into an algorithmic trading platform,’” allowing subscribers to gain an advantage in the financial market by trading on that information.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The accounts have included Trump’s, along with other executive branch officials, including Vice President JD Vance, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to the complaint. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chiu alleges that Truth Social is aiding and abetting Trump’s violation of federal ethics and anti-corruption law, which prohibits federal officials from profiting off of nonpublic information they obtain through government service.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It also says Trump Media is violating other federal laws protecting against insider trading that prohibit selling nonpublic information from people with a duty of trust to individuals who might trade it for unfair financial advantage.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The suit alleges that Trump, who owns 41% of Trump Media, has made “numerous” announcements of policy decisions or official government information via posts on Truth Social that have influenced financial markets — including around high country-by-country tariffs in 2025, and conversations with international leaders regarding the war in Iran.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chiu said Tuesday that the service is particularly troubling because Truth Social is “often the first and only venue where the president announces major federal actions” as the White House moves to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/22/nx-s1-5976917/news-organizations-barred-from-white-house-sue-trump-as-other-outlets-protests-ban\">limit access\u003c/a> to traditional media outlets. He said it is also possible, and “troubling,” that foreign actors could be accessing the subscription service.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021, speaks at a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 2026, about a lawsuit against Truth Social over the sale of early access to President Donald Trump’s posts.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When the President of the United States makes decisions that can move markets, access to that information should not be something wealthy traders can buy before everyone else,” said Matt Platkin, whose firm, Platkin LLP, is also representing California residents in the suit. “Trump Media should not be able to monetize presidential communications by selling Wall Street an early look at Truth Social posts.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a statement, Trump Media spokesperson Shannon Device said, “The People of California should outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots who, unlike the left-wing activists masquerading as attorneys who filed this lawsuit, will grasp the basic distinction between public and nonpublic information.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a statement, Trump Media spokesperson Shannon Device said, “The People of California should outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots who, unlike the left-wing activists masquerading as attorneys who filed this lawsuit, will grasp the basic distinction between public and nonpublic information.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003cem>The Intercept\u003c/em> and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a similar \u003ca href=\"https://freedom.press/issues/fpf-seeks-order-to-stop-trump-from-monetizing-official-statements/\">lawsuit\u003c/a> in federal court aimed at stopping Trump Media from monetizing official government statements.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003cem>The Intercept\u003c/em> and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a similar \u003ca href=\"https://freedom.press/issues/fpf-seeks-order-to-stop-trump-from-monetizing-official-statements/\">lawsuit\u003c/a> in federal court aimed at stopping Trump Media from monetizing official government statements.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bkrans\">\u003cem>Brian Krans\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the president’s media company is likely violating federal law by selling investors faster access to his Truth Social posts.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>San Francisco is suing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">President Donald Trump’s\u003c/a> media company over a paid service that gives subscribers who pay $100,000 a month early access to the president’s Truth Social posts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>City Attorney David Chiu filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on Monday against Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns and operates Truth Social. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu is asking the court to prohibit Trump Media from offering “Truth API” or a similar service, as well as monetary damages for its violations of the public trust and California’s unfair competition law.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Trump Media created a marketplace that enables insider trading, which Trump directly profits from,” Chiu said in a statement. “This scheme turns the public trust into private profit. It is corruption, plain and simple.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb/Pool - Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu’s office, along with other attorneys, including from the Democracy Defenders Fund, filed the suit on behalf of the people of California, who he said are being disadvantaged by the corrupt business practice. He said that he hopes that the court’s decision “could hopefully protect all Americans” in the process.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In August, Trump launched “Truth API,” a feed that delivers posts from the “ten most influential accounts” on his social media platform, Truth Social, to users who pay $100,000 a month, before the same information is delivered to other users. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the lawsuit, Trump Media Interim CEO Kevin McGurn “expressly stated that Truth API pushes out information at a ‘50 millisecond advantage’ that ‘goes right into an algorithmic trading platform,’” allowing subscribers to gain an advantage in the financial market by trading on that information.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The accounts have included Trump’s, along with other executive branch officials, including Vice President JD Vance, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to the complaint. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu alleges that Truth Social is aiding and abetting Trump’s violation of federal ethics and anti-corruption law, which prohibits federal officials from profiting off of nonpublic information they obtain through government service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It also says Trump Media is violating other federal laws protecting against insider trading that prohibit selling nonpublic information from people with a duty of trust to individuals who might trade it for unfair financial advantage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The suit alleges that Trump, who owns 41% of Trump Media, has made “numerous” announcements of policy decisions or official government information via posts on Truth Social that have influenced financial markets — including around high country-by-country tariffs in 2025, and conversations with international leaders regarding the war in Iran.