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The Return of Mira Murati to the Public StageMira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI and current CEO of Thinking Machines Lab, has made her first major media appearance in approximately 18 months, sitting down with Bloomberg in San Francisco. This rare public appearance comes as Murati's company, which has been operating largely in the background, seeks to establish its presence in an increasingly competitive AI landscape.Thinking Machines' New Approach: Interaction ModelsDuring the interview, Murati previewed what Thinking Machines is calling "interaction models," described as a fundamentally different kind of AI interface. Unlike the traditional turn-based, prompt-and-response dynamic common in most AI products today, the company's models are designed to process continuous streams of audio, text, and video in 200-millisecond intervals. This approach aims to capture the nuances of human communication—including interruptions, mid-thought corrections, and pauses—in something closer to real time.Murati emphasized that this approach aligns with her lab's core thesis that the path to powerful AI runs through closer human collaboration, not around it. She was careful to frame it as a first step rather than a finished product, declining to specify a release date.The Competitive AI LandscapeThe timing of Murati's public return is strategic. While Thinking Machines has spent the past year and a half operating in the background—raising capital, hiring researchers, and shipping one product, Tinker (an API for fine-tuning open-source AI models)—its competitors have grown more omnipresent. OpenAI, where Murati spent six years as CTO, remains constantly in the news cycle. Anthropic has gained significant momentum, and Elon Musk's xAI has been folded into SpaceX ahead of what is expected to be a massive public offering.In this environment, Murati acknowledged that staying heads down has diminishing returns, and at some point, a company must make noise to remind the market it exists.Reflections on OpenAI's Leadership CrisisMurati also addressed the chaotic week in November 2023 when OpenAI's board fired Sam Altman, and she became interim CEO—an event referred to internally as "the blip." She expressed clarity about her decisions during that period, stating that protecting the mission and team guided her choices even as the situation appeared to be unraveling externally. Murati claimed the company would have "imploded" without her involvement during those five days and their immediate aftermath.In retrospect, she acknowledged she would have pushed harder for more information, a better transition plan, and more transparency. When asked if she still trusts her former boss, she sidestepped the question, instead focusing on her broader concern about the concentration of consequential decisions in too few hands across the industry.Talent Challenges and Compensation CultureChang pressed Murati on the departures of several high-profile researchers from Thinking Machines in recent months, a subject Murati has largely avoided in public. She explained that building a frontier AI lab from scratch compresses years of normal organizational volatility into months. Regarding compensation—the nine-figure packages that have become standard in the AI talent war—Murati suggested it isn't usually the whole story behind talent decisions."When I wake up in the morning, I am not thinking about how to kill the competitor," Murati quipped, drawing audience laughter and highlighting her competitive approach to building rather than destroying.The Future of AI and Human AgencyWhen asked about the future of AI and its impact on humanity, Murati pushed back on both inevitable dystopia and inevitable utopia scenarios. She argued that neither outcome is predetermined and that the current period will determine which direction things go. However, she warned that if humans "take their hands off the wheel too soon," the future will look very different, and not better.Born in Albania and speaking with a slight Eastern European accent, Murati emphasized the importance of maintaining human agency in AI development, reflecting on concerns about mass job displacement and potential misuse of AI for harmful purposes like creating chemical weapons.

Lead: A Year‑Long Meditation Experiment Beneath a Clevedon OakNatalie Fee moved to Clevedon, near Bristol, in 2022 and, seeking calm after a decade of nonprofit work on plastic pollution, began sitting under a solitary oak tree on the winter solstice of 2023. The experiment—daily meditation for a full year—became a personal laboratory for resilience, health and perception of time. Daily Practice: From Winter Solstice 2023 to Winter Solstice 2024Started on 21 December 2023, the winter solstice.Each session began with a 10‑minute observation, followed by 20‑30 minutes of eyes‑closed meditation.Notes and poems were written after each session, creating a seasonal journal.Concluded on 21 December 2024, marking the completion of 365 days. Quantifying the Change: Health, Mood and Time PerceptionWhile the narrative is qualitative, several concrete shifts emerged:Physical health: Backache disappeared; the author reports feeling physically lighter.Mental health: A marked increase in peace, awe and a child‑like happiness.Time perception: Transitioned from a controlling mindset to greater patience and trust in natural timing. Broader Implications: Urban Nature as a Remedy for BurnoutThe oak, set on an urban hill surrounded by grassland, proved that restorative green spaces do not require remote wilderness. By integrating a simple, repeatable ritual into a busy life, Fee demonstrated:How micro‑changes in the environment (daffodils, buttercups, swifts) can sharpen sensory awareness.The potential for urban trees to serve as low‑cost mental‑health interventions.The value of consistent, embodied practice for people transitioning out of high‑stress activism or corporate roles. Looking Ahead: Integrating Simple Nature Rituals into Modern LifeFee’s experience suggests a scalable model: short, daily pauses in accessible green spots can counteract chronic stress. Future urban planning and workplace wellness programs might incorporate designated meditation trees or benches, encouraging citizens to “quiet enough to receive” the benefits of nature without extensive travel.

