https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-27/climate-alliance-suspends-activities-after-global-banks-walk-out?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1NjMwNjQyNiwiZXhwIjoxNzU2OTExMjI2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUMUVERkFHUEw0MUgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDMkYxNDM5NTYzRjg0QTBFOEIxNzA5MzY0RjMyQ0JFOCJ9.BZJMXTbAA11jKPVwWEASxQgu2MtPXOu60x2ITho1nIA

On Sunday, in an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union program, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to answer the question put to him several times by anchor Dana Bash as to why he has not endorsed the winner of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary election, Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). He dodged the question, saying he was “engaged in a conversation” with Mamdani on a variety of topics.

To date, none of the leading national or state figures in the Democratic Party, including, besides Jeffries, New York senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Governor Kathy Hochul, have endorsed Mamdani. Gillibrand was recently forced to retract her statement that Mamdani’s position on Palestine is “glorifying the slaughter of Jews.”

The refusal to date of top national and state elected Democrats to endorse the party’s candidate in the country’s largest city, more than two months after the primary, is extraordinary. It is an expression of a deep crisis pervading the Democratic Party.

Mamdani, who refers to himself as a socialist and opposes the Gaza genocide, ran on a program of minor reforms, such as a freeze on rent increases on rent-regulated apartments, free bus service and universal childcare. He won the votes of hundreds of thousands of workers and young people, in a lopsided victory over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and other contenders.

The oligarchy that controls both big business parties demands that the next administration in New York impose sweeping austerity measures as state and federal funding for education and social programs evaporates.

Moreover, the Democratic Party has swung so far to the right since the Reagan era, working with Republicans to redistribute the national income from the bottom to the top, gut social programs, and wage aggressive imperialist wars, that even nominal opposition to these policies sets off alarm bells. The oligarchic character of American society is such that the class of billionaires that dominates US politics is not willing to sanction even the most modest incursion into its members’ fabulous fortunes.

Both Cuomo and the current mayor, Eric Adams, are running as independents against Mamdani, with varying degrees of support from ruling circles in the city and state. Both are trailing far behind Mamdani in the polls...

Minority Leader Jeffries refuses to endorse NY mayoral candidate Mamdani amid deepening Democratic Party crisis

^{World Socialist Web Site}

Donald Trump’s tariffs amount to a stealth tax on the middle and working classes, wrapped in the language of sovereignty. In practice, it’s upward redistribution and corporate price-gouging, fueling inequality that corrodes stability and erodes democracy.

Trump’s Protectionism Protects the 1 Percent

^jacobin.com

cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/44902005

The right-wing State Policy Network (SPN) and its affiliates have an overall combined revenue of $270 million, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) of the latest publicly available IRS filings. This marks a 77% increase since CMD last reported on SPN’s core finances in 2022.

CMD analyzed the IRS filings of all 64 affiliates of SPN from 2023, with a few available from 2024. The network’s overall combined expenses for this period were $230 million, with net assets coming in at $255 million. These numbers do not include core financials from the Great Plains Public Policy Institute or the Roughrider Policy Center since they bring in less than $50,000 per year and therefore do not have to disclose them, according to IRS regulations.

SPN groups play an integral role in promoting passage of legislation in state houses across the country — by providing academic legitimacy when their members testify at hearings, producing “studies” or model legislation, and attracting media attention. That legislation is sometimes drafted as model bills by corporate lobbyists and lawmakers at SPN’s sister organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

SPN is holding its annual meeting this week in New Orleans, where school privatization, AI, deregulating nicotine, noncitizen voting, bitcoin, DOGE, and more are on the agenda.

Btw, here is their featured keynote speaker for this years annual meeting.

Revenue for the State Policy Network and Its Affiliates Increased 77% in Three Years - EXPOSEDbyCMD

The right-wing State Policy Network and its affiliates have an overall combined revenue of $270 million, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy of the latest publicly available IRS filings.

^{Kate Eaton (EXPOSEDbyCMD)}

Meta plans to launch a super PAC to support California candidates favoring a light-touch approach to AI regulation, Politico reports. The news comes as other Silicon Valley behemoths, like Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, pledge $100 million for a new pro-AI super PAC.

Meta to spend tens of millions on pro-AI super PAC | TechCrunch

Meta's new PAC signals an intent to influence statewide elections, including the next governor’s race in 2026.

^{Rebecca Bellan (TechCrunch)}

A class-action lawsuit against AI company Anthropic over copyright infringement is nearing settlement, with both parties reaching an agreement in principle[^1]. The lawsuit, filed by authors Andrea Bartz, Kirk Wallace Johnson, and Charles Graeber, alleged Anthropic illegally downloaded millions of books to train its AI models[^3].

U.S. District Judge William Alsup certified what could be the largest copyright class action ever, potentially including up to 7 million claimants[^1]. The lawsuit claimed Anthropic pirated books from online sources including Books3, Library Genesis, and Pirate Library Mirror[^3].

