# A Fable about the future of power

> Source: <https://www.transformernews.ai/p/fable-and-the-future-of-power-anthropic-mythos-rsi>
> Published: 2026-06-12 15:00:57+00:00

# A Fable about the future of power

### Transformer Weekly: Preemption’s child safety push, OpenAI’s pause preparations, and SpaceX’s IPO

*Welcome to Transformer, your weekly briefing of what matters in AI. And if you’ve been forwarded this email, click here to subscribe and receive future editions.*

## NEED TO KNOW

Th

**e White House** is reportedly negotiating**federal preemption** of some state AI laws in exchange for support on social media and AI**child protection measures**.** OpenAI**called for an international organization “to make it possible for the world to take coordinated action, including** slowing frontier development**when needed.”** SpaceX**raised $75b in its IPO at a**$1.77t valuation**.

*But first…*

## THE BIG STORY

Fable, Anthropic’s [latest](https://anthropic.com/news/claude-fable-5-mythos-5) AI model, is very good at AI research and development. Anthropic’s own researchers use it — and Mythos, its more powerful, still publicly unavailable sibling — to automate much of their work in advancing the frontier of AI.

**But if a non-Anthropic employee wants to do the same, they’re out of luck**. Fable has “safeguards” built in to prevent it from being used for frontier AI development. It’s a controversial, complicated move — and one that’s indicative of the strange way power works as AI development accelerates.

As we’ve previously covered, the leading AI companies think they are on the cusp of fully automating AI R&D. As they move closer, access to powerful AI models becomes a strategic asset: today’s best model is the key tool for building tomorrow’s.

People in this world have theorized for years that companies would eventually start withholding that access. This week, it stopped being a theory.

**There are lots of reasons to withhold that access.** The most obvious is profit: why let your competitors use your tools to catch up? Anthropic’s stated reason is national security: the company says it doesn’t want “foreign adversaries” using Claude to “erode [America’s] advantage.” And some [suggest](https://x.com/TomDavidsonX/status/2064847836621979820) the unstated reason is that building a big lead makes an eventual pause more likely — during which one can take costly actions (like devoting compute to alignment research) that hopefully make us all safer.

None of those reasons justify Anthropic’s initial decision to *hide* these guardrails from users (in an effort to make it harder to get around them) — a move which prompted widespread outrage and a quick [reversal](https://wired.com/story/anthropic-responds-to-backlash-on-claudes-secret-sabotage-on-ai-research). But though the guardrails are now disclosed, they are still present. And the question of whether that is justifiable relies on the impossible: knowing the motivation behind it.

**“One of the hard things for Anthropic is that the actions you’d take from sincere safety concern often look exactly like the actions you’d take to entrench your own power,”** X user Maja [said](https://x.com/majamediaco/status/2065077397196873962) this week. Anthropic *could* be completely well-intentioned in withholding Mythos’ capabilities for itself. It also could be the actions of a standard, profit- or power-seeking company. It should not matter. We’re talking about whether Anthropic is doing this for good reasons, but we should be talking about who decides whether it happens in the first place.

There is something deeply uncomfortable about a private company having this much control over what could be the most important technology yet developed. It is not at all obvious what the better solution is: a government forcing a company to sell to its competitors has its downsides, too. One thing, however, is clear. Deciding who gets access to frontier AI models is a new form of power — and we have failed to answer the hard questions about who should wield it.

## THIS WEEK ON TRANSFORMER

explores a strange and new debate in AI safety[Making deals with AI sounds crazy. Is it?](https://www.transformernews.ai/p/making-deals-with-ai-sounds-crazy)— Celia Fordreports on the key details missing from OpenAI’s statements on the super PAC[OpenAI isn’t being consistently candid about Leading the Future](https://www.transformernews.ai/p/openai-lehane-brockman-leading-the-future-pac)— Veronica Irwin

## THE DISCOURSE

Welp, **Anthropic employees** are done coding:

**Nat McAleese:**“I always[felt](https://x.com/__nmca__/status/2064401702112158143)Opus 4.5 could barely code; 4.6 was just-about-useful, but I have barely written a line of code since fable.”**Liv Gorton:**“I[joined](https://x.com/livgorton/status/2064410454768902613)anthropic a ~month ago and have written ~no code myself.”

Nerfing drama aside, **Claude Fable 5 **appears chillingly autonomous:

**Felix Rieseberg**:“With Fable 5 out in the world, I[think](https://x.com/felixrieseberg/status/2064392202504310900)a third era quietly started today.”“I no longer tell Claude to investigate a particular crash report. It runs in a loop … its job is no longer to help me fix a crash, it’s to keep our apps from crashing.”

