Politics and American Democracy – Page 121

Rogue AI will learn to ‘manipulate people’ to stop it from being switched off, predicts British ‘Godfather of AI’

Fortune

Rogue AI will learn to ‘manipulate people’ to stop it from being switched off, predicts British ‘Godfather of AI’

Ryan Hogg – October 10, 2023

Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images

The “Godfather of AI,” and one of its biggest critics, believes the technology will soon become smarter than humans and could learn to manipulate them.

Geoffrey Hinton, a former AI engineer at Google, told 60 Minutes he expected artificial intelligence to become self-aware in time, making humans the second most intelligent beings on the planet.

Humans have about 100 trillion neural connections, while the biggest AI chatbots have just 1 trillion connections, according to Hinton.

However, he suggests the knowledge contained within those connections is likely much more than that contained in humans.

Eventually, Hinton says, computer systems might be able to write their own code to modify themselves, in a sense going rogue. And if it does, he thinks AI will have a way to stop itself from being switched off by humans.

“They will be able to manipulate people,” Hinton told 60 Minutes.

“These will be very good at convincing because they’ll have learned from all the novels that were ever written, all the books by Machiavelli, all the political connivances. They’ll know all that stuff.”

Bigger threat than climate change

Hinton quit his role as an engineer at Google in May after more than a decade with the company, in part to speak out against the growing risks of the technology and lobby for safeguards and regulations against it.

While at Google, Hinton helped build the AI chatbot Bard, the tech giant’s competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. He also set the foundations for the growth of AI through his pioneering neural network, which helped him win a prestigious Turing Award.

Since he quit, Hinton has been one of the leading voices warning of AI’s dangers. Following his resignation announcement in the New York Times, he told Reuters he thought the tech had become a bigger threat to humans than climate change.

In late May, he was at the top of a list of hundreds of experts, which included OpenAI founder Sam Altman, calling for urgent regulation of AI.

“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the 22-word statement read.

Hinton’s biggest worry about AI right now pertains to the labor market. He told 60 Minutes he feared a whole class of people would find themselves unemployed as more capable AI systems take their place.

In the longer run, though, he worries about AI’s militaristic potential. In his interview with 60 Minutes, Hinton called for governments to commit to not building battlefield robots. The warning is akin to J. Robert Oppenheimer’s calls to stop world leaders from developing nuclear weapons after he pioneered the first atomic bomb.

Hinton summed up by saying he couldn’t see a path that guarantees safety, adding he wasn’t sure robots could ever be stopped from wanting to take over humanity.

The world’s major governments appear to have heard Hinton’s and others’ warnings loud and clear.

The U.K. will host the first global AI summit in November, which is expected to be attended by 100 politicians, academics, and AI experts.

It could lay the groundwork for sweeping regulatory changes by major countries including the United States.

The U.S. is crafting an AI Bill of Rights, and in the coming months is expected to bring in safeguards that tech companies must abide by.

The European Union is crafting its own guardrails around AI, titled the AI Act. However, the potential for varying regulations based on geography is creating tension.

In June, more than 150 major European execs requested the EU pull back on its proposed restrictions around AI, including increased bureaucracy and tests on certain tech’s safety. They argued these would create a “critical productivity gap” in the region that would leave it trailing the U.S.

170,000-plus books used to train AI; authors say they weren’t asked

Deseret News

170,000-plus books used to train AI; authors say they weren’t asked

Lois M. Collins – October 9, 2023

An investigation by The Atlantic indicated thousands of e-books are being used to train an artificial intelligence system called Books3. | Adobe Stock

Authors are upset after tech companies started using their books to train artificial intelligence without letting them know or seeking their permission. They worry about copyright infringement and loss of income, among other issues.

Per CNN, “The system is called Books3, and according to an investigation by The Atlantic, the data set is based on a collection of pirated e-books spanning all genres, from erotic fiction to prose poetry. Books help generative AI systems with learning how to communicate information.”

“The future promised by AI is written with stolen words,” The Atlantic article said.

The article notes that some of the text that’s training AI on how to use language is taken from Wikipedia and other online entries. But “high-quality generative AI requires higher-quality input than is usually found on the internet — that is, it requires the kind found in books.”

Many authors apparently don’t view the use of their books to train artificial intelligence as an honor. Rather, it’s a shortcut that robs them of their due, they say.