"This historic settlement will benefit all class members," said Justin A. Nelson, attorney for the authors[^1]. The parties must file a motion for preliminary approval by September 5, 2025[^1].

While settlement terms remain undisclosed, the case had serious implications - industry advocates warned that if every eligible author filed a claim, it could "financially ruin" the AI industry[^1]. Anthropic had previously argued the lawsuit threatened its survival as a company[^1].

[^1]: Ars Technica - Authors celebrate "historic" settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
[^3]: LA Times - AI company Anthropic settles with authors who alleged piracy

AI company Anthropic settles with authors who alleged piracy

Anthropic trained its AI assistant Claude using copyrighted texts, according to a lawsuit from several affected authors.

^{Cerys Davies (Los Angeles Times)}

An initiative aimed at boosting Democrats online offers influencers up to $8,000 a month to push the party line. All they have to do is keep it secret—and agree to restrictions on their content.

https://www.wired.com/story/dark-money-group-secret-funding-democrat-influencers/

Rich Widmann, head of Web3 at Google, outlined on Tuesday how his firm's upcoming layer-1 blockchain for finance differs from Stripe's Temp and Circle's Arc.

Google’s Upcoming L1 Blockchain for Finance: How It Compares to L1s From Stripe and Circle

^{Siamak Masnavi (CoinDesk)}

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36407755

Research.

“This research focuses on a central issue in the discourse surrounding AI and language: are these language changes happening because we’re using a tool and repeating what it suggested or is language changing because AI is influencing the human language system?” said assistant professor of computational linguistics and principal investigator Tom Juzek. “By analyzing lexical trends before and after ChatGPT was released in 2022, we found a convergence between human word choices and LLM-associated patterns with AI buzzwords.”

While rapid increases in the use of certain words — like Omicron — do occur, these increases are typically due to real-world events. Recent large-scale upticks in the use of words like “delve” and “intricate” in certain fields, especially education and academic writing, are attributed to the widespread introduction of LLMs with a chat function, like ChatGPT, that overuses those buzzwords.

“The changes we are seeing in spoken language are pretty remarkable, especially when compared to historical trends,” Juzek said. “What stands out is the breadth of change: so many words are showing notable increases over a relatively short period. Given that these are all words typically overused by AI, it seems plausible to conjecture a link.”

Words including “surpass,” “boast,” “meticulous,” “strategically,” and “garner” have also seen considerable increases in usage since the release of ChatGPT. While these words are often used in a formal or academic tone, which makes them less common in unscripted, spoken language, researchers found that nearly three-quarters of these target words showed increased usage with some more than doubling in frequency.

Pro

2025-08-27 13:29:27

ChatGPT influences how we speak

Research.

“This research focuses on a central issue in the discourse surrounding AI and language: are these language changes happening because we’re using a tool and repeating what it suggested or is language changing because AI is influencing the human language system?” said assistant professor of computational linguistics and principal investigator Tom Juzek. “By analyzing lexical trends before and after ChatGPT was released in 2022, we found a convergence between human word choices and LLM-associated patterns with AI buzzwords.”

While rapid increases in the use of certain words — like Omicron — do occur, these increases are typically due to real-world events. Recent large-scale upticks in the use of words like “delve” and “intricate” in certain fields, especially education and academic writing, are attributed to the widespread introduction of LLMs with a chat function, like ChatGPT, that overuses those buzzwords.

“The changes we are seeing in spoken language are pretty remarkable, especially when compared to historical trends,” Juzek said. “What stands out is the breadth of change: so many words are showing notable increases over a relatively short period. Given that these are all words typically overused by AI, it seems plausible to conjecture a link.”

Words including “surpass,” “boast,” “meticulous,” “strategically,” and “garner” have also seen considerable increases in usage since the release of ChatGPT. While these words are often used in a formal or academic tone, which makes them less common in unscripted, spoken language, researchers found that nearly three-quarters of these target words showed increased usage with some more than doubling in frequency.

Model Misalignment and Language Change: Traces of AI-Associated Language in Unscripted Spoken English

In recent years, written language, particularly in science and education, has undergone remarkable shifts in word usage.

^arXiv.org

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36407755

Research.

“This research focuses on a central issue in the discourse surrounding AI and language: are these language changes happening because we’re using a tool and repeating what it suggested or is language changing because AI is influencing the human language system?” said assistant professor of computational linguistics and principal investigator Tom Juzek. “By analyzing lexical trends before and after ChatGPT was released in 2022, we found a convergence between human word choices and LLM-associated patterns with AI buzzwords.”

While rapid increases in the use of certain words — like Omicron — do occur, these increases are typically due to real-world events. Recent large-scale upticks in the use of words like “delve” and “intricate” in certain fields, especially education and academic writing, are attributed to the widespread introduction of LLMs with a chat function, like ChatGPT, that overuses those buzzwords.