The Intersection of AI and Classical Music The disquiet and distrust surrounding artificial intelligence among artists and creatives remain real and consequential, and the language used by leading arts commentators is often apocalyptic: AI will decimate the arts, it is evil, it is the devil. Like many emerging technologies, AI has been driven by the corporations at the forefront of its creation. Introduced to the public at a rapid rate and continuously evolving, machine learning has become closely entwined with fear, antipathy and foreboding. The RBO/SHIFT Festival: Exploring AI in Opera The upcoming RBO/SHIFT festival at the Royal Opera House aims to interrogate all sides of this fast-evolving landscape to enable artists, performers, creatives and audiences to think deeply and widely about where we are now, and where we may be tomorrow. Machine learning represents a seismic shift, both in society and in the arts, and we need storytellers, artists, teachers and thinkers in this space to help determine the direction of that shift and help us navigate this unfamiliar territory. The Data Analysis: Understanding AI's Impact on Opera Opera is a particularly good place from which to examine technology. It synthesises multiple art forms – music, visual arts, architecture, poetry, dance, theatre and film – making it both niche and remarkably broad. Opera has also always engaged with technology. From its emergence around 1600, opera makers embraced the latest inventions: pyrotechnics, automata, flying machinery and trapdoors. Later came electric lighting, film, digital media and advanced acoustics. The Impact Analysis: Collaboration and Creativity Having spent the past year discussing AI with makers, coders, researchers, composers and performers, I am not sure it is possible for this technology to decimate the arts. The most written-about aspect of machine learning – generative AI creating images, words and music – is, in many ways, the least interesting. There have been operas created with and by AI for decades by researchers and musicians, yet these have had little impact on the creation of new work more broadly. The Prediction: A Future of Collaboration AI appears to have emerged suddenly, but in reality it is part of a continual expansion of technology that has unfolded over centuries. It is also a space in which differing artistic and imaginative voices are essential. RBO/SHIFT asks two questions: what can AI do for creatives, and what can creatives do for the world in the age of AI? As our interaction with machines becomes ever more prevalent, it may be that, rather than decimating the arts, AI will lead us to value them even more highly, protect and preserve them.

The Unconventional Approach Schubert's Winterreise, a great psychodrama in song, ends devastatingly with Der Leiermann conjuring a chilling vision of a hurdy-gurdy man. This haunting song, with its anchoring drone, inspired an unusual collaboration between veteran US baritone Thomas Hampson and Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova. The Performance The concert swapped piano for accordion and framed Schubert with songs by Kurt Weill and a tango by Piazzolla, creating a 'street music' feel. However, the performance began to feel like a vanity exercise due to the lack of programme notes, texts, or translations. Edited highlights of Winterreise were presented, with Sidorova's accordion providing a different interpretation of the piano parts. The Data Analysis Programme duration: barely 70 minutes Pieces performed: Schubert's Winterreise (edited highlights), Kurt Weill's songs, Piazzolla's tango, and Sergey Voytenko's Revelation The Impact Analysis The performance raised questions about style over substance in classical music collaborations. While Hampson's diction helped convey the emotions in quiet legatos, Sidorova's accordion playing lacked subtlety compared to the piano. The addition of party pieces, including solos by Sidorova and Hampson's renditions of Kurt Weill's songs, felt like a departure from the main theme. The Prediction Future collaborations between classical musicians and unconventional instruments may face similar challenges in balancing style and substance. The success of such performances will depend on the artists' ability to create a cohesive and meaningful programme that engages the audience.

