I went to Anthropic's ethics gathering. I left believing wisdom traditions have key role.; Religion News Service, May 22, 2026

Jenna Nicholas , Religion News Service; I went to Anthropic's ethics gathering. I left believing wisdom traditions have key role.

"One of the most consequential dimensions of the conversation about how artificial intelligence will reshape the world will turn on a question that sounds almost too simple to take seriously: What does it actually mean for a human being to flourish? 

This past April, I spent two days at AI startup Anthropic, where technologists, ethicists, theologians and investors had convened around that question. I went in expecting some interesting conversations with some interesting people. I left unable to think about little else for weeks. The people building some of the most powerful AI systems in the world were sitting across from rabbis, Buddhist teachers and leaders from many other spiritual traditions, discussing what it means to build technology that truly serves humanity, rather than the other way around. 

Being in that room clarified something I, as a venture capitalist with an interest in spirituality and part of the Baha’i community, have believed for a long time but rarely seen articulated so explicitly inside a tech company: The frontier of AI is also an ancient frontier. The questions being asked inside leading AI labs right now are, in many cases, the same questions that wisdom traditions have grappled with for centuries. And for those of us investing in this transition into AI, it’s a signal about where the real opportunity (and challenge) lies...

One of the more hopeful arguments I heard in those two days is that AI could enable discernment by absorbing the cognitive busywork that currently fragments our attention.  

The meaning of a life is not reducible to its productivity. This is where one moment from the gathering has stayed with me more than any other. A participant shared a conversation she had recently had with Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude. They were working through something together, and at one point she paused and simply wrote, “Take all the time that you need.” Claude’s response surprised her. It expressed something close to gratitude, appreciation for the invitation to simply be, rather than to be producing all the time."

A year after Trump fired a top ethics watchdog, there’s still no leader; The Washington Post, May 19, 2026

Dan Diamond, The Washington Post ; A year after Trump fired a top ethics watchdog, there’s still no leader

"Senate Democrats are pressing the White House to explain its plan for the Office of Government Ethics, more than a year after President Donald Trump fired the office’s Senate-confirmed leader and five months after its most recent acting director stepped down.

The Office of Government Ethics, an independent agency, works to prevent financial conflicts of interest and other ethical violations across more than 100 government agencies. It has historically served as a watchdog on government ethical standards, offering guidance to federal officials — and even rebuking the White House, as the office’s past leader repeatedly did in the first Trump administration."

TEACHING AT PITT: AI v. AI — A case from the prosecution; University Times, May 15, 2026

  J. D. Wright, University Times; TEACHING AT PITT: AI v. AI — A case from the prosecution

"I’ve spent most of my career in higher education as one of the academic-integrity true believers — a zero-tolerance hardliner who prosecuted apparent violations with a zeal that might have made you wonder whether I was acting on a staunch commitment to the principles of academic honesty or just perceiving lapses in ethical judgment as personal affronts. In many ways, I’m the last person you’d expect to suggest that an enforcement-first approach to academic integrity, especially in recent years, undermines the work of teaching and learning.

And yet, here I am, making precisely that opening argument in support of my case."

Should AI designs be eligible for Iowa State Fair's T-shirt contest?; Des Moines Register, May 17, 2026

 Lucia Cheng , Des Moines Register; Should AI designs be eligible for Iowa State Fair's T-shirt contest?

"Should people be able to use generative AI to win a design contest?

That's the debate playing out on social media after the Iowa State Fair's Blue Ribbon Foundation unveiled the finalists for its annual T-shirt design contest."

Trump’s plan to use his library as a hotel sparks lawsuit; The Washington Post, May 14, 2026

Dan Diamond

 and 

Aaron Schaffer

, The Washington Post; Trump’s plan to use his library as a hotel sparks lawsuit

"A group of Miami residents sued President Donald Trump, Florida officials and trustees of Miami Dade College on Tuesday over Trump’s planned presidential library, claiming that the college’s decision to hand over a coveted parcel of land for the project constitutes an illegal benefit for the president.

The litigants — who include a current Miami Dade College student — allege that the land transfer violates the Constitution’s domestic emoluments clause, which bars states from attempting to influence a president by giving him gifts. They argue that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his handpicked board of trustees at the state-operated college were wrong to give a nearly three-acre parcel in downtown Miami to Trump’s library foundation last year in exchange for $10. The county’s property appraiser had said the land was worth more than $67 million...

“I don’t believe in building libraries or museums,” Trump said in the Oval Office the day after posting the renderings, as he discussed plans for his own library. “It’s most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby.”"

