Check

DUBLIN — President Trump on Sunday again played down the need for his administration to check the development of artificial intelligence, saying he worried about ceding America’s edge over China in a global competition and that winning would help address the risks from the advancing technology.

While acknowledging the need for some regulation, Trump provided no specifics about potential rules and attributed warnings about the technology moving too quickly and with little oversight to “negative forces” he did not identify, though industry pioneers have raised such concerns.

“We can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that … shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen,” Trump told reporters during a weekend trip to Ireland. “But whoever wins with AI wins.”

The president has made similar comments in the last week. His remarks Sunday came a day after Dario Amodei, chief executive of the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, said the industry should put the brakes on its fast-moving development to give safety measures time to catch up. Other AI corporate leaders, including Elon Musk and Sam Altman, chief of OpenAI, publicly agreed with Amodei.

Asked by a reporter if the industry should slow down or be regulated, Trump said, after watching a golfer tee off in the Irish Open at his resort in Doonbeg, that the United States is leading China in the development of AI, and, “frankly, I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins AI wins.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit the U.S. next week to meet with Trump, and AI seems certain to be among the items they discuss.

AI has become a major election-year issue in the U.S. as some of the country’s largest companies seed small towns with a national network of computing warehouses while Americans from across the political spectrum increasingly voice concerns about less farmland and water supplies and rising electricity bills. Trump has kept up his support for data centers even as both Republicans and Democrats run from them and many communities try to block them.

Former President Obama said his party should make AI a campaign issue.

“I would talk about this, and I would say, ‘Here’s our plan for safety, here’s our plan for making sure our kids are not corrupted by this.’ … I would be thinking about the economic impacts in very concrete ways and understanding what does it mean if there’s going to be job displacement. Where is that going to hit? How are we going to respond?” he said at an event last week with the top Democrat in the House, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, according to a transcript released by his office.

Next steps

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council at the White House, said he expects meetings will be held this week involving administration officials who oversee cyber and science and technology policy to discuss the next steps. Trump also could meet with members of Congress, some of whom have also been sounding alarms about the fast pace of AI development.

“I think the president wants to hear from them as well,” Hassett said.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged the need for “some guardrails, some safety measures” so AI “doesn’t run away.” But he echoed Trump’s position that he wants to ensure the U.S. does not “lose our edge in the global competition on this with China because that would be a national security threat.”

Johnson (R-La.) said industry leaders need to be summoned for “one big meeting and work this out together in the same room.” He said he has discussed the issue with Trump and believes a meeting held quickly should be the “next step.”

“So we’re going to pull everybody together and make sure we do this in the right way,” Johnson said, adding that it is a “top priority for me and for the Congress.”

“But we don’t need everybody to panic right now,” Johnson said.

Jeffries criticized Republican leaders for allowing members to go back to their districts for the final part of September.

“We should take decisive action now so that we can slow down, as the CEOs have recently acknowledged, … the pace of development in order to protect the American people and ensure that AI is proceeding safely,” Jeffries said. Action on AI will be a “high priority” when House Democrats meet Tuesday as a group.

Neither Johnson nor Jeffries provided concrete steps about what Congress might do. Lawmakers agree that more guardrails are needed, but even narrow attempts at imposing rules have fallen apart over the years, evidence of the congressional reluctance to regulate the technology industry.

Cooperation between U.S. and China urged

Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic employee who resigned over AI concerns and has gone public with his fears, argued for international rules along with self-regulation by the industry.

Coxon said he has grown concerned that AI models would soon gain capabilities that could exceed human control.

“You’re building a human-level or superhuman-level mind, without understanding what it wants, or thinks, or the way it thinks,” Coxon said.

At a time of a fierce global competition for AI dominance, Coxon also urged cooperation between the U.S. and China, the two countries who are leading the race, to slow down and address safety.

“I do hope that the people in China who are looking at the same problems as we are, so they’re trying to build the same technology, will come to the same conclusion that it has to be done in a measured manner, and it should be easy to cooperate on some sort of mutual — of mutual slowing,” Coxon said.

Otherwise, he said, “we risk running the same race with China, which could be equally dangerous,.”

White House challenges AI leaders

Tech founder and investor David Sacks responded to the AI leaders’ calls for regulation with a social media post challenging them. Sacks, co-chairman of a White House advisory council on science and technology, said Amodei and others are the ones setting the pace for development.

Sacks said they have the power to slow development on their own.

“The easiest way not to build superintelligence is for you to agree not to build it,” Sacks wrote.

Superville and Tang write for the Associated Press. Tang reported from Washington.

An aspiring Los Angeles-area rapper was arrested on Wednesday and charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar check-cashing scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ada William Obayuwana of Quartz Hill, who goes by “ColdheartedAC” and “AC,” and two others were charged in a 25-count federal grand jury indictment alleging that they illegally possessed more than 50 stolen U.S. Treasury checks and hundreds of other checks belonging to individuals and businesses worth more than $8.1 million, then cashed or attempted to cash them at lenders throughout Southern California.

Albert Tai Vu, of Westminster, and Cassandra Marie Murrillo, of San Diego, are the other two defendants charged in the case.

According to the indictment, between April 2022 and December 2023, the trio obtained the stolen checks, some containing tax refunds and veterans’ and Social Security Administration benefits, then forged endorsements or modified names and addresses to steal the money.

The trio is accused of opening bank accounts to receive the money. They also used business documents to impersonate the identities of the victims connected to the stolen checks and deposited the money into bank and credit union accounts across Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, the indictment says.

