Over the last two days, the world of AI has been struck by two maelstroms. Both concern ethics, both involve two of the world’s leading AI companies, and both force us to ask whether the institutions directing the development of artificial intelligence are equal to the responsibility they have assumed. Yet they illuminate two quite different dimensions of the problem of Ethics in AI. The first arose from a dispute involving New York University mathematician Tristan Buckmaster, his collaborator Levent Alpöge and OpenAI. Buckmaster and Alpöge had spent about a year working on difficult problems related to the Navier–Stokes equations, using models from OpenAI and Anthropic as research tools. OpenAI subsequently mounted its own large-scale agentic effort after hearing that progress had been made on a Millennium Prize problem. It then announced a result within days, triggering questions about research confidentiality, the use of customer interactions in model training, scientific attributi...

Image Source: Hindustan Times   The recently concluded Mumbai civic polls mark one of the most pivotal political moments for Mumbai - and the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) - in over three decades. To fully grasp their significance, one must go back to 1995, when Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena first rose to power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Since then, control of Mumbai’s civic body has been the unquestioned crown jewel of Marathi local politics - whoever won Mumbai, was sure to be the power broker at the Maharashtra state level. That era has now decisively ended. The Fall of the Thackeray Stronghold For Uddhav Thackeray, this election represents more than just a political loss - it is the forfeiture of the family’s most valuable inheritance. The BMC, formerly the Bombay Municipal Corporation but now the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, is not only the richest municipal corporation in India but arguably the largest local body in the world by popula...

On a slightly long-haul flight last night, I found myself watching Superboys of Malegaon  - the film came recommended from interviews of many stalwarts such as Javed Akhtar, Farah Khan, and Siddhant Chaturvedi, reviewers like Anupama Chopra, media personalities like Saurabh Dwivedi, and endorsed by many guests on his show. So it had been on my watchlist for some time now - the long haul flight gave me a chance to clear up my list [ I also started watching an old Hollywood classic Fargo, which has been on my watchlist for years now! Will probably finish the remaining 40 minutes later tonight. ]  What was more of a clear-my-watchlist exercise ended up staying with me long after the screen went dark. The film refused to leave my mind, even though I had started watching another right after. Superboys of Malegaon is an easy film to like - rustic, warm, humorous, and deeply human - but where its stands out is on balancing emotion and inspiration without tipping into sentimentality. ...

I was watching the India-Australia ODI the other day when something curious caught my attention. The stadium façade - its arches, the rhythm of its windows, the quiet dignity of its design - looked oddly Victorian. This was the  Sydney Cricket Ground , which upon research I discovered was built in 1851, so aptly had a Victorian architecture . What was remarkable that while the stadium would have been upgraded and fitted with modern amenities and technology, its architecture was never tampered with, rather maintained to the original Victorian designs. That afternoon, I stepped into a branch of the State Bank of India after several years. Driving towards the branch I prepared myself for an experience I probably last had 30 years back in the 1990s - that soft, sepia-tinted decade with the pace of everything - slower. But as I stepped in the branch, the air felt far different. The air-conditioning hummed gently, queues were orderly, and staff went about their work with quie...

In my post in January 2021, following the farmer protests at the Red fort, I had penned this piece where I postulated that anyone and everyone who has ever tried to "win" over the Lal Quilla has suffered subsequent defeat and obliteration.  I illustrated my point based on the fate of: Shahjahan - the builder of the fort Nader Shah - the Persian emperor who's dynasty was wiped out after his win over the Lal quilla The Maratha's who lost at hands of the Durranis after the fort fell into their protection  The British who lost power in India after they chose the fort as the venue of INA trials  My conclusion is that anyone who touches the fort has suffered a bad fate subsequently - and I believe the curse continued with the Farm protests . After the hoisting of Nishan Sahib at the Red fort in mark of solidarity, the entire Farmer agitation movement just fell apart over the period of a few months. The tractor rally to the fort was the last of the large gatherings which c...