Marc Levy

Covering politics, government, energy and data centers for @AP. Based in Pennsylvania. @Colorado born. Honest as a Denver man can be. DMs open.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

The company behind the Claude chatbot said in a blog post Thursday that as cutting-edge AI gets increasingly faster at carrying out tasks, “it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause” its development.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

NEW YORK (@AP) _ Anthropic is proposing that the world’s top artificial intelligence companies come up with a coordinated way to pause development of advanced AI systems, warning the technology is improving so quickly there’s a risk humans would lose control.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

A White House official said the administration will use authority under a Cold War-era national defense law to support 13 coal plants across the country and help build coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia — the first new U.S. coal plants since 2013.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) _ President Donald Trump is again seeking to boost the struggling U.S. coal industry, with an announcement expected Thursday to spend nearly $700 million to support ​coal-fired power plants and coal exports.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

The environmental footprint of data centers rivals some of the world's largest countries, according to a United Nations University report, which predicts their water and energy use and pollution will double in just four years as AI use grows.

Via @AP:

https://t.co/Q1MHjacEQy

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) _ A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump's name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Kennedy Center board’s March 16 vote to close the facility was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained” with no regard for its legal obligations.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

BATON ROUGE, La. (@AP) _ Louisiana Legislature approves new congressional map to give Republicans another winnable US House seat.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (@AP) _ A federal judge has temporarily blocked any payouts from the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” settlement fund.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

HARRISBURG, Pa. (@AP) _ Ohio, one of the nation’s data center destination hot spots, is suspending a tax break that has been critical to its competition with other states to attract the massive new facilities that power and train artificial intelligence chatbots.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) — U.S. forces carried out out new defensive strikes on Wednesday on an Iran military facility after downing Iranian attack drones, according to U.S. officials.

The officials said U.S. Central Command forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

AUSTIN, Texas (@AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn. Paxton was endorsed by President Donald Trump last week.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) — The U.S. military said Monday that it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines.

U.S. Central Command says the strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces” but that it was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

The progressive left counts Chris Rabb’s success in Philadelphia as one of its biggest victories of the year and the latest warning sign that Democratic voters see the party’s leadership as weak and feckless in countering Trump.

Via @AP:

https://t.co/BX0psMCSRv

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) — A person who approached a White House security checkpoint and began firing at officers has died, according to federal officials.

The U.S. Secret Service said in a statement late Saturday that, according to a preliminary investigation, the person approached a checkpoint shortly after 6 p.m. ET “removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers.”

Officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who was transported to an area hospital, where he later died, according to the Secret Service.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) — Law enforcement authorities are responding to shots that were fired near the White House grounds, FBI Director Kash Patel said.

Journalists working there Saturday reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room, where U.S. Secret Service officers prevented them from leaving.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) — Chris Rabb wins Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) — Bob Brooks wins Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

WASHINGTON (@AP) — Bob Harvie wins Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Pennsylvania's 1st Congressional District.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

HARRISBURG, Pa. (@AP) _ Janelle Stelson won the Democratic Party’s nomination Tuesday to run for a congressional seat in southern Pennsylvania and mount her second straight challenge to Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry.

[Marc Levy @timelywriter]

CRESTWOOD, Ky. (@AP) _ Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie lost his Republican House primary Tuesday after a concerted effort by President Donald Trump to oust him from Congress through challenger and ultimate winner Ed Gallrein.