Taipei Times

SPEAK UP: ‘Doomsday theory:’ AI could kill all humans by 20…

A: Wow, former Anthropic AI researcher Jacob Coxon recently warned, “The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” B: Why’s this “AI doomsday theory” so popular?A: Because companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have competed in developing recursive se

• #AI
• #人類
• #末日論

Book review: Why people are having fewer babies

“Don’t be weird about this,” representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laughed into the camera as she prepared to jab a hormone-filled needle into her midsection, adding that she knew full well that, yes, people were definitely going to be weird about it. At 36, the congresswoman had begun freezing he

Boasting South Korea footballers spark rethink of military…

For South Korea’s gold medal-winning footballers, victory at the Asian Games came with a reward beyond sporting glory: exemption from mandatory military service.But the way some players celebrated that benefit has sparked a public backlash, prompting Seoul to reconsider a decades-old system original

• #South Korea
• #spark
• #Military

Parents on limiting their kids’ social media and AI use

When it comes to their kids, many parents don’t trust tech companies any more.Social media companies have spent the better part of the last decade arguing that their platforms are safe for teens, but quite a few parents aren’t convinced. They, along with a growing number of regulators, have increasi

• #AI
• #On
• #Media
• #Social media

Notes from Central Taiwan: Annexation could sever Taiwan’s…

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) article from earlier this month on how Beijing would govern a post-annexation Taiwan (Amber Wang, “Beijing’s policy advisers map out how post-reunification Taiwan could be governed,” Oct. 6, 2026) is a reminder that even “peaceful” (coerced) occupation by the Peop

• #Taiwan

Japan urges ‘impartial treatment’ of newspaper reporter arr…

Tokyo yesterday said it had urged Moscow to ensure “fair and impartial treatment” of a Japanese newspaper reporter who was arrested by Russia on suspicion of espionage.Russia has arrested several citizens of what it calls “unfriendly” countries in the past few years, accusing them of working for Wes

• #Japan
• #Russia

Chinese in US accused of poisoning

A University of Wyoming microbiology graduate student from China has been arrested on accusations she poisoned the tea of a colleague who had pending patents and with whom she did not get along, then tried to flee the country after police questioned her.Wang Aili, 32, was arrested on Tuesday last we

• #US
• #Chinese

Indian ‘cockroach’ leaders jailed over banned protests

Two leaders of India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) yesterday were remanded in custody for five days, as police increased efforts to clamp down on protests against the nation’s election commission.CJP activists and opposition parties have defied a security crackdown to demand the resignatio

Vietnam buries remains of dead from mass grave

Thousands carrying white flowers lined the roads in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City yesterday as the remains of 731 people believed to have been killed during the 1968 Tet Offensive were taken for burial nearly six decades after their deaths.Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attended the memorial se

• #Vietnam

Head of MI5 warns Iran targeting UK

Iran is trying to hit military sites in Britain and the suspected plot to attack a US-run military air base last month was “not unique,” the head of the MI5 spy agency said on Tuesday, as he warned that Tehran and Moscow are expanding their attacks against the UK.Ken McCallum, who leads the UK’s dom

• #Iran
• #MI5

SPORTS BRIEFS

TENNISHsieh advances in WuhanTaiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko yesterday defeated American Sofia Kenin and Russian Irina Khromacheva in their women’s doubles round of 16 at the Wuhan Open. Fourth seeds Hsieh and Ostapenko — who were runners-up at Wimbledon and the Australian

• #Sports

F1 to return to Africa in ‘early 2030s’

Rwanda is to host Africa’s first Formula One Grand Prix since 1993 in “the early 2030s” after the circuit on Tuesday announced a decade-long deal with the country.The East African nation has been chasing a Grand Prix race for years, having already used soccer, basketball and other sports to enhance

• #F1
• #Africa

KFA condemns ‘personal attacks’ as rumors grow

South Korea’s soccer association has told fans to stop “excessive personal attacks,” warning of the “psychological burden” it could inflict on national team players in the crosshairs since their FIFA World Cup flop.Hong Myung-bo quit as coach after the team failed to advance past the group stage in

