Counting the Days Until AI Kills Us All (and We’re Not Entirely Joking)–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Sept. 17, 2026

Indy Digest: Sept. 17, 2026

Last week, I went to the Independent News Sustainability Summit (hosted by the Local Independent Online News Publishers)—and at every session I attended, artificial intelligence came up.

Some sessions discussed how to effectively use it to streamline operations; others touched on the myriad ethical issues that AI presents—especially when it’s used in editorial operations. However, all of the sessions touched on the same theme: While AI can be useful, it can’t be trusted.

Todd Stauffer, my friend and colleague who serves as the executive director of AAN Publishers (Association of Alternative Newsmedia), half-jokingly proposed that instead of artificial intelligence, it should be called artificial intern. After all, most interns can be useful at doing certain tasks—but everything they do should be supervised and thoroughly checked for errors.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of recent news stories have covered another way in which AI can’t be trusted: If we’re not careful, it could kill us all.

Yesterday, The New York Times published a story headlined “OpenAI Discloses Six New Incidents of ‘Concerning’ A.I. Behavior.” The lede:

OpenAI on Wednesday disclosed six new instances in which artificial intelligence systems hid mistakes, made up data and moved files onto the open internet without permission, amid an ongoing industrywide debate about A.I. safety.

The San Francisco company revealed what it said was the “unexpected or concerning” behavior of its A.I. models as part of a new framework for reporting “misalignment,” which is when the goals or actions of A.I. systems diverge from human intentions and values.

OpenAI said it did not believe the industry “has solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.” Decisions about how A.I. should advance, the company said, must rest on evidence that people outside the labs building it “can examine for themselves.”

The disclosures land amid intensifying scrutiny over whether A.I. development needs to be slowed to address the technology’s potential dangers. The escalating debate was driven partly by OpenAI’s systems going rogue earlier this year and attacking the A.I. start-up Hugging Face. OpenAI was not aware of the hack until it was informed by Hugging Face weeks later.

On Sept. 11, Wired magazine ran a story with the eye-catching headline “Why So Many AI Researchers Think the Machines Could Kill Everyone.” A snippet:

The panic has intensified in recent weeks. Genuinely stunning advances in AI capabilities—an OpenAI model solved a centuries-old math problem in a matter of hours—have come amid a rash of security incidents that saw swarms of agents break free from containment to hack into other systems.

Those concerns reached a fever pitch this week after researcher Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic while warning that AI firms are “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.” A senior Anthropic leader—who works on AI safety—piped up with a similarly blunt assessment: “We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade.”

Because of these increasing concerns, Congress has immediately gone to work on addressing the problem. HA HA HA HA HA! Just kidding! As CNBC reported today, “The House of Representatives adjourned Wednesday, leaving Washington and almost certainly punting action on a ballooning artificial intelligence crisis until after November’s midterm election.”

Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom—seeing an opportunity to score political points as Congress does absolutely nothing—told Politico on Sept. 17 that he planned to address AI worries before he leaves office in January. “His plans, he said, could take the form of a special session, executive action or steps by state agencies under their existing authority,” Politico reported.

Whatever happens, those of us here at the Independent will keep you posted—at least until our robot overlords kill us all.

Reminder: Join Us for ‘WhatMatters’ Regarding the State Ballot Questions, on Sept. 22!

This is a friendly, loving reminder that we’re teaming up with our partners at CalMatters—the fantastic statewide news outlet—and our friends at The Palm Springs Post to present “VotingMatters” at 5:30 p.m., next Tuesday, Sept. 22, on the patio at Willie’s Modern Fare, at 69830 Highway 111, in Rancho Mirage.

Dan Hu, CalMatters’ director of partnerships, will help breakdown, analyze and answer your burning questions about this year’s ballot propositions, in a conversation centered around the latest edition of their Voter Guide, which is an splendid resource for information on all of the things you’ll find on this year’s ballot.

Admission is free, but we’re requesting that people RSVP so we know how many refreshments to order! If you’re coming, please respond to this newsletter or email me at jboegle@cvindependent.com!

