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The Rise of Recursive Self-Improvement in AIThe word "recursion" is the latest buzzword in AI circles. Two separate startups have taken on the name, and many more have started referencing recursive self-improvement (RSI) in their roadmaps. Like AGI before it, RSI has become a three-letter byword for a cataclysmic AI takeoff – even if there's still a little disagreement about what it exactly means.In basic terms, RSI refers to an AI system that can continuously upgrade itself. Once AI systems can manage the upgrade cycle better than humans, the process can become a closed loop, limited only by the compute power they can access, and humans are no longer necessary or even helpful.Scary or not, that's a vision that a lot of AI labs are eager to chase.Key Players Pursuing Recursive SystemsEarlier this month, well-known AI researcher Richard Socher launched the aptly named Recursive Superintelligence with RSI as an explicit goal. "Our main focus is to build truly recursive, self-improving superintelligence at scale," Socher told TechCrunch at launch, "which means that the entire process of ideation, implementation, and validation of research ideas would be automatic."A number of other prominent researchers are already chasing that same goal, hoping for a breakthrough that will make recursive self-improvement possible.One of the most prominent is Andrej Karpathy, a legendary figure from Tesla and OpenAI, who is using agent swarms to train LLMs on simple tasks for a project he calls Auto-Research. Karpathy has been unusually open about the project, tweeting about milestones regularly and making the building blocks available through a public GitHub repo. So far, the work has mostly been confined to making minor improvements on a GPT-2 scale model — as Karpathy noted in March, "It's not novel, ground-breaking 'research' (yet)" — but it's been enough to convince lots of other researchers to follow the RSI dream. And with Karpathy now working on pre-training at Anthropic, he will have plenty of opportunity to apply the idea at a larger scale.Adaption — founded by Cohere and Google alum Sara Hooker — recently launched a similar tool called AutoScientist in an effort to automate frontier training. Like Karpathy's auto-researchers, the system trains agents to make incremental improvements — but for Adaption, the goal is to make it easier to train a full-scale frontier model. If those same researchers start to push the frontier forward, the system could quickly spiral into something very much like RSI.Disarray founder Doris Xin drew more specific RSI interest when her self-trained machine learning agent took home 28 medals in a recent Kaggle competition, beating out many human-trained agents. As she sees it, the major challenge is reliability."I would argue, given infinite compute and infinite time horizon, we are already there," Xin told me. "I want to make an argument that this is not a creative endeavor, really. It's just a lot of meat-and-potatoes engineering."The Current State of Self-Improving AIThere's also plenty of evidence that the AI industry isn't very close to recursive systems in any meaningful way — and is still grappling with talking to a wary public about its progress. So Google CEO Sundar Pichai basically admitted in a recent podcast interview."It's a continuum, and we are all definitely making progress," Pichai said. "But in the way people describe RSI, that would represent a next level of acceleration and would have a lot of implications, but we aren't quite there yet."But the continuum includes an awful lot of self-improving AI systems.In January, one of Anthropic's lead programmers for Claude Code estimated that "close to 100%" of his team's code was written by the tool — a frank admission that Claude Code was literally writing itself.Just because engineers are using an AI tool doesn't mean the tool can replace them — but Anthropic seems to be getting close to replacing engineers too. In a recent survey tied to the Mythos preview, five out of 18 Anthropic engineers believed that, with harness improvements, this version of Mythos could soon substitute for an L4 engineer — a midlevel programmer who can take on involved projects without supervision.Still, there were some of the same weaknesses you might expect."Some of Claude's major reported weaknesses compared to an L4 include: self-managing week-long ambiguous tasks, understanding org priorities, taste, verification, instruction-following, and epistemics," the report reads.In other words, its weaknesses are everything involved with self-direction, which is the cornerstone for RSI. But sure, for everything else, Claude is ready to step right in.Expert Perspectives on RSI TimelinesJust like the AGI term before it, the AI industry also can't tell us how far away it is from showcasing a meaningful recursive system. When Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology assembled a group of