Time to stop suggesting AI is conscious?, Riyadh Calling: Saudi’s Hour of News, Russian elections

This week, Saudi Arabia has turned to its allies for military support as Iran-backed Houthi rebels tighten their grip on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el Mandeb shipping choke point, while drone attacks on the Kingdom’s oil infrastructure deepen an emerging energy crisis. In Russia, voters head to the polls for a tightly controlled parliamentary election with little meaningful opposition, as Putin insists there will be no new mobilisation.

Meanwhile, warnings about the risks of AI are coming from inside the industry itself, with Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman warning against treating AI models like humans—and raising the prospect of a new “silicon species” competing with us for resources. Finally, in Britain, the royal family is back on the defensive as Earl Spencer’s new claims about Princess Diana’s funeral prompt an unusually pointed response from Buckingham Palace.