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chiu said Tuesday that the service is particularly troubling because Truth Social is “often the first and only venue where the president announces major federal actions” as the White House moves to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/22/nx-s1-5976917/news-organizations-barred-from-white-house-sue-trump-as-other-outlets-protests-ban\">limit access\u003c/a> to traditional media outlets. He said it is also possible, and “troubling,” that foreign actors could be accessing the subscription service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260922-TruthSocialSuit-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021, speaks at a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 2026, about a lawsuit against Truth Social over the sale of early access to President Donald Trump’s posts. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When the President of the United States makes decisions that can move markets, access to that information should not be something wealthy traders can buy before everyone else,” said Matt Platkin, whose firm, Platkin LLP, is also representing California residents in the suit. “Trump Media should not be able to monetize presidential communications by selling Wall Street an early look at Truth Social posts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a statement, Trump Media spokesperson Shannon Device said, “The People of California should outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots who, unlike the left-wing activists masquerading as attorneys who filed this lawsuit, will grasp the basic distinction between public and nonpublic information.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003cem>The Intercept\u003c/em> and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a similar \u003ca href=\"https://freedom.press/issues/fpf-seeks-order-to-stop-trump-from-monetizing-official-statements/\">lawsuit\u003c/a> in federal court aimed at stopping Trump Media from monetizing official government statements.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bkrans\">\u003cem>Brian Krans\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/data-centers\">Data center\u003c/a> developments in California will face new hurdles under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday amid \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12099195/full-on-backlash-against-data-centers-occurring-as-san-jose-courts-them\">rising concerns\u003c/a> about the facilities at the heart of the nation’s artificial intelligence boom. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The seven bills signed by Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097632/chatbots-data-centers-and-surveillance-5-silicon-valley-bills-land-on-newsoms-desk\">include provisions\u003c/a> aimed at preventing data centers from passing on their electricity costs to other ratepayers and a new requirement for developers to disclose their projected water usage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“With these laws, we are ensuring that Californians remain in the driver’s seat — and that those profiting from data centers aren’t doing so at our expense,” Newsom said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The governor vetoed the water-reporting proposal last year, citing a need to further understand impacts on data center businesses and consumers. Since then, opposition to data centers has intensified; local governments across California are considering bans or moratoriums on the projects, and Newsom has promised his administration would be “leaning in” on regulations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100065\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Community members cheer during a rally calling for a 45-day moratorium on new data centers, at Richmond City Hall in Richmond on Sept. 15, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two bills signed by Newsom, Senate Bill 886 and Assembly Bill 2383, would require the California Public Utilities Commission to create new power rates for data centers to cover the cost of connecting the facilities to the grid and providing them with electricity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These are some of the nation’s strongest data center ratepayer protections — stopping Big Tech from sticking California families with the bill for their data centers while ensuring all local voices have a say on these projects and they comply with our air, water, and climate standards,” said Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, who wrote SB 886.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom signed another bill written by Padilla, Senate Bill 887, which prevents data centers from skipping the state-mandated environmental review process for new projects. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assembly Bill 2469 will prohibit local approval of data centers until the developer discloses the facility’s projected water usage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bills passed the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly largely on party-line votes, in the face of opposition from business groups such as the Data Center Coalition, whose members include Google and Microsoft. Opponents said the bills would prevent California from capitalizing on economic growth from data center construction. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nearly three-quarters of Californians oppose the construction of an AI data center in their area, according to a July \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-july-2026/\">survey\u003c/a> from the Public Policy Institute of California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Data centers have been around for decades, housing servers that support web services such as video streaming and cloud storage. But the computing needs of advanced AI models have spurred a demand for new data centers that use more electricity for high-energy processing and, in some cases, more water for cooling. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The PPIC survey found 63% of Californians said they were worried about the environmental impact of building more AI data centers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1377\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285283677-scaled-e1786637636410.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091348\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An aerial view of a 49.5-megawatt, three-level data center under construction on July 8, 2026, in Vernon, California. A surge in demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure is fueling a boom in data centers across the country and around the globe. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California is home to nearly 300 data centers, with 54 in the pipeline, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/13/most-new-data-centers-in-the-us-are-coming-to-rural-areas/\">an analysis\u003c/a> conducted by the Pew Research Center in February. The study found future data center growth is concentrated in rural America, largely in the Midwest and South. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, some local California governments are looking to erect their own roadblocks; on Tuesday, Oakland will be the latest city to weigh a temporary data center ban when a City Council committee meets to consider a 45-day moratorium. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Similar moratoriums have been proposed in San Francisco, Richmond and Hayward, and in Southern California, the city of Monterey Park became the first in the U.S. this summer to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096476/monterey-park-becomes-a-role-model-for-banning-data-centers\">enact a voter-approved ban\u003c/a> on data centers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the federal level, President Donald Trump has cheered the advancement of data centers — praising them as key to economic growth and accusing Democrats of perpetrating a “hoax” against the development of artificial intelligence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It all began with an attack on our Data Centers, until people realized how wealthy and prestigious they were for the Communities in which they were built,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. “Higher Salaries, Lower Taxes, and Safer Streets was the result, and the crazed Data Center attack has largely failed.