vip gratitude ticket SAN FRANCISCO — A former OpenAI researcher known for whistleblowing the blockbuster artificial intelligence company facing a swell of lawsuits over its business model has died, authorities confirmed this week. Suchir Balaji, 26, was found dead inside his Buchanan Street apartment on Nov. 26, San Francisco police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said. Police had been called to the Lower Haight residence at about 1 p.m. that day, after receiving a call asking officers to check on his well-being, a police spokesperson said. The medical examiner’s office has not released his cause of death, but police officials this week said there is “currently, no evidence of foul play.” Information he held was expected to play a key part in lawsuits against the San Francisco-based company. Balaji’s death comes three months after he publicly accused OpenAI of violating U.S. copyright law while developing ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence program that has become a moneymaking sensation used by hundreds of millions of people across the world. Its public release in late 2022 spurred a torrent of lawsuits against OpenAI from authors, computer programmers and journalists, who say the company illegally stole their copyrighted material to train its program and elevate its value past $150 billion. The Mercury News and seven sister news outlets are among several newspapers, including the New York Times, to sue OpenAI in the past year. In an interview with the New York Times published Oct. 23, Balaji argued OpenAI was harming businesses and entrepreneurs whose data were used to train ChatGPT. “If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company,” he told the outlet, adding that “this is not a sustainable model for the internet ecosystem as a whole.” Balaji grew up in Cupertino before attending UC Berkeley to study computer science. It was then he became a believer in the potential benefits that artificial intelligence could offer society, including its ability to cure diseases and stop aging, the Times reported. “I thought we could invent some kind of scientist that could help solve them,” he told the newspaper. But his outlook began to sour in 2022, two years after joining OpenAI as a researcher. He grew particularly concerned about his assignment of gathering data from the internet for the company’s GPT-4 program, which analyzed text from nearly the entire internet to train its artificial intelligence program, the news outlet reported. The practice, he told the Times, ran afoul of the country’s “fair use” laws governing how people can use previously published work. In late October, he posted an analysis on his personal website arguing that point. No known factors “seem to weigh in favor of ChatGPT being a fair use of its training data,” Balaji wrote. “That being said, none of the arguments here are fundamentally specific to ChatGPT either, and similar arguments could be made for many generative AI products in a wide variety of domains.” Reached by this news agency, Balaji’s mother requested privacy while grieving the death of her son. In a Nov. 18 letter filed in federal court, attorneys for The New York Times named Balaji as someone who had “unique and relevant documents” that would support their case against OpenAI. He was among at least 12 people — many of them past or present OpenAI employees — the newspaper had named in court filings as having material helpful to their case, ahead of depositions. Generative artificial intelligence programs work by analyzing an immense amount of data from the internet and using it to answer prompts submitted by users, or to create text, images or videos. When OpenAI released its ChatGPT program in late 2022, it turbocharged an industry of companies seeking to write essays, make art and create computer code. Many of the most valuable companies in the world now work in the field of artificial intelligence, or manufacture the computer chips needed to run those programs. OpenAI’s own value nearly doubled in the past year. News outlets have argued that OpenAI and Microsoft — which is in business with OpenAI also also has been sued by The Mercury News — have plagiarized and stole its articles, undermining their business models. “Microsoft and OpenAI simply take the work product of reporters, journalists, editorial writers, editors and others who contribute to the work of local newspapers — all without any regard for the efforts, much less the legal rights, of those who create and publish the news on which local communities rely,” the newspapers’ lawsuit said. OpenAI has staunchly refuted those claims, stressing that all of its work remains legal under “fair use” laws. “We see immense potential for AI tools like ChatGPT to deepen publishers’ relationships with readers and enhance the news experience,” the company said when the lawsuit was filed. Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.(First of two parts) MANILA, Philippines—US President-elect Donald Trump has doubled down on his controversial immigration agenda, reigniting plans to strip naturalized citizens of their status and proposing to end birthright citizenship. These signal a sweeping crackdown on immigrants, both undocumented and legally settled, and stoke fresh anxieties among millions, including Filipinos in the US. Trump has pledged to implement the “largest deportation program in U.S. history” a cornerstone of his reelection campaign, with Vice President-elect JD Vance estimating the crackdown could result in up to one million removals annually. READ: Trump’s mass deportation plan: What it means for undocumented and legal immigrants This focus on immigration enforcement is not new; however. During Trump’s first term, his administration ramped up efforts to investigate cases of fraudulent naturalization, seeking to strip citizenship from individuals deemed to have obtained it illegally. Now, after defeating Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump has vowed to intensify these efforts while also pursuing another contentious policy: ending birthright citizenship. READ: What’s next for Fil-Am family petitions if Trump wins? Donald Trump first vowed to end birthright citizenship during his 2015 presidential campaign and revisited the proposal in 2018. However, despite his repeated rhetoric, he never followed through with an executive order to implement the policy. Birthright citizenship is a legal principle rooted in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, granting automatic citizenship to individuals born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. It specifically states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” This doctrine, known as jus soli (right of the soil), has been a defining feature of US identity and inclusivity since its ratification in 1868. GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan / INQUIRER.net According to the American Immigration Council, the US applies a combination of: “The Fourteenth Amendment has served as a cornerstone to the commitment that every child born in the United States should be protected from discrimination and a caste-like system based on the race, ethnicity, country of origin, or immigration status of their parents,” said Bruce Lesley, president of bipartisan advocacy organization First Focus on Children. “[It] demonstrates the nation’s goal — after the Civil War — of striving to achieve fairness, inclusion, and opportunity. Over the last 156 years, it has provided millions of children every single year with a solid foundation to grow, thrive, and contribute to our society,” he added. The 14th Amendment was specifically designed to overturn the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, denying African Americans citizenship. Moreover, in the 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the court ruled that children born in the US to foreign parents — so long as they were not foreign diplomats or occupying military forces — are US citizens under the 14th Amendment. By ensuring that citizenship was determined by birthplace rather than ancestry, the amendment sought to eliminate racial and class hierarchies in determining who could belong to the nation. Removing birthright citizenship would represent a dramatic reversal of this vision, replacing it with a system in which citizenship is contingent on lineage or documentation status. “Citizenship is not merely an identity or status; it is foundational for accessing health care, nutrition, early education, housing, and much more. Creating