experts to study RSI last year, the group found a major split in assessments — some expecting an imminent "superintelligence" style explosion while others expected slower progress and an eventual plateau. But all agreed that recursion made the future especially difficult to predict.Helen Toner, director of CSET and a former board member at OpenAI, told TechCrunch that simply using AI tools to do AI research isn't enough to qualify as RSI. "They're just using AI for as much as they can," Toner told TechCrunch. "And I think that is different from the classic definition of RSI, which is really that there are no humans needed."Toner pointed to a recent post by METR's Ajeya Cotra, which distinguishes different milestones on the path to the AI research takeover. One step, which Cotra calls "adequacy," would come when the system can still perform research after all humans are removed — even if the resulting research isn't as valuable or efficient. "Parity" comes when an AI-only system is as good at research as a human-only system. "Supremacy," the final stage, comes when an AI-only system outperforms a collaborative system between humans and AI.Ultimately, Cotra concludes that AI is very close to the adequacy threshold of being able to produce some work on its own — similar to the incremental changes made by Karpathy's Auto-Research system. "I wouldn't be totally shocked if you told me this milestone had already passed, and I expect it to happen in the next couple years," Cotra wrote.She was less clear on when parity will come, but once it does, she thinks it would "massively accelerate the pace of AI progress, leading to AI research supremacy within another year."The Challenges Ahead for Recursive AIWith so much of AI built on scaling laws, there's a strong tendency to think RSI will follow the same curve. Toner thinks that many of those pursuing AI research and development via RSI "think of it as a pretty smooth ladder, where you can just keep scaling up."But even if AI researchers are able to make incremental improvements like Karpathy's auto-researchers, there will be larger challenges in handing off the whole process of research. Toner put it in terms of the history of computing, which has seen human beings handing off more and more of the process while still directing things from the top."We went from machine languages to assembly language and compiled languages; you're getting further and further from the guts of the computer," Toner said. "But the human is still, in some intuitive sense, running the show."Moving beyond that paradigm will take significant challenges, both in engineering and alignment. But even with the massive investments happening, there's no infinite compute available — and the basic trade-off between human labor and machine intelligence will be hard to overcome.The Future of Recursive Self-ImprovementAs for a total recursive AI system of apocalyptic visions? The only thing researchers essentially agree on is that, like AGI, it's not here yet.

The Lead-Up to the By-Election In a scenario few could have predicted, voters in a northern English market town near Manchester could determine the United Kingdom’s future political leadership. The surprise resignation of the Labour Party’s Ashton-in-Makerfield MP Josh Simons in late February left the supposedly safe seat open, paving the way for the popular mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, to step in. The Event Details If he wins the seat in a crucial by-election set for June 18, he could ultimately topple embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Standing in his way are the voters, many of whom Burnham has yet to convince of his credentials for the job, and the right-wing insurgent Reform UK party, which has promised to “throw everything” at the election in a bid to block Burnham’s path to the UK Parliament. The Data Analysis Makerfield has been a safe Labour seat since its creation in 1983, but Starmer’s party lost all eight of its local council seats there to Reform in May during local elections. Recent local council elections in May 2026 saw a shift, with Reform UK winning 49.8% of the area's vote compared to Labour's 24.3%. The Impact Analysis The constituency is difficult to categorise, political scientists said. It neither fits the stereotype of the declining industrial towns of northern England nor carries much of the metropolitan optimism typified in the soaring glass tower blocks of the nearby Manchester city centre. Instead, it is best understood as “a place in-between”, political science Professor Rob Ford wrote in his blog last week. The Prediction Few observers have been brave enough to call the current contest. However, while political scientists are puzzled, 61-year-old resident Tracy Walker, who works in a charity shop, is resolute. “I want Andy Burnham. … I think we should give him a go. He’s from the north,” she said, contrasting Burnham with the long line of premiers from the country’s south.

