China's spy chief offered a rare look at what Beijing sees as AI's biggest risks.
Chen Yixin identified six major AI risks for China in a journal article published Sunday.
His warning comes as leaders of the biggest AI companies publicly agreed that a slowdown is necessary
China's spy chief just offered a window into Beijing's priorities when it comes to AI's biggest risks.
Chen Yixin, China's minister of state security, published an article Sunday morning in China Cyberspace, a journal run by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's internet regulator.
In it, Chen identified six major risks AI could pose to Beijing. The first was "regime security."
He wrote that "various hostile forces and malicious individuals abuse generative AI technologies — such as deepfake audio and video, AI-generated images and text, and intelligent online armies — to produce political rumors at low cost and in large quantities."
Those tools can "spread harmful information, incite antagonistic emotions, and wage a war of public opinion and cognitive warfare," posing direct threats to China's political, institutional, and ideological security, he said.
Chen also identified five other major AI risks, including:
Dangers to China's critical infrastructure, because cyberattacks can be carried out with extreme efficiency, considering the power of models like Mythos.
The risk of large-scale data leaks, where Chinese AI users and foreign intelligence agencies alike could obtain critical national data, trade secrets, or citizens' personal information.
Animbalance in technological development caused by monopolies and closed technological systems, as countries can exploit AI's power and fragment supply chains in the name of national security.
Challenges to social governance that lead to disruptions in public order.
Fundamental shifts in warfare, as AI-powered precision targeting gives adversaries a major advantage on the battlefield.
More regulation for the 'wellbeing of all humanity'
Chen advocated for strong "developmental guidelines" for AI to be put in place — essentially, more government control of AI development.
What that involves, per Chen, will be for Beijing to "accelerate the construction of a security risk prevention and control system." China should promote the "healthy and orderly development" of AI through "high-efficiency governance," Chen said.
Chen also said AI should be developed "with the wellbeing of all humanity as its guiding principle."
He added, too, that global powers must "resolutely resist hegemonism, technological barriers, and exclusive blocs," and work to set up a "fair and open international AI rules system."
Chen's comments come as Chinese leader Xi Jinping advocated for AI progress at the BRICS summit in New Delhi on Sunday.
"We should take a people-centered approach, develop AI for the positive and for good, and work faster to evolve a consensus-based global AI governance framework, so that new technologies can light the way toward shared prosperity," Xi said.
The comments from Chen and Xi came as the debate over a possible AI apocalypse heats up in the US. Over the weekend, Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk all backed calls to slow the pace of frontier AI development.
The CEOs voiced these concerns after several of their employees issued public warnings that the products they are making, if developed unchecked, could wipe out most of humanity.
In the most high profile instance, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon quit Anthropic, saying both the lab and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI are "gambling with our lives."
The show was on shaky ground in recent months, following a string of high-profile departures.
Media pundits have thoughts on the first episode, released on Sunday.
CBS premiered the 59th season of "60 Minutes" on Sunday, with familiar faces like Norah O'Donnell, Lesley Stahl, and Jon Wertheim.
Sunday's episode included three main segments: an interview with a US Air Force Officer rescued from Iran, a segment about brokers offering felons paths to pardons from President Donald Trump at high cost, and a profile of the Los Angeles Rams.
"We don't often send notes to the whole newsroom. But today calls for it. It's a big moment for 60 Minutes and CBS," CBS leadership wrote in a memo to staff on Sunday to promote the latest season.
The premiere follows a turbulent few months at "60 Minutes," marked by high-profile exits, such as those of longtime correspondents Scott Pelley and Anderson Cooper, and staff discontent over editor in chief Bari Weiss' direction.
Here's what smart people in media are saying about the new season.
Brian Steinberg, Variety TV editor
Brian Steinberg, a senior TV Editor for Variety, wrote in a Sunday article that the new season, which promised change, "relied on many elements from the program's past."
"Viewers on Sunday night got only a brief glimpse of Ross Douthat, and none of Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni, Trevor Phillips or Ariel Levy, but were rather greeted by three correspondents who already have an association with the program," Steinberg wrote.
Alex Marquardt, Al Jazeera English host
Alex Marquadt, the former CNN chief national security correspondent and host of Al Jazeera English's "This is America," wrote about the "60 Minutes" segment on X.