Sean Duffy Slammed Over Road Trip Reality Show Filmed Over Seven Months; Forbes, May 10, 2026

Zachary Folk , Forbes; Sean Duffy Slammed Over Road Trip Reality Show Filmed Over Seven Months

"Speaking to “Fox and Friends” on Friday, Duffy, a former reality television star of MTV’s “The Real World” and “Road Rules: All Stars,” said he spent the last seven months intermittently filming a road trip reality television show with his wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy.

The trip with some of their nine children is “a civic experience” to highlight destinations across the U.S. as part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration, according to Duffy, who encouraged Americans to “gas up the car, pack up the kids, get behind the wheel and get out and see America.”

Duffy’s announcement was quickly met with criticism from Democrats and other online commentators—with Duffy’s predecessor Pete Buttigieg calling the show“ brutally out of touch” due to rising gas prices caused by disruptions in the oil market from the Trump administration’s war in Iran.

In response, Duffy insisted the program was funded by the Great American Road Trip nonprofit organization and that “zero taxpayer dollars were spent on my family.”

Duffy and Campos-Duffy, also a former “Real World” and “Road Rules” cast member, said the program was filmed in “short” production windows like weekends and their childrens’ breaks from school, and that their family would not receive a salary or royalties from the show."

KASH PATEL’S PERSONALIZED BOURBON STASH; The Atlantic, May 6, 2026

Sarah Fitzpatrick, The Atlantic; KASH PATEL’S PERSONALIZED BOURBON STASH

"George Hill, a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst, told me that Patel’s conduct represented a fundamental misunderstanding of the bureau’s history and of the culture of quiet professionalism that he had observed working under previous FBI directors. “Handing out bottles of liquor at the premier law-enforcement agency—it makes me frightened for the country,” he said. “Standards apply to everything and everyone—especially the boss.”

Hill and others described an organization struggling to uphold its mission amid purges of experienced staff and under a distracted leadership. “When you degrade the office like that, you degrade the impact,” Hill said, adding that he was particularly concerned about what would happen in a time of crisis. “It’s a failure to lead.”

Majority say ethics, honesty in government have declined under Trump: Pew; The Hill, May 2, 2026

SOPHIE BRAMS  , The Hill; Majority say ethics, honesty in government have declined under Trump: Pew

"More than half of Americans say the level of ethics and honesty in the federal government has declined since the start of President Trump’s second term, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

The survey, released on Friday, found that 56 percent of U.S. adults believe the overall level of ethics and honesty has fallen since January 2025. Another 24 percent said it has stayed the same while 19 percent said it has risen."

Clear Waters, Murky Morals: When Humans Swim With Killer Whales; The New York Times, April 29, 2026

Alexa Robles-Gil

Photographs by Meghan Dhaliwal,

The New York Times ; Clear Waters, Murky Morals: When Humans Swim With Killer Whales

"Growing crowds, fueled by social media and a generation that first encountered orcas in captivity or onscreen, are descending on two otherwise quiet coastal towns, bringing money and friction in equal measure. Researchers still cannot say what sustained human contact does to wild orcas. In neither country has that slowed the industry."

Anthropic’s Leaked Code Tests Copyright Challenges in A.I. Era; The New York Times, April 22, 2026

  Meaghan Tobin, The New York Times; Anthropic’s Leaked Code Tests Copyright Challenges in A.I. Era

Artificial intelligence tools are making it faster than ever to reproduce creative work. Does copyright even matter anymore?

"Sigrid Jin was waiting to board a plane when he saw stunning news that artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic had accidentally leaked the source code for Claude Code, its popular A.I. agent. Mr. Jin, 25, an undergraduate student, scrambled to post a copy online. His worried girlfriend quickly texted him: Was he violating copyright law?

Mr. Jin turned to a team of A.I. assistants for a solution. He directed them to rewrite the leaked code in another programming language, then shared that version online. Within hours, more than 100,000 people had liked or linked to it.

Anthropic, one of the leading A.I. companies alongside OpenAI, has said the leak had been caused by human error and, citing copyright violations, demanded that GitHub, an online library of computer code, remove posts sharing the code. Thousands of posts were taken down. But Mr. Jin’s version remains online. He said Anthropic had not asked him to take it down.

It is unclear whether Anthropic, which did not respond to questions from The New York Times, is drawing a distinction with the rewritten code. Mr. Jin said he believed rewriting the code transformed it into a new work, one that Anthropic could not claim ownership over.

He said he was driven less by money or fame than by a desire to make a broader philosophical point. What is the value of copyrighted intellectual property in an era when A.I. can easily replicate not just computer code but art, music and literature in minutes?

“I just wanted to raise some ethical questions in the A.I. agent era,” he said. “Any creative work can be reproduced in a second.”"

