AI Billionaires Are Flooding Money Into Politics to Influence Elections, But It’s Backfiring; Futurism, October 24, 2026

Frank Landymore, Futurism ; 

AI Billionaires Are Flooding Money Into Politics to Influence Elections, But It’s Backfiring

Even a whiff of AI money seems to disgust voters.

"Unreasonably wealthy AI plutocrats are pouring billions of dollars into US elections. 

Elon Musk alone has pumped more than $445 million into Republican campaigns ahead of the midterms, after spending a near-equal sum to get president Donald Trump elected in the last election cycle. Leading The Future, a Super PAC backed by OpenAI and Palantir cofounders and prominent tech venture capitalists including Marc Andreessen, has amassed $140 million to dole out to pro-AI candidates.

But all that money doesn’t seem to be helping the AI industry’s interests, because its image is still in the toilet.

A new analysis from Guardrails Action, an AI accountability advocacy group, found that voters in key battleground states still harbor mostly negative feelings towards the AI industry, with the tech being such a toxic topic that it’s potentially driving voters to cross the aisle."

Put Your A.I. Agents to Work With These 5 Killer Tasks; The New York Times, October 25, 2026

 Brian X. Chen, The New York Times; Put Your A.I. Agents to Work With These 5 Killer Tasks

When you start using Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s dots for these tasks — like applying for jobs and booking hard-to-get restaurant tables — you may never go back.

"Since its debut last month, Meta’s Muse, the artificially intelligent assistant that performs tasks on a user’s behalf, has been the most downloaded phone app. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has responded with a competitor called dots, a similar assistant that costs $100 a month to use.

Welcome to the era of agents, digital assistants that use our devices for us. Though they share many similarities with chatbots, agents like Muse and dots serve a different purpose. Chatbots primarily provide answers to questions. Agents are essentially bots with their own computer and web browser, so they can do more complicated things like applying for jobs, booking restaurant tables and sending emails."

Most Americans say AI is bad for society, oppose more data centers: ABC/Post/Ipsos poll; ABC News, October 23, 2026

Emily Guskin, ABC News; Most Americans say AI is bad for society, oppose more data centers: ABC/Post/Ipsos poll

"A majority of Americans say artificial intelligence is a bad thing for society and about two-thirds oppose the construction of new data centers in the U.S., with opposition even higher to building data centers in people's own communities, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel...

Younger Americans are more likely to say AI is bad for society than older Americans: 65% of Americans under 30 say AI is bad for society along with 59% of those 30 to 39. A slimmer majority of Americans 40 and older say AI is bad for society (53%)...

Risks and benefits of AI

When Americans were asked about various potential risks with the growth of AI, majorities say that most of the possible consequences are a "high risk."

Nearly three-quarters of Americans, 73%, say there is a high risk of AI hacking secure computer systems, including majorities across partisan groups and age groups...

Two-thirds of Americans say the federal government is not doing enough to regulate the growth and development of AI technology, including majorities of Democrats (80%), independents (66%) and Republicans (54%)...

Two-thirds of Americans (66%) oppose the construction of new data centers in the U.S., growing to 72% when asked about building a new data center in their community."

Trump’s ‘Smart Wall’ of A.I. Cameras Is Watching the Border, and More Than a Million People; The New York Times, October 22, 2026

 Bora Erden and Nicholas Nehamas, The New York Times; Trump’s ‘Smart Wall’ of A.I. Cameras Is Watching the Border, and More Than a Million People

"For decades, Republicans and Democrats agreed that a “smart wall” of surveillance cameras and other high-tech equipment would be a potent tool to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking across the southern border.

Now, the smart wall has arrived — and it is more powerful than many could have imagined.

Already, more than one million people in the United States and Mexico live in areas along the border where they can be seen by A.I.-powered surveillance towers, a New York Times analysis found. At least four million more live within view of an older generation of cameras that the government plans to retrofit with A.I. technology.

And the Trump administration has secured more than $1 billion to build 1,500 new A.I. towers. The goal is full coverage along the U.S. border with Mexico, and there are plans to install towers near Canada, as well as in coastal areas and in Puerto Rico.