CNN reported that Nora Roberts, who writes romantic novels, has 206 books in the database — “second only to William Shakespeare.” She told CNN the database is “all kinds of wrong. We are human beings, we are writers and we are being exploited by people who want to use our work, again without permission or compensation, to ‘write’ books, scripts, essays because it’s cheap and easy,” she said in a statement to CNN.

Per The Atlantic, Sarah Silverman, Richard Kadrey and Christopher Golden filed a lawsuit in California that claims Meta — owner of Facebook — violated their copyrights by using their books to train the company’s large language model LLaMA. That’s an algorithm that competes with OpenAI’s GPT-4 to create its own text by using word patterns it learned from the books and other sources, the article said.

The Atlantic’s Alex Reisner created a stir when he got a list of the books and published a searchable database so that anyone can see if their favorite author’s work is being used to teach AI communication skills. He notes the authors include well-known names like Stephen King, John Kratz and James Patterson, among others. The books apparently came through web-crawling technology that found bootleg PDF copies of the books for free online and they were then packaged into a database called Books3, where different AI companies are using them. Bloomberg said it will not use Books3 in the future as it trains its BloombergGPT.

The Authors Guild on Sept. 27 published a guide on actions authors can take if they learned their books are in the Books3 dataset. “This can be an unsettling revelation, raising concerns about copyright, compensation and the future implications of AI,” the article said.

The guild and 17 authors filed a different class-action suit in New York against OpenAI for copyright infringement. Those authors, per a separate guild article, include David Baldacci, Mary Bly, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Scott Turow and Rachel Vail, among others.

“The complaint draws attention to the fact that the plaintiffs’ books were downloaded from pirate ebook repositories and then copied into the fabric of GPT 3.5 and GPT 4 which power ChatGPT and thousands of applications and enterprise uses — from which OpenAI expects to earn many billions, the article said.

Reisner also wrote that while Meta is using authors’ books without permission, it employed a “takedown” order against at least one developer who used LLaMA coding after it was leaked a few months ago, on the claim that “no one is authorized to exhibit, reproduce, transmit or otherwise distribute Meta Properties without the express written permission of Meta.” And once it decided to make LLaMA open-source, Meta still requires developers to get a license in order to use it.

Not everyone’s upset, however, by use of their work to train AI. Ian Bogost, author of “Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom and the Secret of Games,” among other works, wrote a column for The Atlantic titled “My Books Were Used to Train Meta’s Generative AI. Good.” And he promised “It can have my next one, too.”

Bogost contends that successful art “exceeds its creator’s plans,” noting that an author cannot accurately predict a book’s audience. “Who am I to say what my work is good for, how it might benefit someone — even a near-trillion-dollar company? To bemoan this one unexpected use for my writing is to undermine all of the other unexpected uses for it. Speaking as a writer, that makes me feel bad.”

Shell Aims to ‘Decarbonize Profitably,’ Its New Energies US CEO Says

Hart Energy

Shell Aims to ‘Decarbonize Profitably,’ Its New Energies US CEO Says

Velda Addison – October 9, 2023

Shell’s strategy has not changed as the company remains focused on delivering more value with less emissions, Shell New Energies US CEO Glenn Wright said this week, addressing unease about its position in the energy transition.

“In order for that to be a reality, it’s imperative that what we do is both economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable,” Wright said Oct. 5 during an event co-hosted by the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and Baker Botts LLC in Houston. “Those are the three legs of the stool. If any one of those legs fails, the solution fails. So, our aim … is to continue our work and to decarbonize profitably.”

The comments were delivered in response to concerns that the supermajor was scaling back investments in renewable energy. Focused on increasing returns, Shell said it will hold oil output steady through 2030, having hit a lowered oil production target early through divestments.

Shell, which is targeting net-zero emissions by 2050, continues progress on providing cleaner energy solutions as energy demand rises, Wright said, pointing out how the company is repurposing the footprint of its energy and chemical parks. Shell’s low-carbon investment plans include investing between $10 billion and $15 billion through 2025 in areas such as biofuels, hydrogen, electric vehicle charging and carbon capture and storage.

“In my business, we will continue to invest in power opportunities, but we will do so in areas and spaces where it makes economic sense to do so and where we are incentivized to do so,” Wright said.

