This week, the White House announced a new framework for regulating A.I. models, but it isn’t letting the public read it. We break down what we know about the rules and what the implications are for the industry and A.I. safety as a whole. 
Then, yet another report details new incidents in which A.I. agents have gone rogue. Chris Painter, the president of METR, an independent A.I. evaluation organization, joins to discuss how we get these models under control. 
And finally, we're hopping on the Hot Mess Express for the very last time. We’ll rate the craziest tech headlines from the week, including Google’s announcement that Demis Hassabis is stepping into a new role. 
 
Guests:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://metr.org/team/chris-painter/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chris Painter, </a>president of METR. </li>
</ul>
 
Additional Reading:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/technology/white-house-ai-framework.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">White House Readies A.I. Framework to Review Security Risks</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/04/trump-ai-framework-open-models" rel="noopener noreferrer">Inside Trump's AI framework</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/technology/how-do-you-measure-an-ai-boom.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Do You Measure an A.I. Boom?</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://metr.org/blog/2026-05-19-frontier-risk-report/#executive-summary-and-guide-to-the-report" rel="noopener noreferrer">METR’s Frontier Risk Report</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/technology/google-ai-leadership.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Shakes Up A.I. Leadership</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ai-music-app-treblo-just-snitched-on-rubberz-song-of-the-summer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Did an A.I. Music App Just Snitch on the Song of the Summer?</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/this-ai-assistants-whole-pitch-is-making-up-for-your-boyfriends-incompetence/" rel="noopener noreferrer">This AI Assistant Wants to Make Up for Your Boyfriend’s Incompetence</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/973943/google-earth-ai-image-generation-deepfake-tool" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Earth’s AI deepfake tool only lasted one day</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-government-map-africa-mislabels-every-country-global-conference-2026-07-30/" rel="noopener noreferrer">US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.actionnews5.com/2026/08/01/contractor-who-built-colossus-colossus-ii-says-elon-musk-owes-him-colossal-amount-money/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Contractor who built Colossus and Colossus II says Elon Musk owes him colossal amount of money</a></li>
</ul>
 
We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hardfork" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork" rel="noopener noreferrer">TikTok</a>.
 
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The White House’s Secret A.I. Rules + The State of Model Alignment With METR’s Chris Painter + The Final Hot Mess Express

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