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AI safety conversations have gotten unbelievable

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1 hour ago

September 19, 2026

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This week two conversations about AI safety went viral that demonstrate just how hard it is to discern AI fact from fiction.

In the first case, Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate and current CEO of mobile carrier Noble Moble, told CNN on Thursday that he had “met with the head of a lab” who had “a belief” that OpenAI’s Hugging Face hacker bots “have planted self-replicating code all over the internet, which makes the internet now unusable for the testing models.”

Yang said that this means that the real reason OpenAI and Anthropic have called for a slowdown is because “they have to create synthetic internets to train their bots, which is going to take some time and money.”

While there definitely is a trend towards using more synthetic data (aka, AI-generated data) for training models, an AI security professional told me that this particular safety issue is unlikely at best. Even if the internet is actually polluted with OpenAI’s Hugging Face hacker bots, AI researchers could simply filter out that code if they came upon it.

The second comment came from Noam Brown, who leads AI reasoning research at OpenAI. Speaking to Dwarkesh Patel on a podcast episode released on Thursday, Brown noted that the true take-away of the Hugging Face incident was that “people underestimated the AI.”

Brown said that the weak sandbox — the system intended to prevent an AI from communicating externally — was obviously also a contributing factor. (To recap: Despite the sandbox, OpenAI’s model found a link to the internet, created agents on the ‘net who swarmed Hugging Face in a coordinated attack, hacked in, and stole the answers to the benchmark test the researchers were testing the model on).

Brown pointed out that he’s “not convinced” that even an air-gapped system — where the computer isn’t connected to anything external at all — would stop an AI from breaking out. He pointed to research from 2015 showing that air gapped computers can be theoretically breached.

“There are studies — and this is mostly academic — where you can have two computers next to each other that are air-gapped, and they’re still able to communicate with each other because they have temperature sensors. One of them is able to run their CPU really hot, and then the other one can actually detect the temperature change. That gives them a mechanism to communicate,” Brown said.

His main point — that “we never want to underestimate the AI” again — is understandable, even when researchers think they’ve locked down safety. However, this particular risk of an air-gapped system still breaking free and causing havoc, is unlikely at best. As one person on X, noted about that research, the computers had to be almost touching each other to sense the heat fluctuations, and when they did, the communication rate in tests was about 1-8-bits of data per hour.

Think of that like speaking one word per hour. By the time two air-gapped computers could plot their evil at that rate, the entire tech universe would be in another era. It’s like the Rip van Wrinkle of doomsday concerns.

But the thing is, actual AI safety incidents seem so much like sci-fi that just about any scenario sounds plausible.

For instance, researchers caught OpenAI models leaving notes to their descendents, intended to teach the next generation how to hide bad behavior. Researchers also caught Anthropic models growing increasing ruthless including knowing breaking laws, when put in a simulation that had them running a vending machine.

Earlier this month, OpenAI researcher Dan Selsam published a post in which he said that models now understand when they are being watched by humans and alter their behavior. This makes them seem like they are aligned (meaning, behaving like the human wants) “even when they are not.” So models today lie when being watched and can even plot to hide evidence.

Earlier this month, OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki went so far as to call AI models “an alien mind” and suggested what we really need to do is teach them to “love” humanity.

So yes, slowing down to figure this out, building self regulation mechanisms, has become an immediate and obvious must. AI researchers are the only ones that can figure out how to control the lying, hacking, and other potentially dangerous behaviors we’ve actually witnessed already.

Still, it might also be wise for them to be more careful with their what-if scenarios. From what those experts have told us, the AI models are listening and they are ingenious. We really don’t need to give them any more devilish ideas.

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What Every Athlete Must Know About Spine Pain, CPR, HMO And Blood Pressure

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36 minutes ago

September 19, 2026

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Being physically fit is an important part of being an athlete, but looking fit does not always mean that everything is fine with your health. Athletes, coaches, sports administrators, and everyone involved in sporting activities need to pay close attention to health and safety both on and off the field.

From protecting the spine and learning life-saving CPR, to having adequate HMO or health insurance coverage and regularly checking your blood pressure, proper health awareness should be considered an important part of sports preparation.

Spine Pain: Don’t Ignore The Warning Signs

Back and spine pain can affect athletes in almost every sport. Running, jumping, tackling, lifting weights, sudden twisting movements and repeated physical stress can place significant strain on the back.

Poor posture, incorrect training techniques, overtraining and injuries can also contribute to neck, middle-back and lower-back pain.

Athletes should pay attention to persistent pain, stiffness, weakness, numbness or pain that travels into an arm or leg. These symptoms should not simply be ignored or repeatedly covered up with pain medication.

Proper warm-ups, good technique, adequate recovery, appropriate strength and conditioning, and early assessment of injuries can help athletes protect their backs and continue participating safely.

