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Sources: the NSA told lawmakers it is spending billions this year to test AI models; proposals for a US AI regulatory body estimated costs of $20M-$40M per year (Jeff Stein/The Washington Sun)

A sample of FBI data allegedly stolen by ShinyHunters includes granular detail on officials' job assignments on China, Russia, cartels, cyber, and other issues (Reuters)

Anthropic says Claude autonomously discovered a new enzyme system in the DNA of bacteriophages, somewhat similar to CRISPR, the first result from its new biolab (Robert Hart/The Verge)

Anthropic raises its five-hour usage limits by 20% on Pro, Max, and Team plans, and gives subscription users a rate limit reset (David Gewirtz/ZDNET)

Sensor Tower: Muse was downloaded 902K+ times in the six days after its launch on Sept. 8, vs. Meta AI's 773K in the same post-launch period; META jumps 12%+ (Bloomberg)

OpenAI says automated research could improve alignment, but "fully autonomous RSI is not happening today" and shouldn't be pursued unless it can be done safely (OpenAI)

China has made AI a national mission, but local workers' fear of displacement mirrors worries abroad, and potential for social unrest may force CCP to slow down (Michael Schuman/The Atlantic)

Alibaba releases Qwen-Image-2.1, a 7B open-weight model it says outperforms most closed-source models, with native transparency and up to ten reference images (Qwen)

Jensen Huang says AI leaders calling for regulation don't want new legislation, but to be "relieved of the laws we do have" because of "ulterior reasons" (Truman Dickerson/Business Insider)

AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, are putting pressure on office rents in Singapore as they embark on expansion in response to government overtures (Owen Walker/Financial Times)

Experts say AI kill-switch legislation is far harder to implement than lawmakers assume, warning a rogue AI could actively try to dismantle the mechanism itself (New York Times)

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, September 20 (game #1197)