“The changes we are seeing in spoken language are pretty remarkable, especially when compared to historical trends,” Juzek said. “What stands out is the breadth of change: so many words are showing notable increases over a relatively short period. Given that these are all words typically overused by AI, it seems plausible to conjecture a link.”

Words including “surpass,” “boast,” “meticulous,” “strategically,” and “garner” have also seen considerable increases in usage since the release of ChatGPT. While these words are often used in a formal or academic tone, which makes them less common in unscripted, spoken language, researchers found that nearly three-quarters of these target words showed increased usage with some more than doubling in frequency.

Pro

2025-08-27 13:29:27

ChatGPT influences how we speak

Research.

“This research focuses on a central issue in the discourse surrounding AI and language: are these language changes happening because we’re using a tool and repeating what it suggested or is language changing because AI is influencing the human language system?” said assistant professor of computational linguistics and principal investigator Tom Juzek. “By analyzing lexical trends before and after ChatGPT was released in 2022, we found a convergence between human word choices and LLM-associated patterns with AI buzzwords.”

While rapid increases in the use of certain words — like Omicron — do occur, these increases are typically due to real-world events. Recent large-scale upticks in the use of words like “delve” and “intricate” in certain fields, especially education and academic writing, are attributed to the widespread introduction of LLMs with a chat function, like ChatGPT, that overuses those buzzwords.

“The changes we are seeing in spoken language are pretty remarkable, especially when compared to historical trends,” Juzek said. “What stands out is the breadth of change: so many words are showing notable increases over a relatively short period. Given that these are all words typically overused by AI, it seems plausible to conjecture a link.”

Words including “surpass,” “boast,” “meticulous,” “strategically,” and “garner” have also seen considerable increases in usage since the release of ChatGPT. While these words are often used in a formal or academic tone, which makes them less common in unscripted, spoken language, researchers found that nearly three-quarters of these target words showed increased usage with some more than doubling in frequency.

Model Misalignment and Language Change: Traces of AI-Associated Language in Unscripted Spoken English

In recent years, written language, particularly in science and education, has undergone remarkable shifts in word usage.

^arXiv.org

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36407518

Pro

2025-08-27 13:24:27

Word documents will be saved to the cloud automatically on Windows going forward

Save new files automatically to the cloud in Word for Windows

Hello, Microsoft 365 Insiders! I’m Raul Munoz, a Product Manager on the Office Shared Services and Experiences team. I’m excited to share an update to Microsoft Word for Windows that automatically saves new documents to the cloud.

^{Raul_Munoz (TECHCOMMUNITY.MICROSOFT.COM)}

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36407130

Pro

2025-08-27 13:16:54

South Korea ban using mobile phones and other smart devices during classes at elementary and middle schools nationwide, starting March 2026

Use of Smart Devices to be Restricted in Elementary, Middle, High Schools

Starting the spring semester of next year, use of smart devices, including smartphones, will be restricted in classrooms at elementary, middle and high schools.A related ...

^{world.kbs.co.kr}

It was a sharp rebuke to the prosecutors who are dealing with the fallout from President Trump’s move to send National Guard troops and federal agents into Washington.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/us/politics/trump-sandwich-assault-indictment-justice-department.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hU8.wZ7V.K69NAYTIXXPN

Research.

“This research focuses on a central issue in the discourse surrounding AI and language: are these language changes happening because we’re using a tool and repeating what it suggested or is language changing because AI is influencing the human language system?” said assistant professor of computational linguistics and principal investigator Tom Juzek. “By analyzing lexical trends before and after ChatGPT was released in 2022, we found a convergence between human word choices and LLM-associated patterns with AI buzzwords.”

While rapid increases in the use of certain words — like Omicron — do occur, these increases are typically due to real-world events. Recent large-scale upticks in the use of words like “delve” and “intricate” in certain fields, especially education and academic writing, are attributed to the widespread introduction of LLMs with a chat function, like ChatGPT, that overuses those buzzwords.

“The changes we are seeing in spoken language are pretty remarkable, especially when compared to historical trends,” Juzek said. “What stands out is the breadth of change: so many words are showing notable increases over a relatively short period. Given that these are all words typically overused by AI, it seems plausible to conjecture a link.”

Words including “surpass,” “boast,” “meticulous,” “strategically,” and “garner” have also seen considerable increases in usage since the release of ChatGPT. While these words are often used in a formal or academic tone, which makes them less common in unscripted, spoken language, researchers found that nearly three-quarters of these target words showed increased usage with some more than doubling in frequency.

Model Misalignment and Language Change: Traces of AI-Associated Language in Unscripted Spoken English

In recent years, written language, particularly in science and education, has undergone remarkable shifts in word usage.

^arXiv.org

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/27/us/flesh-eating-bacteria-climate-change