The Washington Times AI News Desk

Virginia man sentenced to 40 years for coercing dozens of girls online

Malachi Morgan Thomas, 24, of Virginia, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material, the Justice Department said.

September 28, 2026

Bill Gates says a kill switch won’t stop AI’s worst-case scenario

A "kill switch" won't be enough to stop artificial intelligence from causing mass harm, Bill Gates warns -- and getting the world to agree on real safeguards, he told NBC's "Meet the Press," will be tougher than anything the Cold War required.

September 28, 2026

What a county can actually negotiate when a data center comes to town

When data center developers come to town, nondisclosure agreements and tax break demands are often just the opening offer.

September 28, 2026

Think tank report urging U.S. exit from Asia alliances sparks Indo-Pacific backlash

A report by Defense Priorities senior fellow Jennifer Kavanagh, published in August, has ignited fierce debate across Indo-Pacific capitals by proposing that the United States withdraw its forces from the region's front lines to a more distant "Second Island Chain" and dismantle its network of Asian alliances.

September 27, 2026

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo trim snack and juice lineups for 2026

Grocery aisles are thinning out this year as two of the country's largest food and beverage companies pare back their lineups in response to softening sales and shifting consumer habits.

September 26, 2026

Lawsuit: NC fuel companies mixed contaminated gas into clean loads, sold at more than 130 stations

Two North Carolina men allege in a federal class-action lawsuit that a Winston-Salem fuel distributor and its trucking affiliate spent at least a decade secretly blending contaminated fuel into clean loads and selling the mixture to unsuspecting drivers at more than 130 gas stations across the state.

September 26, 2026

Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary rated R for nudity

A documentary following disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes through her final weeks of freedom has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association, which cited "language and some graphic nudity."

September 26, 2026

Missouri substitute teacher says she’s losing job over OnlyFans account, blames low teacher pay

A Missouri substitute teacher says her job is on the line after school officials learned about the OnlyFans account she had quietly run alongside her classroom work for more than two years. "If teachers were paid better, women wouldn't have to resort to online content creation," she said. "Sex sells."

September 26, 2026

Nicki Minaj slams Democrats as ‘too caught up’ in pop culture

NICKI MINAJ calls Dems "petty and childish": "The Democrats have gotten way too caught up in pop culture."

September 26, 2026

Brian Urlacher: Kaepernick’s kneeling wouldn’t fly in his locker room

BRIAN URLACHER on Colin Kaepernick kneeling: "You can't have the racial divide in the locker room ... That would have been something that would have probably been a line in the sand for me when it comes to stuff like that."

September 26, 2026

CNN says it was left off Air Force One for Trump’s Saturday trip to a college football game

The White House left CNN off Air Force One for President Trump's trip Saturday to a college football game in Tennessee, marking the latest media restriction from the administration in an ongoing dispute with First Amendment implications.

September 26, 2026

Bill Maher says Trump toughness, safety net may have curbed crime

BILL MAHER says Trump toughness may have curbed crime: "It's just childish to pretend that when you elect a f--- around and find out president, a no more Mr. Nice Guy, boot in your ass, V for Vendetta, kick ass and take names, 'say hello to my little friend' president, that's not going to have some effect on crime."

September 26, 2026

Carrot Top discharged from hospital, recovering as legal fight over alleged extortion continues

Comedian Carrot Top is out of the hospital and recovering at home with family, a week after what police and court records reviewed by People show was a suicide attempt at his Las Vegas residence.

September 26, 2026

Marjorie Taylor Greene declares MAGA ‘is dead,’ calls it a cult

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE says MAGA "is dead": "They're liars, and they're hypocrites, and they're in a cult."

September 25, 2026

16 detainees, $100 million: The real math behind ICE’s Guantanamo Bay operation

ICE spent more than $100 million detaining migrants at Guantanamo Bay this year -- even though the base averaged just 16 people a day. A federal audit says that's only part of the waste.

September 25, 2026

Wisconsin brewery that taunted Trump’s death faces permit closure

A Wisconsin brewery known for dangling the promise of free beer on the day President Trump dies is bracing to lose its Madison taproom after the state moved to revoke its alcohol permits.

September 25, 2026

Chris Hansen blasts Robert Pattinson’s ‘Primetime’ as ‘bizarre’

Chris Hansen has finally watched "Primetime," and he did not care for what he saw.

September 25, 2026

Wisconsin fraternity leaders arrested after alleged hazing

Two leaders of an unrecognized fraternity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were arrested this week after police said they found roughly 30 young men, most of them pledges, packed into a sweltering basement, partially clothed and covered in food and condiments.

September 25, 2026

Todd Rundgren says Taylor Swift ‘ruined music’

Rock veteran Todd Rundgren used a wide-ranging interview to take aim at Taylor Swift, calling her the "apotheosis of mediocrity" and arguing she has done lasting damage to popular music.

September 25, 2026

Sunny Hostin’s cannibal-trial holdout claim complicated by 1991 record

"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin spent this week defending her on-air claim that she alone forced the 1991 "Butcher of Tompkins Square Park" killer into an insanity acquittal, a claim a fuller archival record has complicated without fully resolving.

September 25, 2026