bureaucratic obstacles risks delaying — or denying altogether — the support babies and children need at their most formative stages,” said Lesley. “Birthright citizenship confers simple and automatic nationality without impediments, such as the need for bureaucratic paperwork, legal barriers, bureaucratic interpretations, delays, errors, or the period of limbo status awaiting a decision from some currently unidentified bureaucracy,” he added. For millions of children born in the US to undocumented immigrants, this change would strip away their automatic claim to American citizenship. These children could become stateless, particularly if their parents’ home countries do not recognize them as citizens. Experts explained that this lack of legal status would jeopardize access to education, health care, and other vital services, creating an underclass of individuals marginalized from the very society in which they were born and raised. “The United States is among the only countries in the world that says even if neither parent is a citizen or even lawfully in the country, their future children are automatic citizens the moment the parents trespass onto our soil,” Trump said last year. Under Trump’s proposed policy, a child would only be granted citizenship if at least one parent is a US citizen or legal resident. In his campaign video posted in May 2023, Trump clarified that this policy would not be applied retroactively, suggesting it would only affect children born after its potential enactment. GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan / INQUIRER.net Donald Trump also emphasized that the policy aims to curb “birth tourism,” a practice Republicans argue involves foreign nationals traveling to the US late in pregnancy to ensure their children are born as US citizens. However, the scale of this phenomenon remains unclear, with limited data to support its prevalence. The exact number of children born annually to undocumented parents is uncertain. Estimates vary, but the Center for Immigration Studies, a group advocating for stricter immigration policies, has suggested that as many as 400,000 children are born each year to undocumented parents, with thousands possibly tied to birth tourism. In contrast, immigrant rights groups like the American Immigration Council highlight broader implications, citing census-based estimates that 3.7 million U.S.-born children currently have at least one undocumented parent. Adding to the complexity, a 2024 report from the Center for Migration Studies estimates there are approximately 4.7 million mixed-status households in the United States. Michael LeRoy, an immigration law and labor expert at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, emphasized in an interview that no president has the authority to unilaterally eliminate or alter a constitutional amendment. Despite this, he noted that the incoming president might still attempt to issue an executive order targeting birthright citizenship, even though “such an action would be blatantly unconstitutional.” The American Immigration Council points out that removing birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. would require a new constitutional amendment. This process would need a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate and ratification by three-quarters of the states — which the advocacy group described as an almost impossible political hurdle. But since the US Senate and House are now Republican-dominated, Donald Trump could have his way. Alternatively, it would take a radical reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment by the US Supreme Court, a highly contentious and uncertain path. “While Congress or the President could try to restrict birthplace-based birthright citizenship through legislation or executive order, these actions would violate the Fourteenth Amendment,” said the American Immigration Council. Legal experts also agree that any such effort would be met with immediate legal challenges. Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law at Cornell University, told CBS News, “Any executive action that a president might try to end birthright citizenship would be challenged in court and would be likely struck down as unconstitutional.” During Donald Trump’s first term, his administration took an aggressive stance on denaturalization — the process of stripping US citizenship from naturalized individuals. Efforts were launched to investigate cases where people were suspected of gaining citizenship through fraud. Under “Operation Janus,” immigration officials reviewed decades-old fingerprint records to find discrepancies that could signal fraud in naturalization applications. By 2018, thousands of cases had been referred for potential denaturalization, with hundreds pursued in federal courts. The US Justice Department even created a special Denaturalization Section in 2020 to handle such cases. Officials claimed the focus was on individuals who posed national security threats, were war criminals, or had committed egregious acts of fraud. GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan / INQUIRER.net But the move sparked concerns, with critics arguing it could sow fear in immigrant communities. “Denaturalization is a drastic measure that should only be taken in the most extreme circumstances,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a nonprofit civil rights organization, said. “These efforts to strip citizenship from Americans are systemic and chilling. They have made US citizens fearful that mistakes made years ago on their past applications could be used to target them, take away their citizenship, and destroy their lives,” the organization added. The Donald Trump administration’s focus on denaturalization marked a significant shift in immigration enforcement policies. Historically, denaturalization cases were pursued sparingly, averaging just 11 cases per year between 1990 and 2017. However, under Trump’s leadership, these efforts intensified dramatically. By 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had already referred 95 cases for denaturalization to the Department of Justice (DOJ), signaling a stark departure from past practices. Eliminating birthright citizenship could have devastating consequences for millions of children and families, creating long-term social and economic challenges. According to a report from First Focus on Children, denying citizenship to US -born children of undocumented immigrants would leave many in legal limbo, without access to essential resources like education, health care, or housing. For children born and raised in the US, but unable to claim citizenship, this could mean being treated as outsiders in their own country. Stripping citizenship would also create a growing population of stateless individuals who struggle to get jobs, attend college, or participate fully in society. This would deepen inequalities, increase poverty, and strain community resources. For children, the harm isn’t just legal or financial — it’s deeply personal. Without citizenship, they might feel excluded or unwelcome in the only country they’ve ever known. “It’s important to remember that children rely on policymakers, advocates, and citizens to protect their interests because they cannot advocate for themselves. It is morally indefensible to enact a law that deprives them of their right to belong,” the report explains. Moreover, efforts to end birthright citizenship, coupled with the push for denaturalization, suggest that even those who meet all legal requirements or were born on US soil might not be secure in their place in the country. A report by Vox stressed that naturalized citizens, who often spend years navigating the rigorous legal process, now fear that even small mistakes in their applications could lead to losing their status. Critics argue that these policies create an atmosphere of fear and insecurity, making immigrants and their families feel like they’re never truly safe. For many, this undermines the idea of America as a nation of opportunity and inclusion, raising concerns that citizenship is becoming conditional — a privilege that can be taken away rather than a right that guarantees stability and belonging. (Next: How could Trump’s immigration agenda affect Filipinos?) RELATED STORIES: Trump 2.0: PH stays optimistic amid worries on aid, health care Trump 2.0 impact on PH: Quack health advocate brings uncertainty

