I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below.
In a difficult and dangerous world, a decade on from Brexit, there is a risk that Britain loses the confidence to lead and stand up for its values.
I’m not prepared to let that happen. It is more important than ever that Britain stands for something.
We have called for years for a two-state solution in the Middle East, but we must recognise that those words are meaningless unless we back them up with action.
For too long, we have been hesitant to act, fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel.
Today we are announcing carefully judged, targeted steps that are not aimed at the Israeli people, but at the unacceptable policies of the current Israeli government.
The suffering of the Palestinian people is a scar on the conscience of the world. Innocent Palestinians, including children, continue to be killed in Gaza. And there is still a humanitarian crisis, with far too little aid getting in.
The scale of destruction is hard to comprehend. More than 70,000 people lie dead - at least 20,000 of them children. Families and communities have been torn apart. Millions displaced. And the population of Gaza is now penned into just one third of the territory.
I know that people across the UK feel very deeply about this issue - and so do I.
Before I became Prime Minister, I said our country’s response had been too slow and simply not good enough. That’s why I committed to changing the government’s approach.
I will not stand by as the horrific suffering continues to grow and the prospect of a two-state solution - the best hope for peace and stability in the region - comes under attack.
More settlements have been approved under the four years of this Israeli government than in the previous 20 years. The UN has reported more than 1,500 incidents of settler violence so far this year, aimed at driving out Palestinians. And the situation is growing worse, fast.
The Israeli government has now approved 104 new settlements since it took office in December 2022, and ahead of the October elections in Israel, it is allowing tenders for the construction of the E1 mega settlement to go ahead. This would cut a swathe through the heart of the West Bank - snuffing out the hope of realising a two-state solution. It cannot be allowed to happen.
That’s why we are announcing a new package of tough measures to put pressure on the Israeli government:
First, we will ban the trade in goods with illegal settlements in Palestine.
Second, we have formally changed the view of the British government to say for the first time that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful - independent of, but in line with, the conclusion of the international court of justice.
And third, we will sanction individuals and companies that support, facilitate or profit from illegal settlements. That includes any businesses or investors that take part in the construction of the E1 settlement.
In addition, we are announcing a new package of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.
We are taking these steps because it is the right thing to do.
I have condemned the monstrous terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 in the strongest possible terms - and continue to condemn Hamas. However, it does not justify the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza or the West Bank.
The measures we are taking are about targeting illegal settlements and increasing the pressure on the Israeli government to change course. We are not imposing sanctions on Israel as a whole, which would punish the Israeli people, many of whom disagree with their government’s position.
The Israeli people are not responsible for the actions of their government. And nor is the Jewish community in the UK. Blaming British Jews for the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is wrong, plain and simple. And it is antisemitism, plain and simple.
I met the representatives of the Jewish community just last week. I know the fear they live with day by day. My government will stop at nothing to ensure they are safe and to stamp out antisemitism in every part of our society.
The measures we are announcing today are about protecting the only solution that could see the Israeli and Palestinian people living side by side in peace and security - something that people up and down the UK desperately want to see.
The government I lead will keep working with our partners around the world to keep that hope alive.
Statement of the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK on the Two-State Solution🔽
🔗 https://t.co/wAhLqgeDDR
🚨Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank
Cada vez más líderes de la oposición israelí remarcan que Netanyahu había sido advertido de los ataques terroristas de octubre del 2023. La campaña electoral está caliente.
ב-20 לספטמבר 2023, שלושה שבועות לפני הטבח, הזהרתי את ראש הממשלה במסיבת עתונאים שזה מה שהולך לקרות.
לא הייתי היחיד. היום פורסם ששליט האמירויות הזהיר אותו. למרות כל ההכחשות, המצרים אומרים שהזהירו אותו. הרמטכ"ל, ראש השב"כ, ראש אמ"ן, כולם הזהירו אותו.
התגובה היחידה שלו היתה שהוא הלך לערוץ 14 להגיד שאין מה לדאוג. אם הוא היה ממלא את תפקידו, הטבח היה נמנע.
🚨Haaretz exposé: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received an explicit warning from UAE President bin Zayed days before October 7. He didn't brief Israel's security chiefs. @shlomieldar
🔗Link to full exposé in bio
Photos: Haim Goldberg/Flash90, Khalil Hamra/AP, Mandel Ngan/AFP. Editing: Masha Tzur
Es hora de que el Estado de Israel reconozca públicamente que las Islas Malvinas son territorio argentino ocupado, que los británicos le roban violentamente al pueblo argentino. Los británicos no solo se conforman con ocupar el territorio, sino que también realizan allí perforaciones petroleras y le roban el dinero al pueblo argentino.
Le hago un llamado al primer ministro Benjamín Netanyahu a reconocer la soberanía de Argentina sobre las Islas Malvinas y a imponer sanciones a Gran Bretaña mientras la ocupación continúe. 🇦🇷🇮🇱
@netanyahu@JMilei
Delcy Rodríguez, la presidenta que cuenta con el respaldo de Trump para reemplazar a Maduro tras su captura, recibe al secretario de Energía estadounidense, Chris Wright, tras garantizarle a EE.UU. un acceso preferencial a 65.000 millones de barriles de petróleo.
#Comunicado
Ante el nuevo escenario de relacionamiento internacional para el desarrollo productivo del país
El Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, fiel a su compromiso histórico con la soberanía nacional y el bienestar del pueblo, expresa su pleno respaldo a la compañera Delcy Rodríguez, presidenta encargada de la República, ante los acuerdos firmados con el gobierno de Estados Unidos en materia energética.
Lea más aquí: https://t.co/PMY2agPKun
Venezuela anuncia un histórico acuerdo con el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos, que tendrá un impacto significativo en el renacimiento de nuestra nación.
A poco de las elecciones en Brasil, @amnesty hizo un experimento para verificar cómo Meta maneja la desinformación electoral y configuró anuncios “falsos” en Facebook para ponerla a prueba. El resultado: más de la mitad de los anuncios con desinformación sobre las elecciones fueron aceptados. Abrimos hilo con algunos hallazgos:
En Argentina la tasa de suicidios es mucho mayor que la media mundial. En cambio la tasa de homicidios es mucho menor.
Cada año muere el doble de suicidados que de asesinados -y sin embargo nos hablan todo el tiempo de "la inseguridad y la violencia".
Fracasos de una sociedad.
FT Exclusive: Venezuela’s government made no mention of freeing jailed ex-president Nicolás Maduro during nearly two weeks of talks with the opposition this month. https://t.co/bEYG9NODG8
Por si no lo vieron, el ministro de Seguridad de Israel, Ben Gvir, llamó a matar entre 30 y 40 gazatíes por noche. Sueña con colonizar Gaza, para sorpresa de nadie.