But a rising public backlash against A.I. and growing anxiety over mass surveillance have left some communities with an uncomfortable question: Is the potential loss of privacy worth it?"

Glenrock Woman Says Converse County Library Fired Her Over Daughter's Facebook Post; Cowboy State Daily, October 23, 2026

Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily; Glenrock Woman Says Converse County Library Fired Her Over Daughter's Facebook Post

"Saying she was fired because her daughter made a Facebook post out of concern for her severe working conditions, a former Glenrock librarian is suing the Converse County Library and its director.

Erin Wolfley’s lawsuit complaint, filed this week in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming, says Converse County Library Director Mary Lin Maner, as well as the library board and leadership, violated the First Amendment."

Deciding with fake images: More candidates are using AI in political ads to get your vote; NBC NEWS, October 23, 2026

 Anagilmara Vílchez, NBC; Deciding with fake images: More candidates are using AI in political ads to get your vote

At least 220 ads — mostly Republican — generated or enhanced with artificial intelligence have circulated in the lead-up to the midterms, at a cost of almost $137 million.

"Evette is not the only one whose image was manipulated in the lead-up to the midterm elections. The Wesleyan Media Project, a group of experts that tracks political propaganda in campaigns, identified at least 220 ads produced or enhanced with artificial intelligence by candidates or political action committees this election cycle. They cost just under $137 million.

It’s a significant leap in the use of this technology compared to 2024, when the investment in AI was less than $50,000 during the presidential election. As of May of this year, the money spent on these AI ads was already $20 million."

Supreme Court recusals stop music case in its tracks, strike warning note; NPR, October 21, 2026

 Carrie Johnson, NPR; Supreme Court recusals stop music case in its tracks, strike warning note

"No quorum, because four of the nine justices recused themselves. The court did not explain why Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson stepped away from the case.

But the watchdog group Fix the Court has an idea: All four of those justices have book deals with Penguin Random House, part of a German conglomerate that's a party in the music copyright case.

"When you have a financial stake in a party or your finances could somehow be impacted by the outcome of a case, under federal law and the Supreme Court code of conduct, the justices are supposed to recuse," said Gabe Roth, who leads Fix the Court...

Three years ago, the Supreme Court published a code of conduct. But the long and short of it is, the justices largely police themselves.

Blackman, the law professor, said Congress should pass legislation to address the book royalties issue...

Tim Kappel is a lawyer for the songwriter in the case the court declined to hear. In a written statement, Kappel said the recusal speaks to the broad impact of copyright law and the expansive definition of what it means to be an artist."

Publisher cuts ties with Quebec author accused of AI use in award-winning novel; CBC, October 21, 2026

 Annabelle Olivier , CBC; Publisher cuts ties with Quebec author accused of AI use in award-winning novel

Thélyson Orélien had denied AI use, admitted to past plagiarism

"Montreal publishing house Éditions du Boréal announced Wednesday it is ending its professional relationship with Thélyson Orélien — a Haitian-born, Quebec-based author. 

In a news release, the publisher said new information, confirmed over the course of recent days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process of Orélien's novel, C’était ça ou mourir, published earlier this year."

What Hundreds of Focus Groups With Trump Voters Revealed; The Ezra Klein Show, The New York Times, October 23, 2026

 

Ezra Klein

Produced by Annie Galvin and Jack McCordick

, The Ezra Klein Show, The New York Times; What Hundreds of Focus Groups With Trump Voters Revealed

[Ezra Klein] "What changes in politics — or what have you watched change in politics — as it has become more, in your language here, vibe oriented?

[Sarah Longwell] "I think it’s the big difference between news seekers and news receivers.

We used to live in a world where you spent time with the news, and it was a specific time. You sat down at the breakfast table, and you read a newspaper. You watched the evening news. You made time for the news.

I just think that the news receiver means: I didn’t sit down to find something out. Information just washed over me, and there was no mechanism to verify it. I didn’t really sit and spend time with it and ask: Is this true? Does it even matter to me? It just hit me for a second.

It just flashes over them. So they wake up with an opinion without any idea of how it was formed."