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some Silicon Valley leaders have expressed regret at the controversial rollout of data centers. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker whose chips power many AI data centers, told CBS on Sunday that tech leaders should have spoken to residents living near proposed data centers sooner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need to go engage the communities long before we set up the data centers, and I think all of my colleagues recognize this today,” he said. “All of this happened so quickly, and it happened all over America so quickly — we didn’t realize, and we didn’t get a chance to be polite, to be a visitor in some new town.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The seven bills signed by Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097632/chatbots-data-centers-and-surveillance-5-silicon-valley-bills-land-on-newsoms-desk\">include provisions\u003c/a> aimed at preventing data centers from passing on their electricity costs to other ratepayers and a new requirement for developers to disclose their projected water usage. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“With these laws, we are ensuring that Californians remain in the driver’s seat — and that those profiting from data centers aren’t doing so at our expense,” Newsom said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The governor vetoed the water-reporting proposal last year, citing a need to further understand impacts on data center businesses and consumers. Since then, opposition to data centers has intensified; local governments across California are considering bans or moratoriums on the projects, and Newsom has promised his administration would be “leaning in” on regulations.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Two bills signed by Newsom, Senate Bill 886 and Assembly Bill 2383, would require the California Public Utilities Commission to create new power rates for data centers to cover the cost of connecting the facilities to the grid and providing them with electricity. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom signed another bill written by Padilla, Senate Bill 887, which prevents data centers from skipping the state-mandated environmental review process for new projects. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Assembly Bill 2469 will prohibit local approval of data centers until the developer discloses the facility’s projected water usage. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The bills passed the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly largely on party-line votes, in the face of opposition from business groups such as the Data Center Coalition, whose members include Google and Microsoft. Opponents said the bills would prevent California from capitalizing on economic growth from data center construction. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nearly three-quarters of Californians oppose the construction of an AI data center in their area, according to a July \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-july-2026/\">survey\u003c/a> from the Public Policy Institute of California. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Data centers have been around for decades, housing servers that support web services such as video streaming and cloud storage. But the computing needs of advanced AI models have spurred a demand for new data centers that use more electricity for high-energy processing and, in some cases, more water for cooling. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Data centers have been around for decades, housing servers that support web services such as video streaming and cloud storage. But the computing needs of advanced AI models have spurred a demand for new data centers that use more electricity for high-energy processing and, in some cases, more water for cooling. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The PPIC survey found 63% of Californians said they were worried about the environmental impact of building more AI data centers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285283677-scaled-e1786637636410.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091348\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An aerial view of a 49.5-megawatt, three-level data center under construction on July 8, 2026, in Vernon, California. A surge in demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure is fueling a boom in data centers across the country and around the globe. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California is home to nearly 300 data centers, with 54 in the pipeline, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/13/most-new-data-centers-in-the-us-are-coming-to-rural-areas/\">an analysis\u003c/a> conducted by the Pew Research Center in February. The study found future data center growth is concentrated in rural America, largely in the Midwest and South. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, some local California governments are looking to erect their own roadblocks; on Tuesday, Oakland will be the latest city to weigh a temporary data center ban when a City Council committee meets to consider a 45-day moratorium. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Similar moratoriums have been proposed in San Francisco, Richmond and Hayward, and in Southern California, the city of Monterey Park became the first in the U.S. this summer to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096476/monterey-park-becomes-a-role-model-for-banning-data-centers\">enact a voter-approved ban\u003c/a> on data centers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On the federal level, President Donald Trump has cheered the advancement of data centers — praising them as key to economic growth and accusing Democrats of perpetrating a “hoax” against the development of artificial intelligence. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It all began with an attack on our Data Centers, until people realized how wealthy and prestigious they were for the Communities in which they were built,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. “Higher Salaries, Lower Taxes, and Safer Streets was the result, and the crazed Data Center attack has largely failed.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some Silicon Valley leaders have expressed regret at the controversial rollout of data centers. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker whose chips power many AI data centers, told CBS on Sunday that tech leaders should have spoken to residents living near proposed data centers sooner. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Some Silicon Valley leaders have expressed regret at the controversial rollout of data centers. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker whose chips power many AI data centers, told CBS on Sunday that tech leaders should have spoken to residents living near proposed data centers sooner. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We need to go engage the communities long before we set up the data centers, and I think all of my colleagues recognize this today,” he said. “All of this happened so quickly, and it happened all over America so quickly — we didn’t realize, and we didn’t get a chance to be polite, to be a visitor in some new town.