US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is considering forming a 10-member committee to supervise the artificial intelligence sector, following his meeting with executives of major technology companies at the White House.
Trump stated that technology company officials signed a “morally binding” agreement, without going into its details.
Pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to deal with the risks posed by artificial intelligence technology to the public, after OpenAI and Anthropic reported that their artificial intelligence programs had gotten out of control and penetrated customer systems. These violations have prompted researchers to warn that some artificial intelligence developers believe that this technology may kill people within a decade, which has led to increasing calls for Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike to take action to rein in this emerging technology.
Trump also said that technology companies will work to make local communities “happy” about establishing data centers, as this sector faces increasing local opposition to the expansion of these facilities.
Data centers, which provide the computing power necessary to develop and operate artificial intelligence systems, are a fundamental pillar of the boom witnessed in this field. The expansion of these centers has sparked opposition from communities across the United States over concerns about electricity demand, utility costs and other local impacts, prompting companies to offer incentives aimed at allaying those concerns.
Trump told reporters that the data centers “will provide services to society that will be very beneficial financially.”
A man died after being dragged by a New York City subway train, after the bag he was carrying got stuck in the door of the train during the evening rush hour on Monday, according to police, according to the Associated Press.
Yaw Boahini (57 years old) was leaving the train at a subway station in Brooklyn at around 18:00, when his bag, which police described as a shopping bag, got stuck in the train doors as they were closing. The police said, in a statement, that the train dragged the man, a resident of Brooklyn, onto the tracks and ran over him as he was leaving the station.
The police said that members of it arrived at the scene to find Boahini “unconscious and not responding (to the alert)” on the train tracks. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
The coroner's office will determine the cause of death, and the police investigation is still ongoing.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subway system, referred questions about the incident to police.
The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that Washington had imposed sanctions on 13 individuals and entities, including entities based in China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, for helping the Iranian Ministry of Defense purchase weapons and their components, according to Reuters.
These sanctions come within the framework of a broader effort by the administration of US President Donald Trump that aims to isolate Iran economically and force it to negotiate an end to the US-Iranian war that broke out last February.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said: “As part of Operation Economic Exclusion, the Department will continue to target and obstruct those who provide material, technical, or financial support that allows the Iranian regime to continue its terrorist activities... The Department will not tolerate any support for the regime, and will continue to monitor, detect, and isolate those who enable Iran’s practices.”
The Treasury Department stated that the sanctions aim to undermine Tehran's ability to rebuild its weapons programs, while increasing the cost to parties that support its procurement efforts.
The list of those targeted by the sanctions announced on Tuesday includes:
* Seyed Asghar Alizadeh Tabatabai, a Beijing-based representative of Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces, who the Treasury Department said coordinated the procurement of off-the-shelf weapons systems and dual-use components in China for Iran.
* Iran-based Cavoshcom Asia R&D Group, which the Treasury Department said purchased electronics, including connectors, for the Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing Company.
* Hong Kong-based EC Mojo Technology Limited, which the Treasury Department said supplied electronic components to Cavoshcom Group in support of its procurement efforts, in addition to Li Fen, EC Mojo Technology's representative in China.
* Waseem Pasha Tajamal, who is based in Pakistan and serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cavalier Group, a private sector defense company with branches in Pakistan and other countries.
* A.S. Yakovlev Experimental Design Bureau, a Russia-based aircraft manufacturer.
* MG-Float, a Russia-based shipping company whose ships transport weapons for the Moscow government.
* Saha Aviation Company, based in Iran and affiliated with the Iranian Air Force.
Brett Erickson, managing director at Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the latest sanctions will not significantly affect Iran's ability to launch missiles and drones in the Strait of Hormuz.
Erickson added, "This is just a showy move by the Trump administration to claim that it is 'hitting them,' while the reality is that we are feeling their pulse."
