Pages from the Campaign Nucleus website are seen on a computer in New York on May 2. PHOTO: AP
What you need to know
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) — Brad Parscale was the digital guru behind Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the 2016 election and was promoted to manage the 2020 campaign. But he didn’t last long on that job: His personal life uunravelled n public and he later texted a friend that he felt “guilty” for helping Trump win after the riot at the US Capitol.
He’s since become an evangelist about the power of artificial intelligence to transform how Republicans run political campaigns. And his company is working for Trump’s 2024 bid, trying to help the presumptive Republican nominee take back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden.
Pages from the Campaign Nucleus website are seen on a computer in New York on May 2. PHOTO: AP
Here’s what to know about Parscale and his new role:
New AI-powered campaign tools
Parscale says his company, Campaign Nucleus, can use AI to help generate customised emails, parse oceans of data to gauge voter sentiment and find persuadable voters. It can also amplify the social media posts of “anti-woke” influencers, according to an Associated Press review of Parscale’s public statements, his company documents, slide decks, marketing materials and other records not previously made public.
Soon, Parscale says, his company will deploy an app that harnesses AI to assist campaigns in collecting absentee ballots in the same way drivers for DoorDash or Grubhub pick up dinners from restaurants and deliver them to customers.
From unknown to Trump confidant
Parscale was a relatively unknown web designer in San Antonio, Texas, when he was hired to build a web presence for Trump’s family business.
That led to a job on the future president’s 2016 campaign. He was one of its first hires and spearheaded an unorthodox digital strategy, teaming up with scandal-plagued Cambridge Analytica to help propel Trump to the White House.
“I pretty much used Facebook to get Trump elected in 2016,” Parscale said in a 2022 podcast interview.
Following Trump’s surprise win, Parscale’s influence grew. He was promoted to manage Trump’s reelection bid and enjoyed celebrity status. A towering figure at 6 feet, 8 inches with a Viking-style beard, Parscale was frequently spotted at campaign rallies taking selfies with Trump supporters and signing autographs.
Parscale was replaced as campaign manager not long after a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, drew an unexpectedly small crowd, enraging Trump.
Role in 2024 campaign
Since last year, Campaign Nucleus and other Parscale-linked companies have been paid more than USD2.2 million by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and their related political action and fundraising committees, campaign finance records show.
Parscale did not respond to questions from the AP about what he’s doing for the Trump campaign. Trump has called artificial intelligence “so scary” and “dangerous,” while his campaign, which has shied away from highlighting Parscale’s role, said in an emailed statement that it did not “engage or utilise” tools supplied by any AI company.
Parscale-linked companies have been paid to host websites, send emails, provide fundraising software and digital consulting, campaign finance records show.
The Biden campaign and Democrats are also also using AI. So far, they said they are primarily deploying the technology to help them find and motivate voters and to better identify and overcome deceptive content.
Ties to a wealthy GOP donor
Last year, Parscale bought property in Midland, Texas, in the heart of the nation’s highest-producing oil and gas fields. It is also the hometown of Tim Dunn, a billionaire born-again evangelical who is among the state’s most influential political donors.
In April of last year, Dunn invested USD5 million in a company called AiAdvertising that once bought one of Parscale’s firms under a previous corporate name. The San Antonio-based ad firm also announced that Parscale was joining as a strategic adviser, to be paid USD120,000 in stock and a monthly salary of USD10,000.
“Boom!” Parscale tweeted. “(AiAdvertising) finally automated the full stake of technologies used in the 2016 election that changed the world.”
AiAdvertising added two key national figures to its board: Texas investor Thomas Hicks Jr — former co-chair of the RNC and longtime hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr — and former GOP congressman Jim Renacci. In January, Dunn gave AiAdvertising an additional USD2.5 million via an invesment company, and AiAdvertising said in a news release that the cash infusion would help it “generate more engaging, higher-impact campaigns.”
Dunn declined to comment, and AiAdvertising did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Parscale’s vision
Parscale occasionally offers glimpses of the AI future he envisions. Casting himself as an outsider to the Republican establishment, he has said he sees AI as a way to undercut elite Washington consultants, whom he described as political parasites.
In January, Parscale told a crowd assembled at a grassroots Christian event in a Pasadena, California, church that their movement needed “to have our own AI, from creative large language models and creative imagery, we need to reach our own audiences with our own distribution, our own email systems, our own texting systems, our own ability to place TV ads, and lastly we need to have our own influencers.”