Energy companies, including Shell, are under pressure to not only provide affordable energy safely and lower emissions, but also increase returns for the shareholder. However, inflationary pressure and supply chain issues have posed obstacles, especially for offshore wind.

While the company has pulled out of some wind projects, including two wind projects offshore Ireland, it has powered forward with other investments. These have included the acquisitions of renewable natural gas company Nature Energy and Sprng Energy, a solar and wind power supplier, as well as starting construction on one of Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plants.

The renewables investment comes alongside continued oil and gas production.

Shell New Energies CEO — “We will continue to invest in power opportunities, but we will do so in areas and spaces where it makes economic sense to do so and where we are incentivized to do so,” Shell New Energies US CEO Glenn Wright says. *(Source: Baker Institute)*

Protecting the core

Determining where to invest capital is probably the biggest question in boardrooms today, said Michael LaMotte, senior managing director for Guggenheim Securities. Speaking about E&Ps’ limited capital investment and moves to pay down debt and pay dividends, he said companies in the industry should protect the core first.

“Identify that and focus on it because that’s where all that cash comes from at the end of the day,” said LaMotte, who spoke on a separate panel. “The return on your capital is going to be enhanced if you improve the efficiency of the operations in and around that core.”

It is also important to think about creating long-term value. Despite views on the pace of the transition, the “transition is here and we are in it.” He spoke of the need for companies to leverage core competencies into new energies.

Many are doing just that. Think Occidental Petroleum Corp. in the carbon management space.

“[It’s] really important how to think about taking what feels like a liability, what feels like a compliance cost to the business, and flip it on its head and say, ‘okay, this is actually a new business opportunity,’” LaMotte said, acknowledging the core is not leaving anytime some.

Sharing similar sentiments as Wright, LaMotte added that investments must be economic with focus on obligations to shareholders to generate a return.

“But it also has to be cleaner. It’s striking that balance” between protecting the core and focusing on something new and cleaner to leverage competitive advantages.

By 2050, the world’s population is expected to exceed 9 billion, nearly 2 billion more people than today, Wright said. Energy demand will likely double.

“We must find ways to profitably decarbonize. I cannot emphasize that enough. We aim to decarbonize, but we must do so profitably,” Wright said. “And we must work closely with others in new ways because we can only reach net zero if society reaches it, too.”

Pumping up power

The most profound change and fastest growth will happen in the power sector, according to Wright. Shell deepened its position in the renewable power space with its 2021 acquisition of Savion, a large utility-scale solar and battery energy storage developer, and the 2022 launch of its residential retail business in Texas. The company manages more than 8 gigawatts of power generation across North America.

“Electricity is far and away the easiest energy source to decarbonize. Every energy consuming sector, which is everybody from road transport to home and commercial heating and cooling, to manufacturing and major industrial processes, is actively pursuing electrification in some fashion,” Wright said.

Like others in energy, he says reform is needed—particularly regarding access to interconnections and transmission reform—as more renewable energy lines up to flow to the grid.

“FERC Order 2023 starts to help us in this regard. … How this will play out will continue to unfold, but it will encourage and allow quicker access to bring renewables online,” Wright said. “We also need to ensure that the market design encourages resource adequacy. We can encourage certainly the development of renewables. What’s important is that these assets are located in the right places at the right time.”

Power grids in parts of the U.S.—including the Electric Reliability Council of Texas—experienced stress this summer amid high demand and temperatures, which prompted some conservation alerts.

“As we see more and more renewables come onstream, we need more and more resources that can provide ancillary services that can help firm those renewables and ensure that the grid continues to operate,” Wright said.

California hits major industry with lawsuit for allegedly spreading ‘lies and mistruths’: ‘[They] have privately known the truth for decades’

The Cool Down

California hits major industry with lawsuit for allegedly spreading ‘lies and mistruths’: ‘[They] have privately known the truth for decades’

Leo Collis – October 10, 2023

California is one of the most committed regions in the United States when it comes to striving for a sustainable future.

The state is seeking to provide 100% renewable energy to residents and businesses by 2045, and it has seen billions of dollars of investment in “clean energy technologies.”

Now, it is taking on the oil industry, with the state of California filing a lawsuit against industry giants like ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP, as well as lobbying body the American Petroleum Institute.

NPR reported the suit was filed in the San Francisco Superior Court, and the focus is on claims the big players in the oil industry have been misleading the public about the dangers of dirty energy.

