Democracy blindsides Silicon Valley's power players looking to transform the world with AI'The push against datacenters speaks to the frustration of people who don't feel they are making the choices in their lives' The Stanford ethicist Rob Reich was once invited to a dinner organized by a Silicon Valley mogul to discuss what a state designed to maximize science and tech powered by commercial models might look like. The gathered technologists were drawn to the idea of building a small nation-state dedicated to the endeavor, Reich recalls in " System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot it". When Reich asked whether this state would be a democracy, he got a cool no. "Democracy is too slow, and it holds science back," he was told. "To optimize for science, we need a beneficent technocrat in charge."

EU chief von der Leyen proposes'associate member' status for Canada Share EU chief von der Leyen proposes'associate member' status for Canada on social media European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has raised the prospect of Canada becoming the 27-nation European Union's first "associate member", a striking overture as both seek to pivot away from a hostile United States under President Donald Trump. Von der Leyen's statement on Wednesday came after Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this week that Canada was seeking a "unique alliance" with the EU, but not membership. "I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU," von der Leyen told Carney, who was attending her annual keynote speech. The first foreign head of government to attend the annual "State of the European Union" address, his visit comes in advance of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month. Carney will deliver his own address to the European Parliament on Thursday.

Beijing has pushed back against calls for the US to curb the country's development of AI. Beijing has pushed back against calls for the US to curb the country's development of AI. China dismisses AI'fearmongering' as spy chief warns of threat to Communist party rule Beijing hits back after Anthropic CEO calls for US to impede China's progress in AI China has dismissed what it said were "fearmongering" calls for the US to block Beijing's AI industry, even as the top Chinese spy chief warned the evolving technology could threaten Communist party rule. The US tech entrepreneur and Anthropic chief executive, Dario Amodei, wrote an essay published over the weekend that called for a global slowdown in AI capabilities, but also said Washington should actively impede Beijing's advancement in order to keep a technological edge. Warning that AI could give the Chinese Communist party a chance "to militarily dominate democracies", Amodei said he believed "a Chinese lead in AI would pose grave danger for the US and the world".

'Nigel hits the jackpot' and'Dark day for democracy' Image caption, Almost every paper on Sunday leads on a record-breaking double donation of £72m to Reform UK over the weekend. The Daily Mail declares Nigel hits the jackpot, describing the way the jubilant Reform UK leader hailed it as an investment in democratic renewal. Farage told the paper that the £72m war chest would be used to professionalise the party. Image caption, The donation to Reform UK was courtesy of two cryptocurrency billionaires, according to the Sunday Times, who each gifted the party £36m. The paper calls it an unprecedented cash injection for Reform UK, and says the previous highest political donation was £10m, which was left to the Conservative party in a will.

The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks transformed global politics as Western democracies abandoned many liberal principles and older conflicts over empire, decolonization, immigration and culture resurfaced in the far-right movements.

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Framed as a fraud-prevention measure, Trump’s SAVE Act is “the equivalent of a four-alarm fire for our democracy,” writes Kica Matos.

'Maga is a cult of grievance that seeks to purge its enemies by demonising them through absurd and surreal propaganda' Gil Durán. 'Maga is a cult of grievance that seeks to purge its enemies by demonising them through absurd and surreal propaganda' Gil Durán. 'If we don't fight back, we don't have a future': the journalist taking on the'tech fascists' of Silicon Valley I n April, Gil Durán was permanently banned from Elon Musk's X for posting just two words. Durán was responding to a post from the tech company Palantir outlining its 22 point "technological manifesto", which praised American "hard power", western culture and AI weapons, denounced inclusivity and called for compulsory national service. Durán responded: "TLDR: Fascism" (TLDR is short for "too long, didn't read").

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