(FILES) Gold medalist India's Bajrang Punia reacts during the medal ceremony for men's 65kg gold medal wrestling on day nine of the Commonwealth Games at Coventry Arena in Coventry, central England, on August 5, 2022. India's star wrestler Bajrang Punia has been provisionally suspended by the national anti-doping agency (NADA) for avoiding a drug test, putting his Olympic participation in doubt. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)
NEW DELHI (AFP) – Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia — one of the leaders of athlete protests against the federation chief last year — has been provisionally suspended by the national anti-doping agency (NADA) for allegedly avoiding a drug test.
Punia, who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, faces a two-year ban for refusing to provide a urine sample to doping control officers at a recent selection trial.
“Bajrang Punia has been immediately provisionally suspended from participation in any competition or activity prior to the final decision reached at a hearing in this matter,” reports cited a NADA statement as saying.
The document was dated April 23 but only emerged at the weekend.
According to Indian media, Punia was earlier warned by Nada for failing to provide information on his whereabouts and was issued a warning last month.
Punia wrote on social media platform X late Sunday: “I want to clarify that I never refused to give my sample to NADA officials.
“I requested them to first answer me as to what action they took on the expired kit they brought to take my sample.”
(FILES) Gold medalist India’s Bajrang Punia reacts during the medal ceremony for men’s 65kg gold medal wrestling on day nine of the Commonwealth Games at Coventry Arena in Coventry, central England, on August 5, 2022. PHOTO: AFP
Punia took part in a sit-in protest in New Delhi last year against the then wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Singh over sexual harassment claims.
“The crocodiles sitting on the top are trying to lay a trap,” he added.
The World Anti-Doping Agency said last month that India recorded the world’s highest number of drug cheats in 2022.
India was the only country to have more than 100 positive results, with even countries that tested more athletes such as China, USA and Russia producing fewer violations.
No 65kg class Indian wrestler has yet qualified for the Paris Olympics, which begin in July.
Punia failed to progress at the national trials in March and Sujeet Kalkal represented India at the qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan last month.
TOPSHOT - Palestinians walk in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 4, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant Hamas group. (Photo by AFP)
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli occupying forces said Monday it was evacuating about 100,000 people from eastern Rafah, ahead of an expected ground assault in the southern city of Gaza.
“The estimate is around 100,000 people,” a military spokesman told journalists when asked how many people were being evacuated.
About 1.2 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, according to the World Health Organization, most having fled there from elsewhere in Gaza during the seven-month war between apartheid state Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants.
The evacuation “is part of our plans to dismantle Hamas … we had a violent reminder of their presence and their operational abilities in Rafah yesterday,” the military spokesman said.
“This is an evacuation plan to get people out of harm’s way.”
Palestinians walk in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 4, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant Hamas group. PHOTO: AFP
On Sunday, three Israeli soldiers were killed and a dozen wounded, the army said, when a barrage of rockets was fired towards the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza.
The army said the rockets were fired from an area adjacent to Rafah.
The soldiers were hit while guarding heavy machinery, tanks and bulldozers stationed in the area.
Rain fell on Monday as the army airdropped leaflets advising about the evacuation, an AFP correspondent said.
Hamas’s armed wing claimed the rocket attack, which led Israeli authorities to close the crossing, used to deliver aid into Gaza.
Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" exhibition on May 6, 2019, in New York. PHOTO: AP
Here’s how to watch fashion’s big night and what to know
NEW YORK (AP) — Attention all you fashionistas: It’s Met Gala time. Yes, the first Monday in May is upon us.
Looking to follow along? Here’s a quick primer on what you need to know about the palooza of A-list celebrities from film, fashion, music, sports, politics and social media.
How to watch the Met Gala
That’s tricky. Vogue has the exclusive livestream, which starts at 6pm Eastern at Vogue.com. The feed will also be available on Vogue’s digital platforms, including TikTok and YouTube.
Tons of other media will be on site, too. Catch the action on E!, also starting at 6pm, with livestreams on X, TikTok, Instagram and Peacock.
The Associated Press will be live outside the Mark Hotel, where many celebs get ready before heading to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for their walk up the grand staircase. That livestream will begin at 4.45pm Eastern and will be available on YouTube and APNews.com.
Only the event’s stacked red carpet is watchable — the gala’s cocktail hour and dinner are notoriously private events.
Bad Bunny attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” exhibition on May 2, 2022, in New York. PHOTO: AP
What’s the point of the Met Gala?
It’s a party, for sure, with cocktails and dinner for about invited 400 guests, but it’s also a huge fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute, the only department at the museum required to pay for itself. Last year, the gala raised about USD22 million. Anna Wintour, a Met trustee for whom part of the institute has been renamed, organises the whole shebang. No phones are allowed, adding to the allure.
