In the last Turkish town on the road to Aleppo, jihadis and spies mixed with reporters trying to prove themselves. At the Hotel Istanbul, I was to meet a Syrian activist who went by the code name Harvester. I was twenty-two and wanted to learn how journalists work in conflict zones. In the spring of 2013--when I was twenty-two and had little sense of the direction my life might take--I travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border, to learn how journalists work in war. During the previous two years, the security forces of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, had carried out a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters, and the situation had spiralled into armed conflict, with thousands of civilians dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees spilling into neighboring countries. Rebels had captured half of Syria's largest city, Aleppo, and most of the territory north and west of it, including the official crossings into southern Turkey. In practice, that meant any freelancer, humanitarian, or ...

The author of says his book "was written by a very tired, overworked, under-slept human being." For most people, the AI Era we're now living in started sometime around the end of 2022, when OpenAI released the first consumer version of ChatGPT to much fanfare--and, ultimately, over 100 million downloads within a few short months. In reality, as WIRED readers know, the story of artificial intelligence stretches back decades. And the work informing today's generative AI products, from chatbots to agents and beyond, has been more than a decade--of blood, sweat, tears, and furious rivalries--in the making. It's that recent history, told through the interweaving stories of three generative AI leaders-- OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google --that's chronicled in Kevin Roose's compelling new book, . Roose, a longtime tech journalist who most recently served as a columnist and podcast host for The New York Times, conducted more than 150 interviews with AI insiders to compile what he hopes becomes something of a historical document, an accurate, in-depth retelling of the people and the institutions, the bloodbath and the drama, that brought Silicon Valley to where it is to today. I spoke to Roose in late September, a few days after he and Casey Newton--with whom Roose previously cohosted the New York Times' podcast--announced the creation of their new media company Machine Gods Media, alongside a podcast distribution deal with NPR. We talked about what Roose and Newton hope to accomplish with the new show, why traditional media companies have a talent problem, and, of course, all things artificial intelligence. KATIE DRUMMOND: You and Casey Newton recently announced that you were launching a new media company, called Machine Gods Media. And your podcast is also called, correct? Yeah, a name so nice we used it twice. When you first announced that you'd be leaving The New York Times, you described your vision for what you wanted to do as one that, quote, "takes AI progress seriously, is clear-eyed about the capabilities and risks of powerful AI systems, and tries to empower and entertain people in the face of radical uncertainty." As you look at the landscape of tech coverage and AI coverage, what's missing from the reporting and commentary that you and Casey want to address with the new show?

Three female journalists have accused police officers in India of sexual harassment during street protests in the capital Delhi. The claims were made on Saturday after the force detained scores of young people calling for the resignation of the chief election commissioner. In a post on social media, Delhi Police said its New Delhi District had received the complaint, and it had been transferred to its crime branch for a fair and impartial inquiry. Thousands of protesters gathered in Delhi and Mumbai cities for a third day on Sunday demanding that Gyanesh Kumar step down over large-scale changes to voter rolls. The Election Commission says the exercise is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries - and so far, 130 million names have been struck off the voters' list.

Trump to meet China's Xi as Congress mulls bill banning artificial superintelligence - US politics live Trump administration calls banned journalists' White House access a privilege, not a right, brands coverage a security risk Trump to meet with China's Xi as Congress mulls bill banning artificial superintelligence Trump to meet with China's Xi as Congress mulls bill banning artificial superintelligence Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Donald Trump will meet with the Chinese president Xi Jinping later today, ahead of a three-day visit that will undoubtedly see artificial intelligence (AI) high on the agenda. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, has called on the two countries to establish a dialogue on AI similar to the communication between the US and the Soviet Union during the cold war. "Governments with the greatest AI capabilities have the greatest responsibilities to humanity, to establish channels for dialogue, transparency, trust and cooperation," Guterres said. Tech executives including Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Tim Cook of Apple, Elon Musk of Tesla, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jensen Huang of Nvidia will reportedly attend a state dinner at the White House on Thursday evening.

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Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. The fall of once-mighty McClatchy newspapers underscores California's news crisis This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Dan Walters describes working for the Sacramento Bee several decades ago as "like living in Sweden."

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Assad regime planned US journalist's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds US journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, was kidnapped in a calculated operation which was more than a month in the planning, the BBC can reveal. A member of the group which detained Tice has also claimed the abduction was sanctioned by Syria's leader at the time, President Bashar al-Assad. Tice was seen getting into a car with a driver he knew and trusted. For years, many assumed they had stumbled upon a government checkpoint, and that the abduction of the journalist had been opportunistic. But we have uncovered evidence that, in fact, his disappearance was anything but chance.

AI'Actor' Tilly Norwood Told Me That'All Lives Matter' The virtual character, which is promoting its upcoming movie, tries to evade politics by repetitively commenting on the clothes you're wearing. A generated image of AI actress, Tilly Norwood. For Hollywood stars, press junkets are an opportunity to promote new work while connecting with fans. They tell funny or embarrassing stories about one another, give us a glimpse into the film production process, and reveal mannerisms that make them more relatable. So why would anyone want to talk to Tilly Norwood, an interactive, British-accented digital character and "actor" developed with generative artificial intelligence by Xicoia, an AI division of a studio called Particle 6 Group?

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