A crisis of trust in AI is examined by Erick Erickson and Tyler Cowen in this article, tracing the collapse in trust back to March 2020. According to Cowen, there is currently more expertise within AI companies on judging AI safety than in the federal government, leading him to propose a private, not-for-profit regulatory body for AI companies. This entity would strike a balance between overregulation and an unregulated "AI Wild West". The article explores the implications of lost trust in institutions, including those related to technology.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-25,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
It’s Tuesday, August 25.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Why Trump would make a great mayor of D.C. Aaron MacLean on how the U.S. military can build the drones it needs—without China’s help.
asserted
it → make → help
But first: Will America ever trust AI?
asserted
America → trust → AI
So much of what we do at The Free Press is try to make sense of a world where trust is broken.
asserted
trust → try → world
What many see as a crisis of trust we think is, first and foremost, a crisis of trustworthiness.
asserted
we → see → trustworthiness
From government and the media to education and medicine, institutions that fought hard to earn the public’s trust have squandered it.
asserted
that → fight → it
That change is the story of our time, and once you understand it, you recognize it everywhere—including in two of the most contentious debates out there right now: over data centers and Flock surveillance cameras.
asserted
you → understand → centers
We’ve covered both of these fights, and at root, they point toward a question even more existential than how we view AI, crime, and privacy.
asserted
we → cover → AI
Once that trust is lost, can it ever be earned back?
asserted
it → lose → ?
Today, Erick Erickson traces the collapse in trust back to March of 2020 and the months that followed.
asserted
that → trace → 2020
His essay is unsparing in its assessment of who, on both sides of the aisle, is responsible for the crisis, and clear-eyed about what it will take to win the public back.
asserted
it → take → public
Who should we trust to write the rules for a technology transforming our world at such a rapid pace that the government can’t keep up?
asserted
government → trust → pace
That’s the question Tyler Cowen tackles in his column today.
asserted
Cowen → ’ → column
He sketches a proposal that he says strikes a balance between overregulation and an AI Wild West: a private, not-for-profit regulatory body for AI companies.
asserted
he → sketch → companies
“The concrete truth,” Tyler argues, “is that there is far more expertise within the companies for judging AI safety than we can expect to find in the federal government anytime soon.”
asserted
we → argue → government
Read his column on how this regulatory body would work, and why we need it.
asserted
we → read → it
The Supreme Court handed Trump a win on Tuesday in his effort to restrict mail-in voting in this fall’s midterm elections.
asserted
Court → hand → elections
The decision will allow Trump to continue implementing a March executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to create and monitor lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.
asserted
who → allow → citizens
The State Department announced plans to revoke the visas of up to 200,000 asylum seekers, the Associated Press reported on Monday.
asserted
Press → announce → Monday
The move would be the largest single visa revocation in U.S. history and will target B1 and B2 visas issued within the last decade for people who claimed to be short-term visitors, but then applied to stay permanently.
asserted
who → target → people
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a sanctions warning to countries still doing business with Iran: They will soon be cut off from the U.S. dollar, a death sentence for most foreign banks.
asserted
They → issue → banks
The warning, however, offered few concrete actions and a clarification that there would be a “cure period” before the sanctions are imposed.
asserted
sanctions → offer → actions
Former Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah will return to the paper after an arbitrator found that the Post “did not have good and sufficient cause” to terminate her employment over posts about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
asserted
Post → return → assassination
Attiah told The New York Times she is “willing to go back” to the Post.
asserted
she → tell → Post
A coalition of grocery store and deli owners sued New York City on Monday in an attempt to block Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s five planned city-run grocery stores.
asserted
coalition → sue → stores
The complaint argues the city skipped certain legally required reviews, and the group’s president said that the subsidized stores would constitute harm to minority businesses.
asserted
stores → argue → businesses
Jed York, owner of the San Francisco 49ers, was arrested Sunday in a prostitution sting at an Ohio trailer park where he allegedly answered an online ad and arranged to pay $140 for sex.
uncertain
he → arrest → sex
On Monday, he pleaded no contest to reduced charges of disorderly conduct and possessing “criminal tools”—his phone—and agreed to pay $1,150 in fines.
asserted
he → plead → fines
In Alaska, Dan Sullivan has endorsed Dan Sullivan against Dan Sullivan.
asserted
Sullivan → endorse → Sullivan
Last week, former Anchorage mayor Dan A. Sullivan backed incumbent GOP senator Dan S. Sullivan over retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan—whom Republicans accuse of being a Democratic plant to confuse voters.
asserted
Republicans → back → voters
The primary winner will face Democrat Mary Peltola in November in a toss-up race that could decide Senate control.
uncertain
that → face → control
A few weeks ago, we rolled out Bundles, a new way to customize exactly which stories and how much email you get from The Free Press.
asserted
you → roll → Press
We want to know how it’s going.
asserted
it → want → ?
Please answer the poll below, and if you have specific feedback for us, please share it in the subscriber Forum.
asserted
you → answer → Forum
Your feedback is important to us, and we will use it to shape your experience—so don’t hold back.
asserted
we → use → experience