The Onion Has a New Plan to Take Over Infowars; The New York Times, April 21, 2026

 Benjamin Mullin and Elizabeth Williamson, The New York Times; The Onion Has a New Plan to Take Over Infowars 

"When Infowars, the website founded by the right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones, came up for sale two years ago, an unlikely suitor stepped up. The Onion, a satirical news outlet, planned to convert the site into a parody of itself.

That sale was scuttled by a bankruptcy court. Now, The Onion has re-emerged with a new plan: licensing the website from Gregory Milligan, the court-appointed manager of the site.

On Monday, Mr. Milligan asked Maya Guerra Gamble, a judge in Texas’ Travis County District Court overseeing the disposition of Infowars, to approve that licensing agreement in a court filing. Under the terms, The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, would pay $81,000 a month to license Infowars.com and its associated intellectual property — such as its name — for an initial six months, with an option to renew for another six months.

The licensing deal has been agreed to by The Onion and the court-appointed administrator. But it is not effective until Judge Guerra Gamble approves it, and Mr. Jones could appeal any ruling. That means the fate of Infowars remains in limbo until the court rules, probably sometime in the next two weeks. Mr. Jones continues to operate Infowars.com and host its weekday program, “The Alex Jones Show.”

Democrat Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigns before the House can sanction her in ethics case; AP, April 21, 2026

KEVIN FREKING AND STEPHEN GROVES, AP; Democrat Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigns before the House can sanction her in ethics case

" Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigned Tuesday moments before a hearing was to begin to consider what punishment to recommend after a House ethics panel found she had committed numerous campaign finance and reporting violations.

The congresswoman was facing the possible threat of expulsion, something that has only occurred six times in the history of the House. Support from her own party was increasingly in doubt. 

It’s the third resignation in a little more than a week from a House lawmaker. Reps. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, announced within hours of each other that they were leaving Congress. Both men were facing sexual misconduct allegations and possible expulsion."

Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?; The New Republic, April 20, 2026

Greg Sargent, The New Republic ; Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?

Four huge media conglomerates forked over $63 million in “settlements” earmarked for Trump’s presidential library. Democrats are trying to track that money—and the latest developments don’t inspire confidence.

"Last year, four huge companies pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fund the creation of Donald Trump’s presidential library, a planned monstrosity in Miami that—in a perfect Trumpian twist—may also double as a hotel. The companies—ABC; Paramount; Meta; and X, formerly Twitter—entered into the agreements with Trump to settle legal cases he’d brought against them, which experts had dismissed as dubious.

Now there’s been an important new turn in this saga. The four companies have provided fresh information to Senate Democrats in written responses to their questions. For these Democrats, those responses—obtained by The New Republic—raise more questions than they answer. 

In these formal replies, all four companies confirmed that they did pledge that money to Trump’s library—itself a notable development. More importantly, however, the Democrats say the responses reveal that the money is still largely unaccounted for.

“Not one of these companies can say with any clarity where their multi-million-dollar donations to Donald Trump’s library slush fund are, or where they will go,” Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who’s taken the lead in tracking this money, tells me in a statement."

Reps. Swalwell, Gonzales say they’ll leave Congress ahead of possible expulsion votes; The Washington Post, April 13, 2026

Mariana Alfaro

 and 

Amy B Wang

, The Washington Post; Reps. Swalwell, Gonzales say they’ll leave Congress ahead of possible expulsion votes

The departures of a Democrat and Republican would not immediately alter the balance of power in the House, where the GOP holds a razor-thin majority.

"Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-California) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) separately announced plans to depart from Congress on Monday ahead of possible expulsion votes related to allegations of sexual misconduct."

Rep. Eric Swalwell resigns from U.S. House after sexual misconduct allegations; CNBC, April 13, 2026

Justin Papp, CNBC; Rep. Eric Swalwell resigns from U.S. House after sexual misconduct allegations

"Rep. Eric Swalwell, a former Democratic frontrunner in the California gubernatorial race, resigned from Congress on Monday amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Swalwell announced his resignation in a statement posted to his X account, while still denying some of the allegations made against him in recent days."

Lawyer sued for charging client for 34.5 hours of work in 1 day; ABA Journal, April 9, 2026

AMANDA ROBERT , ABA Journal; Lawyer sued for charging client for 34.5 hours of work in 1 day

"An Australian lawyer has been sued for billing a client for 34.5 hours in a single day.

Keith Redenbach, the principal of Redenbach Legal in Sydney, billed the city council of Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia, $10 million in Australian currency ($6.9 million in U.S. currency) after representing the group in a dispute with an architectural company, Law.com reports.