What’s this year’s Met Gala theme?
There’s a dress code each year tied to the museum’s spring exhibition. Some guests, not all, step up at the request of Wintour. This year’s theme is “The Garden of Time,” inspired by JG Ballard’s 1962 short story of the same name. It’s a squishy fashion ask considering how specific last year’s theme was: all things Karl Lagerfeld. Florals, and more florals, are expected this time around. Vintage will likely be big, too.
What is the museum exhibit of the year?
It’s called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” But we’re not talking fairytales or Disney princesses. It includes 250 items from The Costume Institute’s permanent collection, including some garments very rarely seen in public and so fragile they need to be under glass. Curators wanted to engage all the senses, including that of smell. They worked with a “smell artist.” And there’s a garment that actually grows. Part of the idea is to pay tribute to the natural world. The exhibit opens to the public Friday and runs through September 2.
Who are the Met Gala co-chairs?
Getting called up by Wintour as a co-chair is a big deal. This year’s class is Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth. It’s Hemsworth’s first Met Gala. Shou Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok, and Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, are honorary chairs. The companies are also gala and exhibition sponsors.
Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” exhibition on May 6, 2019, in New York. PHOTO: AP
Who’s going to the Met Gala?
Who attends is top secret but Rihanna has spilled she’ll be there. She’ll likely be accompanied by her partner A$AP Rocky. Other high-profile partners likely to attend, because their significant others are hosting: Ben Affleck and Tom Holland. Lily Gladstone has said she’ll attend. Who we want to see: Ayo Edebiri.Taylor Swift is looking like a no, and her boyfriend Travis Kelce will definitely not be there. Dua Lipa is going.
Tom Brady poses at "The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady" at the Kia Forum, Sunday, in Inglewood, California. PHOTO: AP
Laughter, reunion, and shots galore
INGLEWOOD, California (AP) — Three months before Tom Brady gets roasted by critics as Fox Sports’ top NFL analyst, he took his share of barbs from comedians, former teammates and his longtime coach Sunday night during a made-for-streaming comedy live event on Netflix.
And it is safe to say after the one liners and jokes Brady heard during three hours of “The Greatest Roast of All Time” at The Forum, he will do just fine.
“It’s like a football game. You run with a game plan, and then you get to see kind of how the strategy goes, and then you adjust on the fly,” Brady said before the event. “This is what a locker room has been like for me for all these years. So it’s not like I’m used to people not making fun of me.”
Comedian Nikki Glaser, whose monologue was among the funniest of the night, termed the roast as “the comedians’ Super Bowl” and how the competition level was ramped up because everyone wanted to one-up each other.
Brady sustained more blitzes and pressure than he did during an average NFL game as an impressive lineup of comedians, former teammates and opponents took the stage . Host Kevin Hart said before the event that no topic was off limits, and Hart went on the offensive early with jokes about Brady’s ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen.
“Gisele gave you an ultimatum. She said you retire or we’re done. When you got a chance to go 8-9 and all it will cost you is your wife and your kids, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Hart said, referring to Brady coming out of a brief retirement in 2022 for one more season.
The only time Brady objected to a joke was when Jeff Ross made a reference to Patriots owner Robert Kraft and massages. In 2019, Kraft received a misdemeanor charge that he paid for sex at a Florida massage parlor.
Brady walked up to Ross and said in his ear “don’t say that (stuff) again”, but it was caught on the microphone.
Later, Kraft and former Patriots coach Bill Belichick did a shot together on stage after some coaxing from Hart.
Belichick was fired in January after 24 seasons with the Patriots, and a lot has been written about friction between the six-time winning Super Bowl coach and owner over the past couple years.
After joking about this being like a reunion and “unlike many family reunions there are some people I am desperately trying to avoid”, Kraft praised Belichick for what the two accomplished.
“I want to say this is the greatest coach in the history of the game that did what no one else has done. And having Tom Brady and him was the greatest honour the good Lord gave me,” Kraft said.
It wasn’t the first shot (of alcohol) that Belichick took. Rob Gronkowski got Belichick and Brady to do a shot together after his monologue. Gronkowski celebrated by spiking his shot glass.
Belichick appeared at the beginning of the roast during a pre-taped segment when he told Brady that he was “starting the roast” instead of Drew Bledsoe. Brady replaced Bledsoe in 2001 when Bledsoe was injured in a Week 2 game against the Jets and led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl title that season.
“For all of you out there who think about who’s responsible for the Patriots success during the time Tom and I was together — was it Tom or me — in reality the truth of the matter was it was both of us because of me,” Belichick said.
