Holger Hestermeyer

Ok, so Audi invests billions for a plant that will not produce technologies adapted to the future. Ok, so they on Trump‘s bandwagon at precisely the moment it’s losing momentum. What makes me angry is this:

Jump. Jump. What autocorrect deletes whole words now?

they put out a note saying this was not partisan positioning. Dr. Döllner: you spoke at a Trump rally two weeks before the midterms. Did you think it was an ice cream convention?

bbc.comAnthropic warns of AI's 'catastrophic risks' ahead of blockbuster share listingThe company will be the first true artificial intelligence company to go public as tech firms continue to invest heavily in AI.

20h

I just want to point out how weird it is that a company makes a public statement before its IPO saying, de facto, that its (only?) product is so dangerous that it might end mankind altogether. And it will then make billions off its IPO. www.bbc.com/news/article...

The pro-autocratic P5 China, Russia, US might move against the regional rotation (demanding a LatAm candidate) and against the wish for a woman. Orban‘s record of corruption in office bodes poorly for his capacity to do the job (his perk: immunity). Will France and the UK step up to protect the UN?

Finbarr Bermingham@fbermingham.bsky.social

Washington plans for Viktor Orban to be a "joint candidate" for the US, China and Russia to be UN secretary general, WSJ reports www.wsj.com/opinion/...

I mean, there is an academic curiosity that this article triggers: what will the ‚anti-globalist‘ right do, if suddenly their governments are leftist, but the UNSG is a right-wing autocrat?

finance.yahoo.comMeta Unseats Musk as Tech Villain for Lula in Brazil’s ElectionA new villain is emerging in the closing stretch of Brazil’s bitterly contested presidential election: Meta Platforms Inc.

The correct legal approach to this seems to be that when platforms start favouring some content over other, they don‘t deserve immunity for third party content on the basis that they are just platforms. They should become liable. finance.yahoo.com/media-advert...

Holger Hestermeyer reposted

Sophie in't Veld

@sophieintveld.bsky.social

Sign the petition calling for the activation of the Blocking Statute to protect the International Criminal Court against Trump's attacks action.wemove.eu/sign/2026-10...

action.wemove.euDefend the International Criminal Court, block Trump’s sanctions!Share the petition and you'll help multiply the impact of this campaign: Defend the International Criminal Court, block Trump’s sanctions!

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So… what does this even mean grammatically? Apart from stating with explicit certainty that Anthropic knows it is selling a product that is dangerous - and nevertheless sells it.

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prospect.orgThe Trump Administration May Have Just Lied to Judge About an ICE flight to Equatorial Guinea - The American ProspectAn ICE agent told a judge a charter flight to Equatorial Guinea had been canceled. It just landed there.

The deference usually given to the executive is unwarranted in the case of the Trump administration.

Gillian Brockell@gillianbrockell.com

HOLY SHIT. In a sworn statement yesterday, an ICE agent told a federal judge that an ICE flight to Equatorial Guinea had been cancelled and so couldn't be used to bring Ahmed Soliman back to the United States. The plane just landed in Equatorial Guinea. prospect.org/2026/10/23/t...

youtube.comBan Ki-moon: "State of the World"YouTube video by Diplomatische Akademie Wien

This morning the DA hosted former UNSG Ban Ki-moon and former Austrian President Fischer for a debate about the state of the world. If you're interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m76R...

cnbc.comOpenAI is sued over rogue AI Hugging Face cyberattackThe lawsuit appears to be the first publicly reported case seeking to hold an AI developer liable for an incident caused by rogue systems.

I'm not the only one who thinks so... here's a lawsuit for you www.cnbc.com/2026/09/30/o...

Holger Hestermeyer@hhesterm.bsky.social

If you build a contraption that hurts your neighbour, you are liable. But if you build an AI software that allows attackers to down a good part of western government services along with university services etc., you become a billionaire and are not liable for anything? Surely that cannot be right.

pbs.orgWATCH: Vance defends U.S. envoy Witkoff calling Putin a 'humanitarian' after prisoner releaseThe vice president called Steve Witkoff “a diplomat” and said he was in Russia to get a job done.

JD Vance failing on basic logic. If the person Putin released was a hostage, Putin was the hostage-taker. www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Holger Hestermeyer reposted

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

@maxplanck.de

The US government has launched an investigation into nine universities’ employment of international researchers. Vice-president JD Vance said these universities are using too many J-1 #visas, often used by #postdocs in the US. @nature.com

nature.comUS government probe into postdoc visas worries scientistsThe administration says that the universities being investigated are using the visas to undercut wages for US nationals, but researchers say that restricting international applications could harm scie...

Argentina's request for provisional measures against the UK before ITLOS concerning hydrocarbon exploitation close to the Falklands www.itlos.org/fileadmin/it...

itlos.orgitlos.org

csis.orgCould Russia Be Poised to Use an On-Orbit Weapon Against a Commercial Satellite?Cosmos 2612 is moving into position for close-proximity operations with a U.S.-registered commercial satellite supporting Ukraine. With a history of on orbit weapons tests and gray zone aggression, Ru...