The Life and Legacy of Marc Johnson Marc Johnson, the influential professional skateboarder whose inventive street style and Bay Area roots helped define modern street skating, has died at the age of 49. Johnson's death was announced in a statement attributed to longtime friend and fellow professional skateboarder Louie Barletta and shared by Thrasher Magazine. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Tributes Pour In from the Skateboarding Community “He was one of the most talented and creative people to ever step on or off a skateboard,” Barletta wrote. Johnson was known for his precision, creativity, and unconventional trick selection, emerging as one of the defining skaters of his era. Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1977, Johnson rose from a difficult upbringing to become one of the most respected figures in skateboarding. A Pioneer in Street Skating Johnson first gained national prominence skating for Maple before later founding skate brand Enjoi. His career reached a peak in 2007 when Thrasher Magazine named him Skater of the Year, one of the sport’s most visible honors. That same year, his part in Lakai’s landmark video, Fully Flared, became one of the most celebrated sections in the history of street skating videos. A Life of Creativity and Resilience Johnson was also candid about the personal and financial pressures of his sport and discussed his recovery from alcohol addiction in interviews later in life. Barletta said Johnson had visited him in San Jose less than a month ago and appeared “sober, healthy, and full of life”. The two reportedly spent time reminiscing about skating and discussing future plans. The Impact of His Passing News of Johnson’s death spread rapidly across the skateboarding community, with tributes pouring in from professional skaters, brands, and fans. “Without a shadow of a doubt, Marc Johnson was the single most influential person in my life,” Barletta wrote. “Everything he did was art.”

The Papal Warning on AI's Ethical Crisis Pope Leo XIV has denounced the "culture of power" driving the rapid rise of artificial intelligence while warning that the technology must be subject to the "most rigorous" ethical constraints as it infiltrates everything from work to war. In his first major encyclical of his papacy, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), the Pope presented the document himself during an event at the Vatican, marking a significant papal intervention in the global AI debate. The Encyclical's Core Ethical Framework The encyclical represents one of the highest forms of teaching from a pope to the Catholic church's 1.4 billion members, outlining his priorities while highlighting what he considers society's major issues. Pope Leo, who has previously identified AI as the biggest threat to humanity today, called for the "disarming" of AI, stating that some autonomous weapons systems are "practically beyond any human reach" to control. "Disarming AI means freeing it from the mentality of 'armed' competition," the Pope wrote. "To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity," adding that the technology should be "human-friendly", accessible to all and opened to discussion and debate. AI's Role in Modern Warfare In a significant warning about military applications, Leo referred to "a troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics" and said AI was helping to facilitate the "normalization of war." He emphasized that "the development and use of AI in warfare must be subject to the most rigorous ethical constraints, to guarantee respect for human dignity and the sanctity of life and to avoid a race to develop such arms." The Concentration of Digital Power In a passage that appeared to be targeted at Silicon Valley, the Pope warned that power over digital systems, infrastructure and data "does not rest with states but with major economic and technological actors." He cautioned that when such power is concentrated "in the hands of the few" it tends to "become opaque and evade public oversight, increasing the risk of distorted forms of development that give rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities." The Vatican's Engagement with Tech Industry The Vatican has been seriously engaged on questions surrounding AI for several years, including having regular dialogues with Microsoft, Google and other big technology firms. Christopher Olah, a co-founder of Anthropic who attended the Vatican event, supported the need for greater oversight, stating that "the development of AI cannot be left solely to technology companies, urging greater oversight from religious leaders, governments and civil society." Olah warned there was "a real possibility" that AI would displace human labor "at very large scale," adding that "if that happens, supporting those displaced will be a moral imperative of historic proportions." Historical Reflections and Digital Slavery In a notable historical reflection, Pope Leo apologized for the Catholic church's long delay in condemning slavery, describing it as "a wound in Christian memory." He also spoke of the "new forms of slavery" due to the digital economy, particularly noting his family history includes both enslaved people and enslavers. "It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord," the Pope wrote. "For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon." The Future of AI Regulation and Oversight The Pope emphasized that the Catholic church wanted to work with AI developers to discuss proper use of the technology. According to Christopher White, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, "Leo has done in this document is put the full weight of his office behind the Catholic church's efforts to be in dialogue with big tech." White noted that the Pope "is clearly approaching AI from a position of humility and making it clear that the church doesn't have all of the answers when it comes to what sort of policies are necessary for AI regulation. But he is being clear-eyed that AI development can't simply be the wild west like some of its advocates would like to see."