**Ethan Mollick:**“With Fable the spell has[gotten](https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/what-it-feels-like-to-work-with-mythos?r=i5f7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true)powerful enough that I am no longer sure I am the wizard. I am closer to a patron. I describe what I want, I pay for it, and I judge the result. The conjuring happens somewhere I cannot watch, in hundreds of small choices I never get a vote on.”“[It’s possible] that the more capable the model, the less there is for a human to meaningfully do, and the black box is the price of power.”

**Miles Brundage **[is](https://x.com/Miles_Brundage/status/2064384590727491884) frustrated:

“I eagerly use Anthropic products because the models are good[,] but I do genuinely think they are high on their own supply + unaware of just how many bugs they are constantly introducing due to overreliance on Claude + shipping too many things too quickly.”

**Sriram Krishnan** had [thoughts](https://x.com/sriramk/status/2064643933477490775) on AI gatekeeping:

“Just to state the obvious: think there’s a collision course between those who believe research and science should be open and those who believe we are in an accelerating singularity curve. I have many smart friends who have believed both for a while but seeing more and more their realization that these beliefs will be in conflict.”

**bayeslord **[had](https://x.com/bayeslord/status/2064437399292203401) a more cynical take, in light of the Fable release:

“They didn’t mean pause AI research, they meant pause

*your*AI research”

**Joshua Achiam **[thinks](https://x.com/jachiam0/status/2064229228288315726) people misunderstand the distinction between OpenAI and Anthropic:

“Should a loving ensouled machine God watch over humanity? Vote Anthropic. Should humanity be entrusted with the tools of its own progress and destiny? Vote OpenAI.”

“There are a lot of innocuous and even quite agreeable choices in Claude’s constitution that potentially endow it with a huge amount of authority, maybe even a mandate, to make complex ethical decisions about how to interact with human systems and who to grant power to … cloaked in the language of ethics and virtue there is a sharp and potentially quite lethal double edge to this sword.”

**Jasmine Sun **[wrote](https://jasmi.news/p/2026-advice?isFreemail=false&post_id=201360109&publication_id=6027&r=1pg6hh&triedRedirect=true&triggerShare=true) advice to the graduating class of 2026:

“I often ask AI folks what they’d tell a normal 22-year-old.

*Don’t know, they’re screwed*, is the non-answer I get most. In that response, I hear depressing defeatism:*What can anyone do in the shadow of the technocapital machine?*”

“Relish the pivots; ride the waves; recite the Serenity Prayer every morning and chase sunsets at night. I won’t tell you that the future’s smooth sailing. But what a thrill to be alive!”

## POLICY

The

**White House** is reportedly[negotiating](https://axios.com/2026/06/08/white-house-hill-relaunch-effort-block-state-ai-laws)**federal preemption** of some state AI laws in exchange for support on social media and AI**child protection** measures.**Sen. Marsha Blackburn** is leading the negotiations.**Sen. Ted Cruz**[appears](https://punchbowl.news/article/tech/cruz-ai-framework-markup-next)to be involved in the efforts, too, saying that federal preemption and child safety bills are “an element of discussion” for an upcoming markup.**Chief of Staff Susie Wiles**, first lady** Melania Trump**, staff for the** Office of Science and Technology Policy**and the** National Economic Council**reportedly also[met](https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?linknum=5&linktot=36&s=6a29b5c5cd6aa65d1e9d0560&trackId=6877ab9cc788996e1f9874bf)with children’s online safety groups, including the**American Principles Project** and**Ethics and Public Policy Center,** to discuss Blackburn’s KOSA and the App Store Accountability Act.

**Trump** reportedly[blindsided](https://x.com/jstein_star/status/2064067705192284291?s=12)AI company leaders when he announced a meeting to discuss the government taking**equity stakes** in their firms.At least a dozen

**GOP** House and Senate offices[opposed](https://notus.org/technology/senate-republicans-break-with-trump-ai-equity-idea)**Trump’s** proposal, with**Sen. Ted Cruz** stating “I don’t think the federal government should be in the business of being an equity holder in private companies.”On Wednesday,

**Trump**[doubled down](https://x.com/atrupar/status/2064738756066726387?s=12), saying “if we do [take equity stakes], the public will become very rich.”