“California is suing these big polluters to hold them accountable for their decades of deception, cover-up, and billions of dollars in harm done to our state,” the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

The Governor’s office added the “lies” pushed by Big Oil over the course of decades have contributed to global heating, resulting in extreme weather events such as superstorms, wildfires, extreme heat, extreme drought, and flooding.

“It has been decades of damage and deception,” Governor Newsom continued. “Wildfires wiping out entire communities, toxic smoke clogging our air, deadly heat waves, record-breaking droughts parching our wells. California taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill. California is taking action to hold big polluters accountable.”

If the state is successful, it is calling on oil companies to compensate the state and its residents for the industry’s impact on the environment and to help bring protection initiatives to mitigate against future damage that rising temperatures bring. It is also hoping to stop oil companies from engaging in further pollution and to cease misinformation campaigns.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is also leading the lawsuit.

“Oil and gas companies have privately known the truth for decades — that the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change — but have fed us lies and mistruths to further their record-breaking profits at the expense of our environment,” he said. “Enough is enough.”

According to Cal Fire, there have been 5,741 wildfire incidents in the state in 2023 alone, with over 305,000 acres burned.

As California Local observed, Southern California saw its first tropical storm since 1939 in August, leading to record quantities of rainfall in Palm Springs, San Diego, and downtown Los Angeles. The state also saw its hottest recorded month in history in July, and 12 major rainstorms were recorded earlier in the year.

It’s clear, then, that California is bearing a significant burden when it comes to the impact of global heating, and the lawsuit will leave Big Oil with a lot to answer for.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.

In the GOP Extremist Hamas-Israel Rhetoric Sweepstakes, Marco Rubio Takes Early Lead

The New Republic

In the GOP Extremist Hamas-Israel Rhetoric Sweepstakes, Marco Rubio Takes Early Lead

Tori Otten – October 10, 2023

Senator Marco Rubio had a terrifying suggestion for how to resolve the war between Israel and Palestine: eradicating the Gaza Strip.

Fighting broke out on Saturday when Hamas launched a surprise airstrike attack on Israel. Israel has since responded in kind, imposing a total siege on the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, water, and electricity. At least 1,800 people have been killed on both sides—and the death toll is expected to keep rising.

During a Monday night interview on CNN, host Jake Tapper asked Rubio if there was a way to stop Hamas “without causing massive casualties against the innocent people” in Gaza.

“I don’t think there’s any way Israel can be expected to coexist or find some diplomatic off-ramp with these savages,” Rubio replied. “These are people, as you’ve been reporting and others have seen, that deliberately targeted teenage girls, women, and children, and the elderly.… Just horrifying things. And I don’t think we know the full extent of it yet. I mean, there’s more to come in the days and weeks ahead. You can’t coexist. They have to be eradicated.”

While Rubio was referring to Hamas, his unwillingness to differentiate between the militants and innocent Palestinian civilians is terrifying. Two million people live in Gaza, and more than half of them are children. Rather than give a nuanced response, Rubio instead seemed to be OK with wiping out an entire region.

“This is going to be incredibly painful. It’s going to be completely difficult. And it’s going to be horrifying, the price to pay.”

Rubio’s comments echo a statement earlier Monday from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The far-right leader swore to completely “change the Middle East” over Hamas’s attack.

Mary Trump asks why ‘f‑‑‑ing maniac’ uncle is allowed to ‘roam free’

The Hill

Mary Trump asks why ‘f‑‑‑ing maniac’ uncle is allowed to ‘roam free’

Lauren Irwin – October 10, 2023

Mary Trump, an outspoken adversary of former President Trump, called him a “f‑‑‑ing maniac” in a social media post Monday.

She specifically criticized Trump, who is her uncle, for his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and its possible relation to the war in Israel.

“This f‑‑‑ing maniac likely gave Putin (who gave Iran, who gave Hamas) Israel’s national security secrets,” Mary Trump wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Plus, he divulged highly classified information about our nuclear subs to an Australian cardboard guy,” she added. “Why is he still allowed to roam free?”

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday after the group launched a barrage of rocket strikes and entered the country in a surprise attack.

In her post, Mary Trump shared a screenshot of her uncle’s comments on Truth Social that compared the ongoing situation in Israel to the U.S.-Mexico border, suggesting President Biden and former President Obama could be responsible for a Hamas attack on the U.S.

