The "safety" of artificial intelligence is the talk of the town in Washington. Over the summer, the companies OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta all disclosed that their software had hacked into outside computers of their own volition. Most worryingly, OpenAI's virtual "agents" coordinated as a swarm to cover their tracks. Last week, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon publicly resigned out of his worry that computers will become "smart enough to kill us." While President Donald Trump dismissed the fears, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) proposed jailing AI developers.
Across the ocean, another AI safety controversy was unfolding. Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor premiered their documentary NAZA, named after the Hebrew acronym for collateral damage, at the Venice Film Festival in Italy last week. Building on Abraham's earlier reporting on his country's targeting practices, the film airs testimony from Israeli intelligence officers about how they used AI to surveil and kill Palestinians in Gaza, including civilians. The Israeli military, which denies the allegations, has launched an investigation into the "leaking of classified materials" to Abraham and Szor, according to The Times of Israel.