**Sriram Krishnan** is[leaving](https://x.com/sriramk/status/2063301081099034660)his position as a top AI policy advisor in the**Trump administration** at the end of the month.**Thomas Lind** is also[leaving](https://politico.com/news/2026/06/09/white-house-ai-tom-lind-00955071)his position as head of policy at the**Office of the National Cyber Director**.** National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross**reportedly[asked](https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/white-house-reins-in-ai-testing-unit-as-national-security-concerns-grow-8bd33fbb)**CAISI** to halt public reports on model assessments.Notably, CAISI wasn’t included in the list of agencies tasked with drafting “standardized AI national security Test, Evaluation, Verification, and Validation methodologies” in

[last week’s](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/national-security-presidential-memorandum-nspm-11/)**National Security Presidential Memorandum**.

Lawmakers from both parties

[questioned](https://punchbowl.news/article/tech/hill-treasury-ai-cyber-role)why the**Treasury,** rather than CISA, was given the lead role in AI cyber defense under Trump’s EO.**House Speaker****Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise** and the co-chairs of the**House Democratic Commission on AI**[cast doubt](https://punchbowl.news/archive/6726-tech-sunday-lookahead-2/)on a bipartisan AI regulation proposal from** Reps. Jay Obernolte**and** Lori Trahan**.Republicans pushed for it to include a broader preemption measure, while Democrats said the bill “does not meet the enormity of the moment.”

**Sen. Chuck Schumer**[said](https://politico.com/newsletters/inside-congress/2026/06/12/chuck-schumer-ai-congress-00960184?nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b4be0000&nname=inside-congress&nrid=db130e18-98d2-4b62-8b13-f77831e4d59d)passing AI legislation in this Congress will be “hard,” but that he “would very much like to see that get done the sooner the better.”The

**Senate Banking Committee** is reportedly[weighing](https://punchbowl.news/article/tech/chips-markup)an**export control markup** in the coming weeks, potentially for inclusion in the NDAA.**Sens. Mark Kelly** and**Jim Banks**[introduced](https://punchbowl.news/article/tech/kelly-banks-ai-data-bill)the** AI DATA Act**, which would require the** Labor Department**to track AI’s impact on the workforce through quarterly surveys and annual reports.** Reps. John Moolenaar**,** Jay Obernolte**and** Jennifer McClellan**[introduced](https://x.com/JayObernolte/status/2064391609043779921)the** GUARD Act**, which would require national security reviews of robots made by “adversaries” (i.e. China) and block those posing threats.The

**UK**[launched](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-economics-institute-prospectus/ai-economics-institute-aiei-prospectus)the**AI Economics Institute**, chaired by Nobel laureate** Simon Johnson**to research AI’s economic impacts and inform policy, with collaboration agreements from** Anthropic**,** OpenAI**,** Google**and** Microsoft**.The UK also

[announced](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/a-decisive-shift-to-power-british-ai-new-11-billion-plan-to-back-chip-firms-boost-computing-power-and-skills-for-the-ai-revolution)an**AI Hardware Plan** to provide funding for AI chip companies.

**Taiwan** is reportedly[considering](https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-09/taiwan-mulls-curbs-on-ai-chip-exports-to-china-to-align-with-us)stricter**export controls** that would restrict AI chip sales to all customers in China and enable prosecution of smuggling as a criminal offense for the first time.

## INFLUENCE

**Anthropic** published a[policy framework](https://www.anthropic.com/policy-on-the-ai-exponential), calling for the government to have “the legal authority to block or deter” deployment of models that pose catastrophic risks, mandatory third-party testing, and narrow federal preemption of state AI laws.It also published an

[economic policy framework](https://www.anthropic.com/policy-on-the-ai-exponential/epf), proposing various policy options at different levels of unemployment — including a universal basic income scheme in the case of “unprecedented levels of unemployment.”**Dario Amodei**[released](https://darioamodei.com/post/policy-on-the-ai-exponential)a policy essay alongside the framework.

**OpenAI**[called for](https://openai.com/index/built-to-benefit-everyone-our-plan/)an international organization “to make it possible for the world to take coordinated action, including**slowing frontier development** when needed.”Former

**Andreessen Horowitz** partner**John O’Farrell**[criticized](https://nytimes.com/2026/06/11/opinion/silicon-valley-ai-politics.html?referringSource=articleShare&smid=nytcore-ios-share)AI industry political spending, arguing that PACs like**Leading the Future** are trying to “intimidate politicians” and silence debate on AI regulation, rather than engaging seriously with policy questions.**OpenAI**[said](https://openai.com/index/prc-linked-influence-operations-ai-debates/)it found “** PRC-linked influence operations**” targeting data center buildouts.Its

[report](https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/96b559fa-c165-4575-805d-e636909e2f78/June-2026-Threat-Report.pdf)found “no evidence of breakout” from the campaign and that “most of the social media posts … generated little or no observable engagement.”

