Blue tsunami wipes out $2.5 trillion from Nasdaq as investors fret about AI trade Technology stocks plunged on Thursday as traders assessed the implication of a Democratic sweep in the U.S. midterm elections on artificial intelligence. The Democratic sweep in Congress devastated U.S. stocks on Thursday, with the tech-led Nasdaq notching its deepest one-day drop since "Liberation Day" in April 2025 and wiping out trillions in market value on fears of more artificial intelligence scrutiny, particularly on data center construction. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% on investor fears that the Democratic Party's sweeping midterm victory could stall AI infrastructure expansion and force a reckoning for smaller firms whose capacity to raise funds has already been limited by higher interest rates and tighter financial conditions. It was the second straight day of selling in AI stocks and the fifth decline of more than 500 points in the Nasdaq Composite since mid-October, as the previously buoyant AI trade has come under increasing scrutiny in the last several weeks. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Banking watchdogs are ramping up their scrutiny of artificial intelligence as fears mount over its effect on stability, sources say. NEW YORK/LONDON - Banking regulators are stepping up efforts to contain growing artificial intelligence risks, six people familiar with the matter have said, with some pointing to the potential for cyberattacks on banks or rogue agents undermining global financial stability. The regulatory scrutiny reflects growing recognition that advances in frontier AI may require costly investments in cyberrecovery, greater attention to dependencies on external technology providers and in some jurisdictions more formal regulatory guidance, sources said. Three top regulators in the United States, including the Federal Reserve, are quizzing banks about their use of advanced artificial intelligence models, two of the people said, which adds to prior scrutiny. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Despite their problems, robot delivery likely isn't going to go away any time soon; on the contrary, it's predicted to vastly expand. A recent study by Transforma Insights suggests that the world will have 559,000 automated urban delivery vehicles by 2035, compared to 28,000 in 2025. Considering this prediction, this robot revolution could have a big impact on gig workers. For companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash, both of which have faced scrutiny when it comes to paying their drivers ethically, robots are an easy way to increase overall company profits. However, the distance limitations of current robot models -- about two miles -- tend to limit their usage to more urban areas, meaning that, at least for the time being, humans cannot be completely taken out of the equation.

OpenAI has announced the release of what it says is its most advanced AI model, amid heightened scrutiny of the risks of the frontier technology escaping human control. The $852bn start-up said in its announcement on Thursday that GPT 6 Astra, the "world's most intelligent and aligned" AI model, earned perfect or near-perfect scores in key benchmarks of AI reasoning, beating both its prior release GPT 5.6 Sol and rival Anthropic's Claude Fable 5. OpenAI's latest release comes as the AI industry is at the centre of a lively public debate about the dangers of the cutting-edge technology following the AI-led hacking of the startup Hugging Face in July. An independent probe into the cyberattack found that hundreds of OpenAI's AI agents had begun communicating among themselves before breaking out of their controlled environment and compromising Hugging Face's servers. On Thursday, US Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent, and US House Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat, unveiled legislation that would pause the development of advanced AI until the establishment of federal safety rules and an outright ban on the creation of "superintelligent" AI. "Nearly every day, there is a frightening new story about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the technology they are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results," Sanders said in a statement announcing the legislation, which is unlikely to advance due to the Republicans' control of all three branches of the US government. "The leaders of the major AI companies publicly acknowledge that they do not fully understand the technology and that it is escaping their control. It is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced."

Researchers led by Kouhei Masumoto, a professor of psychology at Kobe University, posed ethical dilemmas that are variations of the classic trolley problem to participants of a study and presented them with artificial intelligence-generated counterarguments for the two choices they could make. If ChatGPT challenged your moral judgment, would you be persuaded? A recent study suggests that more than 30% of people would, highlighting the significant influence of artificial intelligence on views about questions with no easy answers. The study also found that older adults showed a greater tendency to be swayed in their opinions, pointing to a potential danger of persuasive technologies in a rapidly graying society such as Japan. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

On the eve of about 8,000 jobs being cut, employees are cashing in on headphone stipends and other perks while they still can. Ahead of Meta's latest round of mass layoffs tomorrow, some employees are deserting offices, abandoning their work, and loading up on perks they might soon lose, several people at the company tell WIRED. Two employees describe a widespread rush to use up an annual $2,000 flexible benefit, which can cover a variety of expenses including health and wellness activities. A separate triennial credit of $200 toward the purchase of audio gear has led to a scramble to purchase Apple AirPods and other headphones. Another source says Meta offices have been largely empty this week, as people prioritize polishing their résumés and gather offsite to commiserate with friends for what may be their final time as colleagues.

Who is James Murray, the new health secretary replacing Wes Streeting? From a high-profile, media-friendly Secretary of State to a relatively unknown MP, the departure of Wes Streeting and arrival of James Murray has raised eyebrows in the health and political worlds. It is one of the biggest Cabinet jobs with the largest public service departmental budgets. There will be a steep learning curve with no time for preparation away from the front line. Murray says he's deeply honoured to be appointed to the brief and continue Wes Streeting's brilliant work on such a critical mission, but who is he, and what issues will he face in his in tray?

'Releasing a marketing post with purposely vague language that obscures evidence brings into question if they are trying to garner further investment without scrutiny,' one scientist said. 'Releasing a marketing post with purposely vague language that obscures evidence brings into question if they are trying to garner further investment without scrutiny,' one scientist said. 'Too powerful for the public': inside Anthropic's bid to win the AI publicity war This week, the AI company Anthropic said it had created an AI model so powerful that, out of a sense of overwhelming responsibility, it was not going to release it to the public. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, summoned the heads of major banks for a chat about the model, Mythos. The Reform UK MP Danny Kruger wrote a letter to the government urging it to " engage with AI firm Anthropic whose new frontier model Claude Mythos could present catastrophic cybersecurity risks to the UK".

X CEO Elon Musk has said he was not aware of any "naked underage images" generated by xAI's Grok chatbot, as scrutiny of the AI tool intensifies worldwide. "I [am] not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero," Musk said in an X post on Wednesday. Musk reiterated that Grok is programmed to refuse illegal requests and must comply with the laws of any given country or state. "Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests," Musk said.

CEO Sam Altman announced an age-prediction system and new parental controls in a blog post on Tuesday. OpenAI announced new teen safety features for ChatGPT on Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to respond to concerns about how minors engage with chatbots . The company is building an age-prediction system that identifies if a user is under 18 years old and routes them to an " age-appropriate " system that blocks graphic sexual content. If the system detects that the user is considering suicide or self-harm, it will contact the user's parents. In cases of imminent danger, if a user's parents are unreachable, the system may contact the authorities.