Atletico sink United as Viking defeat Bayern

Atletico Madrid on Tuesday beat Manchester United 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League as the Red Devils continued their poor run, while Bayern Munich were held 3-3 in Norway by underdogs Viking Stavanger.Elsewhere, last season’s beaten finalists Arsenal eased to victory over Lille while Barcelona came

WBC outfielder Fairchild to visit Taiwan next month

Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild, who hit two home runs for Taiwan at this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), is to visit the country next month, his representatives said on Tuesday.His agency, GSI Agency, wrote on Instagram that the trip would give Fairchild an opportunity to experi

• #Taiwan
• #WBC

Peralta lifts Rays to even ALCS at 1-1

With the crowd chanting his name, a fired-up Freddy Peralta on Tuesday pumped one fastball after another past hitters all night long.Peralta threw six innings of four-hit ball and Liam Hicks lined a two-run single after Jose Ramirez’s fielding error as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians

• #Peralta

Fukuyama, Thiel and the revenge of the ‘Last Man’

Stanford University political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s new memoir, In the Realm of the Last Man, is an unmistakable reference to his 1992 bestseller, The End of History and the Last Man. Fukuyama said the reason he chose it was that people had ignored his book’s warning that “democracy could bre

• #Man

EDITORIAL CARTOON

EDITORIAL CARTOON

A Pacific pivot ahead for Taiwan?

On Aug. 31 when Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) joined the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Koror, Palau — invited as a development partner, a status the forum has extended to Taiwan since the early 1990s — Chinese Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries Affairs Qian Bo (

• #Taiwan

Address the shortage of teachers

According to the Ministry of Education’s latest International Comparison of Education Statistical Indicators, Taiwan has a lower proportion of teachers under the age of 40 in elementary and junior-high schools than its neighbors Japan and South Korea — in fact, Taiwan’s share stands at only about ha

Make the right to disconnect workable

Imagine a teacher sitting down to dinner with their family. A parent’s message arrives: a question about tomorrow’s homework. Answering takes only a moment, and not answering risks seeming uncaring. The teacher replies, another question follows, and the school day quietly resumes.Taiwan’s discussion

EDITORIAL: Better procurement vetting needed

Prosecutors earlier this week questioned four people over the alleged sale of Chinese-developed software repackaged and marketed as a Taiwanese product to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They allege that three Taiwanese companies repackaged Chinese-developed IP-guard endpoint security management so

‘Please make more’

An SK Hynix Inc HBM4 base wafer signed by Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang is pictured at the Semiconductor Exhibition in Seoul yesterday. The exhibition runs through Friday.

Musk’s Terafab plan poses no short-term threat to TSMC: Ana…

Elon Musk’s reported plan to build a massive semiconductor fabrication complex in Texas will have no impact on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the short to medium term, as such a project would take five to 10 years to materialize, a veteran semiconductor analyst said yesterday.S

• #Terafab
• #TSMC

Four state asset managers to merge: finance minister

Four state-owned asset managers are set to merge into a single fund house to strengthen their competitiveness, Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) said yesterday, confirming a deal that had been the subject of market speculation.First Securities Investment Trust Co (第一金投信) would be the survivi

• #finance

Delta forecasts increases in solid-state transformer shipme…

Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it expects to ship 100 solid-state transformer (SST) units by the end of this year and looks forward to a more significant increase in shipments in 2028, amid soaring demand from data center operators and cloud service providers in the US and China.The comp

• #data centers

Taipower planning 43 substations in 15 years

State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) plans to build 43 substations over the next 15 years to meet growing electricity demand, chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said yesterday.The expansion also includes about 1,922km of new power lines, Tseng said at a forum during the Energy Taiwan exhibition in T

TSEC optimistic as green energy demand picks up

Solar cell and module manufacturer TSEC Corp (元晶) yesterday said that its business is bottoming out this year, and it is optimistic that new rooftop solar installation incentives and strong green energy demand would revitalize the nation’s solar sector next year.This anticipated policy push comes at

• #Energy

ASML struggles with chip tool demand

ASML Holding NV yesterday warned that soaring artificial intelligence (AI) spending meant that it faces a potential supply shortfall with its chipmaking machines in the next two years, even as it boosted its own sales forecast for this year.“We are investigating ways to increase capacity for 2028 be

• #ASML

Ready, set, go

New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-yi, fourth left, announces that registration for next year’s New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon will be open from noon today. With the annual event entering its 25th year, 25-year-old runners may enter a lottery to win a chance to run the marathon for free next year.

