Paxton trounces Cornyn in the Texas Senate Republican primary runoff; Trump waffles between a losing "peace deal" and a return to war in Iran; and congressional candidate Alex Bores makes the case for AI regulation. Please enable javascript to get your Slate Plus feeds. If you can't access your feeds, please contact customer support. Check your phone for a link to finish setting up your feed. Please enter a valid phone number.

A spokesperson for Anthropic declined to comment on whether Claude was used in the operation, but said any use of the tool was required to comply with its policies. A spokesperson for Anthropic declined to comment on whether Claude was used in the operation, but said any use of the tool was required to comply with its policies. US military used Anthropic's AI model Claude in Venezuela raid, report says Wall Street Journal says Claude used in operation via Anthropic's partnership with Palantir Technologies Sat 14 Feb 2026 11.15 ESTFirst published on Sat 14 Feb 2026 10.53 EST Claude, the AI model developed by Anthropic, was used by the US military during its operation to kidnap Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal revealed on Saturday, a high-profile example of how the US defence department is using artificial intelligence in its operations. The US raid on Venezuela involved bombing across the capital, Caracas, and the killing of 83 people, according to Venezuela's defence ministry. Anthropic's terms of use prohibit the use of Claude for violent ends, for the development of weapons or for conducting surveillance.

The "Kill Them All" Edition US officials debate who to blame for the military killing of shipwrecked alleged drug smugglers; Democrats celebrate despite losing a special election in Tennessee; and the future of self-driving cars. Please enable javascript to get your Slate Plus feeds. If you can't access your feeds, please contact customer support. Check your phone for a link to finish setting up your feed. Please enter a valid phone number.

As Generative Artificial Intelligence is adopted across the financial services industry, a significant barrier to adoption and usage is measuring model performance. Historical machine learning metrics can oftentimes fail to generalize to GenAI workloads and are often supplemented using Subject Matter Expert (SME) Evaluation. Even in this combination, many projects fail to account for various unique risks present in choosing specific metrics. Additionally, many widespread benchmarks created by foundational research labs and educational institutions fail to generalize to industrial use. This paper explains these challenges and provides a Risk Assessment Framework to allow for better application of SME and machine learning Metrics

Under the latest plan, Musk would be awarded shares in 12 tranches, tied to 12 market milestones. The first milestone is for Tesla's market value to double to 2tn. The final market value milestone is 8.5tn - more than double the value of chip giant Nvidia, the world's most valuable company. He must also hit an operational milestone alongside each market milestone, which include the robot and vehicle targets, and a goal to increase one of Tesla's earnings figures 24-fold. According to Tesla's latest financial report, sales are falling at their fastest rate in a decade, an issue which some experts have put down to Musk's "toxic" reputation.

A little over two years ago, OpenAI's founder Sam Altman stood in front of lawmakers at a congressional hearing and asked them for stronger regulations on artificial intelligence. The technology was "risky" and "could cause significant harm to the world", Altman said, calling for the creation of a new regulatory agency to address AI safety. Altman and the AI industry are promoting a very different message today. The AI they once framed as an existential threat to humanity is now key to maintaining American prosperity and hegemony. Regulations that were once a necessity are now criticized as a hindrance that will weaken the US and embolden its adversaries.

