OpenAI turned 10 yesterday, and President Donald Trump incidentally gave the company a very special birthday gift: a sweeping executive order aiming to dismantle and preempt many state-level regulations of artificial intelligence. 'There's only going to be one winner here, and it's probably going to be the U.S. or China,' Trump said in a press conference announcing the order. And for the United States to win, 'we have to be unified. China is unified.' Almost all of the AI industry's biggest players have been pushing for this move. OpenAI has been asking all year for the Trump administration to preempt state-level AI regulations, which the company believes would be burdensome in various ways; Microsoft, Google, Meta, Nvidia, and the major venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz have made similar requests. These firms and Trump have the same argument: Having to comply with dozens or hundreds of state regulations would be onerous, slowing the pace of AI development and putting China at an advantage. (OpenAI, which has a business partnership with The Atlantic, did not respond to a request for comment.)...

Artificial intelligence can enhance decision-making and enable action with reduced risk and greater precision, making it a critical tool for national security. A new program offered jointly by the MIT departments of Mechanical Engineering (Course 2, MechE) and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6, EECS) will provide breadth and depth in technical studies for naval officers, as well as a path for non-naval officers studying at MIT, to grow in their understanding of applied AI for naval and military applications. 'The potential for artificial intelligence is just starting to be fully realized. It's a tool that dramatically improves speed, efficiency, and decision-making with countless applications,' says Commander Christopher MacLean, MIT associate professor of the practice in mechanical engineering, naval construction, and engineering. 'AI is a force multiplier that can be used for data processing, decision support, unmanned and autonomous systems, cyber defense, logistics and supply chains, energy management, and many other fields.'...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday evening that directs federal agencies to challenge state AI laws, arguing that startups need relief from a 'patchwork' of rules. Legal experts and startups meanwhile say the order could prolong uncertainty, sparking court battles that leave young companies navigating shifting state requirements while waiting to see if Congress can agree on a single national framework. The order, titled 'Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence,' directs the Department of Justice to set up a task force within 30 days to challenge certain state laws on the grounds that AI is interstate commerce and should be regulated federally. It gives the Commerce Department 90 days to compile a list of 'onerous' state AI laws, an assessment that could affect states' eligibility for federal funds, including broadband grants. The order also asks the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission to explore federal standards that could preempt state rules and instructs the administration to work with Congress on a uniform AI law....

It's week one of the semester, the first day of class: 20 students, mostly freshmen, sit silently waiting for our English 101 Writing Composition class to begin. Most have one AirPod in listening to whatever their Spotify AI DJ thinks they want to listen to; some scroll past AI-selected ads for drop-shipped fast fashion. And then someone who has forgotten to silence their phone opens TikTok and the 6-7 second sound blares. They hurriedly close the app, no apology, not even a half-hearted laugh from their classmates. I am a college professor working at the intersection of humanities and artificial intelligence, and yes, I believe the latter not only threatens to devalue college, but it also risks stripping humanity from our lives altogether. It doesn't have to be this way. AI automating away parts of work and life challenges the next generation of the workforce to re-instill the importance of interpersonal social skills, and I see the college classroom as the ideal place for this rehumanization to take place....