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OpenAI just released GPT-4.5 and says it is its biggest and best chat model yet

MIT Technology Review

People with a 200-a-month ChatGPT Pro account can try out GPT-4.5 today. OpenAI says it will begin rolling out to other users next week. With each release of its GPT models, OpenAI has shown that bigger means better. But there has been a lot of talk about how that approach is hitting a wall--including remarks from OpenAI's former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. The company's claims about GPT-4.5 feel like a thumb in the eye to the naysayers.


Johnson demands Biden admin 'do its job' on New Jersey drone sightings: 'People are not buying the answers'

FOX News

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., joins'Fox & Friends' to discuss the disagreement over the House spending bill, Paris Hilton's push to pass a bill cracking down on abusive youth facilities, and concerns over mystery drone sightings. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday rebuffed the Biden-Harris administration's response to recent drone sightings in New Jersey, decrying how federal authorities have given no clear answers to Congress on their origin. In a Fox News appearance, Johnson agreed that the White House, and more broadly the U.S. government, does not seem concerned about the increased sightings in New Jersey and elsewhere in the Northeast. "Look, I'm the speaker of the House. I have the exact same frustrations that you do and all of us do. We don't have the answers. The administration is not providing them," Johnson said.


Pentagon claims no connection to drone sightings in U.S. Northeast

The Japan Times

None of the mysterious drones reported over the skies of the U.S. Northeast are being flown by the Pentagon or are part of secret government tests, a Defense Department spokesman said Tuesday. Major General Pat Ryder told reporters that top department officials take seriously any cases of drones flying near or over U.S. military sites, though he added this was not a new concern given the volume of daily drone flights. "We will typically, when we detect them, attempt to classify them and take appropriate measures," Ryder said. "Is it possible that some of those are surveilling? But can you make that assumption in every case, not necessarily."


Department of Defense doubles down, says drones are not US military assets

FOX News

Gen. Pat Ryder answers questions on the uptick in drone sightings during a Pentagon press briefing. The Department of Defense (DoD) doubled down on Tuesday, saying the increasing number of possible drones being reported in places like New Jersey and New York are not U.S. military assets, adding that the vast majority of the unmanned aircraft are likely used by hobbyists for recreational purposes. Gen. Pat Ryder fielded numerous questions from reporters about the drones during a press briefing on Tuesday, but he remained clear that the drones are not DoD assets, nor are they part of any experimental programs. He said there are over a million drones registered in the U.S., and on any given day, there could be about 8,500 drones in flight. The vast majority of the drones, Ryder noted, are likely used by hobbyists or are for recreational purposes.


Houthis launch missile, drone attacks on US warships off Yemen's coast

Al Jazeera

US warships came under sustained missile and drone attack from Houthi fighters as they sailed off the coast of Yemen, the Pentagon has confirmed, with the armed group claiming it attacked the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and two US destroyers. Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday that the United States military's Central Command (CENTCOM) forces "successfully repelled multiple Iranian backed Houthi attacks during a transit of the Bab al-Mandeb strait", which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Ryder told reporters at a news conference that two US-guided missile destroyers – the USS Stockdale and USS Spruance – were attacked by at least eight one-way attack drones, five antiship ballistic missiles and three antiship cruise missiles. All the Houthi drones and missiles "were successfully engaged and defeated", and neither of the US Navy ships were damaged or personnel hurt, he said. Ryder added that he was not aware of any attacks against the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.


I used generative AI to turn my story into a comic--and you can too

MIT Technology Review

After more than a year in development, Lore Machine is now available to the public for the first time. For 10 a month, you can upload 100,000 words of text (up to 30,000 words at a time) and generate 80 images for short stories, scripts, podcast transcripts, and more. There are price points for power users too, including an enterprise plan costing 160 a month that covers 2.24 million words and 1,792 images. The illustrations come in a range of preset styles, from manga to watercolor to pulp '80s TV show. Zac Ryder, founder of creative agency Modern Arts, has been using an early-access version of the tool since Lore Machine founder Thobey Campion first showed him what it could do.


U.S. Strikes Hit Most of Targets in Iraq and Syria, Pentagon Says

NYT > Middle East

American warplanes destroyed or severely damaged most of the Iranian and militia targets they struck in Syria and Iraq on Friday, according to the Pentagon, the first major salvos in what President Biden and his aides have said will be a sustained campaign. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said on Monday that "more than 80" of some 85 targets in Syria and Iraq were destroyed or rendered inoperable. The targets, he said, included command hubs; intelligence centers; depots for rockets, missiles and attack drones; as well as logistics and ammunition bunkers. It was the first military assessment of the strikes carried out in response to a drone attack in Jordan by an Iran-backed militia in Iraq on Jan. 28 that killed three American soldiers and injured at least 40 more service members. "This is the start of our response, and there will be additional actions taken," General Ryder told reporters without elaborating.


U.S. Jet Shoots Down Turkish Drone in Syria

NYT > Middle East

An American F-16 fighter jet shot down a Turkish military drone on Thursday that entered a restricted zone in northeastern Syria and came within about 550 yards of U.S. ground forces, according to Pentagon officials. No American troops were harmed in the incident, U.S. officials said. "Turkey is one of our strongest and most valued NATO allies, and that partnership continues and will continue," Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters. "So this is certainly a regrettable incident."


US air defenses down during suspected Iranian drone strike in Syria that killed one American

FOX News

Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin has the latest on the attack and retaliatory measures on'The Story.' The main air defense system at a coalition military base in Northeast Syria was not working Thursday when one American contractor was killed after a suspected Iranian drone hit the base and injured six other servicemen, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News Friday. U.S. intelligence has assessed that the drone that struck the base was Iranian. The injured U.S. service members are in "stable" condition and have been transported to a hospital in Landstuhl, Germany the senior official added. In testimony on the Hill Thursday, Gen. Erik Kurilla said in that Iranian-backed forces have been behind 78 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since January 2021.


Pentagon says its 'highly unlikely' Russia will find anything useful if it recovers US drone from Black Sea

FOX News

It is "highly unlikely" Russia will find anything useful if it manages to recover a U.S. surveillance drone from the deep waters of the Black Sea where it crashed earlier this week after colliding with a Russian fighter jet, the Pentagon said Thursday. Gen. Pat Ryder comes amid reports that Russia was making an effort to recover the MQ-9 Reaper drone's debris. Ryder reiterated Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley's assertion that no sensitive material was compromised in the drone incident. "We do have indications that Russia's likely making an effort to try to recovery MQ-9 debris," Ryder said. "However, we assess it's very unlikely that they would be able to recovery anything useful, given a couple of factors."