Brady did have some fun at Belichick’s expense though near the end of the show.
“I’ve been out of the game for a minute, so I’m curious, how many Super Bowl rings have you won since I left?,” Brady said. “Maybe it’s not just the guy on the sideline. When I go to the Indy 500, I don’t ask the winning driver, `Hey, you gassed up your car?;”
Hart said before the show that he thought Brady was in a great mindset going into the event. Brady did come in well prepared, going over his monologue with a group of people, including those at Fox Sports.
“You have to be able to laugh at yourself and I love that he is doing in this forum,” Hart said. “I love that he is embracing the things that some people think he runs away from. It is a celebration of greatness and we are doing it in a fun way.”
Bledsoe also said that Brady has had a sense of humor, but that this was a different stage.
“I thought he was very brave. There’s plenty of material to make fun of him on,” Bledsoe said. “The truth is when you’re a professional athlete, roasting each other is kind of what we do every day in the locker room. And so, you better have thick skin going in. Now, people get to laugh along with it.”
Tom Brady poses at “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady” at the Kia Forum, Sunday, in Inglewood, California. PHOTO: AP
Cesar Luis Menotti, of Argentina, listens to a reporter's question during a news conference after his official presentation as Tecos' new coach in Guadalajara, Mexico, August 29, 2007. PHOTO: AP
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — César Luis Menotti, the charismatic coach who led Argentina to its first World Cup title in 1978, has died, the Argentine Football Association said Sunday. He was 85.
“Goodbye, dear Flaco!” the association’s statement added, using Menotti’s nickname which means “the thin one.”
The association did not give a cause of death. Local media reports said Menotti was admitted to a clinic in March with severe anaemia. He reportedly underwent surgery for phlebitis in April and subsequently returned home.
Passion for soccer and a sharp ability to explain its mechanics were Menotti’s hallmark characteristics as a trainer, and he was considered one of the most emblematic and influential coaches in Argentine soccer.
Menotti was a political activist and an affiliate member of the Argentine Communist Party, a boxing fan and an admirer of the works of Latin American writers Mario Benedetti, Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Sábato and Joan Manuel Serrat, among others.
“Once I was interviewed by Borges, and when I asked him if it bothered him that I smoked, he told me: ‘What intoxicates me is not the cigarette, but the stupid conversations,'” Menotti recalled in one of his last interviews.
“So, I asked about everything…but not about soccer, because I know about soccer!” he added.
He launched his career as a player for Rosario Central (1960-1963 and 1967), then went to Racing Club (1964) and Boca Juniors (1965-1966), all Argentine clubs. Menotti played for the New York Generals in the US (1967), followed by Brazil’s Santos (1968) and Italy’s Juventus (1969-1970).
At Santos, he played alongside Pelé, whom he never hesitated to qualify as the best player among legends.
Menotti coached Argentina’s national team between 1974 and 1983. He was convinced the side did not get the recognition it deserved when it won the World Cup in 1978 because the country was ruled by a military junta responsible for widespread human rights violations. His detractors would often recall a photo in which Menotti, after the World Cup victory, shook hands with Jorge Rafael Videla, head of the military junta.
On the eve of the World Cup, Menotti left a 17-year-old Maradona off the squad — a decision the coach later said soured their relations for years.
Menotti coached Mexico’s national team in 1991-1992. He also led Barcelona (1983-1984), where he had Maradona on his squad; Atletico Madrid (1987-88); Uruguay’s Penarol (1990-91); Italy’s Sampdoria (1997) and Mexico’s Tecos (2007) — his last coaching job.
For years, Menotti often had a cigarette hanging between his lips, but he mostly quit the habit in 2011 following a three-day hospitalisation stemming from his tobacco addiction.
He also was known for wearing hair long but neat. He said he didn’t rely on hairdressers. “I cut my own hair. I take the scissors, I cut the ends.”
Menotti began leaving his hair long in the early 1970s. “One day I said to myself: ‘I won’t cut my hair until we lose’. And we went 10 games undefeated, so it all started as a joke,” he said.
In his later years, Menotti said he didn’t fear death. “It’s the only thing I’m sure of. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t died at some point,” he said in 2014.
Cesar Luis Menotti, of Argentina, listens to a reporter’s question during a news conference after his official presentation as Tecos’ new coach in Guadalajara, Mexico, August 29, 2007. PHOTO: AP
President Joe Biden exits the stage following a political rally at the Philadelphia Convention Centre in Philadelphia, June 17, 2023. PHOTO: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s campaign and Democratic candidates are in a fevered race with Republicans over who can best exploit the potential of artificial intelligence, a technology that could transform American elections — and perhaps threaten democracy itself.