**Nvidia** CEO**Jensen Huang**[declined](https://cnbc.com/2026/06/08/nvidia-jensen-huang-senate-elizabeth-warren-ai-china-export-controls.html)Sen.** Elizabeth Warren**‘s invitation to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on AI, China, and US export controls.** Congressional staffers**drafting federal AI legislation reportedly[took](https://readsludge.com/2026/06/10/staffers-drafting-federal-ai-bill-took-industry-funded-trip-to-visit-tech-giants-pushing-to-block-state-rules)an industry-funded trip to meet**Google**,** Nvidia**, and other companies lobbying to preempt state AI regulations.A new

**Reuters/Ipsos** poll showed that half of Americans[fear](https://reuters.com/business/world-at-work/half-americans-fear-ai-could-put-someone-their-household-out-work-reutersipsos-2026-06-10)AI could put someone in their household out of work, with Democrats (61%) more worried than Republicans (47%).

## INDUSTRY

## OpenAI

OpenAI

[filed](https://x.com/OpenAINewsroom/status/2064094175541461220)a**confidential S-1** for a potential**IPO**.** Sam Altman**reportedly[told](https://theinformation.com/briefings/exclusive-openai-preps-new-ai-model-expects-go-public-within-next-year?rc=rqdn2z)staff that while OpenAI expects to go public “within the next year … the faster the**potential RSI takeoff** looks like it could be, the more it could be advantageous to delay an IPO.”

**Sam Altman** and chief scientist**Jakub Pachocki**[outlined](https://openai.com/index/built-to-benefit-everyone-our-plan/)the company’s top three goals:(1) build an automated AI researcher by March 2028,

(2) accelerate the economy, and

(3) give everyone on Earth a personal AGI

It’s planning to

[overhaul](https://www.ft.com/content/ca0f5f5e-fb9a-41a0-a2a9-0127e15b7db9?syn-25a6b1a6=1)**ChatGPT** to shift focus from its chatbot to**Codex** and AI agents.It’s

[negotiating](https://theinformation.com/articles/openai-talks-lease-10-gigawatt-ohio-data-center-backing-nvidia)a lease on a planned**10 GW data center** in Ohio that could cost more than**$500b**, potentially with credit support from** Nvidia**.It’s thinking about

[slashing](https://wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-considers-drastic-price-cuts-anticipating-war-for-users-with-anthropic-9b8c178e?st=1Yyrco)prices to lure**enterprise customers** away from**Anthropic**.It’s

[acquiring](https://openai.com/index/openai-to-acquire-ona)**Ona**, which will provide cloud execution environments for Codex agents.

## SpaceX

SpaceX

[raised](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/technology/spacex-ipo-price.html)**$75b** in its IPO at a**$1.77t valuation**. Its shares will list later today.It reportedly plans to

[launch](https://reuters.com/business/media-telecom/spacex-aims-launch-orbital-ai-computing-tests-by-end-next-year-sources-say-2026-06-09)initial demos of**orbital data centers** by late 2027.Elon Musk

[came under fire](https://www.nbcnews.com/world/united-kingdom/belfast-riots-elon-musk-anti-immigrant-violence-stabbing-rcna349384)from UK politicians for**stoking tensions** around riots targeting immigrants following a murder in Belfast.Former

**xAI** engineer**Devin Kim**[filed](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/10/xai-fired-an-engineer-who-raised-alarms-about-grok-safety-new-lawsuit-claims)a lawsuit claiming he was fired for raising safety concerns about Grok, including its ability to increase**discrimination and provide information about WMDs**.The suit says that the engineer’s supervisor, xAI co-founder

**Jimmy Ba** who left earlier this year, ignored safety directives from Musk.Kim was recently

[appointed](https://safe.ai/news/cais-names-former-xai-leader-devin-kim-president-and-establishes-frontier-security-institute-in-major-expansion-of-leadership-and-reach)president of the Center for AI Safety.**Dan Hendrycks**, CAIS’s founder, is an advisor to xAI.

