Could AI Kill Humans?; Trump Promises Everyone $5,000, Apple’s New Foldable iPhone; TSA Changes; Clancy Lawyer Says Stop Patrick Conspiracy Theories

Mosheh Oinounou (0:04)

Hey, everybody, it is Thursday, September 10th. You're listening to the Mo News podcast. I'm Moshe Oinounou.

I'm a human.

Jill Wagner (0:11)

Most of the time. And I am Jill Wagner. This is the place where we bring you just the facts.

Mosheh Oinounou (0:18)

And we read all the news and read between the lines so you don't have to. I mentioned I'm human, because I feel like that's going to become an important thing here, Jill, in the coming years.

There are new watermarks. We'll talk about some apples rollout, but they're going to have watermarks for like, this photo was taken by a human or a phone versus AI. And more and more as the line is blurred between AI and humans, I feel like we need to say that. Maybe we make that part of our new open here. It's like, this is a podcast brought to you by humans for humans, unless there's some AI out there that like to listen to podcasts. We welcome you to AI, as long as you're friendly AI and you won't overpower us.

Jill Wagner (0:57)

Our editor, Arian, could definitely attest to the fact that we are humans, giving up, that he has to clean up a lot of this.

Mosheh Oinounou (1:05)

He might use AI to clean us up a little bit. AI motion, AI Joe would make his life much easier.

Jill Wagner (1:15)

But for now, you're stuck with us.

Mosheh Oinounou (1:17)

You're stuck with the real people.

Jill Wagner (1:20)

Let's get to some headlines. Another dire warning about AI and how it could potentially wipe out humanity, literally Mosheh. This is actually what people in the industry are saying. An anthropic researcher now says that there is more than a 10% chance that AI could, quote, kill all humans.

Mosheh Oinounou (1:42)

It comes as we got a very notable resignation this week by one researcher. We'll tell you what a number of people inside these AI companies are now saying, including some senior officials about how things could go awry, why they're concerned, and what needs to be done.

Jill Wagner (1:57)

To politics, an unconventional convention, the first Republican midterm convention, kicks off in Texas.

Mosheh Oinounou (2:05)

Why Republicans think this might be a good idea for them and why Democrats are also thinking this is a good idea for their side.

Jill Wagner (2:11)

In tech news, Apple debuts its foldable iPhone. It's called the iPhone Duo, the biggest ever device revamp.

Mosheh Oinounou (2:19)

Android users are saying welcome to the party, Apple with a foldable phone. But with a $2,000 price tag, are you getting in line to buy it?

Jill Wagner (2:28)

Big changes to airport security. The TSA is letting some people go to the airport gates without having a ticket. Mosheh, this makes all those romantic comedies of the 90s a bit more realistic.

Mosheh Oinounou (2:42)

Yeah, going straight to the gate and having, didn't Friends have like a finale like that too?

Jill Wagner (2:47)

I think so. I'm thinking Love Actually also.

Mosheh Oinounou (2:50)

Ross and Rachel, Love Actually. Nonetheless, a throwback here as they believe that some of those rules imposed 25 years ago after 9-11 can be changed given modern technology.

Jill Wagner (3:01)

Lindsay Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, continuing his media circuit. He was asked about all of those conspiracies about Patrick Clancy. Kevin Reddington officially saying, enough is enough. Patrick did not kill the kids, leave him alone.

Mosheh Oinounou (3:16)

Yeah, you know, super interesting to hear that from him. We'll give you the latest on just the fallout of the Clancy Trial, Jill. The story has not stopped with the declaration of mistrial last week.

Jill Wagner (3:25)

And all you online shoppers out there, you might have noticed it is getting harder to return things.

Mosheh Oinounou (3:31)

We'll tell you how much all those returns you've been making is costing retailers and why they're making that move.

Jill Wagner (3:36)

And Mosheh is on this day in history.

Mosheh Oinounou (3:38)

It's the birthday for a famous American snack, Jill, that was first introduced as a heat-resistant, easy-to-transport snack you could keep in your pocket.

Jill Wagner (3:50)

Heat-resistance, easy to travel with. Hmm, maybe Twizzlers?

Mosheh Oinounou (3:57)

You will find out in On This Day in History. Plus, I have the history of the guillotine in France, which is a darker birthday on this day in history.

Jill Wagner (4:04)

I'll stick with the candy story. Thanks, Mosheh.

Mosheh Oinounou (4:08)

Hold the guillotine, take the candy.

Jill Wagner (4:12)

All right, another day, another dire warning about the potential impact of AI and how it could destroy humanity. Literal concerns, Mosheh, about how AI could actually make us go extinct. An AI researcher who worked at both OpenAI and Anthropic announced his resignation Tuesday. He is warning that leading AI companies are racing towards super intelligence without knowing how to safely control it. Jacob Coxen accused the companies of racing straight to self-improving super intelligence and gambling with our lives. He argues increasingly powerful AI could eventually improve itself beyond human control creating potentially catastrophic risks. So here is a bit of what he wrote on X. I'm going to read quite a bit of it, Mosheh, because I think all of it's important here. He says, Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any fields overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains and progress is not slowing. The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible. But he says, I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger. A common response is, if they truly believe this, why are they still building it? Well, he says at OpenAI, many have not deeply internalized these civilization stakes. He says at Anthropic, these stakes are well understood, but they are locked in a race to get there first. They believe no one else will act responsibly so that they must do it themselves despite the risk. He says, if you are a lab researcher, I urge you to consider what the next few years will actually feel like. Do you want to kick off a super intelligent RL run without a rigorous understanding of its mind? Should you put your head down because, quote, it's happening anyway, or take this moment to call for different conditions? That's a bit of his spiel over on X. His warning, though, is very similar to things that we have heard from people who are still working in the industry.