"The Pentagon rolled out the red carpet for this 60 Minutes piece: Sec Hegseth, Gen Caine, Adm Cooper + the weapons systems specialist all sat down with Norah O'Donnell," he wrote.
Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast
Tim Miller, a political commentator and host of The Bulwark Podcast, criticized one segment of Sunday's show hosted by Lesley Stahl: the story about brokers offering people who have committed felonies a path to receiving pardons from President Donald Trump at high cost.
"Doing a story about pardon abuse and making it about Burkman and Wohl is like doing a story about crypto corruption and focusing on Hawk Tuah girl," Miller wrote on X. "Like yeah they are scammers and that's bad it's fine to do. But they aren't in the same universe as the real corruption."
CEO Jensen Huang doesn't sugarcoat advice to Nvidia employees who quit.
He critiqued one startup's name and told another founder his biggest weakness could hold him back.
Founders said the tough love stuck — and they acted on his advice.
As they were preparing to leave Nvidia, David Hoeller and Nikita Rudin anxiously hopped on a late-night call with their CEO.
The two had spent years working on robotics at the chip giant, pushing the boundaries of simulation and helping pull off a demo in which CEO Jensen Huang took the stage with a coterie of humanoids.
The pair wanted more freedom to bring that technology into the real world and left in 2024 to found Flexion Robotics, a startup building robot intelligence.
As they dialed in from a conference in Munich, Huang didn't try to talk them out of leaving, though he did have one problem with their startup: its intended name, Checkpoint.
"He told us that the name was bad, and that we had to change it," Rudin said, adding that they'd heard from others that the name sounded like it belonged in a different industry. "I don't want to give him all the credit, but we probably changed it because of his comment."
Huang also warned them about the long road ahead.
"His message was, 'We don't realize how tough a journey it's going to be,'" Rudin said.
Flexion's experience offers a glimpse into how Huang counsels some departing founders: with encouragement and little sugarcoating. That directness extends through Nvidia's culture, where Huang is known for cutting through management layers and personally weighing in on everything from employee output to customer complaints.
Flexion Robotics' David Hoeller and Nikita Rudin.
Courtesy of Flexion Robotics
Flexion's relationship with Nvidia didn't end there. Nvidia later invested in the Zurich-based company, which is now expanding into the US, having recently opened a San Francisco office and hired researchers from companies like Meta. In total, it has raised more than $57 million.
Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.
Founders say Jensen Huang gives 'honest feedback'
For Bing Xu, Huang's parting advice was more personal.
Xu joined Nvidia after it acquired his first startup in 2024. He left earlier this year — walking away from a potentially life-changing sum of Nvidia equity, he said — to build another startup called INT21, which uses AI to improve chip software.
After Xu shared his plans, Huang spent two hours with him and other Nvidia executives discussing his work and trying to convince him to stay.
INT21 founder and CEO Bing Xu.
INT21
Huang also offered a pointed critique. He said communication was Xu's biggest weakness and that it could limit his achievements. Xu had a tendency to assume others shared his technical knowledge, making his explanations difficult to follow — and Huang suggested that staying at Nvidia would be a better path, he recalled.
"This is the most honest feedback I had in the past 10 years about myself," said Xu, who now works with a public relations firm. "I didn't think my communication would be such a big problem, but when Jensen told me, I decided I could take this opportunity to become a better version of myself."
The conversation wasn't all tough love. Xu said he was dealing with high blood pressure and other health issues at the time, and Huang encouraged him to take time off and rest.
He viewed both the concern and criticism as evidence that Huang wanted him to succeed.
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NYT bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer used to write books during lunch breaks while working in finance.
Brigid Kemmerer
Brigid Kemmerer wrote books during lunch breaks while working in finance and raising three kids.
An NYT bestseller gave Kemmerer enough money to quit her corporate job in 2016.
Kemmerer said that as a full time writer, losing corporate stability can still feel scary.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brigid Kemmerer, a New York Times bestselling author of young-adult and romantasy novels. Kemmerer, based in Baltimore and now 48 years old, has worked as a full-time author for the past 10 years and has published at least two dozen books. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I've wanted to be a writer since I was 12, when a librarian I knew published her first young-adult novel.