The Explicit RoleNot many actors are relieved when they have to film an eye-poppingly explicit sex scene, but that was the case with Jamie Bell on Half Man. His role involved chemsex in saunas, dogging in car parks and illicit quickies in library loos. "Honestly, I was so grateful to be shooting that stuff and not fucking 16-page dialogue scenes, where you're emoting and it's so intense," says Bell. "On days when my character had to have sex with random people, I'd think: 'Thank God!' Frankly, it came as a welcome reprieve."The Creative PartnershipRichard Gadd's first TV show since the Emmy-gobbling global Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, Half Man chronicles the combustible, codependent relationship between two "brothers from another lover". Niall (Bell) is bookish, bullied and closeted. Ruben (Gadd) is the swaggeringly violent ex-con son of his mother's girlfriend. The six-part drama – which reaches its devastating finale next week – traces the inseparable duo's toxic relationship across three decades.The role of Niall was written specifically for Bell. "I didn't realise that when I initially read the scripts," says Bell. "But later, when I met Richard in Los Angeles to discuss it, he said he wrote it with me in mind. I was incredibly flattered … It's a sensory experience reading Richard's material. He truly takes you to those places in your own life. It probes experiences you've kept hidden away somewhere and chosen to forget."Character ComplexityHe was drawn to his Half Man character's complexity. "I thought: 'Woah, this man is on such a destructive downward spiral …' He's got everything he wanted in life but still can't accept who he is. Niall is living as several different people and he's not comfortable with any of them."Bell really empathised with gentle Niall being drawn to such an aggressive alpha male. "Ruben is this disaster of a man. A bull in a china shop, destroying everything and everyone in his wake. Why doesn't Niall step away? Partly self-preservation. Niall feels vulnerable whereas Ruben is intimidatingly powerful. He can be Niall's protector. People fear him. Because of that, Niall latches on to him almost parasitically. Ruben becomes his life support system. I understood that 100%."I grew up in an all-female household and did ballet, so I used to attach myself to tough, troubled guys too. Not my kind of crowd at all but I'd rather have them on my team than not."Themes of Toxic MasculinityNiall struggles with his sexuality to the extent that he undergoes conversion therapy. As a straight man, Bell felt an acute sense of responsibility portraying that. "It's the centre of the character," he says. "The basis of all his issues. I took that very seriously. Niall's self-hate goes beyond shame or societal pressure. Somehow, his own sexuality doesn't sit right within his worldview. That, to me, is beyond sad. 'Be yourself' is the simplest advice yet at times, the hardest to adhere to." As a result of his turmoil, Niall goes to some dark places sexually. "Because of his repression, everything is guarded and hidden. That becomes the excitement. It's an addiction. He gets a kick from dangerous sex."With its portrayal of male rage and damaged antiheroes, Half Man taps into debates about toxic masculinity. Does Bell believe his gender is in crisis? "Look at who are the majority transgressors in this world," he says. "It's men, on all fronts – not just misogyny but conflict, crime, everything. It's important to shine a light on that. The conversation is ongoing. Hopefully this show adds something."The ImpactIt's no-holds-barred TV, full of sex, violence and gut-punch plot twists. "It's a brutal, beastly thing that Richard has created," says Bell. "I'd be lying if I said it was easy or fun to make." Yet the show represents a significant moment in television, pushing boundaries in its depiction of complex male relationships and sexuality. Bell's performance as Niall, combined with Gadd's writing and performance as Ruben, creates a character study that resonates with contemporary discussions about identity, self-acceptance, and the destructive patterns that can emerge from unresolved trauma.