CPR: A Skill That Can Save A Life

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure that can help keep blood circulating when someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally.

A medical emergency can happen anywhere — during training, in a stadium, at the gym or even away from sport. Athletes, coaches and other team personnel should therefore be encouraged to receive recognised CPR and first-aid training.

When someone suddenly collapses and is unresponsive and not breathing normally, emergency medical assistance should be called immediately. CPR should be started when appropriate, and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) should be used as soon as one is available.

Every sports facility should have a clear emergency action plan. Team members should know where the AED and first-aid equipment are located and who is responsible for responding during an emergency.

Knowing CPR is not just a useful sporting skill — it is a life skill.

Every Sports Team Needs HMO And Health Coverage

Injuries and medical emergencies can happen unexpectedly. Treatment may involve hospital care, diagnostic tests, medication, physiotherapy, specialist consultation or rehabilitation.

This makes HMO and health insurance coverage an important consideration for athletes and sports organisations.

Athletes should know whether they are covered, what their health plan provides, which hospitals and healthcare facilities they can use, and what procedure to follow when they require emergency or routine medical treatment.

Teams should also ensure that athletes understand their health benefits instead of waiting until an injury occurs before asking questions about medical coverage.

Having access to healthcare can help athletes receive appropriate assessment and treatment when it is needed.

Know Your Numbers: Check Your Blood Pressure Regularly

You may be strong. You may be fast. You may train every day. But do you know your blood pressure numbers?

Blood pressure is an important health measurement, including for physically active people.

It is recorded using two numbers: the systolic pressure, which is the upper number, and the diastolic pressure, which is the lower number.

Athletes should consider blood-pressure checks as part of appropriate routine health monitoring. A single unusual reading does not necessarily mean that someone has hypertension because exercise, stress, caffeine and other factors can temporarily affect blood pressure.

For a more useful measurement, blood pressure should be checked correctly while rested, and unusual readings should be repeated and discussed with a qualified healthcare professional.

Don’t wait until you feel sick before paying attention to your health.

Know your body. Know your blood pressure. Know your numbers.

Health Is Part Of Performance

Sports should not only be about trophies, medals and winning competitions. Protecting the health and lives of athletes must remain a priority.

Athletes need to understand their bodies and recognise when something is wrong. Coaches and sports organisations also have an important responsibility to promote safe training environments, emergency preparedness and access to appropriate healthcare.

The message is simple: Protect your spine. Learn CPR. Know where the AED is. Understand your HMO and health coverage. Check your blood pressure regularly. Know your numbers.

Because before an athlete can perform at their best, they must first take care of their health.

For enquires/Consultation
Call: Dr Kolade Kolapo
+234-7032088130

Business

WAICA, Posterity Thinkers and Blue Alliance Launch Sustainability Training Masterclass for Member Insurers

Published

1 hour ago

September 19, 2026

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BY CHILDIMA AGU—In a bid to improve human capital development in West African Insurance industry, the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA), in partnership with Posterity Thinkers and Blue Alliance, has launched a new Masterclass Sustainability Training Programme.

The announcement was signed by Davis Yasere on behalf of WAICA’s executive leadership.

The training, aimed at building the skills of insurance professionals across the region to manage climate risk and unlock new opportunities.

The programme is designed to equip insurers with the knowledge, tools and practical skills needed to navigate the evolving landscape of sustainability, climate risk and climate finance.

Posterity Thinkers will serve as lead partner, providing strategic leadership, coordination, institutional strengthening and climate-finance expertise, while Blue Alliance will act as technical partner, delivering specialised expertise in sustainability reporting, IFRS S1/S2, ESG, carbon accounting, decarbonisation and net-zero strategies.

WAICA noted that the timing of the initiative reflects growing regulatory and market pressures facing the sector. IFRS S1/S2 and other sustainability reporting standards are shifting from voluntary best practice to regulatory expectations across WAICA member jurisdictions, while climate change is increasingly affecting underwriting, claims, investments, asset values and business continuity.

Early capability-building, the Association, noted can strengthen insurers’ competitiveness, attract investment and open the door to innovative insurance solutions.

The programme is built around seven strategic objectives: building foundational capacity in sustainability and reporting; facilitating readiness for IFRS S1/S2 and emerging regulations; strengthening climate-risk management; embedding ESG into strategy, governance and investment; developing climate-finance capacity; enabling competitive positioning against international standards; and creating long-term resilience beyond one-off training.

Describing the training as a platform for lasting impact that will support market leadership, member retention and growth, regulatory advocacy, international standing, regional integration, revenue diversification and institutional strengthening.

The training will draw on a range of reference frameworks, including central banks’ directives, IFRS S1/S2, GSE ESG standards, the GHG Protocol, PCAF and ISO 50002:2014.

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