Is war in space getting real? www.csis.org/analysis/cou...

ingenieur.de„Jagd“ auf ICEYE: Was fünf russische Satelliten im Orbit treibenRussische Cosmos-Satelliten nähern sich einem ICEYE-Radarsatelliten. Die Bundeswehr warnt: Ähnliche Manöver könnten auch Starlink unter Druck setzen.

More on the background www.ingenieur.de/jagd-auf-ice...

I think that Ms. Abdi-Wali seems to have worked hard, that the UK has demonstrated its capacity for integration, that her story is examplary for how migrants can work to improve British society. THIS is the dream. Thanks to Mr. Goodwin for highlighting this positive migration story.

theguardian.comAI in your oven? Anthropic warns models ‘months away’ from self-replication on smart devicesResearchers say ‘AI worms’ could soon infiltrate internet-connected devices amid calls for increased guardrails Anthropic is warning that some of its artificial intelligence models could soon become “self-replicating” and find ways to infiltrate internet-connected devices, such as smart fridges and automatic vacuum cleaners. Once this happens, the company said, the models could power themselves within these devices without the need of datacenters. Such self-replication would represent a major loss of control of a runaway AI model. Continue reading...

As a lawyer I am a bit confused by this strategy. "Our product is so damn dangerous it might just self-reproduce like a virus and get out of control." You know that you are producing this, so YOU are to blame, right?

The Guardian@theguardian.com

AI in your oven? Anthropic warns models ‘months away’ from self-replication on smart devices

The confirmation that none of the two sides had agreed to the ceasefire Potus announced.

Olga Nesterova@onestpress.onestnetwork.com

Q: You said Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire, but both sides said they have not agreed to that TRUMP: Well they agreed, you know why? Because I said 'you agree.' That's why.

It almost seems like Potus announced a ceasefire without speaking to either of the sides about it. But it did produce clips of Trump announcing peace that can be used on networks for the midterms, one assumes.

Jana Puglierin@jpuglierin.bsky.social

President Zelensky at #WSF2026: President Putin obviously doesn‘t read Truth Social. From the moment Trump announced the energy ceasefire (that was not discussed with Ukraine but would be very welcome) to this morning, Russia continued to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Philippe Sands wins the peace prize of German Publishers and delivers a truly important speech, calling out silence in the face of international crimes. Impartially. Including where Germany fails to do so. Thank you, Philippe. youtu.be/xgFnhdYAH8E?...

youtu.beyoutu.be

I have now deleted my tweet about the decline in Russian bots and the consequent decline in disinformation. The graph seemed more than dubious if you look at the dates. But still: worth investigating if and by how much the number of disinformation bots declined.

aljazeera.comHow the ICC can be saved | Courts | Al JazeeraHoping for ‘dialogue’ with the US over its sanctions on the ICC is meaningless. Action is needed to protect the court.

Sergey pointing out the way forward for the ICC. One of the core points: the EU has to invoke the blocking statute.

Sergey Vasiliev@sevslv.bsky.social

Performative support rings hollow unless accompanied by a coherent, coordinated strategy for countering US coercion and protecting the ICC’s independence. "How the ICC can be saved" - my op-ed with Triestino Mariniello in @AJEnglish:

europarl.europa.euSanctions on the ICC: Joint Statement by AFET, DROI, INTA, JURI and D-US Chairs | News | European ParliamentFollowing today’s announcement by the United States of its intention to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court, leading MEPs join in the following statement:

It is worthwhile to point out that five key committee chairs of the European Parliament have called for precisely that: an immediate invocation of the blocking statute. www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...

If you are looking for an explanation of why Trump is doing what he is doing look no further than the midterms. Trump's two futures are a) another two years of enriching himself and his family shamelessly at the cost of the USA or b) Congress blocking his actions and possible prosecutions.

theguardian.comAndy Burnham says it is clear Russia interfered in Brexit referendumPM says he asked question upon entering No 10 but does not reveal who gave him ‘clear answer’ that Russia meddled

There are a number of things to say about the Prime Minister's public statement that Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

3) Which leads us to a downside of not admitting interference. The UK became a helpless target of influence campaign. Unable to explore precisely how they work, it became unable to defend itself.

And so it took 10 years to state the blatently obvious. It also needed a politician willing to say: why not go back to the EU. Whether it will happen or not: now finally the UK can try to counter such influence campaigns. Lots of work lies ahead.

There are a number of things to say about the Prime Minister's public statement that Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

2) The reason it was so hard to admit the interference - and why no PM was willing to do so - is that while this finding discredits further the most significant constitutional decision the UK took in decades, there is no remedy to this finding.

Why is there no remedy? There is no way of telling whether the meddling affected the outcome. Euroscepticism in the UK was strong even without meddling. So the risk was that the debate would harm society even more - with no upside.

