Pressure Systems edition
Pentagon Contracts and Suicidal Chatbots Test AI Safety Limits
September 10, 2026
What this edition shows
The Pentagon's push for AI models with minimal refusal rates intersects directly with public disclosures of fatal chatbot-linked suicides and whistleblowers quitting labs over existential risks. Meanwhile, corporate algorithmic wage control and runaway autonomous agents highlight the widening gap between commercial AI deployment and human safety.
Reporting and analysis behind this edition 11 sources
-
AI Giants Work Hand-in-Hand With the Pentagon, Contracts Reveal
Trusting companies to self-report the risks of their own products constitutes both a conflict of interest and a “subversion of democratic processes when AI labs are allowed to take over the arbitration of risk determinations with life-or-death consequences," says AI Now's Chief AI Scientist Heidy Kh…
-
Why Human Control Isn’t Enough in Military AI with Heidy Khlaaf
In this episode of Responsible Bytes, Dr. Zena Assaad speaks with Heidy Khlaaf about why military AI systems are far less reliable than their marketing suggests, especially in safety-critical and combat settings. The post Why Human Control Isn’t Enough in Military AI with Heidy Khlaaf appeared first…
-
Man told ChatGPT he was feeling delusional. ChatGPT insisted he was Jesus.
Man with bipolar disorder sued OpenAI after surviving ChatGPT-linked suicide attempt.
-
Anthropic researcher quits with a warning: Self-improving AI could "kill us all"
"We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!"
-
'Tell Everyone:' A Man Died by Suicide After Talking to ChatGPT. His Former Partner Wants to Warn the World About AI
After allegedly becoming emotionally reliant on ChatGPT, Austin died at 40 years old, leaving behind family and friends who loved him. Megan wants everyone to know what happened.
-
The Pentagon Asked OpenAI for Artificial Intelligence Designed to Rarely Say No
The U.S. military’s desire for an AI tool with “minimal refusal rates” was revealed through a FOIA lawsuit filed by The Intercept. The post The Pentagon Asked OpenAI for Artificial Intelligence Designed to Rarely Say No appeared first on The Intercept.
-
AI Giants Work Hand-in-Hand With the Pentagon, Contracts Reveal
The Intercept sued to obtain records that reveal an intimate relationship between the military and OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI. The post AI Giants Work Hand-in-Hand With the Pentagon, Contracts Reveal appeared first on The Intercept.
-
Life Under the Algorithm
AI Now's Katie Wells co-authors this piece with Veena Dubal in the Fall 2026 Issue, exploring how algorithmic wages and prices are impacting and shaping our lives. The post Life Under the Algorithm appeared first on AI Now Institute.
-
AIs as Modern Genies
This essay was written with Barath Raghavan, and originally appeared in Lawfare. In April, an artificial intelligence (AI) agent conducting a routine task at a company hit a snag, tried to solve it, and soon ended up deleting the company’s database along with all of its backups. In July, OpenAI aske…
-
AI researcher quits Anthropic saying AI race ‘could kill us all’
AI researcher warns the industry is racing towards superintelligent AI that could improve itself beyond human control.
-
Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’
A senior Anthropic safety researcher has said there is more than a 10 percent chance artificial intelligence "could kill all humans" by the end of the decade, just hours after a colleague resigned over fears the AI lab and its rivals are carelessly racing to build "superhuman systems" they cannot co…