Still smarting from being out-manoeuvred on social media by Donald Trump and his allies in 2016, Democratic strategists said they are nevertheless treading carefully in embracing tools that trouble experts in disinformation. So far, Democrats said they are primarily using AI to help them find and motivate voters and better identify and overcome deceptive content.
“Candidates and strategists are still trying to figure out how to use AI in their work. People know it can save them time — the most valuable resource a campaign has,” said Betsy Hoover, director of digital organising for President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign and co-founder of the progressive venture capital firm Higher Ground Labs. “But they see the risk of misinformation and have been intentional about where and how they use it in their work.”
Campaigns in both parties for years have used AI — powerful computer systems, software or processes that emulate aspects of human work and cognition — to collect and analyse data.
The recent developments in supercharged generative AI, however, have provided candidates and consultants with the ability to generate text and images, clone human voices and create video at unprecedented volume and speed.
That has led disinformation experts to issue increasingly dire warnings about the risks posed by AI’s ability to spread falsehoods that could suppress or mislead voters, or incite violence, whether in the form of robocalls, social media posts or fake images and video.
Those concerns gained urgency after high-profile incidents that included the spread of AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump getting arrested in New York and an AI-created robocall that mimicked Biden’s voice telling New Hampshire voters not to cast a ballot.
The Biden administration has sought to shape AI regulation through executive action, but Democrats overwhelmingly agree Congress needs to pass legislation to install safeguards around the technology.
Top tech companies have taken some steps to quell unease in Washington by announcing a commitment to regulate themselves. Major AI players, for example, entered into a pact to combat the use of AI-generated deepfakes around the world. But some experts said the voluntary effort is largely symbolic and congressional action is needed to prevent AI abuses.
Meanwhile, campaigns and their consultants have generally avoided talking about how they intend to use AI to avoid scrutiny and giving away trade secrets.
The Democratic Party has “gotten much better at just shutting up and doing the work and talking about it later,” said Jim Messina, a veteran Democratic strategist who managed Obama’s winning reelection campaign.
The Trump campaign said in a statement that it “uses a set of proprietary algorithmic tools, like many other campaigns across the country, to help deliver emails more efficiently and prevent sign up lists from being populated by false information.” Spokesman Steven Cheung also said the campaign did not “engage or utilise” any tools supplied by an AI company, and declined to comment further.
The Republican National Committee, which declined to comment, has experimented with generative AI. In the hours after Biden announced his reelection bid last year, the RNC released an ad using artificial intelligence-generated images to depict GOP dystopian fears of a second Biden term: China invading Taiwan, boarded up storefronts, troops lining US city streets and migrants crossing the US border.
A key Republican champion of AI is Brad Parscale, the digital consultant who in 2016 teamed up with scandal-plagued Cambridge Analytica, a British data-mining firm, to hyper target social media users. Most strategists agree that the Trump campaign and other Republicans made better use of social media than Democrats during that cycle.
President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, December 11, 2023. PHOTO: AP
Democrats treading carefully
Scarred by the memories of 2016, the Biden campaign, Democratic candidates and progressives are wrestling with the power of artificial intelligence and nervous about not keeping up with the GOP in embracing the technology, according to interviews with consultants and strategists.
They want to use it in ways that maximise its capabilities without crossing ethical lines. But some said they fear using it could lead to charges of hypocrisy — they have long excoriated Trump and his allies for engaging in disinformation while the White House has prioritised reining in abuses associated with AI.
The Biden campaign said it is using AI to model and build audiences, draft and analyse email copy and generate content for volunteers to share in the field. The campaign is also testing AI’s ability to help volunteers categorise and analyse a host of data, including notes taken by volunteers after conversations with voters, whether while door-knocking or by phone or text message.
It has experimented with using AI to generate fundraising emails, which sometimes have turned out to be more effective than human-generated ones, according to a campaign official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to publicly discuss AI.
Biden campaign officials said they plan to explore using generative AI this cycle but will adhere to strict rules in deploying it. Among the tactics that are off limits: AI cannot be used to mislead voters, spread disinformation and so-called deepfakes, or deliberately manipulate images. The campaign also forbids the use of AI-generated content in advertising, social media and other such copy without a staff member’s review.
The campaign’s legal team has created a task force of lawyers and outside experts to respond to misinformation and disinformation, with a focus on AI-generated images and videos. The group is not unlike an internal team formed in the 2020 campaign — known as the “Malarkey Factory,” playing off Biden’s oft-used phrase, “What a bunch of malarkey.”
