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Dutch government turns to NixOS for a sovereign desktop
The Dutch government has officially backed the DAWO project, an initiative to build a free and open-source workplace environment for public administration based on NixOS. The project, officially commissioned in July by the government’s interdepartmental committee, aims to reduce reliance on commercial vendors and aligns with similar digital sovereignty efforts underway in France and Germany,…
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Hinton and Bengio urge governments to prepare for rapid AI advances
Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and more than 20 other researchers and technology executives have urged governments to prepare for a possible AI “intelligence explosion”. They describe this as AI-driven research accelerating so sharply that years of progress could be compressed into months or less, with major consequences for human control and the balance of power.…
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I’m 25 with a terminal disease. We need an FDA commissioner that hears people like me
A 25-year-old living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy has written an opinion piece urging for a more patient-centred approach to FDA drug approval processes. The author, not expected to live much longer according to medical statistics, argues that the next FDA commissioner should empower patients and doctors to decide whether experimental treatments are worth trying, rather…
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Goodman abandons Sydney data centre plan after residents’ opposition
Goodman Group has withdrawn its application to build Project Mars, a data centre near homes in Sydney’s Lane Cove suburb, after strong opposition from residents and campaigners. The decision highlights tensions in Australia between attracting investment in AI infrastructure and concerns about its effects on local communities and water and energy supplies. The proposed facility…
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Burnham is popular with young people — but more would vote Green, polling reveals
Polling suggests Andy Burnham is more popular with young people than Green leader Zack Polanski, yet the Greens would receive more of their votes than Labour if an election were held now. The contrast points to a gap between Burnham’s personal appeal and young voters’ views of the government and their party choice. In an…
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Rahm Emanuel lays out five-point ethics plan, says Democrats should learn from GOP-led states on education
Rahm Emanuel proposed a five-point ethics plan for officials across all three branches of government and said Democrats should learn from education gains in Republican-led states. The former White House chief of staff, who has considered a 2028 presidential run, argued that both parties have made mistakes and that improving student outcomes should take priority…
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UK government vows to reclaim services from outsourcing giants
The UK government is establishing a new unit dedicated to bringing public services back in-house from outsourcing companies, promising “the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation.” This initiative has gained momentum following Capita’s troubled takeover of the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration, which has suffered from a glitchy website and prevented some former civil…
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US border agency plans Google AI to recommend FOIA redactions
US Customs and Border Protection plans to use Google AI to recommend what information to redact from Freedom of Information Act responses. The move is intended to speed up processing, but raises concerns that automated recommendations could increase secrecy or obscure information the public is entitled to receive. By the end of September, the Department…
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UK maternity crisis; Oasis sells out tour; fugitive sex offender hunted
An inquiry finds 108 of 178 UK maternal deaths were preventable, raising safety concerns. Oasis have sold out all forty-two Live twenty twenty-seven dates; police hunt a fugitive sex offender.
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White House reporters float some surprise choices on which Republicans could run for president after Trump
Three prominent White House correspondents — from Politico, NBC News, and the New York Times — discussed potential Republican presidential candidates for 2028 during a panel at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. The conversation explored how the Republican Party might structure itself after Donald Trump’s presidency, identifying distinct ideological and strategic factions that could…