Timely assistance

Representatives of the Alliance for Public Assistance Act Amendment and Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lin Yueh-chin, front row, first left, and Fan Yun, front row, second left, call on the Cabinet and the legislature to speed up passage of an amendment to the Public Assistance Act to help

Canada up

President William Lai, eighth right, and Judy Sgro, eighth left, chair of the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group and the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade, pose for a photograph alongside other Canadian lawmakers and Taiwanese officials at the Presidential Office i

• #Canada

Taiwan agency, Korean producer agree to cooperate on film,…

The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) has signed an agreement with South Korean producer B.A. Entertainment, saying international partnerships and pooled resources are key to bringing Taiwanese content to global markets, the agency said Wednesday.The partnership will focus on talent developmen

• #Taiwan
• #On
• #Film
• #TV

Legislator calls for tighter agricultural import rules

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) yesterday urged tighter agricultural import regulations after kiwifruit with false country-of-origin labels were allegedly spotted at Taipei’s First Fruit and Vegetables Wholesale Market.Chiu made the comments during a meeting with Ministry

Pineapples likely to be exported to US next year: ministry

Taiwanese pineapples are expected to be exported to the US next year, after the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in March announced importation requirements, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.The ministry has completed all necessary administrative procedures, the public comment

• #US

More than 1,300 obtained Siraya status, council says

A total of 1,336 people have obtained official status as Siraya since registration opened on Aug. 13, the Council of Indigenous Peoples yesterday said.The government on July 30 officially recognized Siraya as Taiwan’s 17th indigenous group and the first recognized under the Pingpu Indigenous People’

Advocate urges protection for persecuted activists

Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) on Tuesday met with the European Parliament, calling for greater protection for human rights advocates, follow-up action on resolutions concerning Hong Kong and deeper cooperation between Taiwan and Europe in the face of China’s transnational repressio

MODA notifies supermarkets to bolster cybersecurity

The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) yesterday said it had notified the nation’s largest supermarket chains to inspect their Internet of Things (IoT) devices and install firmware updates to address security vulnerabilities, after a cyberattack earlier this week caused about 150 supermarkets in Fra

• #Cybersecurity

Lawmakers still disagree on pension hikes

The legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday referred proposed amendments to the National Pension Act (國民年金法) to cross-party negotiations amid disagreements on how much to raise pension benefits.While ruling and opposition party lawmakers agreed that pension benefit

• #On

Lai pledges net zero transition support

Companies’ ability to cut emissions would affect their future orders and Taiwan’s industrial competitiveness, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, pledging financial and policy support for their transition.Increasingly stringent emissions requirements in international supply chains mean busin

Cash handout timing depends on legislature: president

Taiwanese and eligible residents would each receive the universal NT$10,000 (US$311.8) cash handout before the Lunar New Year holiday, if the legislature passes next year’s general budget review before Jan. 5, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman J

• #On

Belize PM vows stronger support for Taiwan after China sanc…

Belize Prime Minister John Briceno said Wednesday that China’s sanctions against Belize’s foreign minister were “uncalled for,” “unjustified,” “wrong” and “illegal,” adding that the move would only strengthen Belize’s resolve to keep supporting Taiwan.Briceno made the remarks in an interview with CN

• #china
• #Taiwan

World Medical Association pledges to support Taiwan’s WHO b…

The World Medical Association (WMA) last week reaffirmed a resolution passed in April to support Taiwan’s participation in all WHO programs and mechanisms related to the International Health Regulations (IHR). The association held its 77th annual general assembly from Wednesday last week until Satur

• #Taiwan
• #WHO
• #WORLD

Former US official praises Taiwan’s drills transformation

Dennis Blair, former US director of national intelligence and a retired US Navy admiral, yesterday praised Taiwan’s decision to transform its large-scale annual military exercises into a whole-of-society defense effort in the past few years. Speaking virtually at a security conference in Taipei, Bla

• #Taiwan
• #US

Minister warns EU over dependence on China

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Tuesday promoted the “Taiwan model” in a speech at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, presenting Taiwan as a high-tech powerhouse and a trusted partner in Europe’s reindustrialization and warning the EU about dependence on China. Dependence on Chi