The Lead: Roni Horn's Artistic JourneyAt 70 years old, renowned artist Roni Horn presents "Seizure of Hope," her first solo exhibition in London in a decade at the prestigious Hauser and Wirth gallery. The exhibition features 76 graphite drawings exploring the complex emotion of being "paralysed with hope," a phrase that has become central to Horn's recent work. This comes after a notable incident where Horn was removed from a flight due to a dispute with a flight attendant, an experience that reflects her androgynous identity and quiet rebellion against authority in today's world.The Exhibition: Visualizing ParadoxStepping into the gallery on Savile Row, visitors encounter 76 drawings rendered in "very, very soft" graphite pencil with wax pencil, each repeating the handwritten phrase "I am paralysed with hope." The installation is deliberately arranged with uneven gaps between frames, creating spaces where meaning slips and falters. Horn describes these works as capturing "an endless silent scream feeling," born from her experience of losing friends and observing how "the last thing to go is hope" during illness.The exhibition also includes a solid cast glass sculpture resembling a large ice cube, titled "What Happens to the Hole When the Cheese is Gone?"—a reference to Bertolt Brecht. This piece, made by pouring molten glass into a mould that hardens slowly over months, embodies Horn's fascination with ambiguity and the in-between states of existence.Artistic Philosophy: Embracing AmbiguityHorn's work consistently explores themes of mirroring, doubling, and repetition. She deliberately avoids direct answers, embracing ambiguity as a core artistic principle. Her approach is described as "serenely anti-authoritarian, revelling in the absurd and the contradictory." The unpindownable nature of her work, which spans photography, drawing, sculpture, and film, gives it vitality and presence without ostentation.The phrase "I am paralysed with hope" first captured Horn's attention around the time of "the political downfall of America" and has since appeared in multiple works, including her conceptual diary LOG created during lockdown and her 2023 exhibition at Centro Botin. The smudged, varied handwriting in the drawings reflects Horn's self-described "atrocious" handwriting that once required multiple signatures for banking purposes.Cultural Context: Art in Turbulent TimesHorn's work resonates particularly strongly in contemporary society, where contradictions and uncertainties abound. Her exploration of hope as both paralyzing and enduring speaks to the collective experience of living through political and social upheaval. The artist's experience of being removed from a flight due to a seemingly minor incident underscores the tensions present in today's world, particularly for those who don't fit conventional expectations.The exhibition's title, "Seizure of Hope," suggests both a capture and a taking of hope—a complex relationship that Horn explores through her repetitive, meditative drawings. This approach to hope as something that persists even in darkness offers a nuanced perspective on human resilience in challenging times.Future Directions: The Persistence of HopeAs Horn continues to create work that embraces ambiguity and contradiction, her exploration of hope appears likely to remain central to her artistic practice. The artist's commitment to staying "in the unknown and the in-between" suggests future works that will continue to challenge viewers' expectations and offer spaces for reflection on the complexities of human experience.The exhibition at Hauser and Wirth represents not just a showcase of Horn's current work but a continuation of her decades-long exploration of material, form, and meaning. As she approaches her eighth decade, Horn shows no signs of diminishing her artistic ambition or her willingness to confront difficult emotions and ideas through her distinctive visual language.

The Verdict on Richard Gadd's Bleakest Work YetRichard Gadd returns to television with 'Half Man,' a project that stands in stark contrast to the psychological thriller of his previous hit, 'Baby Reindeer.' While the show is technically proficient, the Guardian's review suggests it is so relentlessly bleak and violent that it borders on 'torture pornography.' The article argues that despite the intense performances and clever framing, the show lacks the emotional light required to be considered a success in traditional television terms.A Descent into 'Torture Pornography' and Unrelenting ViolenceThe core of the critique centers on the show's brutality. The protagonist, Ruben, is depicted as a mindless thug whose temper reaches violent peaks, with beatings described as 'numerous and graphic.' The review notes that the show is so dark that even its subplot about a suicidal cancer patient is considered one of its 'least depressing aspects.' The characters are trapped in a cycle of misery and self-medication, creating a viewing experience that is difficult to stomach.Half Man as a Referendum on the Baby Reindeer ControversyA significant portion of the analysis focuses on the show's meta-commentary on the 'Baby Reindeer' controversy. The plot involves a character writing a book about his experiences, leading to a press conference where he is frustrated by journalists demanding to know if it is based on a real person. This serves as a 'right of reply' for Gadd, who was stalked and abused in real life. However, the review suggests this self-interrogation is overshadowed by the sheer unpleasantness of the content.The Future of Dark TV: Is Unpleasantness a Substitute for Substance?The article draws comparisons to other dark series like 'Black Mirror' and 'The Leftovers,' noting that while those shows eventually pivoted to irony or absurdism to alleviate the gloom, 'Half Man' remains trapped in its misery. The review concludes that the show feels like it was made by a '14-year-old emo acting out to get noticed,' contrasting it with 'Adolescence' which is described as a show about men made by men. This raises questions about the sustainability of pure, unyielding despair in modern television.

