Slowing Things Down.
Pope Leo XIV released a 42,300‑word encyclical urging leaders to curb AI’s disruptive impact and demand public oversight of ethical frameworks. The AI Security Institute, a UK‑funded body, reported safety gaps in top models including Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini. Chinese startup DeepSeek slashed its V4‑Pro API price to $0.44 per million tokens, a 75% cut, as it seeks funding at a $44 billion valuation. Analysts warn the low‑cost Chinese models could pressure U.S. AI pricing and market dynamics.
The Long Spiral.
A sharp selloff in government bonds has pushed the 10‑year U.S. Treasury yield to 4.687%, its highest intraday level since January 2025, while the 30‑year note rose to 5.19%, matching a June 2007 peak. Analysts like John Authers warn that...
Political Wire.
Taegan Goddard, founder and editor of Political Wire, recorded a podcast interview on April 27, 2026, to explain his daily political news aggregation service. Political Wire curates 20‑30 U.S. political items each day, positioning itself as the modern equivalent of...
Over. Not Out.
The United States announced that Operation Epic Fury, the offensive phase of its campaign against Iran, has ended after 66 days, shifting focus to safeguarding commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump subsequently paused the newly launched...
Weekend Edition.
President Donald Trump warned that he could order fresh military strikes against Iran if Tehran “misbehaves,” even as a 14‑point Iranian proposal seeks a one‑month deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and a subsequent month for nuclear talks. The...
The State(s) of AI.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from buzz to a foundational technology, reshaping fields as diverse as science, space exploration, robotics, finance, warfare, and media. Stanford University’s AI Index Report for 2026 provides the most comprehensive data set yet on AI...
A Watershed Event.
The FDA approved Regeneron’s gene therapy that restores hearing in children born deaf, with the company pledging free access. At the same time, Anthropic unveiled Mythos, an AI model that autonomously discovers and exploits software vulnerabilities, prompting the U.S. to...
The Sound of Rain.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiha says the country’s frontline is the strongest it has been in a year, citing superior drone usage and bolstered air‑defence systems. Data from the Institute for the Study of War, reported by AFP, shows Russian forces...
Doing The Opposite.
Iranian parliamentarian Ebrahim Azizi, a former IRGC commander, announced plans to codify Tehran’s claim over the Strait of Hormuz. He told the BBC the new legislation, based on article 110 of Iran’s constitution, would give Iran the right to decide...
What Happens Next.
The News Items podcast features Daniel Adamson, co‑founder and co‑CEO of Collective Global, discussing how venture capitalists can raise capital, anticipate emerging trends, and source the next generation of successful companies. Adamson, who has overseen more than $3 billion in private‑equity...
The Oslo Patient.
The Stanford Institute for Human‑Centered AI released its 2026 AI Index, showing that large models continue to improve and adoption is outpacing the spread of personal computers and the internet. The United States now hosts 5,427 AI data centers—over ten...
A Military Perspective...
John Ellis’s Substack post offers a military‑focused analysis of the widening conflict across the Middle East, tracing how hostilities have spilled from Syria into Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. He outlines the growing role of Iran‑aligned militias and the potential for...
Alternate Shots.
The latest ‘Alternate Shots’ episode focuses exclusively on the Iran war and the fragile cease‑fire that followed. Host John Ellis and veteran diplomat Richard Haass walk through a custom eight‑box grid covering nukes, the Strait, regime change, missiles, proxies, Trump,...
Earthset.
Anthropic leaked its most powerful AI model, Claude Mythos, which can discover high‑severity software vulnerabilities, prompting the launch of Project Glasswing with over 40 tech giants to mitigate risks. The model has already identified flaws in OpenBSD, FFmpeg and the...
The Saudi Arabia of Lithium.
OpenAI released a comprehensive policy blueprint urging the U.S. government to tax, regulate, and redistribute wealth generated by advanced AI, framing it as a new social contract akin to the Progressive Era and New Deal. CEO Sam Altman warned that...