Free Republic

China’s unexpected advances in artificial intelligence in recent months have top U.S. researchers baffled. DeepSeek, seen as a cost-effective AI breakthrough for China, was a wake-up call for U.S. industry technologists, but many appear to have hit the snooze button. DeepSeek’s rapid development of a model matching American frontier AI companies’ outputs for seemingly lower costs caught many national security officials and researchers off guard this year.OpenAI’s Katrina Mulligan, who is working to foster closer ties between her company and military and intelligence officials, said DeepSeek stunned government and industry sources alike.Ms. Mulligan told an AI conference in June that...

Americans are being left baffled by a bizarre phenomenon that is sweeping the US. Called "flash mob", dozens and sometimes hundreds of people are turning up in public places and carrying out wacky, pointless stunts. The mass mobilisation is organised by email - those taking part agree to turn up at a certain place at a certain time to carry out the act. They then disappear a few minutes later, leaving bystanders scratching their heads and wondering what was going on. 'Love Rug' In the latest incident, 200 people turned up at a bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and pretended to...