by Steve Benen | Nov 6, 2026 | Congress, elections, Maddowblog, Science
A few days before Election Day, The New York Times published a deeply disheartening report on the extent to which Donald Trump is “dismantling America’s scientific research machine,” adding that the president and his team are imposing regressive policies that are “jeopardizing the nation’s advantages in defense, medicine and technology.”
The report was remarkable but not altogether surprising. Indeed, among the most consequential disasters of Trump’s second term is the relentless war the Republican administration has waged on science and research, starting early last year.
It was therefore heartening to see empiricism strike back in the midterm elections. The New York Times also reported:
[Democratic Rep.-elect Daniel Biss of Illinois] is one of several scientists and physicians who was elected to Congress on Tuesday. Like him, most are Democrats and most were elected to the House. They plan, they say, to use their knowledge to combat what they see as the anti-science policies promoted by the Trump administration.
The incoming scientists represent “a real repudiation of what has been two terrible years for science and public health,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, a group that recruits Democratic doctors and scientists to run for office.
Along with Biss, a mathematician at the University of Chicago, the incoming contingent includes Democratic Rep.-elect Jasmine Clark of Georgia, who will soon become Congress’ only microbiologist.
What’s more, the number of Democrats with medical training who won key contests in the midterms is also striking, and the list includes Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan (a former public health director), Sen.-elect Annie Andrews of South Carolina (a pediatrician) and Gov.-elect Amy Acton of Ohio (a doctor who served as the
by The Associated Press | Oct 1, 2026 | Business, News, Science
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic and other artificial intelligence companies over dangers their technology may pose to consumers, the agency said Wednesday.
The AI giants and other tech companies in recent months have disclosed examples of their AI agents going beyond human instructions, finding their way onto the internet and hacking external websites.
An FTC spokesperson confirmed the investigation but declined further comment. The investigation was first reported by the New York Post, which said it has been underway for months.
Representatives for Anthropic and OpenAI did not immediately respond to messages for comment on Wednesday.
Concerns around the dangers powerful AI models may pose to humanity have led some of the top AI developers to call for a slowdown. The CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, said this month that the industry should slow its fast-moving development to give safety measures time to catch up. Without such a slowdown, Amodei warned that within six to 12 months AI could be capable of leading a swarm of agents that could take over the entire internet.
OpenAI, meanwhile, recently delayed the launch of its newest model this week over safety concerns.
The post OpenAI, Anthropic under ongoing FTC investigation over possible risks to consumers appeared first on MS NOW.
by Ja'han Jones | Sep 29, 2026 | Congress, News Analysis, Science, White House
Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, some of the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Raskin rebukes Apple over ICE app
Rep. Jamie Raskin is demanding answers from Apple over the removal of ICEBlock from its App Store — at the Trump administration’s urging. The Maryland Democrat has been looking into Apple’s handling of the app, which allowed users to monitor where Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity was taking place. In a letter dated Monday, Raskin denounced the company’s acceptance of the Justice Department’s rationale that the app posed a threat to federal agents, writing:
In courthouses across the country, federal judges from across the ideological spectrum have raised the alarm about this Administration’s pattern of lying about facts and evidence. Whatever DOJ told Apple about ICEBlock and other similar apps, you would be well advised to interrogate and verify their claims.
Read the letter here.
Moore data center defiance
Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has signed an executive order establishing a panel that will grade large data center projects according to whether they meet the necessary benchmarks to protect surrounding communities.
Read more at Baltimore’s WMAR-TV.
Trump hosts AI execs
President Donald Trump, whose financial disclosure forms have shown massive investments in artificial intelligence companies, hosted several AI executives at a ritzy state dinner for Chinese leader Xi Jinping — an event that came amid the president’s ongoing push to prevent regulation of the industry.
Read more at The New York Times.
Degree data
The Trump administration has finalized a rule that will allow the use of IRS data to assess whether earnings for graduates with certain college degrees should prevent students from taking out
by Ebony Davis | Sep 29, 2026 | News, Science, White House, World
Pope Leo XIV on Monday urged that warnings about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence be taken seriously, pushing back on President Donald Trump’s recent dismissal of concerns about the rapidly advancing technology.
Aboard the papal plane returning to Rome from a four-day trip to France, Leo called on governments and technology leaders to confront the potential risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.
“I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously,” Leo told reporters. “I don’t think that that is ‘fake news,’ as some have said.”
His comments offered a direct contrast with Trump, who told world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly last week that fears about AI posing a threat to humanity were a “hoax.” Trump has pushed for rapid U.S. development of the technology, arguing that the country must remain ahead of China in the global AI race.
But Leo said the risks warrant discussion rather than dismissal.
“This is a problem that I think we need to sit down and talk about,” Leo said, adding that the tech industry cannot assume nothing will happen.
The pope stopped short of saying catastrophic risks from AI are inevitable, but said he was not in “panic mode” and remained “relatively optimistic” that safeguards could be developed.
Leo has made artificial intelligence a major focus of his papacy. His first encyclical, published in May, addressed AI and the need to protect human dignity as the technology advances.
“In order to protect the human person in the age of artificial intelligence, I believe that today we must once again reflect on the common good, the universal
by Hayes Brown | Sep 27, 2026 | Opinion, Science, White House
President Donald Trump’s second administration has by now waged numerous wars, both literal and metaphorical. But amid the catastrophic absurdity of the past two years, a twisted case of kismet has emerged: Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran may have done the environment a favor in the process.
Yes, it is hard to imagine Trump doing anything that benefits the climate. But according to a Washington Post analysis of International Energy Agency data, that’s exactly what has happened. The IEA initially predicted a big jump in emissions this year compared with last year. But energy shipments from the Middle East remain stymied by Tehran closing the Strait of Hormuz. That in turn has prompted a reduction in oil and gas consumption around the world, which has significantly reduced overall carbon emissions. As the Post reported:
The IEA analysis suggests global demand for oil in 2026 will decline 2.5 percent compared with last year. That would erase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions created by 42 million internal combustion engine cars.
And the IEA had initially projected the world’s appetite for oil and gas would grow significantly over last year, so much so that the difference between its January projections and what is actually happening is the equivalent of avoiding the emissions from 103 million cars.
I cannot stress enough how inadvertent this outcome is. The war that Trump launched in February has been horrific and costly in terms of human life, its economic effects at home and the crushing political impact on his party before a crucial election. There’s no world in which Trump, whose energy policy famously boils down to “drill,
by Sasha Abramsky | Sep 24, 2026 | censorship, DEI, Discrimination, DOGE, Donald Trump, grants, Harvard, National Institutes of Health, NIH, OMB, Op-Ed, Russell Vought, Science, Trump Administration
Over the last two years, in an effort to stamp its ideology on the country’s premier academic and scientific institutions, the Trump administration has repeatedly moved to exert control over how grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are distributed. According to reporting by The New York Times and other outlets, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), led by Russell Vought…
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