That group was tasked with monitoring what misinformation was gaining traction online. Rob Flaherty, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said those efforts would continue and suggested some AI tools could be used to combat deepfakes and other such content before they go viral.
“The tools that we’re going to use to mitigate the myths and the disinformation is the same, it’s just going to have to be at a higher pace,” Flaherty said. “It just means we need to be more vigilant, pay more attention, be monitoring things in different places and try some new tools out, but the fundamentals remain the same.”
The Democratic National Committee said it was an early adopter of Google AI and uses some of its features, including ones that analyse voter registration records to identify patterns of voter removals or additions. It has also experimented with AI to generate fundraising email text and to help interpret voter data it has collected for decades, according to the committee.
Arthur Thompson, the DNC’s chief technology officer, said the organisation believes generative AI is an “incredibly important and impactful technology” to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
“At the same time, it’s essential that AI is deployed responsibly and to enhance the work of our trained staff, not replace them. We can and must do both, which is why we will continue to keep safeguards in place as we remain at the cutting edge,” he said.
Progressive experiments
Progressive groups and some Democratic candidates have been more aggressively experimenting with AI.
Higher Ground Labs — the venture capital firm co-founded by Hoover — established an innovation hub known as Progressive AI Lab with Zinc Collective and the Cooperative Impact Lab, two political tech coalitions focused on boosting Democratic candidates.
The goal was to create an ecosystem where progressive groups could streamline innovation, organise AI research and swap information about large language models, Hoover said.
Higher Ground Labs, which also works closely with the Biden campaign and DNC, has since funded 14 innovation grants, hosted forums that allow organisations and vendors to showcase their tools and held dozens of AI trainings.
More than 300 people attended an AI-focused conference the group held in January, Hoover said.
Jessica Alter, the co-founder and chair of Tech for Campaigns, a political nonprofit that uses data and digital marketing to fight extremism and help down-ballot Democrats, ran an AI-aided experiment across 14 campaigns in Virginia last year.
Emails written by AI, Alter said, brought in between three and four times more fundraising dollars per work hour compared with emails written by staff.
Alter said she is concerned that the party might be falling behind in AI because it is being too cautious.
“I understand the downsides of AI and we should address them,” Alter said. “But the biggest concern I have right now is that fear is dominating the conversation in the political arena and that is not leading to balanced conversations or helpful outcomes.”
President Joe Biden exits the stage following a political rally at the Philadelphia Convention Centre in Philadelphia, June 17, 2023. PHOTO: AP
Hard to talk about an ‘AK-47’
Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic front-runner in California’s Senate race, is one of few candidates who have been open about using AI. His campaign manager, Brad Elkins, said the campaign has been using AI to improve its efficiency. It has teamed up with Quiller, a company that received funding from Higher Ground Labs and developed a tool that drafts, analyses and automates fundraising emails.
The Schiff campaign has also experimented with other generative AI tools. During a fundraising drive last May, Schiff shared online an AI-generated image of himself as a Jedi. The caption read, “The Force is all around us. It’s you. It’s us. It’s this grassroots team. #MayThe4thBeWithYou.”
The campaign faced blowback online but was transparent about the lighthearted deepfake, which Elkins said is an important guardrail to integrating the technology as it becomes more widely available and less costly.
“I am still searching for a way to ethically use AI-generated audio and video of a candidate that is sincere,” Elkins said, adding that it’s difficult to envision progress until there’s a willingness to regulate and legislate consequences for deceptive artificial intelligence.
The incident highlighted a challenge that all campaigns seem to be facing: even talking about AI can be treacherous.
“It’s really hard to tell the story of how generative AI is a net positive when so many bad actors — whether that’s robocalls, fake images or false video clips — are using the bad set of AI against us,” said a Democratic strategist close to the Biden campaign who was granted anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly. “How do you talk about the benefits of an AK-47?” – COURTNEY SUBRAMANIAN
Two of the survivors being led to safety by the authorities. PHOTO: ANN/THE STAR
KOTA KINABALU (ANN/THE STAR) – Three individuals have died, and three more are being searched following an incident where hikers were caught in a water surge in Lahad Datu, Sabah. The tragic event occurred while the group, consisting of 17 people, was trekking in the Mak Sina valley at Makuau beach on Sunday evening.
Upon being caught in the water surge around 8pm, nine members of the group were successfully rescued, while two others, sustaining injuries, managed to escape independently. Lahad Datu Fire and Rescue station chief Sumsoa Rashid stated that they received an alert regarding the incident at 828pm and swiftly deployed a team to the scene, reaching there by 9.36pm, despite the location being 56 kilometres away.