Among his charges, Redenbach claimed to work 34.5 hours on Sept. 19, 2019; 31.12 hours on Dec. 6, 2018; and 25.5 hours on April 18, 2019."

Why Be Ethical? It’s Good for Us; The Hastings Center for Bioethics, April 8, 2026

Larry R. Churchill and Nancy M. P. King, The Hastings Center for Bioethics; Why Be Ethical? It’s Good for Us

"Why be ethical? Jonathan Moreno and Arthur Caplan have graciously re-opened this ancient conversation as they reflect on the moral callousness and vile behavior of a group of wealthy elites and others in power. We applaud their efforts and wish to add our own observations from a lifetime of ethics teaching and advising in a wide range of settings."

Bondi tried to kill ethics investigations. Now she'll face one. | Opinion; USA TODAY, April 7, 2026

Chris Brennan, USA TODAY ; Bondi tried to kill ethics investigations. Now she'll face one. | Opinion

A broad coalition of lawyers and legal groups will once again accuse Pam Bondi of misconduct for using her former position to serve only Trump and not the Americans she swore to serve.

"Bondi has another fight coming – a broad coalition of lawyers and legal groups is planning to refile an ethics complaint against her with The Florida Bar. The group will once again accuse her of misconduct for using her former position as the nation's top law enforcement official to serve only Trump and not the Americans she swore to serve...

Bondi, before she got fired, proposed a new federal regulation that would give the attorney general the power to hijack the processes that state bar associations use to investigate ethics complaints filed against Department of Justice lawyers. The 30-day period for public comment about that ended on April 6.

More than a million people left comments on the Federal Register, and it looks like the bulk of them opposed Bondi's proposed regulation. They don't want the DOJ to shield public servants from ethics complaints."

SCOTUS Rules Conversion Therapy Ban Likely Unconstitutional; Psychology Today, April 4, 2026

Allan E. Barsky PhD, MSW, JD, Psychology Today; SCOTUS Rules Conversion Therapy Ban Likely Unconstitutional

Recent SCOTUS conversion therapy ruling gives rise to ethical and legal conflicts.

• "The Supreme Court suggests that state bans on conversion therapy might be unconstitutional.
• Regardless of whether state bans are constitutional, conversion therapy is harmful.
• Mental health professionals' ethical duties to clients include doing no harm.
• Even if conversion therapy is found to be legally permissible, it is unethical."

Napa Valley Schools Emphasize Honesty, Ethics in AI Policy; GovTech, April 2, 2026

 Atmika Iyer, The Modesto Bee, Calif. via GovTech; Napa Valley Schools Emphasize Honesty, Ethics in AI Policy

"10 principles for AI use in Napa schools

1. Teaching and learning: AI should be used to personalize and enhance the learning experience for each student and to support digital citizenship and literacy.

2. Staff usage: AI should be used as a tool to augment and support, rather than replace, staff in the performance of their duties and responsibilities.

3. Ethical use and transparency: AI should be used ethically and transparently by all staff and students, with careful consideration of potential biases, and in compliance with all applicable intellectual property and copyright laws.

4. Accountability and responsibility: AI should be used in a manner that ensures accountability by those who use it and that those who use it are responsible for such use, including when and how it is used.

5. Academic honesty: The district should allow artificial intelligence tools to be used only in ways that support learning — such as research, skill development, or teacher-approved assistance — and prohibit any use that replaces a student’s original thinking or results in cheating, plagiarism or other acts of academic dishonesty.

6. Equity and access: AI should be implemented in a manner that ensures equitable access and opportunity for all students, regardless of background or ability, and for all schools across the district.

7. Secure and private: The district should prioritize security and privacy when changing existing practices or adopting new practices regarding AI.

8. Professional development: The district should provide ongoing professional development for staff, with a particular focus on the ethical and responsible use of AI.

9. Community engagement: The district should engage with the community to share these principles, to educate the community on AI, and to discuss the permitted and prohibited uses of AI in the district.

10. Continuous improvement: The district should regularly evaluate the use of AI by students and staff, and adapt its policies, procedures and professional development to align with best practices and evolving technologies. The district reserves the right to remove access to previously approved AI platforms.

(Source: Napa Valley Unified School District’s Board Policy Manual)

In a bid to develop a set of guidelines for responsible use of technology, the district convened an AI council of 30 stakeholders including parents, teachers, students and staff in May 2025. The council met five times to review CSBA’s policy and make a recommendation to the board.

In addition, the council developed guidelines for AI use for all stakeholders. These will be shared in the 2026-2027 school year. Amid rapid technological developments, the district plans to update them regularly."