“OpenAI has ‘indefinitely’ abandoned plans to release an a erotic chatbot for adults following concerns from employees and investors, the company confirmed to The Financial Times. Plans for such a feature, first announced in October 2025 for release in December last year, had already been delayed while company debated whether to release it all. It’s the second app OpenAI has decided to shelf this week, after announcing on Tuesday that it was shutting down its Sora video generator. The adult-oriented chatbot, reportedly called ‘Citron mode,’ is now on hold with no planned release date. The company reportedly had difficulty training models that previously avoided erotic content and also removing illegal behavior like bestiality or incest, two people familiar with the matter told the FT.” [editor’s note: An erotic chatbot engages in conversation, which by definition cannot (at least in the US) constitute “illegal behavior” – TLK] (03/26/26)
“The state’s legislature, echoing Trump, could oust a judge not for misconduct such as accepting a bribe, but for her opinions from the bench.” (03/26/26)
“We may have power-hungry artificial intelligence operations to thank for the fact that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a permit for the ‘first commercial reactor’ that it has approved for construction ‘in nearly a decade. It’s also ‘the first approval for a non-light water reactor in more than 40 years.’ … TerraPower subsidiary US SFR Owner has one more regulatory hurdle. (SFR: sodium-cooled fast reactor.) It must apply separately for an operating license before the projected 345-megawatt electric plant, once built, can begin operating. After that, the way will have been paved for more such plants.” (03/26/26)
“I think one of the key challenges of living in an era of internet alienation and rising authoritarianism is finding the will to be sincere, to embrace a certain unvarnished and earnest form of expression in a world where affect and posturing predominate. This means foregoing an aura of coolness or detachment in favor of emotionalism and vulnerability. It means resisting the impulse to cruelty and snark and instead opting for restraint and compassion. And it means being unembarrassed and authentic.” (03/26/26)
“The European Parliament supported two legal proposals Thursday to implement the trade agreement reached last year between the EU and the U.S. by a wide margin, with amendments aimed at ensuring the Trump administration stands by the deal. In a plenary vote, lawmakers backed the measures — to scrap EU duties on U.S. industrial products — with a wide majority. Parliament negotiators will likely meet as soon as April 13 with EU country representatives to start negotiating a final compromise that could then enter into force.” (03/26/26)
“Far from cementing Israel’s regional and global standing, the war has accelerated its isolation. According to a June 2025 Pew Research Center survey, majorities in most of the 24 countries surveyed held unfavorable views of Israel, while confidence in Netanyahu remained low across nearly all regions. This shift is not limited to the Global South. It reflects a broader erosion of Israel’s legitimacy, even among traditional allies. In response, Israeli political discourse has returned – almost instinctively – to the language of existential war. Even when Netanyahu attempts to revive earlier narratives about shaping a ‘new Middle East,’ the rhetoric repeatedly collapses back into warnings of annihilation. This reveals a deeper truth: within Israeli political thinking, the alternative to dominance is not coexistence, but destruction.” (03/26/26)
