Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 12h

Sam Altman went from “AI will cure cancer" to "ChatGPT porn" in less than a month

ChatGPT boss predicts when AI could cure cancer

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.
12:02 PM · Oct 14, 2025
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Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 16h

Never heard of Elle Bisgaard-Church? You will soon. The 34-year-old DSA member is Zohran Mamdani's most trusted staffer and helped shape his successful primary campaign.

@hollypret.bsky.social profiled her for @cityandstateny.bsky.social: www.cityandstateny.com/personality/...

Cover of City & State NY magazine for October 13, 2025, showing Elle Bisgaard-Church sitting on a floor covered in Zohran Mamdani campaign signs. The headline reads: "New Player. New Game. First-time campaign manager Elle Bisgaard-Chrurch launched Zohran into political stardom. Consultant class: Take note"

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: More than half of the roughly 1,300 layoffs notices at @CDCgov have been rescinded. But analysts with top-secret clearance working on biodefense preparedness at another health agency have lost their jobs, per sources. Our story 1/4
@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Hundreds of CDC layoffs reversed, but biodefense preparedness staff hit

More than half of the roughly 1,300 CDC layoff notices have been rescinded, but workers at health agencies who work on biodefense and mental health still lost their jobs.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

People on here will tweet anything. 'Charlie Brown had hoes.' No he didn’t. That isn’t true.

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Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: News organizations including the @washingtonpost.com, @nytimes.com, @theatlantic.com, and @cnn.com said their reporters will NOT sign the Pentagon's restrictive press policy. Outlets said that the policy infringes on their First Amendment rights. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Prominent news outlets reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline

The Washington Post and other major news outlets have refused to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Drew Harwell

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 1d

- It is legal to organize and fund protest.
- That someone organizes and funds promotion of a protest does not mean most, some, or any protesters are paid.
- Even if all protesters are paid, that is also legal
- It is good to oppose kings and fascism
- That's not what what "begs the question" means

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

Great review of @jacobsilverman.com's extremely enjoyable (and enraging) new book

Jacob Rosenberg @jacobrosenberg.bsky.social · 4d

"tech leaders enjoyed a decade’s worth of free money, used it to build up unprecedented wealth, and, when suddenly presented with a bill in the form of a cryptocurrency crash and a potential tech slowdown, allied with Republicans to keep the good times rolling." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

What Really Drove Silicon Valley’s Shift to the Right

In Gilded Rage, journalist Jacob Silverman argues that a decade of free cash turned tech’s utopians into power brokers and made Trump their unlikely ally.

www.bloomberg.com

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

I did a quick video on how the frog 🐸 is becoming a new resistance symbol

www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/
www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 2d

New story here:

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2d

ai is a fascist tool. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Ilyasah Shabazz didn’t want to look at the AI-generated videos of her father, Malcolm X. The seemingly realistic clips — made by OpenAI’s new video-maker Sora 2 — show the legendary civil rights activist making crude jokes, wrestling with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and talking about defecating on himself.

“It is deeply disrespectful and hurtful to see my father’s image used in such a cavalier and insensitive manner when he dedicated his life to truth,” Shabazz, whose father was assassinated in front of her in 1965 when she was 2, told The Washington Post. She questioned why the developers were not acting “with the same morality, conscience, and care … that they’d want for their own families.”

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Michael Edison Hayden @michaelehayden.bsky.social · 2d

“They are highly organized … [they] have purchased their own animal costumes”

Andy ngo mad about muppets again — this time in Chicago

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 2d

A Portland legend is born www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

‘I’ve definitely had spicier tamales,’ says Portland ICE protest frog that got pepper sprayed by federal agents

The 24-year-old talks about the spray, the viral video and why he’s protesting.

www.oregonlive.com

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 2d

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Matthew Hay Brown @matthewhaybrown.bsky.social · 2d

THE MOST MARAVILLOSO TIME OF THE YEAR For Maduro, it's become an annual tradition:

The economy’s in free-fall? Declare Christmas. Lost the vote but claiming reelection anyway? Declare Christmas. The U.S. is blowing up boats and threatening stronger action? Declare Christmas

wapo.st/4mXgp5X

Bracing for war, Venezuela’s Maduro starts Christmas early — again

It’s an annual tradition: Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro, feeling pressure from opponents or enemies, plays Santa. Venezuelans aren’t buying it.

wapo.st

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 3d

Real Torment Nexus stuff

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 3d

Thankfully that part was stripped before passage

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 3d

I think the journalism is clearer and more impactful when we illustrate the problem with the actual problem, as opposed to a blank screen, maybe you disagree

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 3d

Fake AI videos mocking dead celebrities are going viral. We talked to their families, and they're horrified.

We break down OpenAI's Sora 2 and the moral and legal problems of "synthetic resurrection."

Gift link: wapo.st/4nNKzd3 w/ @tatumhunter.bsky.social