Until then, authors might as well have been movie stars. Seeing a real person become one made writing feel like a possible career.
I started working in finance at 19 and eventually became a licensed stockbroker. After selling my first novel in 2011, I continued working my day job while raising three children and writing whenever I could.
I wrote early in the morning, late at night, and during my lunch hour. In 2016, I finally sold the book that allowed me to leave finance. Becoming a full-time author took years, and my income is now supporting my entire family.
I treated writing like a second job
I always wanted to be a writer, but I never really thought of it as a full-time job.
In my 20s, I worked in finance, and I was a licensed stockbroker. I loved my coworkers, and I liked having a consistent salary.
I sold my first novel in 2011, but publishing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. I used my first advance payment to fix our leaky roof and buy a cheap children's playsetfrom Costco.
For years, my schedule was insane.
I would wake up at 5 a.m. and try to get some words down over coffee before the kids woke up. Then I changed diapers, got everybody dressed, packed their day care bags, dropped them off, and commuted 40 minutes.
Sometimes, I wrote during my lunch hour. I had an ancient, janky laptop that wouldn't work unless it was plugged in, until my husband bought me a MacBook, even though we didn't have MacBook money.
After work, we picked up the kids and made dinner. If I wanted to get words written, I needed to leave the house. I would go to the library or Starbucks and treat writing like a part-time job.
My husband was hands-on with our toddler and newborn while I wrote. Knowing what he was handling at home motivated me to get the words down.
One book allowed me to quit finance
By the end of 2015, I was working full-time, raising three kids, and preparing to publish my sixth book.
I tearfully told my husband that I felt like I was working two full-time jobs. I worried that I would wake up one day to find my kids were 18, and I would have spent their entire childhoods working.
He asked when I had last written something purely because it was fun. I pulled out an old book that had previously been rejected and rewrote the first 75 pages.
That book was "A Curse So Dark and Lonely." It became my biggest deal at the time and my first book to hit The New York Times bestseller list. It gave us enough money for me to quit my day job.
Not everyone took my writing seriously. People would ask, "Are you still doing that little writer thing?" Others asked whether I was ever going to write a "real book."
A manager once openly mocked me in a meeting for writing romance. At the time, I was writing young adult. I became more closed-lipped about my work after that.
When I decided to leave, I planned to give eight weeks' notice because I loved my team and didn't want to let them down. Another manager pulled me aside and told me to give two.
My husband works in IT and was laid off about two months ago as a direct result of AI being introduced at his workplace. We had been covered by his health insurance. Now my author income is paying for our family's coverage.
We are temporarily on COBRA. For a family of five, coverage runs between $2,000 and $2,500 a month. Losing his salary while taking on that expense is a huge financial swing.
It isn't the first time this has happened. We once went without insurance for a few months. One of my kids developed strep throat, and I had to pay cash, and I was terrified.
Another year, our deductible was so high that after injuring my shoulder, I considered extending a trip to Paris and paying cash for an MRI there.
Still, we weather everything as a team. We are very lucky that my writing income can support our family right now. I am hoping we can continue as we have been.
I've now been a full-time author for 10 years. I love the creative freedom, but giving up a consistent salary and corporate benefits can still be scary.
On Friday, Shanghai Enflame Technology surged about 200% in its debut on Shanghai's tech-focused Star market after raising 6.12 billion yuan, or $913 million.
Backed by the Chinese gaming giant Tencent, Enflame develops AI chips for training and inference, making it one of a new generation of domestic chipmakers benefiting from Beijing's push for semiconductor self-sufficiency amid US export restrictions.
Enflame's online retail tranche was more than 6,000 times oversubscribed, underscoring strong investor appetite for Chinese AI chipmakers.
Enflame's debut follows the December listing of fellow AI GPU designer Moore Threads, another Chinese startup seeking to challenge Nvidia, as well as the recent high-profile IPOs of memory chipmaker CXMT and robotics company Unitree.
The listing also offers a glimpse into the economics of China's emerging AI chipmakers.
In 2025, Enflame's revenue rose 37% to 990 million yuan, while its loss excluding non-recurring items narrowed to 1.20 billion yuan, according to the company's listing prospectus. Meanwhile, its largest customer, Chinese internet and gaming giant Tencent, accounted for nearly 84% of sales. The company expects to break even in 2026 or 2027.