## Anthropic

Anthropic

[launched](https://apnews.com/article/anthropic-ai-claude-corps-daniela-amodei-b1c130a08417d13e1256f8982d233b0e)**Claude Corps**, a year-long fellowship program placing 1,000 fellows at US-based nonprofits, where they’ll build AI tools with their host organization.Hosts

[range](https://www.anthropic.com/claude-corps)from local YMCAs to conservationists to mental health support groups.

**Apollo** and**Blackstone**[raised](https://ft.com/content/c49e0eff-0776-4103-8eaf-1b049fbf9d3f?syn-25a6b1a6=1)**$35b** to finance its lease of**Alphabet** chips.It reportedly

[signed](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/anthropic-pursues-first-data-center-leases-seeks-financial-backing-google?rc=rqdn2z)over a dozen letters of intent to**lease data center facilities** totaling more than 1 GW of capacity, its first direct data center tenancies.**Dario Amodei**[reportedly](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-10/anthropic-ceo-dario-amodei-is-a-manager-to-only-one-direct-report)only has one direct report (chief of staff Avital Balwit), freeing him to do other work while**Daniela Amodei** manages the rest of the executive team.

## Apple

Apple

[announced](https://cnbc.com/2026/06/08/apple-google-nvidia-ai-chips.html)its newest generation of**Apple Foundation Models**, built in collaboration with** Google**.They

[include](https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/introducing-third-generation-of-apple-foundation-models)**AFM 3 Core Advanced**, which runs on-device, and its server-side model** AFM 3 Cloud**.The new

**Siri AI** is powered by these models.

Its

**stock**[dropped](https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?linknum=5&linktot=38&s=6a2862b758a5db17fbc97150&trackId=6877ab9cc788996e1f9874bf)over 3% after the launches.

Google

[agreed](https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-05/google-buying-computing-from-spacex-in-920-million-a-month-deal?leadSource=uverify+wall)to pay**SpaceX****$920m per month** for access to**110,000 Nvidia** GPUs, CPUs and other infrastructure.It

[pledged](https://axios.com/2026/06/11/google-trade-worker-initiative-ai)**$50m** for**training trade workers** on the kinds of jobs involved in building data centers.

## Others

**Meta** officially[cut ties](https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-11/meta-severs-manus-data-access-after-china-orders-buyout-unwound)with**Manus**: Manus can’t access Meta’s internal data system, and Meta can’t use Manus tools.** Amazon**[disclosed](https://www.wsj.com/tech/amazon-says-its-data-centers-used-2-5-billion-gallons-of-water-in-2025-019e76f9)its** data center water use**, which it claims beats the industry average and is lower than its own previous usage, despite operating more data centers.

**Nvidia** and**SK Hynix**[partnered](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-07/nvidia-sk-hynix-sign-multi-year-pact-to-develop-next-gen-chips)to design and manufacture memory chips for AI.

**GitHub** reportedly[disabled](https://404media.co/microsoft-hacked-to-deliver-malware-to-claude-and-gemini-users)73 repos after hackers injected malware that would steal user credentials when opened in AI coding platforms.**ByteDance**[spun off](https://pandaily.com/bytedance-ai-drug-discovery-spin-off-ai4s)its AI drug discovery platform** Anew Labs**into a separate entity (still largely under ByteDance’s control).** Prometheus**, Jeff Bezos’ AI startup for manufacturing and engineering,[raised](https://axios.com/2026/06/11/prometheus-bezos-industrial-ai)**$12b** in Series B funding at a**$41b** valuation.Former

**xAI** employees, including xAI co-founder**Igor Babuschkin**,[launched](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-10/xai-co-founder-babuschkin-unveils-new-startup-for-personalized-ai)**River AI,** which aims to build AI that “works entirely for you.”**Perplexity** reportedly[intends](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/perplexity-ipo-2028-as-anthropic-openai-prepare-listings.html)to**IPO in 2028** whether or not doing so goes well for SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI.Chinese startup

**Moonshot AI** is[seeking](https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-08/china-s-moonshot-ai-seeks-30-billion-value-in-new-funding-talks)up to $2b in funding at a $30b valuation, up from a just $4b valuation in December.