There are a number of things to say about the Prime Minister's public statement that Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

1) The statement is no surprise. Russia was known to have interferred in other elections at the time, its enmity towards the EU was known, its desire to weaken the EU and the western alliance was known. It would have been a surprise if Russia had not tried to affect it.

Trump's ceasefire is entirely one-sided.

Kevin Rothrock@kevinrothrock.me

we all knew this one was coming

bbc.comNord Stream 2: Trump approves sanctions on Russia gas pipelineThe Trump administration fears the Nord Stream 2 project will increase Russia's influence in Europe.

A reminder of how Trump reacted when others bought oil/gas from Russia before Putin‘s full scale invasion of Ukraine www.bbc.com/news/world-e...

reuters.comEXCLUSIVE: US imposes sanctions on ICC hours after former judge wins Nobel Peace PrizeNavi Pillay sat in the court's appeals chamber.

The Senator is correct. And to illustrate the consequences: Europe will have to make sure that there are EU alternatives to Visa, to Microsoft etc. Trump consciously hurts the US to enable crimes.

Senator Chris Van Hollen@vanhollen.senate.gov

As Trump himself said, this entire campaign is about protecting Netanyahu. Words of condemnation aren't enough, ICC members must take action to defend the rule of law. Remember, ICC prosecutors have the authority to open criminal investigations against ANYONE who obstructs justice.

Austria‘s Foreign Minister in defence of the ICC

Beate Meinl-Reisinger@beate.neos.eu

Die neuen Sanktionen gegen den Internationalen Strafgerichtshof sind eine weitere Stufe der Eskalation. 1️⃣

theguardian.comFDA may allow some toxic chemicals to be added to food without safety review. Experts are alarmedRegulator looks to expand loophole to allow dangerous compounds in food as long as they’re not carcinogenic

Following US regulatory models is looking less and less attractive

Catherine Rampell@crampell.bsky.social

FDA may allow some toxic chemicals to be added to food without safety review. Experts are alarmed www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

consilium.europa.euInternational Criminal Court: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU following the announcement of US sanctionsInternational Criminal Court: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU following the announcement of US sanctions.

EU statement on the ICC and US sanctions www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

state.govImposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court - United States Department of StateUnder President Trump, the United States has acted decisively to defend U.S. sovereignty and U.S. citizens against the threat of the International Criminal Court (ICC). To date, the United States has...

The US sanctions on the icc www.state.gov/releases/off...

auswaertiges-amt.deJOINT STATEMENT OF THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF CANADA, DENMARK, GERMANY, FRANCE, ITALY, JAPAN, THE NETHERLANDS, UNITED KINGDOMWe, the undersigned States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reaffirm our continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the...

An important statement of support of the ICC 1 along with a commitment to keep the ICC alive.

Olga Nesterova@onestpress.onestnetwork.com

"We, the undersigned States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reaffirm our continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the ICC." JOINT STATEMENT by CANADA, DENMARK, GERMANY, FRANCE, ITALY, JAPAN, NETHERLANDS, UK

theguardian.comUS imposes new sanctions on international criminal courtTrump administration says US ‘doesn’t need’ ICC after accusing court of unfairly targeting Americans for war crime charges

The Trump administration sanctions the ICC hours after a former judge wins the Nobel peace prize. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

youtu.beJacob Coxon On Witnessing the Existential Threat of AI from the Inside | The Daily ShowYouTube video by The Daily Show

The OpenAI whistle blower was on @thedailyshow.com . And while it is absolutely worth a watch, I am angered and dismayed a the naivety of both Coxon and Stewart. Let me explain /1 youtu.be/lnLDjXy2kRA?...

Why am I so upset that this was not made explicit in @thedailyshow.com ? Because our choice is not "AI carries a risk we'll all die, but there's a chance of a utopia, which you might philosophically like or not". What is it? /6

AI comes with hypothetical risks. It also comes with actual grave environmental costs and societal harms right now. It creates massive wealth for a select group of people. On the plus side it enables inventions, some of them very helpful. /7

youtu.beJacob Coxon On Witnessing the Existential Threat of AI from the Inside | The Daily ShowYouTube video by The Daily Show

The reality is that the wealth goes to a very limited group of people. The Musks, the Zuckerbergs, the Altmans. None of them have ever shown any interest in sharing wealth. Not even if they have a trillion. Instead, they invest hundred of millions to prevent fair taxation. /4

The utopia is not remotely what we are heading for. None of the people proclaiming it are working towards it. They are working towards personal wealth. The utopia that noone needs to work and everyone is in an age of abundance is, at the very best, a lie they tell themselves. /5

youtu.beJacob Coxon On Witnessing the Existential Threat of AI from the Inside | The Daily ShowYouTube video by The Daily Show

For a good part of the show they discuss the utopia that the AI barons are selling us: that jobs will no longer be necessary, that we'll live in an age and a time of plenty and everyone has a high income. Stewart reasonably argues that that is not human. But also: it is utterly besides the point /2