Enflame's strong market debut reflects growing investor appetite for Chinese AI and semiconductor IPOs.
China is "still at a very early stage of a multi-year IPO upcycle" as semiconductor, AI infrastructure, and robotics companies tap public markets to fund research and expansion, wrote Morgan Stanley analysts in a note on August 28.
The bank said many of the new listings are developing technologies China sees as strategically important, with companies investing more heavily in research and capital spending, though many have yet to become profitable.
"Capital markets are therefore critical to help them scale up," the bank's analysts wrote.
Jaime Bancroft-Gennaro moved from the US to the Netherlands in 2017 for a better family life.
Her family's transition included embracing Dutch culture and challenges like language barriers.
She appreciates the Netherlands' bike culture and community, despite missing American conveniences.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jaime Bancroft-Gennaro, a 50-year-old consultant and coach, who moved from the US to the Netherlands. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in San Diego, and went to college in Santa Cruz. After graduating, I moved to Oregon. At first, I lived in Bend, and then I spent 15 years in Portland.
When my son was born in 2009, my husband and I moved to Italy, where my husband is from. He was homesick, and it felt like the right move at the time.
When the economy crashed during the global financial crisis, we moved back to the US. We were always pining to get back to Europe — we just didn't know where or when the right time would be.
Before we moved to Europe for the second time, my husband sent me to Amsterdam by myself to see what I thought. I loved it, and we decided to move there.
In 2017, my kids started elementary school
Trump had been elected for the first time. My kids were coming home talking about immigration, lockdown drills, and other things that made me realize this wasn't how I wanted them to grow up.
Around the same time, my husband received a small inheritance, which really sparked the move. I thought, "We have the money to do it now. The timing seems right. When else are we going to do it?"
Amsterdam reminded me of Portland in a lot of ways. It felt like the right place for us. We were nearing the end of our lease, gave our landlord a couple of months' notice, and then moved right outside Amsterdam in 2017.
We didn't know anyone in the Netherlands
We didn't speak Dutch and didn't know the culture, but we felt that if we were ever going to do it, with our kids ages 4 and 6, it was the right time.
I was working in advertising, and there were a lot of advertising companies in Amsterdam. My husband had a job in software, and he moved with that job. I found a new job after I arrived. I worked under a work permit through my company, and that was my sponsorship to live in Europe.
When I later lost that job during COVID-19, I was able to stay in the Netherlands through my husband. I eventually became a citizen myself.
Since moving to the Netherlands, there are things I'm glad we did, things I like, and things I miss.
We got rid of most of our things
I decided we would get rid of most of our things except our kids' stuff. I wanted to bring all of their stuffed animals, toys, gifts they'd received, and their blankets. It felt important to keep what mattered to them — and the things that would make them feel most comfortable when we arrived.
I didn't mind getting rid of my own things. I'm a minimalist, and as someone who has moved around a lot, a purger, too. We brought our clothes, two cool retro chairs I loved from Portland, and my VHS tapes from college. My husband, who is a photographer, also brought a box of old slides.
I liked letting go of things because every time you hit a milestone in your life, or you move, you're a new person. For the things we kept, we hired a company that filled a shipping container with a bunch of other people's boxes. They sold us a portion of the container.
It wasn't much, but it worked. I do wish I had brought my bike because I needed one as soon as I got to the Netherlands.
We moved into a furnished house
We moved into a furnished house that we rented for the first two years, which was really helpful. We didn't have to worry about accumulating a bunch of stuff because we didn't know whether we'd stay long.
In the US, we paid $1,900 a month in rent, which included three bedrooms, carpet, and a dumpy kitchen with an electric stove, but did not include utilities. Our mortgage here for a four-bedroom with an office is €1,500, or around $1,745. We spend €150 a week on groceries.
We placed our kids in a Dutch school
When we arrived, we plopped our kids right into a Dutch school because they were so little. We wanted a language immersion program, but not an international school, because I wanted my kids to feel rooted somewhere rather than transient.
The kids were fluent after six months and stayed there for two years, and then moved to a Dutch public school. They feel like they're in it, whereas international kids tend to be on the outskirts. My kids feel are now fluent in three languages: Dutch, English, and Italian.
