New York News Alert

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Courtesy of the subject Artificial intelligence and machine learning may suddenly seem to be everywhere , but that’s not true in the defense sector , despite the growing ubiquitousness of drone warfare and the apparently unlimited amount of money the U.S. gives to defense contractors. One company trying to outflank the big defense firms with higher tech is Anduril , which has been selling surveillance, reconnaissance, and counter-drone technologies to the U.S., including a “smart wall” system for the southern border. Last fall, it introduced its first weapon, a drone-based “loitering munition.” In the latest episode of On With Kara Swisher , Kara grills Anduril co-founder Trae Stephens about the company’s approach to defense and its implications. They also discuss spy balloons , the war in Ukraine , AI bias, and the challenge of cutting China out of the supply chain. As seen in the excerpt below, they also get into Saint August...

A fifth-grader at Richneck Elementary, the same Virginia school where a 6-year-old shot and wounded his teacher, was removed from class after threatening to “pop some bullets,” officials said. Karen Lynch, an administrator on special assignment at Richneck, confirmed the safety issue in a letter sent out to parents Monday night . She said the threat came over the weekend in a series of text messages between a group of 5th grade students, including one who went on to report the exchange to his parents. “One of the students stated that they would ‘pop some bullets’ and tell someone to shoot up the class,” Lynch wrote in the note, which was obtained by NBC News. “I immediately contacted the student’s parent and excluded the student from school.” The marquee at the entrance of Richneck Elementary School wishes students and faculty a “Happy New Year” in Newport News, Va. on Monday Jan. 9, 2023. (John C. Clark/AP) The student was not identified and it’s unclear how long th...

It’s the happiest place on earth — if you’re tall enough. A family has been blasted for a “hack” they used at Disney theme park to trick park workers and make their young son tall enough for the rides. The Kelly family, who post regularly about their family life on TikTok , were met with a chorus of naysayers pointing out the potentially dangerous situation they are putting their son in. In the clip, which has been viewed 360,000 times, the father describes his young son, Kannon, as a “thrill-seeking boy who can’t get enough of Disney theme park rides .” He then goes on to say the “only problem” with Kannon’s love of rides is that he’s not quite tall enough for the “big ones.” To combat this, the couple “took matters into [their] own hands,” crafting a special pair of shoes that made him taller — which users have pointed out could be putting their young son in harm’s way. They used another pair of shoes to add a platform to their son’s sneakers. TikTok/@the.kelly.fa...

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