There’s a new kind of AI influencer flooding social media feeds — and they’re not even pretending to look like real people. Higgsfield — which recently announced it hit a $1 billion run rate, and which boasts 30 million users — has updated its AI influencer tool, making it easier ...
Month: October 2026
The West’s open-source AI race kicks into high gearThe West’s open-source AI race kicks into high gear
J.D.’s view The race in the West to become the top open-source AI model shifted into higher gear this week, as both Nvidia-backed Reflection AI and French lab Mistral unveiled new models they hope will break China’s open-source monopoly. The challenge looming over Beam and Le Chonk’s debuts (immediately my ...
The five takes that will define this midterm campaignThe five takes that will define this midterm campaign
David’s view Prick up your ears, and you can hear it — the sound of many different kinds of Democrats grabbing credit for midterm victories that aren’t official yet. There’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, assessing that when (not if) Abdul El-Sayed wins his Senate race in Michigan, the left will “break open ...
Is ‘abundance’ really dead?Is ‘abundance’ really dead?
The News Whatever happened to “abundance,” the pro-growth movement that many Democrats were going to hitch a ride on this election cycle? They did embrace its ideas. They just don’t use the “a-word” that much. In ads and across swing districts, Democrats are running on having “built more affordable housing,” ...
Unions look beyond their rolls to build a new movementUnions look beyond their rolls to build a new movement
The Scoop Every Thursday afternoon, a cadre of state AFL-CIO leaders meets on Zoom to advance a shared project: the “Contract with Working Americans,” a populist economic platform they devised independently of the national AFL-CIO. These calls are a new organizing tactic for labor, which historically leads top down from ...
The US has backed Libya’s Haftar clan. The UK should not make the same mistake | LettersThe US has backed Libya’s Haftar clan. The UK should not make the same mistake | Letters
Steven Kay says Britain should act independently and in a role consistent with its status as a member of the UN security council Patrick Wintour’s report (Libyan unity talks upended as warlord’s son linked to drone attacks on fuel facilities, 3 October) should not surprise anyone concerned with the attempts ...
Why are the Democratic Socialists of America so successful? | Akin OllaWhy are the Democratic Socialists of America so successful? | Akin Olla
There’s an unsung reason for the organization’s success even as other leftwing groups face a bumpy road A lot has been written recently in an effort to understand the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and how we’ve risen to such prominence in a short time. It is clear that we ...
Will Venable: the White Sox manager who used basketball tactics to transform a baseball loserWill Venable: the White Sox manager who used basketball tactics to transform a baseball loser
The White Sox were one of the worst teams in MLB history. Now they are just five wins from a place in the World Series The postgame celebration songs pounded through the Bluetooth speakers in the Chicago White Sox clubhouse on Monday night, minutes after the team’s playoff victory over ...
‘He was devastatingly sexy’: Frasier’s Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce on the love between Daphne and Niles‘He was devastatingly sexy’: Frasier’s Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce on the love between Daphne and Niles
From a breathless tango to a kiss that sent fans wild, the pair crafted a sensational seven-year TV crush. The real-life best friends talk first impressions, Casablanca moments – and having hot husbands Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan on their heart-melting TV romance “Dr Crane, your glockenspiel has sprung to ...
Tents, night-vision goggles, bear tracking kits – and even books: America’s first nature library opensTents, night-vision goggles, bear tracking kits – and even books: America’s first nature library opens
As well as books, the new facility in Colorado offers hundreds of kits to connect people with the natural world. We asked five of the first visitors what they thought of it Mark Fink knows exactly why he opened the first public nature library in the US. “There are a ...