During this period, Obayuwana allegedly tried to cash at least three Treasury tax refund checks worth $382,109 and was successful in cashing one, withdrawing $229,109, federal authorities allege.

In December 2023, Obayuwana “possessed in his car in Oceanside more than 100 stolen or fraudulent checks, cumulatively worth more than $6.1 million,” states the indictment. Among the checks were 48 stolen Treasury checks worth some $2,555,417 in tax refunds, veterans’ benefits,and Social Security benefits.

Obayuwana was able to cash eight of them worth about $1.7 million, according to federal investigators.

Vu tried to cash at least six Treasury checks totaling $2.15 million and successfully cashed two tax fund refunds worth $772,159, the indictment says. He also allegedly cashed a pair of cashier’s checks, each valued at $250,000, at an Anaheim bank and used money from one to buy a Range Rover and the second to pay Murillo.

Murillo is accused of trying to cash at least two checks worth $60,193, successfully cashing one for $31,405.

Following his arrest, Obayuwana remains in federal custody. He is charged with nine counts of bank fraud and faces three counts of delivering stolen Treasury checks and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Vu, who was arrested Thursday, is charged with five counts of delivering stolen Treasury checks, four counts of money laundering and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Murillo, who is expected to surrender to federal authorities in Los Angeles on Monday, is charged with an additional count of delivering stolen Treasury checks.

Budget airline easyJet cancelled around 100 flights out of France last weekend with the possibility of further disruption this summer due to industrial action

Thousands of UK passengers are being urged to check if they are eligible for compensation after strikes by easyJet’s French cabin crew.

The budget airline cancelled around 100 flights out of France last weekend with the possibility of further disruption this summer. easyJet passengers flying through Paris, Nice, Bordeaux and Lyon are among those that have faced cancellations and delays.

Under EU regulation 261/2004, passengers can claim compensation if their flight is cancelled in certain circumstances. This can range from €125 (£106) to €600 (£513) – and this is per person.

How much money you are due depends on the length of the flight, plus how much notice you were given for the cancellation and the time of your alternative flight.

For example, if your flight distance was less than 1,500km and it was cancelled less than seven days before you were due to depart, you would be due €125 compensation if your rescheduled flight takes off more than one hour before your original flight, and arrives less than two hours after it.

You can find a full breakdown of the payouts below. But it is important to note that the airline normally only has to pay if it was their fault your flight was cancelled. This can include strikes involving an airline’s staff, including cabin crew, as this is deemed the responsibility of the airline.

Strikes outside of an airline’s control – such as air traffic control, airport security or baggage handlers – are seen as extreme circumstances, and would therefore be unlikely to qualify for compensation.

Consumer rights expert Martyn James said: “The strike compensation rules can seem a little confusing, but the rule of thumb is: if the staff work directly for the airline (cabin crew, pilots) then you should get compensation for delayed or cancelled flights.

“If the staff work as ground crew or for the airport, they don’t directly work for the airline, so the business can’t be considered to have ‘anticipated’ the situation and prevented it.

“Needless to say airlines don’t like this reading of the law. And in fact it was only clarified after they were taken to court by a disgruntled passenger.

“So remember to push back if they refuse your claim – or if they try to blame something else, like the weather or ground crew. As for a written response to your claim, especially if they turn it down.”

The flight you were on must have departed from a UK airport on any airline, or arrived at an airport in the UK on an EU or UK airline, or arrived at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.

If you believe you are entitled to compensation for a cancelled flight, you can make a complaint directly to your airline.

If the airline refuses to pay out, your next step should be to contact the relevant alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme.

Flight was cancelled between 7 and 14 days before departure

• Distance; Less than 1,500km – Rescheduled flight takes off more than two hours before your original flight, and arrives less than two hours after it – €125 compensation
• Distance; Less than 1,500km – Rescheduled flight takes off more than two hours before your original flight, and arrives more than two hours after it – €250 compensation
• Distance; Less than 1,500km – Rescheduled flight arrives more than four hours after your original flight – €250 compensation
• Distance; Between 1,500km and 3,500km – Rescheduled flight takes off more than two hours before your original flight, and arrives less than three hours after it – €200 compensation
• Distance; Between 1,500km and 3,500km – Rescheduled flight takes off more than two hours before your original flight, and arrives three to four hours after it – €400 compensation
• Distance; Between 1,500km and 3,500km – Rescheduled flight arrives more than four hours after your original flight – €400 compensation
• Distance; More than 3,500km – Rescheduled flight departs more than two hours before your original flight, and arrives less than four hours after it – €300 compensation
• Distance; More than 3,500km – Rescheduled flight arrives more than four hours after your original flight – €600 compensation

Flight was cancelled less than 7 days before departure

• Distance; Less than 1,500km – Rescheduled flight takes off more than one hour before your original flight, and arrives less than two hours after it – €125 compensation
• Distance; Less than 1,500km – Rescheduled flight arrives more than two hours after your original flight – €250 compensation
• Distance; Between 1,500km and 3,500km – Rescheduled flight departs more than one hour before your original flight, and arrives less than three hours after it – €200 compensation
• Distance; Between 1,500km and 3,500km – Rescheduled flight arrives more than three hours after your original flight – €400 compensation
• Distance; More than 3,500km – Rescheduled flight departs more than one hour before your original flight, and arrives less than four hours after it – €300 compensation
• Distance; More than 3,500km – Rescheduled flight arrives more than four hours after your original flight – €600 compensation