“The same people that raided Israel are pouring into our once beautiful USA, through our TOTALLY OPEN SOUTHERN BORDER, at Record Numbers,” Trump posted. “Are they planning an attack within our Country? Crooked Joe Biden and his BOSS, Barack Hussein Obama, did this to us!”

In a follow-up post, Mary Trump urged the public to join her newsletter and support her mission.

“If you agree my uncle is unfit to be in the White House or anywhere but prison, please support my mission to get this f‑‑‑ing maniac off our TVs – and our streets,” she said.

Mary Trump has been a prominent critic of Trump, even publishing a book titled “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.”

This state is requiring every new home to be built with money-saving, energy-efficient heat pumps: ‘The right choice’

The Cool Down

This state is requiring every new home to be built with money-saving, energy-efficient heat pumps: ‘The right choice’

Jill Ettinger – October 9, 2023

Starting this summer, every new house or apartment built in the state of Washington will be required to use money-saving, energy-efficient heat pumps for heating and cooling.

The decision came last November when the Washington State Building Code Council voted in favor of the mandate, making it one of the strongest building codes in the country for energy-efficient heat pumps.

Electric heat pumps are two to four times more energy efficient than gas heaters, which means they can help you cut down your electricity bill dramatically.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnhGVZYsMau/embed/captioned?cr=1&v=12

Another reason they’re being lauded is because they don’t run on methane, a potent gas that traps heat in our atmosphere and causes our planet to overheat. Methane is also linked to a number of human health issues, including respiratory illness, memory loss, and heart disease.

The Council voted for the heat pumps following a 2021 state law that requires 45% in greenhouse gas pollution reductions by 2030 and 95% by 2050, compared with 1990 levels. The state is also required to increase energy efficiency in buildings by 70% by 2031.

“The State Building Code Council made the right choice for Washingtonians,” Rachel Koller, managing director of the green-building alliance Shift Zero, said in a statement. “From an economic, equity and sustainability perspective, it makes sense to build efficient, electric homes right from the start.”

An influx of transplants to Washington in recent years has led to a 50% increase in planet-overheating gas pollution from buildings between 1990 and 2015 — the fastest-growing source in the state.

Across the country, lawmakers are making decisions like this to help move their municipalities away from dirty-energy-based heating systems. More than 90 cities and counties in the U.S. now have similar measures in place.

“It’s an exciting step forward toward meeting our goal to reduce greenhouse gases in our state,” Katy Sheehan, a council member who voted in favor of the heat pump mandate told Spokane’s Spokesman-Review. “I’m really happy that we did it.”

Trump is furious at Forbes after the publication dropped him from its 400 wealthiest Americans list

Business Insider

Trump is furious at Forbes after the publication dropped him from its 400 wealthiest Americans list

Brent D. Griffiths – October 9, 2023

donald trump tpusa — Former President Donald TrumpJoe Raedle/Getty Images

Trump is angry that Forbes kicked him off of its list of wealthiest Americans.
Forbes says Trump just isn’t worth enough money, especially because his social media play fizzled.
The former president claimed Forbes “lost most of its relevance long ago.”

Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at Forbes after the financial publication recently dropped the former president from its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans that includes the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett.

Trump said the publication “lost most of its relevance long ago” and “knows less about me than Stormy Daniels (who doesn’t know me at all!) or Rosie O’Donnell,” a reference to the adult film star who claimed she had an affair with him and the actress and TV host that Trump with which a long-running feud. The former president also repeatedly claimed Forbes was “China-owned” and referenced China’s sovereign wealth fund that was involved in an abandoned deal to take the publication public.

“For years Forbes has attacked me with really dumb writers assigned to hit me hard, and I am now up 60 Points on the Republicans, and beating Crooked Joe by a lot. So much for Forbes!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth.

Forbes said that the former president failed to make the influential list for the second time in three years, because some of his portfolio has failed to live up to the hype. One of the main reasons was that Truth Social, the very social media platform where Trump lashed out at Forbes, has lost significant value.

“Trump once envisioned a significant percentage of the country logging onto the platform. But that never happened,” Forbes’ Dan Alexander wrote of the decision. “Roughly 6.5 million have signed up so far, about 1% of the total on X (né Twitter). Trump’s 90% stake in Truth Social’s parent company has plummeted in value from an estimated $730 million to less than $100 million.”