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Dallas man who tried to fly overseas to join the Russian military and fight against Ukraine was sentenced on Friday to six months in prison for violating the terms of his probation for storming the U.S. Capitol four years ago. Kevin Loftus, a 56-year-old veteran of the U.S. Army, was stopped from boarding an Oct. 28 flight from Dallas to Tbilisi, Georgia, by way of Istanbul, Turkey, when Turkish Airlines identified a “security flag” associated with him, according to federal prosecutors. Loftus didn't have the court's permission to travel internationally or to drive from Texas to Iowa, where the FBI arrested him three days after his flight plans fell apart, prosecutors said. Loftus told the FBI that he had hoped to secure a 90-day visa to travel to Russia, where he intended to apply for temporary residency. Loftus said he had used the Telegram messaging platform to communicate with a man who would connect him with the Russian Territorial Defense Unit, a volunteer military corps. “Loftus said he had already sent the man approximately $1200 to purchase equipment for Russian soldiers,” prosecutors wrote . “Loftus said his intent was to fight for Russia and against Ukraine.” Loftus declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich sentenced him for the probation violation. The judge said Loftus has repeatedly violated court orders. “He doesn't think these rules should apply to him,” Friedrich said. “He wants to be above the law.” Defense attorney Benjamin Schiffelbein said Loftus wanted to enlist in the Russian military because he “felt bad” for Russian soldiers and wanted to help them. “He had no idea whether they could make use of him," the lawyer said. Loftus, a six-year Army veteran, intended to permanently relocate to another country, according to prosecutors. “And his planned travel was for the express purpose of joining a foreign army to take up arms against one of this country’s allies and in opposition to this country’s foreign policy,” they wrote. In January 2021, Loftus traveled from Wisconsin to Washington, D.C., to attend then-President Donald Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. After joining the mob of Trump supporters at the Capitol, he entered the building and took photographs. He spent approximately five minutes inside the Capitol. Loftus was arrested at his Wisconsin home several days after the riot. He pleaded guilty in October 2021 to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. After his arrest, Loftus posted comments about his case on social media, referring to himself as “famous” and a “hero” for taking part in the Jan. 6 attack. “Loftus also stated that he gained that fame by ‘standing up for all Americans’ because he ‘broke the law,’ and he would file lawsuits against unidentified persons after the criminal case was over,” prosecutors wrote . Prosecutors recommended 30 days of imprisonment for Loftus, but Friedrich initially sentenced him to three years of probation. For his probation violation, prosecutors requested a six-month prison sentence. They noted that Loftus, while on probation, also was arrested in December 2023 and charged with driving while intoxicated in Richardson, Texas. Loftus was required to attend a substance abuse program, but he avoided jail time for that violation. Over 1,500 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. More than 1,000 of them have been convicted and sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years . Trump has repeatedly vowed to pardon Capitol rioters, but the district court judges in Washington, D.C., typically have refused to postpone sentencings, plea hearings and trials until after the president-elect returns to the White House.Apple is rumored to have many product announcements planned for the first half of next year, including updated MacBook Air models, an iPad 11, an iPhone SE 4, the AirTag 2, updated iPad Air models, and potentially more. In a social media post today, Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman reiterated that the iPad 11, iPhone SE 4, and updated iPad Air models will be coming in the "spring" next year. Notably, he said the updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip will be announced "earlier" than those other devices, but he did not provide a specific timeframe. This likely means that the updated MacBook Air models will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website at some point from January through March, whereas the other devices might be announced at Apple's usual spring event in March or April. Apple would be getting the minor MacBook Air update out of the way early. Apple earlier this month released macOS 15.2, and in doing so it accidentally confirmed new MacBook Air models coming next year. No major design changes have been rumored for the next MacBook Air, with only the M4 chip and other minor upgrades expected. Plausible new features could include a Center Stage camera, and an upgrade from Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 4 ports. Apple already updated the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini with M4 chip options a few months ago. Geekbench results showed that the M4 chip is up to around 25% faster than the M3 chip in terms of multi-core CPU performance.

Theory Russia has banned microwave ovens is cookedORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In losing Sunday’s battle with the Buffalo Bills, perhaps the best team in football, Jerod Mayo won the war. Best I can tell, he’s staying put. For 2025, and maybe beyond. To his angry fan base and incredulous pockets of the New England Patriots’ media corps, remember Mayo’s future doesn’t hinge on winning this season. It’s not about what you want, or what I think. It’s about the Krafts, who hand-picked Mayo to succeed Bill Belichick four and a half years before he actually did, believing in him, and finding reasons to maintain that belief. In the eyes of someone who wants to believe, Sunday supplied enough reason. The Patriots led at halftime, then lost by three as 14-point underdogs. They became the first team since mid-October to hold the Bills under 30 points. Drake Maye outplayed the next MVP of the league for most of the game and took another step toward his destiny as a franchise quarterback, If that sounds like a low bar, that’s because it is. Such is life in Year 1 of a rebuild, a multi-year process ownership has committed to seeing through to the end with their organizational pillars now in place: Mayo, Maye and de facto GM Eliot Wolf. As frustrating as this 3-12 campaign has been, there are always nuggets of optimism amid the rubble of a losing season; particularly if you want to find them. The Krafts do, and so does Maye, who loves his head coach, by the way; calling questions about Mayo’s job security “BS.” “We’ve got his back,” Maye said post-game. Maye’s voice matters. Certainly more than any number of fans or media members. Ever since media-fueled speculation that Mayo could get canned at the end of his first season began rising, the caveat has always been the same: if, a Gillette Stadium-sized “if,” the Patriots bomb atomically down the stretch, ownership could pull the plug on Mayo. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport became the latest to join that chorus Sunday with this pregame report: “The Krafts want to keep Jerod Mayo,” he said. “They believe he is the leader for the organization for the future, and they knew it would be a multi-year process to get this thing right. Now if things go off the rails, if they really start to struggle and he loses the locker room the last couple games of the season, we’ve seen this thing turn. “But as of now, the Patriots believe Jerod Mayo is their leader for the future.” Well, Mayo hasn’t lost the locker room. That’s a fact. To a man, both in public and from those I’ve spoken to in private, Patriots players believe in their head coach. Mayo might be a players’ coach, yes, in the best and worst senses. But the Patriots were a few plays away Sunday from pulling off their largest upset since Super Bowl XXXVI. “I think we’re building something good,” Maye said. The Patriots also played their best half of football this season against their toughest opponent yet. Another fact. Now, to the frustrated, I am with you. To the shocked, I understand. But to the trigger-happy, lay down your arms. Mayo, by all accounts, is returning in 2025. Alex Van Pelt, however, is another story. In the same vein that the Krafts could have viewed Sunday’s performance as a reason to save Mayo — despite his pathetic punt at midfield, down 10 with just eight and a half minutes left — they could have convinced themselves their offensive coordinator is the real problem. After all, team president Jonathan Kraft was visibly exasperated over Van Pelt’s play-calling during the Pats’ loss at Arizona a week earlier. Four days later, Van Pelt told reporters he had yet to hear from his boss. Well, that time may be coming. Trailing by three in the fourth quarter Sunday, Van Pelt called a pass that resulted in an unnecessary lateral and game-winning touchdown for Buffalo. His offense later operated like it was taking a Sunday drive with the game on the line, using up 3:16 of the final 4:19 en route to its final touchdown. Van Pelt, finally, weaponized Maye’s legs in critical situations, something that arguably should have been done weeks ago. Not to mention, Van Pelt’s top running back can’t stop fumbling, and the offensive line remains a hot mess. Call him Alex Van Fall Guy. Because Van Pelt’s offense, for the first time in a while, under-performed relative to Mayo’s defense. On merit, he deserves to stay; a case that’s harder to make for defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington. But it’s not about merit this season. It’s not about what you want. It’s not about what I think. It’s about the Krafts; what they see, what they want, what they believe. Even in defeat. ©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

CorVel Announces Three-For-One Forward Stock Split and Authorized Share Increase

TikTok's future in the U.S. appeared uncertain on Friday after a federal appeals court rejected a legal challenge to a law that requires the social media platform to cut ties with its China-based parent company or be banned by mid-January. A panel of three judges on The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that the law withstood constitutional scrutiny, rebuffing arguments from the two companies that the statute violated their rights and the rights of TikTok users in the U.S. The government has said it wants ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to divest its stakes. But if it doesn't and the platform goes away, it would have a seismic impact on the lives of content creators who rely on the platform for income as well as users who use it for entertainment and connection. Here are some details on the ruling and what could happen next: In their lawsuit, TikTok and ByteDance, which is also a plaintiff in the case, had challenged the law on various fronts, arguing in part that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and was an unconstitutional bill of attainder that unfairly targeted the two companies. But the court sided with attorneys for the Justice Department who said that the government was attempting to address national security concerns and the way in which it chose to do so did not violate the constitution. The Justice Department has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk due to its connections to China. Officials say that Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok's U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread, or suppress, information. However, the U.S. hasn't publicly provided examples of that happening. The appeals court ruling, written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg, said the law was “carefully crafted to deal only with control by a foreign adversary." The judges also rejected the claim that the statute was an unlawful bill of attainder or a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Furthermore, Ginsburg wrote the law did not violate the First Amendment because the government is not looking to “suppress content or require a certain mix of content” on TikTok. TikTok and ByteDance are expected to appeal the case to the Supreme Court, but it's unclear whether the court will take up the case. TikTok indicated in a statement on Friday the two companies are preparing to take their case to high court, saying the Supreme Court has “an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech." "We expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” a company spokesperson said. Alan Morrison, a professor at The George Washington University Law School, said he expects the Supreme Court to take up the case because of the novelty of the issues raised in the lawsuit. If that happens, attorneys for the two companies still have to convince the court to grant them an emergency stay that will prevent the government from enforcing the Jan. 19 divestiture deadline stipulated in the law, Morrison said. Such a move could drag out the process until the Justices make a ruling. Tiffany Cianci, a TikTok content creator who has supported the platform, said she was not shocked about the outcome of the court's ruling on Friday because lower courts typically defer to the executive branch on these types of cases. She believes the company will have a stronger case at the Supreme Court. “I believe that the next stages are more likely to produce a victory for TikTokers and for TikTok as a whole,” Cianci said. Another wild card is President-elect Donald Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term but said during the recent presidential campaign that he is now against such action . The Trump transition team has not offered details on how Trump plans to carry out his pledge to “save TikTok." But spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement last month that he plans to “deliver” on his campaign promises. After Trump takes office on Jan. 20th, it would fall on his Justice Department to enforce the law and punish any potential violators. Penalties would apply to any app stores that would violate a prohibition on TikTok and to internet hosting services which would be barred from supporting it. Some have speculated that Trump could ask his Justice Department to abstain from enforcing the law. But tech companies like Apple and Google, which offer TikTok's app on their app stores, would then have to trust that the administration would not come after them for any violations. Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said enforcement discretion — or executive orders — can not override existing law, leaving Trump with “limited room for unilateral action." There are other things Trump could potentially do. It's possible he could invoke provisions of the law that allow the president to determine whether a sale or a similar transaction frees TikTok from “foreign adversary” control. Another option is to urge Congress to repeal the law. But that too would require support from congressional Republicans who have overwhelmingly supported the prospect of getting TikTok out of the hands of a Chinese company. In a statement issued Friday, Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said he was “optimistic that President Trump will facilitate an American takeover of TikTok” and allow its continued use in the United States. ByteDance has said it won't sell TikTok . And even if it wanted to, a sale of the proprietary algorithm that powers TikTok is likely to get blocked under Chinese export controls that the country issued in 2020. That means if TikTok is sold without the algorithm, its likely that the buyer would only purchase a shell of the platform that doesn't contain the technology that made the app a cultural powerhouse. Still, some investors, including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in buying it. This week, a spokesperson for McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative, which aims to protect online privacy, said participants in their bid have made informal commitments of more than $20 billion in capital. The spokesperson did not disclose the identity of the participants.Custom Apparel Market to grow by USD 2.17 Billion from 2024-2028, driven by internet and smartphone adoption, Report on AI-driven market evolution - Technavio

Academy D-20 assitant principal named high school assistant principal of the year

Opposition fighters are at Damascus’ gates. Who are they and what now?An improvised line in 'Elf' almost got cut, and now it's gone viralBitcoin races past $100,000, fueled by post-election rally

