How AI Is Upending Politics, Tech, the Media, and More (www.wired.com)

At WIRED’s AI Power Summit in New York, leaders from tech, politics, and media hashed out a central tension: AI is driving scientific and economic opportunity while simultaneously destabilizing journalism and creative industries. Speakers ranged from Google’s policy VP—who highlighted AI’s promise in protein modeling and materials science—to Senator Richard Blumenthal, who urged policymakers to impose guardrails (notably around copyright) before automated systems cause irreparable harm to news ecosystems. A former Trump administration official defended that administration’s AI Action Plan as a relatively comprehensive regulatory blueprint, illustrating that agreement on the need for rules is rising even as views differ on scope and speed. The most immediate technical and commercial flashpoint is how models ingest and summarize web content. Google’s “AI Overviews” that synthesize articles and still cite sources were blamed by publishers for collapsing referral traffic; media CEOs argued the summaries siphon readers and ad dollars despite links back. Outlets are responding: Gannett launched its own Q&A tool, DeeperDive, to keep answers and engagement in-house, while Condé Nast’s CEO compared current negotiations to music streaming licensing, calling for billions in compensation for content used as model training inputs. The summit made clear that resolving who pays, who governs, and how models consume content will shape both AI deployment and the future of journalism.