I love to take my bike everywhere
I like the bike culture of the Netherlands. In Portland, they have a bike culture, too, but it's not like the Netherlands. Every time you ride a bicycle, you're not on the street. There's a whole bike infrastructure with stoplights, stop signs, and roundabouts.
My kids also ride their bikes everywhere, and they don't need us to drive them around or take them to parties; they're completely independent.
I work from home and never drive anymore. If I ever left the Netherlands, I'd miss the bike culture.
People are always there to help each other
I love that everyone watches out for each other. If a kid falls off their bicycle, people are immediately around them trying to help. If an older person falls, it's the same thing. No one just passes them by.
We also have a neighborhood WhatsApp group where one older woman often asks, "Can someone help take out my garbage, or have coffee with me?" and people happily do. There's this sense of community where I think Americans are now getting a little bit scared of each other.
There are things I miss, including Trader Joe's
I miss going to Trader Joe's. OK, I miss Trader Joe's a lot.
I miss the small talk. I miss going to the grocery store and having the cashier ask how my day is going. Here, they're not chit-chatters. They use words very efficiently.
Also, they don't bag your groceries here.
I also miss English
People speak a lot of English in the Netherlands, but every time I leave the house, there's a little apprehension. I took a few Dutch classes when I first moved, and I know enough to get by at this point.
Still, I mainly worry I'll misunderstand someone or say something they won't understand. For example, if I get into a complicated situation, like falling off my bike and taking an ambulance, it would exceed my language abilities. Or when I visit my husband's family, they speak Italian.
Sometimes I feel like I'm not my full self, and I'd like to be. I'm friendly. I like talking to and meeting people. It feels embarrassing to ask somebody to speak English because I live here. I've realized I've become much quieter and more reserved than I was back in the US. I've become way more of a wallflower, and that makes me homesick.
Despite the discomfort, I would do it again
When I first moved here, I was uncomfortable. I had dreams about leaving, and I was ready to leave. I thought, I don't want to do this, but I had to move through the discomfort of being somewhere new.
Within the last couple of years, I've appreciated living here a lot more. I often think, look at what we did. I thinkit's so cool that we moved here.
At my 10-year anniversary of living here, I'd like to have a plan to move somewhere else. My son is in his last year of high school, and my daughter is a sophomore, but she's open to finishing high school somewhere else in Europe.
I like watching my kids really thrive in their communities, navigating friendships, and finding their places. I feel like we all have found our little pocket in the world, and I'm really appreciating it a lot more than I think I ever have.
South Park announced that it's changing its name to South America.
Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images
South Park, in a thinly veiled jab at Apple and Google, said it's changing its name to "South America."
The show's creators said they were "inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google."
Google Maps and Apple Maps renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America following Trump's executive order.
South Park isn't holding back any punches — it just took a dig at Apple and Google.
The satirical comedy show shared an announcement from its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, on Instagram on Tuesday, ahead of the release of its 29th season on September 16.
"Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA," the creators wrote in the statement.
The post was accompanied by a picture of the South Park logo, with a license plate spelling out "AMERICA" pinned over the word "Park." A glowing US flag was added in the corner for extra flourish.
Parker and Stone's reference to Apple and Google was a barely veiled mockery of the companies for changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on their map platforms.
On August 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename the water body that straddles the US and Canadian border. The order instructed the US government to change the name of the lake in federal maps, contracts, and documents. It came amid rising trade tensions between the two neighbors.
Days after Trump's order, Google said it had updated Google Maps such that US users would see "Lake America," Canadian users would see "Lake Ontario," and users outside these two countries would see "Lake Ontario (Lake America)."
The tech giant said it updates Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which in the US is the US Geographic Names Information System. It made similar changes last year with the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump renamed the Gulf of America.
Apple Maps followed suit the week after, renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users.
South Park, which debuted on Comedy Central in 1997, is a satirical animated comedy about four elementary school kids living in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado. Over its nearly three-decade run, it has a history of trolling the bigwigs of politics, tech, and media, including Trump, CBS, and Tim Cook.
In their Instagram statement, Parker and Stone also took a quick swipe at South Park's parent company, Paramount Skydance, which was created after David Ellison of Skydance Media bought out Paramount in 2025.
"We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount — a Skydance Capitulation," they wrote.