The intersection of faith and governance is not only a global phenomenon but also a deeply personal one for many of us in the vastness of 13 islands we call the Cook Islands. Let alone the 94 thousand living in Aotearoa or 21 thousand in Australia. Especially now as our government must consider our Christian nation status. It is vital we look at the broader context of religious restrictions and governments around the world and move beyond calls of hate or preference. A 2019 Pew Foundation report highlighted this dynamic with profound insights. With over a decade of tracking, the report revealed increasing global government preference toward specific religious groups, particularly in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In these areas, Islam is predominantly preferred, often enshrined in their state constitutions, laws, and societal norms. For instance, 19 of the 20 countries in the MENA region officially recognize Islam, with legal systems often deferring to Islamic law. In Egypt, for example family law is dictated by the religion of the spouses, defaulting to Islamic law when there is a disparity. Their governments have no problem declaring and enforcing Islam as their state religion and its flow into their laws and practices. Across Asia, Africa, and even Europe, governments have shown increasing preference toward dominant religious groups. In Thailand, constitutional amendments have elevated Theravada Buddhism, while in Europe, countries like Greece and Iceland maintain close ties between state and Christian denominations. Even in secular states such as Fiji, constitutional provisions ensure equality of religion while recognizing the predominant influence of Christianity on their cultural fabric. Watch a game of Rugby and hear them sing hymns before and after the game, giving thanks to God for their safety and participation. Closer to home, Pacific nations like Samoa and Tonga explicitly declare their Christian identities within their constitutions. Samoa, for instance, amended its constitution in 2017 to affirm itself as a Christian nation, while Tonga’s constitution upholds the sanctity of Sunday and requires its monarch to be Protestant. As we deliberate on the Cook Islands’ identity as a Christian nation, these global and regional precedents offer valuable lessons. They illustrate how nations both Islam, Buddhist or Christian have balanced their religious heritage with their self-determined principles of inclusion and freedom of religion if that is their choice. But each is free to determine that as they see fit. At its heart, this is not just a legal or constitutional question but a deeply spiritual, deeply moral and deeply cultural one. Christianity has been central to the Cook Islands’ identity since prophecies of its arrival by Taunga in Rarotonga and Enuamanu, and the arrival of its message and gospel. It shapes our values, our community spirit, and the very fabric of our society, our traditional leaders and government. It would be remiss of me to suggest that the God of the Bible is not singular in his desire for worship and honour, clearly stating there are no other Gods before him. Or that if Jesus is God, then he is not as Islam states merely a prophet of God. This distinction in each other’s scripture is more than just a difference of opinion, it is a crossroad that sends both faiths in opposing directions and on roads that never cross again. Ultimately, the question of the Cook Islands as a Christian nation and religious diversity is not just about constitutional amendments or legal frameworks. It is about what kind of society we aspire to be, our identity and our laws, our values and the basis of our internal and external moral code within the diversity of the world we now live in. A leader who knew diversity was King Solomon, who in the Hebrew book of proverbs inscribed, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” In this simple verse, a rule, or standard, composed of two alternatives, there is no middle ground, and there are two causes and each with its own effect. Therefore, we pray for our leaders the wisdom to discern, courage to choose and conviction to lead our nation.Known across the globe as the stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams hit the six-month mark in space Thursday with two more to go. The pair rocketed into orbit on June 5, the first to ride Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on what was supposed to be a weeklong test flight. They arrived at the International Space Station the next day, only after overcoming a cascade of thruster failures and helium leaks. NASA deemed the capsule too risky for a return flight, so it will be February before their long and trying mission comes to a close. While NASA managers bristle at calling them stuck or stranded, the two retired Navy captains shrug off the description of their plight. They insist they’re fine and accepting of their fate. Wilmore views it as a detour of sorts: “We’re just on a different path.” “I like everything about being up here,” Williams told students Wednesday from an elementary school named for her in Needham, Massachusetts, her hometown. “Just living in space is super fun.” Both astronauts have lived up there before so they quickly became full-fledged members of the crew, helping with science experiments and chores like fixing a broken toilet, vacuuming the air vents and watering the plants. Williams took over as station commander in September. “Mindset does go a long way,” Wilmore said in response to a question from Nashville first-graders in October. He’s from Mount Juliet, Tennessee. “I don’t look at these situations in life as being downers.” Boeing flew its Starliner capsule home empty in September, and NASA moved Wilmore and Williams to a SpaceX flight not due back until late February. Two other astronauts were bumped to make room and to keep to a six-month schedule for crew rotations. Like other station crews, Wilmore and Williams trained for spacewalks and any unexpected situations that might arise. “When the crews go up, they know they could be there for up to a year,” said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio found that out the hard way when the Russian Space Agency had to rush up a replacement capsule for him and two cosmonauts in 2023, pushing their six-month mission to just past a year. Boeing said this week that input from Wilmore and Williams has been “invaluable” in the ongoing inquiry of what went wrong. The company said in a statement that it is preparing for Starliner’s next flight but declined comment on when it might launch again. NASA also has high praise for the pair. “Whether it was luck or whether it was selection, they were great folks to have for this mission,” NASA’s chief health and medical officer, Dr. JD Polk, said during an interview with The Associated Press. On top of everything else, Williams, 59, has had to deal with “rumors,” as she calls them, of serious weight loss. She insists her weight is the same as it was on launch day, which Polk confirms. During Wednesday’s student chat, Williams said she didn’t have much of an appetite when she first arrived in space. But now she’s “super hungry” and eating three meals a day plus snacks, while logging the required two hours of daily exercise. Williams, a distance runner, uses the space station treadmill to support races in her home state. She competed in Cape Cod’s 7-mile Falmouth Road Race in August. She ran the 2007 Boston Marathon up there as well. She has a New England Patriots shirt with her for game days, as well as a Red Sox spring training shirt. “Hopefully I’ll be home before that happens — but you never know,” she said in November. Husband Michael Williams, a retired federal marshal and former Navy aviator, is caring for their dogs back home in Houston. As for Wilmore, 61, he’s missing his younger daughter’s senior year in high school and his older daughter’s theater productions in college. “We can’t deny that being unexpectedly separated, especially during the holidays when the entire family gets together, brings increased yearnings to share the time and events together,” his wife, Deanna Wilmore, told the AP in a text this week. Her husband “has it worse than us” since he’s confined to the space station and can only connect via video for short periods. “We are certainly looking forward to February!!” she wrote. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. The Nov. 29 print edition of The Business Journal included The huge rally for U.S. stocks lost momentum on Thursday Eli Lilly is spending another $3 billion to bulk up Known across the globe as the stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore

Costco ( COST 1.05% ) has been one of the most reliable winners in the stock market over its history as a publicly-traded company. Its membership-based warehouse model of selling bulk goods at bargain prices is consistently popular with consumers, and its stock price has reached a new milestone of $1,000 per share. Following the retailer's report on November sales, which revealed comparable sales growth of 4.9% (adjusted for fuel and foreign exchange) and revenue growth of 5.6% to $21.87 billion, several Wall Street analysts raised their price targets on the stock. Jefferies expects Costco to hit $1,145 next year Among the analysts raising their price targets, Corey Tarlowe of Jefferies lifted his target from $1,050 to $1,145 and kept a buy rating on the stock, according to multiple reports. Tarlowe noted that the November results were solid even as the Black Friday weekend shifted out of the comparable month, and he sees strong momentum in the business. Can Costco keep gaining? Costco has been one of the few retailers to deliver consistent growth in recent years, a reflection of the strength of its business model and the fact it derives most of its revenue from groceries. While discretionary retailers have struggled recently as consumers moderated their spending, grocery chains have largely been able to raise prices and pass the impacts of inflation down to customers. However, Costco stock has gotten expensive, especially considering it's a brick-and-mortar retailer that tends to deliver solid but not breakout growth. It trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 59 as of this writing. Much of that premium is owed to the company's competitive strength and its recession-proof model, as investors feel confident in the company's ability to grow and fend off any potential competition in its niche. That valuation, though, should limit Costco's share price growth from here. It's hard to make a case for further multiple expansion at this point. As such, while Costco still looks like a reasonable buy for long-term investors, they might get a better price if they're patient.Alexander and Boston University secure 80-74 OT win over Albany

The alleged perpetrator of the deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Germany had been contacted by police just weeks before the incident. or signup to continue reading The attack in the central city of Magdeburg on Friday evening, which killed five people including a nine-year-old boy, is believed to have been carried out by a Saudi national identified only as Taleb A according to German privacy laws. The number of people injured in the rampage has climbed to 235. The suspect has been living in Germany since 2006 and was granted political refugee status in 2016. He was most recently working as a doctor in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg. Taleb A was detained at the scene and is being held in police custody, with investigators searching for a motive amid suggestions that authorities failed to heed warnings about the man. Tamara Zieschang, the interior minister of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, told MPs in Magdeburg on Monday that police met the man twice - in September 2023 and October 2024 - to warn him about his behaviour. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry of the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern said that Taleb A became known to authorities as a potential suspect in 2015. Regional authorities had informed the Federal Criminal Police Office at the Joint Counter-Terrorism Centre, which is supported by Germany's federal and regional government, about the man's possible intention to carry out an attack on February 6, 2015, it said. The report concerned threats to carry out actions that would attract international attention against a medical association in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in April 2013 and one year later against a local authority in the northern German city of Stralsund. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern interior minister, Christian Pegel, said the 50-year-old suspect had lived in the state from 2011-16 and had completed parts of his specialist medical training in Stralsund. He said the man had been involved in a dispute with the medical association about the recognition of examination results and had later threatened the social services in Stralsund in an attempt to obtain assistance with living costs. A district court fined Taleb A for threatening the medical association, Pegel said. However, he added, the previous investigations had not revealed any evidence of real preparations for an attack or Islamist connections. The man was warned by the police and told that he would be monitored more closely but was not classified as a threat, Pegel said. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . AdvertisementIn the wake of Helene’s devastation, landslides and extended outages in Western North Carolina, the Christmas lights at Biltmore Estate in Asheville shine like a beacon of hope. Amid the unimaginable destruction, Biltmore remained relatively unscathed, suffering some flooding and limited damage to its entrance and farm. Crews clean up and repair the damage from Helene at the entrance to Biltmore Estate in late September. The late-1800s mansion reopened seven weeks after the storm, and “Christmas at Biltmore is back in all its traditional glory,” says Marissa Jamison, Biltmore’s public relations manager. “In the time since Helene, our community has made tremendous progress in rebuilding, reopening, and welcoming back visitors to our area,” Jamison says. “Almost all of downtown Asheville is open and ready for business, its infrastructure has remained largely untouched by the storm.” Downtown shops, restaurants, galleries, artist studios and restaurants are open, “alongside our neighbors in the towns of Weaverville and Black Mountain and in South Asheville,” she says. People are also reading... Visitors to the Asheville area "will help our economy during this critical period of recovery," Jamison says. Biltmore Estate during holiday season. Biltmore Estate is America’s largest privately owned mansion, built by the Vanderbilt family. The French Renaissance home and surrounding estate are situated on an 8,000-acre estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Biltmore’s halls and gardens celebrate tradition and inspiration. The estate is a testament to the strength and perseverance of North Carolina’s top attraction at the holidays and every day of the year. Here’s how to make the most of Christmas at Biltmore, now through Jan. 5. Timeless holiday decor adorns every room at Biltmore this time of year. Daytime Christmas Tours: Holiday decorations that number in the thousands are on view inside the 250-room Biltmore House. Marvel at the breathtaking Christmas trees throughout the house, each beautifully adorned with unique themes. A towering 35-foot-tall Fraser Fir tree, laden with ornaments and wrapped packages tucked into its branches, serves as the seasonal centerpiece. Festive Evening Tours: Experience the grandeur of Biltmore by candlelight, as your self-guided tour showcases impressive Christmas decorations, by choosing the Candlelight Christmas Evenings ticket. Setting the scene is a 55-foot Norway spruce tree sparkling from the glow of more than 60,000 tiny lights in the center of the front lawn. Four hundred hand-lit luminaries line the walkway to Biltmore House. Musical performances by choirs and soloists take place in the Winter Garden during evening tours featuring holiday classics. The Banquet Hall highlights the mountain beauty with a natural and formal Christmas look. A couple of examples of this year’s design scheme in specific rooms in Biltmore House: Capture the Moment with Photos: With beautiful decorations and stunning backdrops, don’t forget to take photos around the estate among the holiday ambiance. A photographer is stationed close to Biltmore House for photos, if desired. Dale Chihuly Persian Ceiling, 2012 25 x 15' Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, installed 2013. Last season for Chihuly at Biltmore: Adding to the allure this Christmas, don’t miss the chance to see glass-artist Dale Chihuly’s works. This is the final season to see Chihuly’s masterpieces at Biltmore. All tickets that include the Chihuly at Biltmore exhibition include free access to Biltmore’s gardens and grounds on the next consecutive day. This is the final season to witness Dale Chihuly’s masterpieces at Biltmore.. Chihuly's Mille Fiori. A Tropical Oasis in Wintertime: Stroll through the beautifully adorned Conservatory, where hundreds of holiday poinsettias in different colors and patterns warm up the inside of the glass-roofed greenhouse, along with a large and unusual array of tropical plants. Outdoor Adventure s: Biltmore’s grounds feature numerous trails