The Lead: Biotech Barbie's Mission to Edit Human DNA Cathy Tie, a Canadian entrepreneur known as "Biotech Barbie," is pursuing a controversial mission to genetically modify embryos to prevent hereditary diseases, following in the footsteps of her ex-husband He Jiankui, who served prison time for creating the world's first gene-edited babies. Despite global bans on germline gene editing for reproductive purposes, Tie aims to conduct this work openly with regulatory approval and venture capital funding. The Technical Breakthrough: Gene Editing Made Accessible Since the invention of the Crispr-Cas9 gene editing tool in 2012, the technical process of altering DNA has become relatively straightforward. "The hardest thing about genetically engineering a baby is getting permission to do it; the technical part is not particularly complicated," the article explains. The process is compared to using "find, copy, cut and paste functions on a computer" and doesn't require extensive expertise in molecular biology. Germline gene editing—altering eggs, sperm, or early embryos—is particularly significant because changes are passed down to future generations, potentially altering human evolution permanently. This is why such procedures are banned in the UK, US, and China, with international agreement against research that could result in gene-edited babies. The Financial Landscape: Billionaires Investing in Genetic Engineering Money is flowing into human genetic engineering, with some of the world's richest men investing in companies pursuing similar goals. Preventive, a gene editing startup launched in October 2025 with the aim of "preventing disease before birth," has attracted investment from OpenAI's Sam Altman, his husband Oliver Mulherin, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Armstrong has coined the term "the Gattaca stack"—referencing the dystopian film about a genetically engineered society—which includes technologies for "disease prevention, or enhancement" of babies. This suggests a growing interest not just in preventing diseases but in enhancing human traits. Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), already common in the US fertility treatments, allows parents to "choose the embryo that best matches what you want," with companies like Nucleus Genomics advertising on subways with the tagline "Have your best baby." The Global Impact: A New Biological Arms Race? "There's a big geopolitical component to this," Tie states, referring to the growing interest in genetic engineering. China, where Tie was banned from entering, has already demonstrated what gene editing can do—Chinese researchers made the first edits to human embryos in 2015, and Tie's ex-husband He Jiankui created the first gene-edited babies, twin girls known as Lulu and Nana. Since his release from prison in 2022, He has become an unlikely social media star with close to 150,000 followers on X, making unrepentant posts about "designer babies" being "inevitable." Meanwhile, China's biotechnology ambitions have expanded, with Premier Li Qiang announcing new regulations emphasizing "the need to promote innovative development" and "accelerate R&D; and commercialization." In response to China's announcement, Tie posted: "Welcome to the dawn of the biological arms race." The Future Outlook: Inevitable Genetic Modification "Biology is a double-edged sword – it can be used for good, to heal people, or it can be used for bad," Tie explains. "Stopping this research will only drive bad actors to do it secretively. There is no way to stop this. This is inevitable. The only way to proceed is to do it openly and transparently." Tie named her first human gene-editing company the Manhattan Project, drawing a parallel between the nucleus of the atom and the nucleus of the cell. "In the 20th century, we understood the nucleus of the atom very well, and we learned some very difficult lessons via weapons and wars," she says. "I don't want to see the same happen with the second nucleus." Despite her declared commitment to openness, much of Tie's work remains shrouded in secrecy. Her first company, the Manhattan Project, has since shut down due to what she calls a "fundamental mistake" in choosing a co-founder. She has since launched Origin Genomics, continuing her pursuit of genetic modification of embryos.