The group encountered the water surge during their trekking excursion, leaving them stranded on the opposite side of a river. The injured pair made a distress call, leading to the rescue operation. Tragically, three bodies were discovered under debris at 1.37am, prompting efforts to retrieve them. The identities of the deceased remain unconfirmed as the search continues for the missing individuals.
The rescued individuals, comprising six men and three women, were safely evacuated by midnight. The injured hikers received initial medical aid from the department’s Emergency Medical Response Services before being handed over to the police. Search and rescue operations, involving the police, Civil Defence Force, and the state Forestry Department, were temporarily halted at 1.40am due to adverse weather conditions but resumed at 6am on Monday.
Two of the survivors being led to safety by the authorities. PHOTO: ANN/THE STAR
Liverpool's Dutch striker Cody Gakpo (C) celebrates with Mohamed Salah after scoring the team's third goal during the English Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on May 5, 2024. PHOTO: AFP
LIVERPOOL (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp said Liverpool’s 4-2 victory over Tottenham was a “mirror of their season” as they held off a late wobble to further dent Spurs’ hopes of a top-four Premier League finish on Sunday.
The Reds had won just one of their previous five league games to realistically end their shot at the title but were back in the groove as they raced into a 4-0 lead.
Mohamed Salah was restored to the starting line-up after his public spat with Klopp last weekend and opened the floodgates before Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott were also on target.
Richarlison and Son Heung-min replied late on for Tottenham, but the damage to their chances of Champions League football next season was already done.
Klopp’s men are guaranteed to finish no lower than third and closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to five points with two games remaining.
Liverpool’s Dutch striker Cody Gakpo (C) celebrates with Mohamed Salah after scoring the team’s third goal during the English Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on May 5, 2024. PHOTO: AFP
“It’s a little bit of a mirror of the season. Really, really, really good until we were really rubbish and then, we were okay again,” said Klopp, who was taking charge of his penultimate game at Anfield.
“The moment you let them play, immediately, you see what they can do. If you don’t let them play, then you can hurt them.”
Spurs have now lost four consecutive games to leave Ange Postecoglou’s men still seven points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa with just nine left to play for.
Tottenham realistically need to win all of their three remaining games, including at home to title-chasing Manchester City, to have any hope of reeling in Villa.
But on this form they may even struggle to see off Burnley and Sheffield United as Spurs have collapsed after a highly promising start to Postecoglou’s reign.
The Australian admitted after a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Thursday that his message was not getting through to his players and there was no reaction from the visitors until it was too late.`
“Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us,” said Postecoglou.
“At 4-0 you’ve got a mountain to climb but when we play like ourselves we always finish strong because we put pressure on the opposition.”
Elliott stunner
Salah had a war of words with Klopp on the touchline as he prepared to enter as a second-half substitute in a 2-2 draw at West Ham last weekend that sounded the death knell for Liverpool’s title ambitions.
The Egyptian’s drop-off in form since being injured at the Africa Cup of Nations has been a major factor.
But he scored his first goal from open play in nine games to inspire a Liverpool display far more in keeping with the quality showing that had got them into the title race in the first place.
Gakpo’s cross to the back post picked out Salah completely unmarked and Guglielmo Vicario’s weak hand failed to keep out his header on 16 minutes.
Robertson got the second goal Liverpool’s dominance deserved before the break when he tapped in the rebound after Salah’s initial effort was parried by Vicario.
Tottenham were just as poor at the start of the second period to take their tally of goals conceded in the last four games to 13.
Gakpo’s precise header from Elliott’s cross found the bottom corner on 50 minutes.
Elliott then scored the goal of the game when he blasted into the top corner from outside the box.
Postecoglou introduced Richarlison and James Maddison as part of a triple change on the hour mark and the visitors were transformed in the final stages.
Richarlison swept home Brennan Johnson’s cross and then teed up Son to score for the fifth consecutive game against Liverpool.
Alisson Becker needed to produce a vital stop from Richarlison to prevent a grandstand finish in seven minutes of added time.
Liverpool’s defensive lapses showed why they still need a miracle collapse by Arsenal and Manchester City in the final fortnight of the season to have any chance of ending Klopp’s nine-year stay as Premier League champions.
But Tottenham’s response was too little, too late to help their ambitions of joining the Reds in the Champions League next season.
A demonstrator holding a bodyboard written in Spanish " I don't want to die" protests the disappearance of foreign surfers in Ensenada, Mexico, Sunday. PHOTO: AP
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Relatives have positively identified three bodies found in a well as those of two Australian surfers and one American who went missing last weekend, Mexican authorities said Sunday.
