Thore Graepel may have been the first human to be vanquished by a superintelligence. In 2015, on his first day as a researcher at Google DeepMind, he was challenged to play against the earliest iteration of AlphaGo—a computer program developed by DeepMind that would prove so effective at the ancient-Chinese game of weiqi (or Go, as it is commonly known in the West) that it changed how humans play it, and then upended the field of AI itself.
The Trump administration has made a habit of pressing criminal charges against Americans observing and protesting harsh immigration-enforcement tactics, using the power of the executive branch to intimidate and punish those who visibly dissent from the president’s political agenda. In many ways, the prosecution of LaMonica McIver is in line with this general approach.
“I chose and my world was shaken, so what? The choice may have been mistaken; the choosing was not.”
— Stephen Sondheim in a lyric presumably inspired by playing trivia
And by the way, did you know that Sondheim wrote exclusively with Blackwing 602 pencils, the flat-tailed, lightweight instrument also favored by John Steinbeck? They were discontinued while Sondheim was still writing, but he had purchased boxes and boxes of them just in case.
As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran enters its second month, President Donald Trump has said he wants “to take the oil” and seize Kharg Island, Iran’s key export hub in the Persian Gulf. President Trump’s comments come as 3,500 U.S. troops began arriving in the region on Friday, with The Washington Post reporting that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of potential ground combat in Iran.
We speak with journalist Lylla Younes in Beirut as Israel vows to expand its invasion of Lebanon and occupy much of the country. This comes as an Israeli strike targeted a marked press car in southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing Ali Shoeib of Al-Manar TV, reporter Fatima Ftouni of Al Mayadeen TV, and her brother, freelance cameraman Mohamed Ftouni. Israel’s military said it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative, without providing evidence.
New York police say they foiled an assassination attempt against Palestinian American activist Nerdeen Kiswani. She describes the terror of finding out about the plot and why it reflects the “impunity” with which Zionist groups have targeted pro-Palestine voices.
“It really made me feel even more vulnerable than I already do as a Palestinian activist,” says Kiswani, co-founder of the group Within Our Lifetime.
One of the largest No Kings protests on Saturday took place in New York City, where tens of thousands marched to protest the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown, the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and more. Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman was in the streets and spoke to many demonstrators.
An estimated 8 million people took part in anti-Trump protests across the United States on Saturday as part of the No Kings movement, with the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown animating many participants. One of the largest rallies took place in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, where federal immigration agents killed U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January.
The president’s health care policies are on the ballot in a crucial Senate race.
A flurry of activity renewed concerns about insider trading in the Trump administration.
The seven-year war between the bookstore owner and the good liberals who went rogue.
TSA shortages, ICE agents in terminals, and security lines stretching for hours: You might want to consider booking a train instead.
HBO’s prestige TV luster seems to be taking a hit with the various mergers and rebrands.
The health secretary, a member of America’s most famous Democratic family, told the audience at CPAC that his father and uncle would have endorsed Trump’s decisions on Iran and Ukraine.
The Alaska Republican senator is up for reelection and facing a barrage of critical ads.
He indicated that the FDA will soon take action on peptides, the mini-proteins biohackers tout as therapies for a range of ills.
The ruling in a lawsuit brought by a group of states deals another setback to the Trump administration in its efforts to restrict the treatments.
As a result of the ruling, HHS has postponed a planned meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices this week.
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
President Donald Trump has taken one risk after another that could have destabilized the American economy. Iran is the latest crisis to test U.S. economic resilience.
The president stopped in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s old district to defend his economic record.
The 30th anniversary celebration of Democracy Now!, held in New York City’s historic Riverside Church this week, featured live performances and appearances from writers and musicians including Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. The musical performances were kicked off by singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra and their band Hurray for the Riff Raff, performing the Puerto Rico-inspired anthem “Pa’lante.
Juries in California and New Mexico have found the tech giants Alphabet and Meta liable for knowingly causing harm to children and teens who used their social media platforms. Over the course of the trials, documents revealed that tech companies were well aware of the addictive properties of their social media products and exploited these properties to increase their profits.
Drop Site News’s Jeremy Scahill joins Democracy Now! to discuss the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, including President Donald Trump’s lies about U.S. strategy and negotiations with Iran, possible avenues of U.S. escalation and what Scahill has learned about Iranian strategy in conversations with Iranian officials.
Millions of people are expected to take to the streets this Saturday in opposition to the Trump administration in the third iteration of the nationwide No Kings protest movement. Ahead of the thousands of No Kings demonstrations scheduled not only across the country, but also around the world, we speak to one of the organizers behind the campaign, Leah Greenberg of Indivisible. “People are coming out in every state, in every county, collectively, and saying, ‘Enough.