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We need to go engage the communities long before we set up the data centers, and I think all of my colleagues recognize this today,” he said. “All of this happened so quickly, and it happened all over America so quickly — we didn’t realize, and we didn’t get a chance to be polite, to be a visitor in some new town.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Data center developments in California will face new regulations governing their electricity and water usage.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/data-centers\">Data center\u003c/a> developments in California will face new hurdles under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday amid \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12099195/full-on-backlash-against-data-centers-occurring-as-san-jose-courts-them\">rising concerns\u003c/a> about the facilities at the heart of the nation’s artificial intelligence boom. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The seven bills signed by Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097632/chatbots-data-centers-and-surveillance-5-silicon-valley-bills-land-on-newsoms-desk\">include provisions\u003c/a> aimed at preventing data centers from passing on their electricity costs to other ratepayers and a new requirement for developers to disclose their projected water usage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“With these laws, we are ensuring that Californians remain in the driver’s seat — and that those profiting from data centers aren’t doing so at our expense,” Newsom said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The governor vetoed the water-reporting proposal last year, citing a need to further understand impacts on data center businesses and consumers. Since then, opposition to data centers has intensified; local governments across California are considering bans or moratoriums on the projects, and Newsom has promised his administration would be “leaning in” on regulations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12100065\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/20260915_RichmondDataCenterRally-15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Community members cheer during a rally calling for a 45-day moratorium on new data centers, at Richmond City Hall in Richmond on Sept. 15, 2026. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two bills signed by Newsom, Senate Bill 886 and Assembly Bill 2383, would require the California Public Utilities Commission to create new power rates for data centers to cover the cost of connecting the facilities to the grid and providing them with electricity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These are some of the nation’s strongest data center ratepayer protections — stopping Big Tech from sticking California families with the bill for their data centers while ensuring all local voices have a say on these projects and they comply with our air, water, and climate standards,” said Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, who wrote SB 886.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom signed another bill written by Padilla, Senate Bill 887, which prevents data centers from skipping the state-mandated environmental review process for new projects. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assembly Bill 2469 will prohibit local approval of data centers until the developer discloses the facility’s projected water usage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bills passed the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly largely on party-line votes, in the face of opposition from business groups such as the Data Center Coalition, whose members include Google and Microsoft. Opponents said the bills would prevent California from capitalizing on economic growth from data center construction. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nearly three-quarters of Californians oppose the construction of an AI data center in their area, according to a July \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-july-2026/\">survey\u003c/a> from the Public Policy Institute of California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Data centers have been around for decades, housing servers that support web services such as video streaming and cloud storage. But the computing needs of advanced AI models have spurred a demand for new data centers that use more electricity for high-energy processing and, in some cases, more water for cooling. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The PPIC survey found 63% of Californians said they were worried about the environmental impact of building more AI data centers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1377\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-2285283677-scaled-e1786637636410.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12091348\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An aerial view of a 49.5-megawatt, three-level data center under construction on July 8, 2026, in Vernon, California. A surge in demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure is fueling a boom in data centers across the country and around the globe. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California is home to nearly 300 data centers, with 54 in the pipeline, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/13/most-new-data-centers-in-the-us-are-coming-to-rural-areas/\">an analysis\u003c/a> conducted by the Pew Research Center in February. The study found future data center growth is concentrated in rural America, largely in the Midwest and South. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, some local California governments are looking to erect their own roadblocks; on Tuesday, Oakland will be the latest city to weigh a temporary data center ban when a City Council committee meets to consider a 45-day moratorium. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Similar moratoriums have been proposed in San Francisco, Richmond and Hayward, and in Southern California, the city of Monterey Park became the first in the U.S. this summer to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096476/monterey-park-becomes-a-role-model-for-banning-data-centers\">enact a voter-approved ban\u003c/a> on data centers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On the federal level, President Donald Trump has cheered the advancement of data centers — praising them as key to economic growth and accusing Democrats of perpetrating a “hoax” against the development of artificial intelligence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It all began with an attack on our Data Centers, until people realized how wealthy and prestigious they were for the Communities in which they were built,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. “Higher Salaries, Lower Taxes, and Safer Streets was the result, and the crazed Data Center attack has largely failed.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some Silicon Valley leaders have expressed regret at the controversial rollout of data centers. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker whose chips power many AI data centers, told CBS on Sunday that tech leaders should have spoken to residents living near proposed data centers sooner. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We need to go engage the communities long before we set up the data centers, and I think all of my colleagues recognize this today,” he said. “All of this happened so quickly, and it happened all over America so quickly — we didn’t realize, and we didn’t get a chance to be polite, to be a visitor in some new town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"perspectives": {
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
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