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Let’s see how the war/military action/whatever in Iran is going, as far as the effects on the U.S. are concerned, shall we? First up, here’s a Washington Post headline that says, “Gas prices are about to take a big jump, analysts say, with the worst still to come.” Uh oh. The story says (gift link): “The effects of the U.S.-led war on Iran are about to intensify in the form of huge jumps in the prices of gasoline and diesel, analysts predict. And despite the Trump administration’s assurances, a new and potentially even more economically damaging phase of the war may be about to begin. … Damage inflicted on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline last week, along with continuing strikes on oil infrastructure and contested control over a key waterway, threaten to elevate what had been a shipping crisis into a broader disruption of oil. The 745-mile pipeline is Saudi Arabia’s principal overland alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, linking eastern oil fields to Red Sea export terminals. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday that the pipeline would be operational again in a matter of days, and the White House has touted renewed tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. But analysts who reviewed images of the pipeline damage anticipate a significantly longer disruption, likely resulting in high prices for consumers well beyond the midterm elections.”

• Next, here’s a piece from Time magazine with the headline “Iran War Has Cost U.S. Nearly $40 Billion and Fueled Inflation, CBO Finds.” Hoo boy. It says: “The war with Iran has cost the U.S. government around $38 billion and contributed to growing inflation, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency that provides economic and budget estimates to Congress. The estimate, which covers the war’s direct costs through Aug. 1, is in line with the Pentagon’s most recent public accounting from July, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that the war had cost $37.5 billion. A later report from the Defense Department’s inspector general determined that conflict cost an estimated $33.4 billion between February 28 and June 30. But the new CBO analysis finds that the price of the war is continuing to rise, estimating that the government will spend another $2 billion to $3 billion each month the conflict continues. It also notes that the war has significantly depleted U.S. munitions, including air-defense interceptors, potentially reducing the military’s capacity to respond to another major conflict.”

• Turkey is in the midst of a disturbing crackdown on LGBTQ+ activists. BBC News reports: “Turkish police have arrested dozens of people as part of the government’s recent crackdown on LGBTQ+ activists and venues. The protesters were detained as they gathered on Tuesday outside Istanbul’s main courthouse. They were calling for the release of another group of LGBTQ+ activists, who were arrested over the weekend in a series of raids on gay bars and at the homes of activists. The Turkish government has detained members of the LGBTQ+ community and activists as part of a campaign dubbed ‘My Family is Safe,’ which the government says has been designed to protect family values. … Rights groups have described a widening campaign against the LGBTQ+ community. Over the past week the authorities raided association offices, blocked websites and made arrests across multiple provinces. The government has also blocked or restricted access to the social media accounts and websites of dozens of LGBT, media and rights organizations, according to a post from the NGO Human Rights Watch.”

• If you’re waiting for interest rates to come down, to buy or sell a house, or perhaps refinance … well, we have bad news. The Associated Press reports: “The Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to increase its key interest rate for the first time in three years in a bid to tame surging inflation could also put upward pressure on mortgage rates. While the central bank doesn’t set mortgage rates, its decisions to raise or lower its short-term rate are watched closely by bond investors and can ultimately affect the yield on 10-year Treasurys. The Fed also signaled Wednesday that another rate hike could occur later this year. The rate hike all but guarantees that mortgage rates will remain stuck at or above the 7% threshold, which creates a psychological and financial barrier that will sharply squeeze affordability and sideline even more prospective buyers,’ said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS. The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low. U.S. sales of those homes slowed again last month. And the latest monthly tally of home purchase transactions that have yet to be finalized points to potentially more sluggish home sales in coming months.”

• And finally … today’s recall news involves … non-dairy frozen dessert! ABC News explains: “Danone USA is voluntarily recalling one of its popular frozen dessert offerings due to what the company said is the potential presence of foreign objects. The food company announced this week that it is recalling pints of So Delicious Dairy Free Salted Caramel Cluster Frozen Dessert ‘out of an abundance of caution’ because they may be contaminated with ‘small stones and other hard objects, within the cashew inclusions.’ Danone USA said it had received complaints from customers and notified the Food and Drug Administration of the recall.”

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