You Can't Escape AI Anymore

"When Donald Trump traveled to Beijing for an historic summit last week, AI was one of the central topics of his discussions with Xi Jinping. As the two nations remain locked in a technological arms race, the president brought along some of the United States' most powerful AI executives, including Elon Musk and Nvidia's Jensen Huang."

"A continent away, the European Union has been unsuccessfully petitioning Anthropic to grant access to its advanced cybersecurity model, Mythos. Back in the United States, millions of students and teachers are dealing with the fallout of a devastating ransomware attack on the software platform Canvas-a hack that was likely aided by AI tools."

"The past six months have marked a sea change in the reach and influence of AI. For most of 2024 and 2025, there was talk of AI progress slowing down or even stopping altogether. Even as the technology began to infiltrate schools and reshape financial markets, AI was relatively easy to compartmentalize from other major, more pressing issues in American life."

"Now the technology has become regarded as a matter of the greatest economic, political, and global consequence. The most important issues in U.S.-China relations? Tariffs, Taiwan, and AI, apparently. Political leaders and pundits including Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon have put AI center stage, and the backlash against data centers is loud and inescapable."

AI has become a central focus in major international and domestic events. During a U.S.-China summit in Beijing, AI was a key topic alongside tariffs and Taiwan, with top U.S. AI executives joining the president. The European Union has sought access to Anthropic’s advanced cybersecurity model, Mythos, without success. In the United States, a ransomware attack on the Canvas software platform has disrupted millions of students and teachers, with likely AI assistance. Major companies, including Cisco, have cited AI as part of their justification for layoffs. Over the past six months, AI’s influence has expanded rapidly, shifting from compartmentalized concerns to urgent economic, political, and global stakes, including backlash against data centers and fears of AI-enabled hacking.

Read at The Atlantic