DAR voted to disband its Martha Laird Chapter in Texas, which led efforts to restrict membership eligibility to biological women, citing violations of national bylaws.

Tensions exposed among Greens by'Zionism is racism' conference vote It is not exactly typical for a British party conference, let alone that of one of the smaller parties, to elicit international condemnation. Yet that is the position the Green Party of England and Wales is in today after Israel's foreign ministry said it was banning their leader, Zack Polanski, from entering the country. The cause was the motion proposed by party members and adopted by the conference on Sunday, declaring Zionism, which is the belief in the right to a Jewish homeland, to be racism. The Green motion describes Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state, and supports instead a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine. It's hardly likely that Polanski or indeed many Greens are going to be much troubled by Israel's condemnation of the motion.

Chinese robots have quickly entered global public consciousness in recent years, appearing as background robo-dancers in pop concerts and as humanoid marathon and sprint runners outpacing elite athletes ( 1). Domestically, robots are deployed as traffic guides and restaurant service staff, while swarms of drones entertain audiences in urban light shows or deliver takeout to high-rises ( 2, 3). These public debuts serve to both normalize automation in everyday civilian life ( 4) while projecting international soft power. Behind the public spectacle lies a bold agenda for global economic dominance. In its geopolitical contest with the United States, Beijing sees robotics as the core engine to project power and dictate the future of global supply chains ( 5).

Robots are a crowd-pleasing example of American innovation and global technological leadership. The latest press release of Boston Dynamics' executing the'Ghost Rabona' soccer kick highlights the increasingly natural movements of humanoids ( 1). At the other end of the spectrum, academic researchers are redefining the limits of miniaturization and building robots at the micrometer scale ( 2). Private and government funding propel foundational research forward, leading to breakthroughs in both hardware and software across U.S. labs and corporations ( 3, 4). Such progress reaffirms the U.S. as an intellectual and innovative powerhouse, a reputation that carries large geopolitical weight.

China's Unitree soars in market debut as investors bet on humanoid robots China's Unitree Robotics has soared in its market debut, a sign of investors' confidence in Chinese innovation in the burgeoning field of human-like robots. Shares of Unitree surged more than 620 percent on Wednesday as it began trading in Shanghai, lifting the Hangzhou-based company's market capitalisation to as high as 445 billion yuan ($66bn). Unitree, whose main competitors include China's AgiBot and US-based Tesla and Boston Dynamics, had priced its initial public offering at 50.8 yuan per share for a company valuation of about 61 billion yuan ($9bn). The landmark IPO marked the first listing of a humanoid robotics company in mainland China. Unitree, founded in 2016 by engineer Wang Xingxing, is one of China's leading makers of humanoid robots, with its demonstrations of human-like figures performing dancing and martial arts routines capturing widespread attention.

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Micron Technology on Saturday broke ground on the expansion of its factory in western Japan, a ¥1.5 trillion ($9.3 billion) undertaking to produce advanced memory chips. The Boise, Idaho-based company is building the facility in Hiroshima to make chips such as high-bandwidth memory crucial for AI processors like Nvidia's, with shipments to start around the summer of 2028. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has allocated up to ¥500 billion to help cover the cost. The move is part of a global rampup by the U.S. company to meet demand for AI. Micron is building two leading-edge fabs in Boise and in January held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $100 billion production site outside Syracuse, New York, part of a pledge to increase DRAM production on American soil. "Micron's very first HBM production wafer -- for the memory technology at the heart of AI -- was made right here in Hiroshima," Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said during a ceremony attended by central and local government officials.

Designing wise AI policy is a grand challenge for society. To design such policy, policymakers should place a premium on rigorous evidence and scientific consensus. While several mechanisms exist for evidence generation, and nascent mechanisms tackle evidence synthesis, we identify a complete void on consensus formation. In this position paper, we argue NeurIPS should actively catalyze scientific consensus on AI policy. Beyond identifying the current deficit in consensus formation mechanisms, we argue that NeurIPS is the best option due its strengths and the paucity of compelling alternatives. To make progress, we recommend initial pilots for NeurIPS by distilling lessons from the IPCC's leadership to build scientific consensus on climate policy. We dispel predictable counters that AI researchers disagree too much to achieve consensus and that policy engagement is not the business of NeurIPS. NeurIPS leads AI on many fronts, and it should champion scientific consensus to create higher quality AI policy.

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Donald Trump's new AI order is a lot of nothing. For months now, the White House has hinted that it may try to rein in the AI industry. Just two weeks ago, the nation's top tech executives--including Sam Altman and Dario Amodei--were invited to attend a ceremony for the signing of a long-anticipated executive order on AI. But just hours before the ceremony, Donald Trump scrapped it. America is leading the world in the AI race, the president told reporters at the time, "and I don't want to do anything that's going to get in the way of that lead."