The Lead: Trump's Wartime Coal Funding InitiativePresident Donald Trump is utilizing the Defense Production Act, a cold war-era statute typically reserved for national emergencies, to allocate $700 million in grants to coal-fired power plants across the United States. This move represents the latest effort by the administration to bolster what Trump calls "clean, beautiful coal," despite scientific consensus that coal remains the dirtiest of fossil fuels and a leading contributor to climate change.The Defense Production Act: A Novel Application for CoalTrump's announcement came during a White House press conference where he detailed how the $700 million investment would protect 14 coal plants and 42 coal mines across 10 states that all voted for him in the previous election. The funds will also finance the construction of two new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia, as well as a new coal export terminal in Oakland, California, and the restart of an existing facility in Maryland."As a result of the $700m investment that I'm announcing today, we will protect 14 coal plants and 42 coalmines, a tremendous number, and build two new coal plants and one massive new export terminal," Trump stated.The administration's attempts to provide a cuddly rebranding to coal have even extended to creating a new mascot with giant eyes, called Coalie, and gushing social media posts that include an image of a lump of coal wearing sunglasses as if it were on the TV show Love Island."You're not allowed to say 'coal' within the Trump administration unless it's preceded by the words 'clean, beautiful,'" Trump said on Thursday. "Complicates our life, but it's good."Financial Implications: Cost of Coal vs. RenewablesDespite Trump's claims that the initiative will lower energy costs, energy experts maintain that coal plants are more expensive to build and operate than renewable power sources. The administration has previously doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to the coal industry, signed orders forcing ratepayers to pay extra for aging plants to remain operational, and dismantled environmental regulations limiting toxins from coal.The coal industry, however, applauded the new order, with Rich Nolan, chief executive of the National Mining Association, arguing that "coal generation shields consumers from the impacts of volatile energy prices and supply challenges" and will help meet increased electricity demand from the artificial intelligence sector.Environmental and Health ConsequencesEnvironmental groups have strongly criticized the administration's latest aid for coal, with Patrick Drupp of the Sierra Club calling it "disgusting and reprehensible" that taxpayer dollars are being given to "deadly and expensive coal plants that will make Americans sicker and drive up electricity prices even more."Scientific evidence shows coal is the most carbon-dense fossil fuel and a leading cause of the climate crisis when burned. Research has estimated that as many as 460,000 deaths in the US from 1999 to 2020 were attributable to air pollution from coal plants alone, which releases tiny toxic particles that sicken miners and trigger widespread respiratory and heart health problems.Future Outlook: Coal's Declining Market ShareDespite Trump's efforts to revive the coal industry, the sector continues to face significant headwinds. US coal production is currently less than half of what it was in 2008, with coal declining as both a fuel for electricity and as an input for manufacturing materials. The number of people working in coal has declined by more than 90% in the past century, with more people now employed at Waffle House restaurants across the US than in coal mining.Environmental advocates question the long-term viability of Trump's coal strategy, with Kit Kennedy of the Natural Resources Defense Council asking, "What's next, a taxpayer bailout to build new phone booths?" She characterized the move as "going to mean higher bills and dirtier air," calling it "a waste" of taxpayer resources.

The Historic Achievement Maja Chwalinska of Poland made history by becoming just the second qualifier to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era. She achieved this feat by defeating Diana Shnaider of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4. The Road to the Final The 24-year-old Chwalinska has had a remarkable run, advancing through three qualifying rounds to enter the main draw and playing in just her third Grand Slam. Her best result at a major before this was the second round at Wimbledon in 2022. The Final Showdown Chwalinska will face Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in Saturday's final at Roland Garros. Andreeva reached her first Grand Slam final by beating Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3 earlier on Thursday. The Stats Chwalinska and Emma Raducanu stand alone among men and women in having reached a major singles final from the qualifying rounds since the Open Era began in 1968. Chwalinska has dropped only one set in her nine matches, including qualifying. She has beaten four top-50 players in the main draw. If she wins the tournament, her ranking will rocket from No. 114 to No. 14, according to the WTA. The Prize Money Chwalinska's bank balance will also get a significant boost. Her total prize money heading into Roland Garros was $864,030. By reaching the final, she gets 1.4 million euros (about $1.6 million), and 2.8 million euros ($3.25m) if she wins on Saturday.