DTN 147: America's Coming War on AI Regulation

Plus: Private space station assembles for orbit, liquid-metal motors, synthetic human chromosomes, AI models tested on Dungeons & Dragons, space junk sonic booms, China's defense innovation cities, and more.

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“The system runs below audible, so you can’t hear anything. But there’s basically a force field around the building. The embers get deflected away. What gets through ends up burning through its energy quickly because it gets agitated by the vibrating air.”

“With Americans increasingly anxious about how AI could harm mental health, jobs, and the environment, public demand for regulation is growing. If Congress stays paralyzed, states will be the only ones acting to keep the AI industry in check. In 2025, state legislators introduced more than 1,000 AI bills, and nearly 40 states enacted over 100 laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.”

The first commercial space station, Haven-1, undergoes assembly in Vast Space’s clean room.

“Last Saturday (January 10) we reached the key milestone of fully completing the primary structure, and some of the secondary structure; all of the acceptance testing occurred in November as well. Now we are starting clean room integration, which starts with TCS (thermal control system), propulsion, interior shells, and then moving on to avionics. And then final close out, which we expect will be done by the fall, and then we have on the books with NASA a full test campaign at the end of the year at Plum Brook. Then the launch in Q1 next year.” (via Ars Technica)

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