• #china
• #On
• #EU

IMF urges members to stock up funds to aid poor states

The US and other wealthy nations need to urgently tackle mounting global debt levels that are weighing most heavily on low-income countries and straining the global financial system, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said yesterday.US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and other US lea

• #IMF

Airport proposals need care, officials say

Any plans to remove Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) need to be carefully assessed, government officials said yesterday, adding that international artificial intelligence (AI) firms might not find the site ideal for building computing centers.Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on Thursd

Resource exploration to begin in Greenland: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that oil, gas and mineral exploration was preparing to begin in Greenland, while he hailed the arctic island’s position for US and European security.Washington this year signed a security deal with the leaders of Greenland and Denmark. Greenland is an autono

• #Greenland

Talks on Taiwan-Alaska LNG deal advance

Progress is being made in talks to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from an Alaskan project, with Taiwan considering an investment of up to US$4.4 billion, the government said yesterday after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told a rally in the US state that Taiwan would buy 30 percent of the pro

• #Taiwan
• #On
• #LNG

MAC criticizes China’s sanctions aiming at election interfe…

Sanctions imposed by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on a firm owned by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) father are an egregious attempt to pressure Taiwanese society and interfere with Taiwan’s democratic elections, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterda

• #china
• #mac

ENGLISH DIGEST 實用美語(空中美語)

Have you ever bought a product simply because everyone around you seemed to own one? Or have you ever supported an idea after seeing many classmates agree with it? If so, you have experienced the bandwagon effect, a psychological phenomenon in which people adopt certain behaviors, attitudes, or beli

• #中美

Does muscle turn into fat if you stop working out?

“This is not true,” says Leigh Breen, a specialist in muscle physiology at the University of Leicester. But it’s a statement he hears a lot, particularly from people who have taken a long break from exercise. “They’ll often refer to the notion that their muscles have ‘softened’ or don’t feel as tone

Why we should be worried about the suspected Russian plague…

In pandemic preparedness work, scientists like to focus on the technical challenges: identifying pathogens, diagnosing infections, understanding their effects and developing vaccines and treatments. Each step promises progress through human innovation, investment and planning. The WHO, for example,

• #WE

World News Quick Take

PAKISTANTrain derailment kills fiveA passenger train early yesterday derailed in Punjab Province, killing five people and injuring 35 others, police and a Pakistan Railways spokesman said. The train was traveling from the southern port city of Karachi to the northwestern city of Peshawar when it der

• #NEWS
• #WORLD

DNA and vehicle-tracking help recover stolen Renoirs

DNA left on a protective painting cover helped investigators recover two stolen Renoirs and uncover what they suspected were preparations for another art heist, a French prosecutor said on Monday.Four men were given preliminary charges in the investigation into the Sept. 8 theft from the small Renoi

• #DNA

Bedbug infestation forces Qantas to ground airplane

Qantas has been forced to ground a plane in Rome after bedbugs were discovered on the aircraft on its way from Perth, a source with knowledge of the incident said yesterday.The parasitic insects were found in the front of the economy section of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as it made its way from Perth

Late superstar Anita Mui’s ashes missing in HK

The ashes of late pop superstar Anita Mui (梅艷芳), once dubbed the “Madonna of Asia,” have gone missing from a monastery in Hong Kong, police said yesterday.The diva of Cantopop died from cervical cancer aged 40 in 2003 after selling millions of records.Mui’s family went to the police in July after a

Pumpkin might beat world record by 136kg

A Rhode Island pumpkin grower appears to have broken the world record for the heaviest pumpkin, with his giant squash topping the record by nearly 136kg.Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, weighed his pumpkin on Saturday at a contest in New England and is waiting for the Guinness World Records to c

• #WORLD

Saudis probe how defense systems failed

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels yesterday again blamed Saudi Arabia for airstrikes overnight that targeted areas along Yemen’s northern border with the kingdom and its western coastline, while Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrag

Agents search US lawmaker’s home

Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar, a startling escalation in a criminal investigation that brings renewed focus to the frequent target of White House derision in the final weeks of her re-election bid.The search of the Minnesota congresswoman’s hom

• #US