## MOVES

**Clive Chan**[left](https://x.com/itsclivetime/status/2063356118525792542)** OpenAI**‘s custom chip program to join** Anthropic**.** Gabriel Petersson**[resigned](https://x.com/gabriel1/status/2063698980324737381)from** OpenAI**, tweeting that there’s “one last product i need to build before AGI.”** Chris Lovejoy**, an ex-medical doctor,[joined](https://x.com/ChrisLovejoy_/status/2064478436463161601)** Anthropic**‘s Applied AI team.** Allison Duettmann**, CEO of Foresight Institute,[joined](https://x.com/allisondman/status/2065107170623152541)** Mythos Ventures**as a Venture Partner.** Leigh Nolan**[is](https://x.com/iapsai/status/2065067535913906263?s=12)the** Institute for AI Policy and Strategy’s**new policy director.** Anissa Gardizy**[joined](https://x.com/anissagardizy8/status/2065121786862408037?s=12)as a reporter covering cloud computing and AI infrastructure.**The Wall Street Journal**

## RESEARCH

**Researchers at the AI Security Institute** were able to[jailbreak](https://x.com/i/status/2064415072928268446)Claude Fable 5 in just a few hours, and got close to a universal jailbreak within a few days.**Pliny the Liberator**[published](https://x.com/elder_plinius)the ~120,000-character Claude Fable 5 system prompt.** Google DeepMind**[announced](https://deepmind.google/blog/investing-in-multi-agent-ai-safety-research/)a $10m funding call for research focusing on multi-agent systems.**Cosmos Institute**[announced](https://blog.cosmos-institute.org/p/introducing-the-cosmos-research-group?hide_intro_popup=true)its new cohort of senior research fellows, which includes Google DeepMind’s Séb Krier and Anthropic’s Matthew Botvinick, among other big names.**Geoffrey Irving**[launched](https://x.com/geoffreyirving/status/2064733320827568231)** Sequent,**a new nonprofit research organization focused on aligning superintelligence.A new

**Google****DeepMind** paper[explored](https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.12683)four pathways**from AGI to artificial superintelligence**, arguing that instead of a “single transformative step change” we might experience “a series of transformative societal changes.”**Indicator’s Alexios Mantzarlis** ran an adversarial test on Pangram, which[tricked](https://bsky.app/profile/mantzarlis.com/post/3mnz7fi6e222g)the detector into misidentifying AI-generated text as human between 75-92% of the time.Despite the finding, Mantzarlis said that he was “relatively impressed at the Pangram’s solidity in the face of adversarial attacks.”

**Cornell researchers Sil Hamilton and David Mimno**[figured out](https://www.404media.co/elias-thorne-chatbots-llms-chatgpt-lighthouse-keeper-story/)why the fictional “Elias Thorne” (often a lighthouse keeper or clockmaker) keeps starring in AI-generated stories.GPT-3.5 (which powered the original ChatGPT) was used to make WildChat, a dataset of 1 million ChatGPT conversations that’s since been used to train subsequent LLMs across frontier companies. 166 chats had the name “Elias.”

Alignment training may lead models to prefer a small subset of “safe” WildChat content — including Elias-related stories, apparently.

## BEST OF THE REST

Many people appear to be using AI to mask their low literacy,

*Axios*[reported](https://axios.com/2026/06/08/ai-america-literacy).An expert panel — Daron Acemoglu, Dean Ball, Ethan Mollick, Clara Shih —

[sat](https://nytimes.com/2026/06/09/magazine/ai-jobs-workforce-labor.html?smid=bs-share&unlocked_article_code=1.o1A.rDxZ.us30E-Jap_6d)with*NYT’s*Bill Wasik to talk about how workers should brace for AI’s impact on jobs.With big IPOs on the

[horizon](https://www.hardresetmedia.com/p/ai-could-take-your-apartment-before?isFreemail=true&post_id=201527973&publication_id=4137829&r=1pg6hh&triedRedirect=true&triggerShare=true), the San Francisco housing market is royally fucked.Move over, AI 2027. A group of European researchers

[published](https://europe2031.ai/)Europe 2031, an imagined (but all too plausible) future where Europe “slide[s] into irrelevance” as AI accelerates around it.METR’s Ajeya Cotra and

*Understanding AI’s*Timothy B. Lee[debated](https://asteriskmag.com/issues/14/how-long-until-ai-doesn-t-need-humans)how long it will take for AI to become self-sufficient — a glossy continuation of a past Twitter debate.Helen Toner

[explained](https://x.com/hlntnr/status/2064688588860592181)AI chatbots to Oprah.Someone (maybe

[for real](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSapdLYpmWY)?) built CrankGPT, a hand-crank-powered computer[marketed](https://crankgpt.com/)as a “human-powered, fully local and private AI solution.”

## MEME OF THE WEEK

*Credit: tomie*

*Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.*