The'Outnumbered' panel discusses how celebrities have reportedly authored a letter to President Donald Trump seeking his protection against artificial intelligence after smearing his name for years. Left-leaning actress Natasha Lyonne is at the forefront of Hollywood efforts to get the government to address creators' concerns about AI infringing on their work. "My primary interest is that people get paid for their life's work," Lyonne said in a report in the Wall Street Journal. The story detailed Lyonne's efforts to lobby Hollywood heavyweights to sign onto her letter to the Trump administration in March, urging against the loosening of regulations around AI, which they deem a potential threat to their intellectual property without proper protections in place. REPUBLICANS SCRAP DEAL IN'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL' TO LOWER RESTRICTIONS ON STATES' AI REGULATIONS Natasha Lyonne is among Hollywood figures lobbying the Trump administration to rein in AI. (Photo by Araya Doheny/Getty Images) The Hollywood letter said the companies "are arguing for a special government exemption so they can freely exploit America's creative and knowledge industries, despite their substantial revenues and available funds. Lyonne and more than 400 others, including such figures as Paul McCartney, Ron Howard and Ben Stiller, signed the letter. Lyonne, known for her roles in the series "Poker Face" and "Russian Doll," is a partner in a new studio called Asteria, which describes itself as "an artist-led generative AI film and animation studio powered by the first clean and ethical AI model." Like many figures in Hollywood, Lyonne is not a fan of the president, endorsing Kamala Harris in 2024 and posting in a now-deleted X post in 2020 about turning Texas blue to defeat Trump. Earlier this year, she told The Hollywood Reporter she was concerned for marginalized communities, saying of Trump, "It's very weird to have like a showbiz guy in charge, is surreal.

A growing number of fire departments across the country are turning to artificial intelligence to help detect and respond to wildfires more quickly. The rise of artificial intelligence in education is forcing schools and universities to rethink everything from homework policies to how final exams are administered. With tools like ChatGPT now widespread, students can generate essays, solve complex math problems or draft lab reports in seconds, raising urgent questions about what authentic learning looks like in 2025. To fight back, some schools are turning to an unlikely solution: pen and paper. The old-school "blue book," a lined booklet used for handwritten test answers, is staging a comeback, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether the US should join Israel's war on Iran, the tragic Minnesota assassinations and why US political violence is surging now, and the Supreme Court's unsurprising but willfully obtuse decision to uphold Tennessee's youth transgender care ban. Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Alexander Ward, Lara Seligman, and Dustin Volz for The Wall Street Journal (Exclusive): Israel Built Its Case for War With Iran on New Intelligence. The U.S. Didn't Buy It. Thomas L. Friedman for The New York Times (Opinion): The Smart Way for Trump to End the Israel-Iran War Oren Cass for Understanding America (Substack): Is Israel the Ideal "America First" Ally? Warren P. Strobel, Alex Horton, and Abigail Hauslohner for the Washington Post: Navigating Iran crisis, Trump relies on experience over star power Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: Court upholds Tennessee's ban on certain medical treatments for transgender minors Abbie VanSickle for The New York Times: Sotomayor Writes the Court'Abandons' Transgender Children to'Political Whims' Ella Lee for The Hill: Clarence Thomas urges courts to end deferring to'experts' on gender-affirming care Ian Millhiser for Vox: The Supreme Court's incoherent new attack on trans rights, explained Here are this week's chatters: Emily: A Family Matter by Claire Lynch; The Fall of Affirmative Action: Race, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Higher Education by Justin Driver; A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children by Haley Cohen Gilliland. John: Mary Cunningham for CBS News: Federal Reserve holds its benchmark interest rate steady at today's FOMC meeting; ABA Banking Journal: Fed's Powell says some areas of U.S. may be'uninsurable' in next decade David: Trip Gabriel for the New York Times: William Langewiesche, the'Steve McQueen of Journalism,' Dies at 70 For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the exciting possibilities and likely limitations of using AI tools for historical research and writing.

'The Big Weekend Show' co-hosts discuss Tinder user traffic peaking during'Dating Sunday.' Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of Tinder parent company Match Group, is promising to change the reputation of Tinder as a casual hookup app into a more serious dating app. They don't drink as much alcohol, they don't have as much sex," Rascoff said to a group of investors, according to The Wall Street Journal. "We need to adapt our products to accept that reality." Unlike the millennial generation, which helped popularize Tinder and shaped the dating app into a domestic and international success, Gen Z appears to be less interested in purely casual dating experiences. Some commentators believe that Gen Z is a generation that is tired of "ghosting," which is defined as suddenly cutting off communications with another person without warning, and instead seeking more authentic dating experiences.