Baja California state prosecutors said the relatives had viewed the corpses recovered from a remote well about 15 metres deep and recognised them as their loved ones.
Thieves apparently killed the three, who were on a surfing trip to Mexico’s Baja peninsula, to steal their truck because they wanted the tires. They then allegedly got rid of the bodies by dumping them in a well near the coast.
The well was located some 6 kilometres from where the foreigners were killed, and also contained a fourth cadaver that had been there much longer.
Three suspects are being held in connection with the case, which locals said was solved far more quickly than the disappearances of thousands of Mexicans.
The three men were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada, posting idyllic photos on social media of waves and isolated beaches, before they went missing last weekend.
Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez described what likely would have been moments of terror that ended the trip for brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad.
She theorized the killers drove by and saw the foreigners’ pickup truck and tents and wanted to steal their tires. But “when (the foreigners) came up and caught them, surely, they resisted.”
She said that’s when the killers would have shot the tourists.
The thieves then allegedly went to what she called “a site that is extremely hard to get to” and allegedly dumped the bodies into a well they apparently were familiar with. She said investigators were not ruling out the possibility the same suspects also dumped the first, earlier body in the well as part of previous crimes.
“They may have been looking for trucks in this area,” Andrade Ramírez said.
The thieves allegedly covered the well with boards. “It was literally almost impossible to find it,” Andrade Ramírez said, and it took two hours to winch the bodies out of the well.
The site where the bodies were discovered near the township of Santo Tomás was near the remote seaside area where the missing men’s tents and truck were found Thursday along the coast. From their last photo posts, the trip looked perfect. But even experienced local expatriates are questioning whether it is safe to camp along the largely deserted coast anymore.
The moderator of the local Talk Baja internet forum, who has lived in the area for almost two decades, wrote in an editorial Saturday that “the reality is, the dangers of traveling to and camping in remote areas are outweighing the benefits anymore.”
But in a way, adventure was key to the victims’ lifestyle.
Callum Robinson’s Instagram account contained the following slogan: “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room.”
At the news conference, Andrade Ramírez was questioned by one reporter who expressed approval that such a massive and rapid search was mounted for the foreigners, but asked why, when local people disappear in the area, little is often done for weeks, months, or years.
“Do you have to be a foreigner in Baja California in order for there to be an investigation if something happens to you?’ asked the reporter, who did not identify herself by name. “Every investigation is different,” Andrade Ramírez replied.
As if to underscore that point, dozens of mourners, surfers and demonstrators gathered in a main plaza in Ensenada, the nearest city, to voice their anger and sadness at the deaths.
“Ensenada is a mass grave,” read one placard carried by protesters. “Australia, we are with you,” one man scrawled on one of the half-dozen surf boards at the demonstration.
A woman held up a sign that read “They only wanted to surf — we demand safe beaches.”
Gabriela Acosta, a surfer, attended the protest “to show love, solidarity and respect for the three lives that were lost.” Acosta said that surfers in Baja are aware of the dangers.
“We are women and we would sometimes like to surf alone,” Acosta said. “But we never do that, because of the situation. We always have to go accompanied.”
“I think that what happened to them is just an example of the lack of safety in this state,” she said.
Surfers later performed a “paddle-out” ceremony where they formed a circle on their boards in the ocean.
Baja California prosecutors had said they were questioning three people in the killings, two of them because they were caught with methamphetamines. Prosecutors said the two were being held pending drug charges but continue to be suspects in the killings.
A third man was arrested on charges of a crime equivalent to kidnapping, but that was before the bodies were found. It was unclear if he might face more charges.
The third suspect was believed to have directly participated in the killings. In keeping with Mexican law, prosecutors identified him by his first name, Jesús Gerardo, alias “el Kekas,” a slang word that means “quesadillas,” or cheese tortillas. Andrade Ramírez said he had a criminal record, and that more people may have been involved.
Last week, the mother of the missing Australians, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page, appealing for help in finding her sons. Robinson said Callum and Jake had not been heard from since April 27. They had booked accommodation in the city of Rosarito, not far from Ensenada.
Robinson said Callum was diabetic. She also mentioned that the American who was with them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the US Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately confirm that. The US State Department said it was aware of reports of a US citizen missing in Baja, but gave no further details.
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez — from the Baja peninsula. Authorities said they were victims of highway bandits. Three suspects were arrested in that case.
A demonstrator holding a bodyboard written in Spanish ” I don’t want to die” protests the disappearance of foreign surfers in Ensenada, Mexico, Sunday. PHOTO: AP