perfect for strolls to take in beautiful winter landscapes. The famed Biltmore Winery. Wine Tasting and Dining: A visit to the famed Biltmore Winery is an essential part of the holiday experience. Biltmore’s holiday commemorative wines will be available for sale in the Winery. Dine at estate restaurants to experience favorite seasonal dishes and craft cocktails. Carriage Rides: Meet the Biltmore horses and learn about Biltmore's history while enjoying stunning views from a hill overlooking Biltmore House on a 30-minute or one-hour carriage ride. It’s a unique experience that children love, especially the chance to pet the horses. Children under age 5 can ride free on the lap of a ticketed adult. Enjoy the bonfire locations along the path leading from the Village to Antler Hill Barn & Farmyard. Antler Hill Village Illuminated: As evening falls over Antler Hill Village, the estate’s European-inspired village, a constellation of holiday lights illuminate trees, quaint buildings, the Winery and walking paths for a mesmerizing light show. Enjoy the bonfire locations along the path leading from the Village to Antler Hill Barn & Farmyard. Ingredients for s’mores may be purchased at The Creamery in Antler Hill Village. Visits with Santa: Santa makes visits to the Antler Hill Village Bandstand where he’ll pose for pictures and listen to wish lists on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on select weekdays. Holiday Gingerbread: Each year, The Inn on Biltmore Estate’s talented pastry chefs construct a spectacular scene from Biltmore out of gingerbread, carefully crafting all the delicious details with a sampler of sweets including frosting, candies, cookies and more. The gingerbread house is a highlight of The Inn’s lobby décor. Antler Hill Barn, Farmyard & Pisgah Playground: Take children to the farmyard to learn about chickens and pet goats and watch cows graze. Directly across the playground is Pisgah Playground, a full-sized playground with a swing set, sand play area, climbing logs, a slide and more. Antler Hill Barn is the historic horse barn with a working blacksmith demonstrating his craft, along with other crafters and traditional games that kids can play. Holiday Stays at Biltmore : A stay at Biltmore for the holidays is a tradition for many families. It gives visitors the ultimate holiday experience and a break from the holiday hustle and bustle. Holiday packages are offered at the luxurious Four-star Inn on Biltmore Estate and at the cozy farmhouse-feel of Village Hotel, both decked out for the holidays. Historic cottages from Biltmore’s agricultural past now accommodate overnight guests too. Depending on the package, offerings include admission to Chihuly at Biltmore, Wine Welcome Socials and more. The Inn on Biltmore Estate has undergone renovations, and guests may request a newly renovated room when booking. The refreshed designs are inspired by the elegance, collections and the Gilded Age history of Biltmore House. In the renovated King Rooms, inspiration comes from the Bachelor Wing of Biltmore House, featuring rich layers of patterns and blue hues. The Inn’s renovated Double Rooms draw inspiration from Edith Vanderbilt’s Parisian years and feature light shades of blush and ivory. Timeless holiday decor adorns every room at Biltmore this time of year. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here . To learn what to expect at Biltmore and in Asheville following Helene, click here . The region’s recovery from Helene is expected to take years, with needs changing with each season, weather change and stage of recovery and rebuilding. You can help by supporting organizations serving the region, including: BeLoved Asheville : Provides essential aid and shelter, ongoing cleanup, long-term housing solutions and inclusive growth within the community. Always Asheville Fund : Through emergency grants, helps small independent travel and hospitality businesses throughout Asheville and Buncombe County. Samaritan's Purse : Serving mountain communities in eight counties through our rebuild program, replacing manufactured homes, rebuilding and repairing stick-built homes, and providing additional assistance in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Sign up for our twice-monthly Winston-Salem Magazine newsletter.

Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Market to grow by USD 92.31 Billion from 2024-2028, driven by favorable government policies and AI-powered market evolution - Technavio

Saudi Arabia banned film for 35 years. The Red Sea festival is just one sign of the industry's riseWASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. severely lags behind China in shipbuilding capacity, lawmakers and experts have warned, as the Biden administration tries to build up the country's ability to develop and produce weapons and other defense supplies to fend off war. Speaking at a congressional hearing Thursday, Rep. John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said the country lacks the capacity to “deter and win a fight” with China and called for action. “Bold policy changes and significant resources are now needed to restore deterrence and prevent a fight” with China, Moolenaar said. China’s navy is already the world’s largest, and its shipbuilding capacity, estimated to be 230 times larger, dwarfs that of the U.S . Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democratic member of the committee, told Fox News last week that “for every one oceangoing vessel that we can produce, China can produce 359 in one single year." The U.S. government has come to see China as its “pacing challenge," and officials have warned that Beijing is pursuing the largest peacetime military buildup in history, raising concerns about how the U.S. would respond and ensure victory in case of a conflict in the Indo-Pacific, where tensions are high in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea . Krishnamoorthi on Thursday warned that a weak military industrial base could invite aggression and argued that strengthening it is necessary to avoid war with China. “History tells us we need a healthy defense industrial base now to deter aggression and make sure the world’s dictators think again before dragging the U.S. and the world into yet another disastrous conflict,” Krishnamoorthi said. National security adviser Jake Sullivan called it a “generational project” to fix the problem after the American shipbuilding industry had its “bottom fell out” in the early 1980s. “Part of it is we don't have the backbone of a healthy commercial shipbuilding base to rest our naval shipbuilding on top of,” Sullivan said Wednesday at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington. “And that's part of the fragility of what we're contending with and why this is going to be such a generational project to fix.” READ: The challenge in shipbuilding has been “especially immense,” stemming from the hollowing-out of the U.S. manufacturing base where its workforce shrank and suppliers left, Sullivan said. And it is part of the broader problem of a weakened U.S. military industrial base, as manifested in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Sullivan said, when Kyiv in eight weeks “burned through a year's worth of U.S. 155-millimeter artillery production." “Decades of underinvestments and consolidation had seriously eroded our defense industrial base, and there was no way around it,” Sullivan said. The head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Paparo, warned last month that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East were eating away at critical U.S. weapons stockpiles and could hamper the military’s ability to respond to China should a conflict arise. He said providing or selling billions of dollars worth of air defenses to both Ukraine and Israel were hampering U.S. ability to respond to threats in the Indo-Pacific. “It’s now eating into stocks, and to say otherwise would be dishonest,” he told an audience at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Nov . 19. Several researchers at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said China’s rapid military buildup could allow the country to prevail over the U.S., especially in case of a prolonged conflict. “China’s massive shipbuilding industry would provide a strategic advantage in a war that stretches beyond a few weeks, allowing it to repair damaged vessels or construct replacements much faster than the United States,” the researchers wrote in June. On Thursday, the congressional panel heard suggestions from experts who said it would take time to rebuild the defense industrial base, but for quicker fixes, the U.S. could innovate to make low-cost and autonomous systems and tap resources of its allies. “We need to look at co-production of whether it's munitions in Australia or shipbuilding in Korea,” said William Greenwalt, a non-resident senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute. “We need to get numbers as fast as we can," he said. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.SAN FRANCISCO — A former OpenAI researcher known for whistleblowing the blockbuster artificial intelligence company facing a swell of lawsuits over its business model has died, authorities confirmed this week. Suchir Balaji, 26, was found dead inside his Buchanan Street apartment on Nov. 26, San Francisco police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said. Police had been called to the Lower Haight residence at about 1 p.m. that day, after receiving a call asking officers to check on his well-being, a police spokesperson said. The medical examiner’s office has not released his cause of death, but police officials this week said there is “currently, no evidence of foul play.” Information he held was expected to play a key part in lawsuits against the San Francisco-based company. Balaji’s death comes three months after he publicly accused OpenAI of violating U.S. copyright law while developing ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence program that has become a moneymaking sensation used by hundreds of millions of people across the world. Its public release in late 2022 spurred a torrent of lawsuits against OpenAI from authors, computer programmers and journalists, who say the company illegally stole their copyrighted material to train its program and elevate its value past $150 billion. The Mercury News and seven sister news outlets are among several newspapers, including the New York Times, to sue OpenAI in the past year. In an interview with the New York Times published Oct. 23, Balaji argued OpenAI was harming businesses and entrepreneurs whose data were used to train ChatGPT. “If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company,” he told the outlet, adding that “this is not a sustainable model for the internet ecosystem as a whole.” Balaji grew up in Cupertino before attending UC Berkeley to study computer science. It was then he became a believer in the potential benefits that artificial intelligence could offer society, including its ability to cure diseases and stop aging, the Times reported. “I thought we could invent some kind of scientist that could help solve them,” he told the newspaper. But his outlook began to sour in 2022, two years after joining OpenAI as a researcher. He grew particularly concerned about his assignment of gathering data from the internet for the company’s GPT-4 program, which analyzed text from nearly the entire internet to train its artificial intelligence program, the news outlet reported. The practice, he told the Times, ran afoul of the country’s “fair use” laws governing how people can use previously published work. In late October, he posted an analysis on his personal website arguing that point. No known factors “seem to weigh in favor of ChatGPT being a fair use of its training data,” Balaji wrote. “That being said, none of the arguments here are fundamentally specific to ChatGPT either, and similar arguments could be made for many generative AI products in a wide variety of domains.” Reached by this news agency, Balaji’s mother requested privacy while grieving the death of her son. In a Nov. 18 letter filed in federal court, attorneys for The New York Times named Balaji as someone who had “unique and relevant documents” that would support their case against OpenAI. He was among at least 12 people — many of them past or present OpenAI employees — the newspaper had named in court filings as having material helpful to their case, ahead of depositions. Generative artificial intelligence programs work by analyzing an immense amount of data from the internet and using it to answer prompts submitted by users, or to create text, images or videos. When OpenAI released its ChatGPT program in late 2022, it turbocharged an industry of companies seeking to write essays, make art and create computer code. Many of the most valuable companies in the world now work in the field of artificial intelligence, or manufacture the computer chips needed to run those programs. OpenAI’s own value nearly doubled in the past year. News outlets have argued that OpenAI and Microsoft — which is in business with OpenAI also also has been sued by The Mercury News — have plagiarized and stole its articles, undermining their business models. “Microsoft and OpenAI simply take the work product of reporters, journalists, editorial writers, editors and others who contribute to the work of local newspapers — all without any regard for the efforts, much less the legal rights, of those who create and publish the news on which local communities rely,” the newspapers’ lawsuit said. OpenAI has staunchly refuted those claims, stressing that all of its work remains legal under “fair use” laws. “We see immense potential for AI tools like ChatGPT to deepen publishers’ relationships with readers and enhance the news experience,” the company said when the lawsuit was filed. Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.

'Twas the Night before ChristmasA search for a convicted murderer in a California town has put residents on edge, with schools closing and Christmas events being postponed Cesar Hernandez, who was sentenced in 2019 to 80 years to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, escaped Monday morning shortly after arriving at the Kern County courthouse in Delano, a city of around 50,000 in central California. As of Thursday, he had still not been found. He was being transported to appear in court after pleading no contest to manufacturing a weapon and possessing alcohol or drugs in prison when he evaded staff and jumped out of the van, officials said. “Hernandez is considered dangerous,” Delano police said in a social media post. “If you see him, do not approach.” Cesar Guzmán, 32, was only blocks away at his barber shop from the intersection where Hernandez escaped. It’s been the “number one topic at the shop” since. “Everyday we talk about it,” Guzmán said. “The clients are, they’re scared because they haven’t found him. We’re really close to where it happened.” Delano has been inundated with a heavy law enforcement presence since Hernandez’s escape, with police knocking on doors and helicopters whirring overhead. Guzmán said it’s the first time something like this has happened in the town, where he has lived his whole life. Several local schools locked down Monday, and they remained closed through Thursday as the search continued, local school districts posted on Facebook. The city postponed its tree-lighting ceremony originally scheduled for Wednesday, and the Delano Chamber of Commerce delayed its annual Christmas parade scheduled for Thursday night. Hernandez remaining at large puts a damper on the festivities, which Guzmán and his family have attended every year. “Honestly, now we’re kind of like, ‘How can he get away from them? What the heck happened?’" Guzmán said. Hernandez, 34, was convicted of shooting a man after leaving a bar in south Los Angeles, according to appellate court filings. He had gotten into a “heated argument” with his girlfriend at the bar earlier that night and was looking for her after she left. The victim was at the bar but did not have contact with either Hernandez or his girlfriend, the filings said. As the man drove away from the bar in his pickup truck, Hernandez was seen following him in his car before getting out to shoot him. It's unclear from the filings what motivated the shooting. Hernandez was last seen wearing an orange top and pants. He is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, weighs about 160 pounds, and has brown eyes and black hair. He was transferred from Los Angeles County in June 2019. Anyone who sees Hernandez or has knowledge of his location is asked to contact law enforcement or call 911. On the other side of the country, another search was underway for the man who gunned down United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York on Monday. Police were following tips related to his whereabouts, including searching two hostels where the man may have stayed.

Amid Nigeria’s security struggles, expert advocates peace through amnesty