Will the new Congress regulate artificial intelligence? Sign up to receive our twice-weekly News & Politics newsletter. The New Yorker staff writer and historian Jill Lepore joins Tyler Foggatt for a conversation about how public feeling around artificial intelligence, and the backlash to the industry, affected the recent midterm elections. They discuss how voters rejected data centers in forty out of forty-one local ballot initiatives, whether the rising tide of fury at Big Tech will prompt the new Congress to pursue regulation of A.I., and what the scandal surrounding Nvidia's C.E.O., Jensen Huang, could mean for the future of Silicon Valley. "Is A.I. Above the Law?," by Jill Lepore "Is Jensen Huang's Affair a Crisis for the A.I. Boom?," by John Cassidy Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.

Plumes of smoke rise from fires at an oil refinery following what the authorities said was a Ukrainian drone strike, in Moscow on Sept. 20. Russian authorities have registered the deaths of more than 11,000 foreigners from nearly 100 countries in the war against Ukraine, according to confidential data held by the country's statistics agency, Rosstat. The information comes from a cache of more than 11 million death certificates, along with accompanying details such as place of birth, citizenship and where people died. The data was obtained by the Belarusian pro-opposition group Cyber Partisans and the Ukrainian hacker operation Silent Crow. It was subsequently shared with Bloomberg and a small group of other outlets.

ByteDance plans the release of a Muse-like AI assistant in the coming weeks to augment its lead in AI video, a milestone event the company hopes will help close the gap with top U.S. labs in as soon as three years. Speaking to its AI team in an all-hands meeting recently, co-founder Zhang Yiming told researchers, engineers and supporting staff about the plan and set out key priorities, according to people familiar with the matter. He sees ByteDance able to compete with leading industry names like Anthropic and OpenAI at the cutting edge, though he cautioned it would take until at least 2029 or 2030, the people said, asking not to be named as the meeting was private. The planned new artificial intelligence agent will serve a similar role to Muse, introduced by Meta Platforms this September. Muse has proven a big hit for its U.S. creator, consolidating Meta's extensive AI research into a voice-based agent with an animated avatar that helps users with various tasks. Meta is distributing Muse across its hardware portfolio that includes various models of smart glasses and an upcoming Muse Charm gadget just for the agent.

Military-linked Chinese university bought Nvidia H200 chips despite U.S. blacklist, records show Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, faces mounting scrutiny over his relationship with a woman who is reportedly suspected of being a Chinese spy. Beijing - A Chinese university with deep ties to the People's Liberation Army bought Nvidia's powerful H200 artificial intelligence chips last month despite being on a U.S. export blacklist, procurement records show, highlighting gaps in Washington's efforts to curb China's access to advanced technology. The findings come as Nvidia and its CEO Jensen Huang face mounting scrutiny in Washington over his lobbying for looser restrictions on sales of AI chips to China, following reports alleging he was targeted by a Chinese spying operation. Huang has argued that continued U.S. sales to China would preserve American technological leadership and keep Chinese customers reliant on U.S. technology. But some U.S. lawmakers say access to Nvidia's most powerful AI chips can speed China's development of AI systems for weapons design, intelligence analysis and military modernization.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei looks on after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Feb. 19. As the speed of artificial intelligence development has become increasingly controversial, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is among those calling for top AI labs to pace the frontier" in order to prioritize safety. Anthropic and some of its shareholders are seeking to raise as much as $64.4 billion in an initial public offering, stopping short of targeting more than SpaceX gathered in its record-setting first-time share sale. The Claude chatbot maker is marketing shares in its IPO for $70 to $78 each, according to a filing on Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Anthropic is offering 801.4 million shares, while backers are selling 23.6 million shares. At the top of the price range, Anthropic would have a market value of about $1 trillion, based on the shares outstanding listed in the filing.

Sakana AI might list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, or it may choose a dual listing on both. Sakana AI might go public next year and is considering a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nasdaq or both for its initial public offering (IPO), media reports say. According to Nikkei, which broke the news, the company's market capitalization could exceed Mercari's ¥680 billion ($4.3 billion) and set Sakana AI on track to become one of Japan's most valuable startup listings. Goldman Sachs has been hired as an adviser, according to the report. In an X post on Monday, Sakana AI said it has no near-term plans for an IPO. "Our priority remains building a generational AI company that serves as Japan's national AI champion," the post read.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks during a keynote address at an Nvidia conference in San Jose, California, on March 16. Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy has sent the company's stock plunging, become a focus of internal and government investigations and is now threatening to reverberate across the AI industry. Nvidia shares slid as much as 8.8% on Monday, at one point erasing nearly $400 billion in market valuation, after Huang disclosed the romantic relationship Sunday in a memo to employees. The company's board is assembling a committee of independent directors who will work with outside counsel to investigate reports of Huang being targeted for foreign intelligence. With the stunning revelations, investors need to consider a range of possibilities that may affect not just Huang and Nvidia, but the entire artificial intelligence industry.

Mizuho is strengthening its position in Japan's investment banking market by securing a key role in a string of major U.S. listings, including Anthropic's, and tapping Japanese investors for up to $3.5 billion. Mizuho Financial Group is carving out a lucrative niche in Japan's equity capital market by bridging the ravenous U.S. demand for artificial intelligence fundraising and its home country's deep pool of retail savings. Anthropic's listing is the third in a string of blockbuster deals where Mizuho snagged a key role, looking to raise as much as $3.5 billion from Japanese investors. It shows that the bank is able to leverage its success in building a U.S. business to compete on a market traditionally dominated by Nomura Holdings where domestic deals have hit a drought. The Claude chatbot maker is following SpaceX in bringing a mega deal to the Japanese market, attracted to its cash-rich retail investors and a streamlined offering process.

SoftBank Group and ABB are studying how the Chinese business, which is ABB Robotics' largest single market, could be separated out, according to people familiar with the matter. SoftBank Group and ABB are looking at carving out the Chinese part of a giant robotics deal as they explore ways to salvage a transaction blocked by Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter. The two companies and their advisers are trying to find a solution after China's powerful Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review on Thursday halted SoftBank's move to acquire the ABB unit valued at $5.4 billion. They are studying how the Chinese business, which is ABB Robotics' largest single market, could be separated out, the people said. SoftBank is leading the push, people added, asking not to be identified as the talks were private.

Can't cook or shower: Indonesians take aim at data centers The Nongsa Digital Park (NDP) area, a hub for artificial intelligence (AI)-based data center and digital infrastructure development, in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia, on Nov. 3. Batam, Indonesia - Cooking and bathing became difficult when taps ran dry in Batam, an Indonesian island where residents are protesting as data centers spring up to power the global artificial intelligence boom. The area had suffered a "long drought" caused by low rainfall, the local water utility operator said, as a strong El Nino cycle exacerbates dry weather. But, as in other countries, anger has been directed at the data centers, warehouse-like facilities that keep apps and artificial intelligence tools running, with water often used to cool their humming servers. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.