The Impact of US-Iran Peace Deal Hopes on Oil Prices Oil prices have fallen sharply amid tentative hopes for a deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran. Brent crude, the primary benchmark for global oil prices, fell more than 5 percent on Sunday as US President Donald Trump gave mixed signals on the prospects for a permanent end to the conflict. Current Oil Price Trends Brent futures for July stood at $97.94 a barrel as of 04:00 GMT, down about 9 percent from a month ago but still up by more than a third compared with before the start of the war. Market Reaction to Trump's Statements Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that negotiations with Tehran were proceeding in an 'orderly and constructive manner', but he had instructed officials 'not to rush into a deal'. 'Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!' Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Effect of the Strait of Hormuz on Oil Markets Iran has effectively blockaded the strait since the start of the war in late February, disrupting about one-fifth of the global oil trade. 'Fundamentally, there is no change to the underlying picture, where 10-11 million barrels per day of crude oil continue to be shut-in for every day the Strait of Hormuz remains shut,' June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta in Singapore, told Al Jazeera. Future Market Expectations Goh said markets are likely to remain on edge for some time after any deal is finalised. 'Sparta estimates still about three to six months required to get everything back to status quo, including time to bring production and refineries back online,' Goh said.

The Pope's Warning on AIPope Leo XIV has called for the "disarming" of artificial intelligence (AI), warning that "new forms of slavery" are tied to its rise. The Catholic Church leader warned against "a race for ever more powerful algorithms and larger datasets," driven by "the desire to secure geopolitical or commercial dominance."The Encyclical: Magnifica HumanitasHis concerns regarding AI were presented in his first encyclical, titled "Magnifica Humanitas" (Magnificent Humanity), in person at the Vatican. Encyclicals are one of the highest forms of teaching from a pontiff to the church's 1.4 billion members.Leo insisted that ownership of AI data must not be left solely in private hands, called for policymakers to protect the rights of workers and keep children safe from the technology, and urged the cooling of competition between AI companies."What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating," Leo said.The Catholic leader continued by calling for "robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility"."AI now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion, and death," he said. "Like nuclear energy, it must be at the service of all of the common good."Industry Response and ConcernsPope Leo presented the encyclical alongside AI experts, including Christopher Olah, co-founder of US giant Anthropic. Anthropic is embroiled in a legal battle with the United States military after opposing the use of its technology for lethal autonomous warfare and mass surveillance.At the presentation, Olah said AI companies operate "inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing".He welcomed input from outside actors like the Catholic Church to "push events in a better direction", saying that "the questions raised by AI are bigger than the AI research community".Olah highlighted three areas he said required urgent attention: the risk of widespread job losses, the need to ensure that AI benefits are extended worldwide, and the unresolved question of how to interpret increasingly complex and sometimes opaque system behavior.Military AI and Ethical ConcernsIn the encyclical, Leo also sounded the alarm over AI-directed weaponry, saying it was "not permissible to entrust lethal" decisions to tech.Leo has repeatedly clashed with the White House over the US-Israel war on Iran and its use of religion to justify conflict.The "just war" theory, espoused recently by the administration of US President Donald Trump, was "outdated", Leo wrote, adding that "no algorithm can make war morally acceptable".

