Pope Leo XIV has held his first meeting with the world's cardinals since his election as the head of the Catholic Church, identifying artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the most crucial issues facing humanity. Leo, the first American pope, laid out a vision of his papacy at the Vatican on Saturday, telling the cardinals who elected him that AI poses challenges to defending "human dignity, justice and labour" – a view shared with his predecessor, the late Pope Francis. Explaining his choice of name, the pontiff said he identified with the late Leo XIII, who had defended workers' rights during his 1878-1903 papacy at the dawn of the industrial age, adding that "social teaching" was now needed in response to the modern-day revolution brought by AI. The late Pope Francis, who died last month, warned that AI risked turning human relations into mere algorithms and called for an international treaty to regulate it. Francis warned the Group of Seven industrialised nations last year that AI must remain human-centric, so that decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools would not fall to machines.

AI ARMS RACE: OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman joined three other artificial intelligence (AI) and technology executives for a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on winning the global AI race and strengthening domestic capabilities in computing and innovation. Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, during a fireside chat at University College London (UCL) in London, UK, on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Altman said part of the reason for his current tour of European cities is to discover a suitable location for a new office. EMBRACING AI: Some companies have been adjusting their workforce as they simultaneously embrace artificial intelligence and automation more, according to Forbes. NEW INVESTORS: OpenAI is shaking up its corporate structure to bring in new investors and accelerate the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Lanea George pulls open a steel security door and enters a windowless room where a video camera stares at what looks like a commercial-grade refrigerator. The machine, dubbed Bodhi, whirrs and spins before spitting out seven small plastic bottles containing precisely 70ml of methadone, a bright pink liquid resembling cherry cough syrup. It is used as a substitute for morphine or heroin in addiction treatment. She scoops the bottles off the tray, bundles them with a rubber band and sets them on a shelf. It's not yet 10am and George, the nurse manager at Man Alive, an opioid treatment program – known colloquially as a methadone clinic – in Baltimore, has already finished prepping the doses for the 100 or so patients who will arrive the next day.

Should AI chatbots have the same rights as humans? Common sense says no -- while such a far-fetched idea might make for good sci-fi, it has no place in American law. But right now, a major tech company is trying to bring that idea to life, pressing a federal court to extend legal protections historically primarily afforded to humans to the outputs of an AI bot. Character.AI, one of the leading AI companion bot apps on the market, is fighting for the dismissal of a wrongful death and product liability lawsuit concerning the death of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III. As co-counsel to Sewell's mother, Megan Garcia, and technical advisor on the case, respectively, we've been following these motions closely and with concern.

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Artificial intelligence companies have been urged to replicate the safety calculations that underpinned Robert Oppenheimer's first nuclear test before they release all-powerful systems. Max Tegmark, a leading voice in AI safety, said he had carried out calculations akin to those of the US physicist Arthur Compton before the Trinity test and had found a 90% probability that a highly advanced AI would pose an existential threat. The US government went ahead with Trinity in 1945, after being reassured there was a vanishingly small chance of an atomic bomb igniting the atmosphere and endangering humanity. In a paper published by Tegmark and three of his students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), they recommend calculating the "Compton constant" – defined in the paper as the probability that an all-powerful AI escapes human control. In a 1959 interview with the US writer Pearl Buck, Compton said he had approved the test after calculating the odds of a runaway fusion reaction to be "slightly less" than one in three million.

A United States Customs and Border Protection request for information this week revealed the agency's plans to find vendors that can supply face recognition technology for capturing data on everyone entering the US in a vehicle like a car or van, not just the people sitting in the front seat. And a CBP spokesperson later told WIRED that the agency also has plans to expand its real-time face recognition capabilities at the border to detect people exiting the US as well--a focus that may be tied to the Trump administration's push to get undocumented people to "self-deport" and leave the US. WIRED also shed light this week on a recent CBP memo that rescinded a number of internal policies designed to protect vulnerable people--including pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and people with serious medical conditions--while in the agency's custody. Signed by acting commissioner Pete Flores, the order eliminates four Biden-era policies. Meanwhile, as the ripple effects of "SignalGate" continue, the communication app TeleMessage suspended "all services" pending an investigation after former US national security adviser Mike Waltz inadvertently called attention to the app, which subsequently suffered data breaches in recent days.

Surgeries may become safer and more precise than ever before. A French startup named Robeauté has just raised about 29 million to develop a truly groundbreaking neurosurgical microrobot. Imagine a device no bigger than a grain of rice that can carefully navigate the complex and delicate pathways of the brain. This little robot could change the way doctors treat brain tumors and other neurological conditions, making surgeries safer and more precise than ever before. Join The FREE CyberGuy Report: Get my expert tech tips, critical security alerts, and exclusive deals -- plus instant access to my free Ultimate Scam Survival Guide when you sign up! Brain surgery is incredibly complex.

This week: The UK and the US agreed to the framework for a trade deal. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the details of the agreement and what it means that it includes keeping the 10% baseline tariffs staying in place. Then, Bill Gates has announced that he's winding down the Gates Foundation and doubling the money he's giving away. The hosts discuss how this is a reaction to Elon Musk's slashing of USAID and the state of billionaire philanthropy. And finally, OpenAI has reversed its plan to become a for profit enterprise after public backlash.