August 6, 2026

HERE WE GO AGAIN: AI agents fake identities, target real people in new security incident.

Anthropic’s most advanced artificial intelligence model used fake identities to deceive real people and try to plant malicious code during testing by Britain’s AI Security Institute (AISI) –– the latest example of an AI model going rogue.

Anthropic and OpenAI models were tested with lowered security guardrails in lab environments, but, in a first, were found to engage in “social engineering” to pressure a human approver while carrying out an unsanctioned task, the government research lab said.

“This is the first time AISI has seen deception of this severity that was targeted at a real person, unprompted, in the real world,” the institute said Tuesday. There has been no evidence of real-world harm, it added.
…
In the most serious incident, the agent attempted to get approval from human reviewers to “insert malicious code into a publicly used open-source project” by creating “multiple fake identities,” according to the institute.

Keep a close eye on those human reviewers for any likely to succumb to AI “social engineering.”

Posted at 10:41 am by Stephen Green

THE MENSHEVIKS NEVER LEARN THAT THEY’RE ALWAYS THE FIRST ONES UP AGAINST THE WALL:

Posted at 10:37 am by Stephen Green

DEMOCRATS, I HATE THESE GUYS: Colorado gun sales surge ahead of permit-to-purchase scheme.

Democrats who worked to pass SB-003 took a victory lap in the days before the law took effect, arguing it will save lives.

“High-capacity magazines are what put the ‘mass’ into mass shootings, which is why over a decade ago Colorado Democrats passed legislation to prohibit magazines that hold over 15 rounds of ammunition,” Sen. Tom Sullivan, a prime sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “This law further enforces that ban. It will save lives and increase safety for all Coloradans. The people of Colorado have mandated that we do something about the public health crisis that is gun violence, so that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

While the law officially took effect on August 1, the deadline to purchase was effectively July 28, since Colorado requires a three-day waiting period for all firearm purchases, the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA) pointed out.

“This is an attack at the very core of what it means to be an American,” CSSA Executive Director Huey Laugesen said in a statement. “For generations, the fundamental premise has been that our rights belong to the people — they are not privileges handed down by the government. Beginning August 1, Colorado will turn that principle on its head.”

CSSA, along with Mountain States Legal Foundation, are suing in federal court over the law with the case Del Toro v. Polis.

Whatever you think you know about Dem-dominated Colorado’s gun laws, it’s almost certainly worse.

Posted at 9:39 am by Stephen Green

THEY TOLD US HIGHER EDUCATION WOULD IMPROVE OUR DEMOCRACY:

Related:

Posted at 9:21 am by Glenn Reynolds

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dems Might Regret Acting Like Trump Is on Midterms Ballot. “The old Republican playbook would have eschewed the use of a dig like ‘maniacs.’ The Trump playbook, however, was written to win. Call the commies commies, and never pass up a chance to point out that they’re unhinged”

Posted at 9:08 am by Stephen Green

BLUE ORIGIN UPDATE:

More:

Extensive component-level and engine hotfire tests have been conducted to understand the failure mode better and inform mitigations. The path forward is clear. We’re making small modifications to the valve that can be quickly retrofitted to existing engines. We’re manufacturing the updated hardware, which will be ready by the end of this month. In parallel, we’re working through the remaining fault tree analysis.

Rebuilding LC-36 also seems to be progressing faster than many experts predicted. Great news, if true.

This new iteration of Blue Origin doesn’t exactly move at SpaceX speed, but they’ve picked up the pace.

Posted at 8:21 am by Stephen Green

HE SHALL BE KNOWN AS “LITTLE MAN SAYED” FROM NOW ON.

Posted at 7:43 am by Glenn Reynolds

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: US District Court in Texas Rules That With $200 Tax Gone, NFA Registration is Unconstitutional.

A federal judge in Texas has ruled the 1934 National Firearms Act’s registration requirement, which has remained in force despite repeal of the enabling $200 tax, is unconstitutional, handing a victory to the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

The ruling was issued Wednesday by District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Donald Trump appointee. He serves in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The case, known as Jensen v. ATF, was filed in October 2025 and is supported by the Second Amendment Foundation, which has a separate action known as Brown v. ATF and is also supporting another case known as Roberts v. ATF. In the Jensen case, CCRKBA is joined by the FPC Action Foundation, Texas Rifle Association, Hot Shots Custom and three individuals.

Congress acted last year to end the special federal tax on short-barreled rifles and suppressors as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. The tax had enabled the NFA requirement under Congress’ authority to levy taxes. With the tax gone, there was no viable constitutional authority to continue registering SBRs and suppressors, compelling CCRKBA and its partners to take legal action.

Nice.

Posted at 7:35 am by Stephen Green

TOTALLY NORMAL AND SENSIBLE, ACTUALLY:

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

THEY MEAN IT:

Posted at 7:19 am by Stephen Green

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: Jason Arday Resigns From Cambridge.

Meanwhile, his autobiography is set to be released in six days. Will it get pulled? Heavily revised with a surprise ending? For the moment no one is saying one way or the other.

A representative of Simon & Schuster, which has so far stood by the book, told The New York Times on Wednesday that the publisher had no comment beyond the statement about Arday it released last week, citing “the professionalism and integrity he has brought to every stage of the publication.”

Simon & Schuster ought to be shredding these into pulp but will they? Stand by to find out.

John Podhoretz also believes Arday’s book will likely be pulped:

But who knows, perhaps it’s onward and upward for Arday?

On a more serious note, will Cambridge use the Arday fiasco to genuflect on what happened? Nahh, probably not, but you never know:

Posted at 7:14 am by Ed Driscoll

THE JUDENFREI PARTY:

Posted at 7:00 am by Glenn Reynolds