The LeadUnited States President Donald Trump has abruptly shifted position on potential negotiations with Iran, telling his representatives not to rush into any deal as the 87-day-old war continues. This reversal comes just a day after Trump had suggested an agreement had "largely been negotiated," including the reopening of the vital Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil supplies.The Diplomatic ShiftThe US blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz would "remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed," Trump wrote on Truth Social. This statement significantly downplays the optimism that had been building after Trump's previous comments about a nearly completed deal.A senior Trump administration official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, outlined what he claimed were the latest contours of negotiations: Iran had agreed "in principle" to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its naval blockade, and to dispose of Tehran's highly enriched uranium. However, the official criticized the Iranian system for not moving fast enough.Regional ImplicationsThe ongoing conflict continues to have severe consequences across the Middle East. In Lebanon, Israeli air attacks have destroyed houses in southern Lebanon's Tyre area, while Israeli drones were reportedly hovering over the Lebanese capital for a second consecutive day. The Israeli military confirmed one soldier was killed during combat in southern Lebanon.In Iran, the domestic situation remains tense with state media reporting the execution of a man identified as Abbas Akbari over charges related to nationwide antigovernment protests. Meanwhile, some shipping activity has resumed in the Strait of Hormuz, with a liquefied natural gas tanker heading to Pakistan and a China-bound supertanker with Iraqi crude leaving the Gulf after being stranded for nearly three months.Global Economic FalloutThe conflict's impact on the global economy continues to ripple outward. State-owned fuel retailers in India have increased diesel prices by 2.71 rupees ($0.0283) per litre and petrol by 2.61 rupees, marking the fourth hike in May as authorities attempt to recoup losses driven by higher crude costs due to the war.Conversely, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surpassed the 65,000 threshold for the first time, driven by increased appetite for risk assets amid growing optimism surrounding a potential agreement to end the war. This demonstrates how market sentiment can be highly sensitive to diplomatic developments in the conflict.Political CalculationsSecretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that "the president is not going to make a bad deal," suggesting a "pretty solid" proposal is on the table. However, Trump is facing intensifying pushback from prominent hawks within his Republican Party, including Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, who oppose a negotiated end to the US-Israel war on Iran.The Iranian government has not responded directly to Trump's latest statements, but the Tasnim news agency, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed the US was still obstructing parts of a potential deal, including Tehran's demand for the release of frozen funds. The two sides remain at odds on several difficult issues, such as Iran's nuclear ambitions, Israel's war in Lebanon, and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran.Path ForwardAs the conflict enters its third month, the prospects for a diplomatic resolution remain uncertain despite the intermittent signs of progress. The fundamental disagreements between Washington and Tehran suggest any potential deal would require significant compromises from both sides.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun observed Resistance and Liberation Day, marking the 2000 end of Israel's 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon, and reiterated that "the path to a complete Israeli withdrawal remains a steadfast national demand." This statement highlights that even if a US-Iran agreement is reached, regional conflicts may continue to complicate the situation.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has asked the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate hidden charges in the UK childcare market, amid concerns that families are still paying extra costs despite the expansion of funded childcare hours.Competition Review Targets Non‑Refundable Deposits and Add‑On FeesPhillipson wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) requesting a probe into practices such as non‑refundable deposits, compulsory add‑ons and restrictions tied to government‑funded places.The review will also assess ownership models, including private‑equity involvement, for their role in rising costs.Key focus areas: transparency of pricing, “cold‑spot” regions, and cross‑subsidy models used by providers.Financial Scale of Childcare Support and Hidden CostsThe government claims funded childcare saves families an average of £8,000 per child per year, with over 500,000 families currently benefiting.Despite the £300 million “Great Summer Savings” scheme, think‑tanks warn richer households capture a larger share of the benefit.Ipsos polling for the Department for Education shows ≈75% of parents dip into savings to cover extra childcare expenses; >25% cite affordability as the biggest barrier.Implications for Families and the Wider Childcare MarketHidden fees undermine the intended impact of the 30‑hour funded childcare policy, potentially widening inequality.Parents facing upfront deposits, extra‑hour charges, and costs for basics (nappies, meals, suncream) may see reduced uptake of available places.The CMA’s findings could trigger stricter regulation of private providers and greater scrutiny of private‑equity ownership.What the CMA Findings Could Mean for Future PolicyIf anti‑competitive practices are confirmed, the government may introduce caps on deposits and mandatory price‑transparency standards.Potential rollout of the online cost‑of‑living tool and childcare map could be accelerated to improve consumer information.Long‑term, the review may shape the next phase of the Labour government’s £9 billion‑a‑year free‑childcare programme, influencing budget allocations and legislative reforms.