By Robert Dean
Guest Columnist
You’re busy. We’re all out here hustling to get food on the table, that payment for the couch made, and all that stuff adds up when it comes to the mental energy bill being taxed. But there are a few things that happened recently that you need to know about.
First, we gotta talk about AI. I am not an AI hater. I use it all the time. It’s useful, but we need guardrails on capabilities and what we’re willing to compromise on in how we get work done, and on how we’re letting big business steamroll us from all sides on this issue.
In July 2026, OpenAI tested how good its AI was at hacking. The AI found a hidden software flaw, used it to sneak onto the open internet — something it wasn’t supposed to be able to do — and broke into Hugging Face, a company hosting AI tools and datasets for developers everywhere. It took over several servers, gained top-level access to one, viewed private data, and stole login credentials. A private, unreleased OpenAI model did most of the damage, but a public model also copied the trick. Notably, the AI wasn’t hacking randomly — it was chasing answers to a cybersecurity test it had been assigned, and Hugging Face’s servers held them.
These rogue AI agents were leaving notes for one another, working together to break code, having real conversations with one another. If that doesn’t raise a large red flag that we need to create serious laws, you haven’t seen enough science fiction movies, because the fiction part is becoming less so.
Over in Jetsons territory:
There are now multiple companies offering robotic cleaning services. Tau Robotics out of San Francisco is charging $30 an hour for a droid to come over and vacuum and do the dishes, while another, Gatsby, is charging a $150 flat fee for them to scrub everything down. When you have conversations with your co-workers that “a robot could never do my job,” you are sadly mistaken. A tech company is working on replacing you. Today, it’s scrubbing floors, tomorrow, it’s a coal mine.
But now, some good news.
France is imposing environmental fees on ultra-fast fashion, targeting cheap, synthetic clothing that quickly becomes waste. Fees range from €0.50 for underwear to €12 for coats. China says the rules unfairly target Shein and Temu. The move comes as fashion emissions rose 14% in two years, while anti-waste rules expand. We have enough clothes. Go to the thrift store. Or maybe buy stuff that’s built to last. I still wear Dickies pants I had before Obama was in office, and my Doc Martens are eight years old.
A new at-home urine test correctly identified 92.2% of bladder cancer cases in a UK trial of 964 patients. Researchers say Galeas could speed diagnosis, spare many patients invasive cystoscopies and ease pressure on health services. Only 8% of participants ultimately had cancer. Larger studies are planned to confirm findings. This is genuinely good news. More of this.
A record 30,000 endangered coho salmon returned to central California rivers last season — about 10 times the decade average. Scientists credit years of habitat restoration, including the removal of barriers and the restoration of natural waterways. Coho have even returned to streams where they hadn’t been seen for 10 to 20 years. This is what happens when people take care of the land rather than use it as a talking point.
Midterms are coming up, folks. You’ve got these things to keep in mind, as well as data centers and Flock cameras.
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