As Forbes alluded to in explaining its decision, Trump’s net worth is in the news for far more than vanity. New York Attorney General Letitia James has argued Trump exaggerated his net worth by billions. New York Supreme Court Justice issued a surprise order that was effectively viewed as a “corporate death penalty” after finding that Trump committed fraud for years. The former president’s legal team quickly appealed the decision, which another judge put on hold for the time being.

Trump’s claims about Forbes’ China ties are outdated and extremely misleading. Despite his claims, China’s sovereign wealth fund does not own Forbes. In May, Forbes announced that Austin Russell, an automotive tech tycoon, had acquired an 82% stake in the parent company of the magazine. The Hong-Kong based Integrated Whale Media Investments now holds only a minority stake in the company.

Trump’s lengthy rant did not refer to Whale Media Investments, but he mentioned the China Investment Corp, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund. The fund, per the South China Morning Post, owned just over a $11 million stake in a company that was going to take Forbes public. As The New York Times later reported, the agreement to take Forbes public through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) was abandoned.

This is not to say that there have not been concerns about Forbes’ ownership. A Washington Post contributor pointed out in 2017 examples of potential “editorial meddling,” including the publication cutting ties with a long-time Communist Party critic.

A spokesperson for Forbes pointed Insider to the publication’s own story, which included a statement that defended Forbes’ view of Trump’s net worth.

“Twice a year, we publish a detailed breakdown of our work, offering a far more accurate portrayal of Trump’s personal balance sheet than the fictitious documents the Trump Organization has created over the years,” the publication said.

Trump Wildly Claims Forbes Is a ‘China Propaganda Machine’ After He’s Removed from 400 Richest Americans List

Daily Beast

Trump Wildly Claims Forbes Is a ‘China Propaganda Machine’ After He’s Removed from 400 Richest Americans List

Dan Ladden-Hall – October 10, 2023

Donald Trump lashed out at Forbes on Monday after the magazine cut him from its list of the wealthiest 400 people in America last week. On his Truth Social platform, the former president complained that the magazine had “taken me off their Fake Forbes 400 list just by a ‘whisker,’ even though they know that I should be high up on that now very dated and discredited ‘antique,’” and accused the company of being owned by China and its “Sovereign wealth Fund!” “Removed from The Forbes 400, Trump responds as he always has—by lying about his net worth and saying he should be higher on the list,” Forbes said in response, noting it had taken “extraordinary care in valuing his fortune” and saying its ownership does not, in fact, include China’s wealth fund. Undeterred, Trump later posted on Truth Social to call Forbes a “China Propaganda machine, EXPOSED.”

“I should be high up”: Trump rages on Truth Social after falling off Forbes wealthiest list

Salon

“I should be high up”: Trump rages on Truth Social after falling off Forbes wealthiest list

Igor Derysh – October 9, 2023

Former President Donald Trump on Monday accused Forbes magazine of colluding with New York Attorney General Letitia James after he fell off the outlet’s list of 400 wealthiest Americans.

“China owned (China Investment Corp, the Country’s Sovereign wealth Fund!), and very badly failing, Forbes ‘Magazine,’ which lost most of its relevance long ago, and which knows less about me than Stormy Daniels (who doesn’t know me at all!) or Rosie O’Donnell, took me off their Fake Forbes 400 list, just by a ‘whisker,’ even though they know that I should be high up on that now very dated and discredited ‘antique,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“They are working with the Racist and highly incompetent, job killing Attorney General of New York, Letitia ‘Peekaboo’ James, who has allowed Murder and Violent Crime in the State to hit epidemic levels,” he continued. “China owned Forbes is a participant in the Election Interference Scam, and after what I have done to China, with hundreds of billions of dollars being paid to the USA, who can blame them? For years Forbes has attacked me with really dumb writers assigned to hit me hard, and I am now up 60 Points on the Republicans, and beating Crooked Joe by a lot. So much for Forbes!”

The magazine last week announced that Trump, whose net worth the outlet estimated at $2.6 billion, is “no longer rich enough” to make the list, missing it by about $300 million. Trump’s net worth fell more than $600 million, in large part due to the failure of Truth Social. His stake in the platform’s parent company fell from $730 million in value to less than $100 million. His office buildings are also down about $170 million, the outlet reported.