Skynet walked so The Entity could run. But in 2025, it’s not sci-fi, it’s a policy problem.

Whether you're an action film fan or not, AI is watching us. Learning us. Anticipating our next click, our next cough, our next congressional hearing. From chatbots whispering in your inbox to deepfakes doing Oscar-worthy impressions, bots are moving fast. Like Tom Cruise in a speed suit fast.

The question is: who's watching them?

🎥 Mission: Bot Possible

Let’s be clear: AI isn’t evil. But it also isn’t bound by ethics, empathy, or your local HR department. Which is why the global policy community is finally pulling on its spy gear.

Sort of.

Cue the dramatic piano chord.

🕵️ Global agents on the case (sort of)

Last year, the UK and U.S. created national AI Safety Institutes—aka Bond-style labs without the tuxedos. Their mission? Red-teaming big AI models and figuring out how to stop them from going full Black Mirror.

As of May 2024, a whole network of safety institutes emerged, including Japan, the EU and even Singapore. All eyes are on frontier AI—because nothing says global unity like agreeing bots are getting weird.

Then, earlier this year, the “godfather of AI” Yoshua Bengio and about 100 other experts dropped an International AI Safety Report, warning that today’s AI systems might already be tipping into “risky” territory.

That’s scientist-speak for y’all should be nervous.

But, when it comes to the experts’ opinion on the likelihood of loss of control, opinions vary greatly.

🇺🇸 Meanwhile, in the United States…

The federal government just gave its AI watchdog a makeover. A 2025 executive order swapped out the “AI Safety Institute” name for something more technical: the Center for AI Standards and Innovation. The new branding comes with a shift in tone—less talk of risk and more about innovation and “freedom from bias.”

The order also replaced earlier federal guidance on AI risks, framing it instead around global competitiveness and trust in American-made models. Whether that’s streamlining or sidelining depends on who you ask.

But not all regulation is coming from the top.

California is drafting rules to rein in deceptive AI—starting with bans on bots pretending to be real people (sorry, customer support clones). Meanwhile, dozens of state attorneys general wrote to Congress urging them not to preempt state-level AI laws. Local bot blocks may beat federal foot-dragging.

🧠 Bot morality is a moving target

Tech companies swear they're adding “guardrails.” But when Google’s AI research lab, DeepMind, dropped its ultra-realistic Veo 3 video model last week—capable of making fake news look like breaking news—many experts agree with one PCMag opinion piece, “It could mean the end of authenticity online forever.”

Veo’s creators state they built it with “responsibility and safety in mind” but others say Google, particularly with its Gemini, isn't “strict enough to stop the worst from happening.”

You decide. Sure it’s cinematic but is it just a little too real?

_{Credit: Google DeepMind}

🎯 Final mission brief

AI doesn’t have a moral compass. It has code.

And that code? Written by humans… who are often in a rush, underpaid, or too busy trying to make a pitch deck for VCs.

So yes, the bots are watching us. But maybe it’s time we watched them back—before the next mission script gets written without us.

📡 Until then, stay bot smart.

This message will self-destruct... unless the bot gets to it first.

🗣️ BotTalk: Take a chance on AI

ABBA legend Björn Ulvaeus is teaming up with AI to co-write a new musical. Yep, Mamma Mia, here we go again.

At SXSW London, Ulvaeus called the bot his “co-journeyist”—basically, an AI sidekick to break through writer’s block and toss out lyrical ideas. The key word? Assist. The bot suggests, but Björn still calls the shots (and the key changes).

No, we’re not getting full robo-ABBA (yet, one can dream…). Ulvaeus says AI can’t replace the human heart behind a song. But it can absolutely help fill a blank page when the creative tank runs dry.

And hey—no cruise, no wedding, no karaoke night is complete without an ABBA singalong. Might as well let the bots join the chorus. “Dancing Machine Queen,” anyone?

🚀 Coming up next week …

Like, what is AI really doing?

Bots are getting blamed for everything these days — lost jobs, lost trust, lost sleep (because you stayed up watching AI cats cook on social).

But seriously... what is AI actually doing? Everyone’s so focused on deepfakes and dancing cats — but what about business? What jobs is AI taking? Which ones does it wish it could take (ahem, Rory’s)? And where could some industries actually use a little bot help?

We’ll break it down — the real wins, the real flops, and why most bots still can’t fold a fitted sheet.