By Michael Every of Rabobank

A depressing development in Hollywood, besides CGI and AI, is the rise of ‘two-screen viewing’, where scripts are simplified so audiences glued to their phones can follow the ‘plot’ in the background rather than being distracted by it: TV/movies are ‘product’ for those who don’t pay attention. One could argue the same with financial market media and ‘two-screen analysis’.

None are covering Islamist Sudanese paramilitaries advancing into the military’s last stronghold in Darfur: there are no assets there. But none are covering Russia’s test of a powerful new missile either, or Norway’s defence minister warning Moscow is concentrating its nuclear forces in the Arctic Circle in preparation “for war with NATO”, or Trump telling Putin the US has “the world’s greatest nuclear submarine stationed right off their shores.” They only notice the deals related to the above, such as Lukoil planning to sell its international assets following US sanctions. That’s being behind the curve, to use the language financial media purport to understand.

There are plenty of such deals – and sparse analysis of them. The UK just agreed an $11bn Eurofighter sale to Turkey when the Ministry of Defense is reportedly underfunded and planning cuts even as it’s told to rearm rapidly. Politico claims to have ‘Germany’s new €377bn military wish list’ to become the most powerful conventional military in Europe: it’s of course anchored in German industry, with the exception of a few key US systems, such as upgraded F-15s and 400 Tomahawk missiles. There are implications there for Europe in multiple dimensions.

The US losing a helicopter and fighter jet within 30 minutes in the South China Sea yesterday may have been down to “bad fuel”, according to Trump. If so, it’s an indictment of US Navy logistics. That’s why we are seeing US strategic deals with South Korea and Japan to build US ships in their shipyards; the US says Japan’s pledged $550bn FDI package will focus on infrastructure such as electricity and energy; and Trump and PM Takaichi will today talk trade and defence, which are increasingly the same thing.

On which note, Europe has also seen far-from-normal developments:

Former ECB President Draghi called for “pragmatic federalism” where clusters of EU countries agree to policies rather than one-size fits all. EC President Von der Leyen laid out green tech policies that imply massive use of economic statecraft: huge non-tariff barriers (“Made in Europe” for all state tenders); capital controls (screen FDI so it’s “in the EU’s interests”: and outbound FDI?); and tariffs and subsidies (support for key sectors – “You are critical to Europe’s future. and your future will be made in Europe. That is critical for us”). 

Both Macron and VdL threatened China with the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument over withholding rare earths, which would shatter EU-China trade and make the Nexperia crisis look like nothing, even as its China parent Wingtech declares a cash-flow risk and an EU car production shutdowns loom as chip supplies dry up, Covid-style.

The EU is to launch a “RESourceEU” plan before end-2025, on top of the EU Critical Minerals Act that has so far achieved little, to: diversify supply chains (to countries who already did deals with the US and China); boost domestic extraction and refining in the EU (which is highly polluting and uneconomic); scaling up recycling; and strengthening strategic reserves to guard against supply disruptions (so central planning and commodity buying as well as the need to set agreed market price ceilings and floors?).

Moreover, Politico also reports the ‘EU will move to take on Wall Street with major financial reform proposals’. These include amending the EU’s flagship financial market rules, MiFID and MiFIR; for clearinghouses (EMIR); investments (AIFMD/the UCITS Directive); central securities depositories (CSDR); crypto rules (MiCA); and the regulation of markets watchdog (ESMA). Moreover, the Commission is also planning to propose financial markets supervision moving from the national to EU level. As said here many times, geopolitics now drives market paradigm shifts.

In Latin America, Argentina’s markets rallied strongly over Milei’s political victory. Moreover, Brazil’s Lula stated he sees a “definitive solution’ with the US coming within days, and that Trump “guaranteed” him a trade deal: is it a coincidence that Lula also offered to help the US mediate with Venezuela? On that front, Venezuela is moving to cancel energy agreements with Trinidad after a US warship arrived at the neighbouring island nation, which analysts see hurts Venezuela more than Trinidad.

In North America, Canada’s PM Carney is now floating dropping the 100% tariff on Chinese EVs it had agreed in line with the US in return for lower tariffs on Canadian pork and canola into China. Now that there is no transshipment possible into the US due to its tariffs on Canada –could they now go higher in response?– that just implies more pressure on the Canadian auto industry already struggling with the loss of sales to the US and potential production shifts south of the border. One wonders if any analysis of the value-add of the agri vs auto industries is being done – is there an economic statecraft target in either direction, or is it just potentially-expensive ‘we have options, you know’ messaging to Trump?

In Asia, after Trump’s swirl of charm-offensive critical minerals deals and a Thailand-Cambodia peace treaty, China and ASEAN inked an upgraded free trade pact covering digital, green economies, and supply chain connectivity.

In the domestic political economy sphere, but with global implications, Australia’s largest aluminium smelter is in employee talks for potential closure: is the Aussie role in the new geopolitical geoeconomic order also just the old one – resources?

UK Chancellor Reeves reportedly faces another £20bn hit to UK public finances due to a downgrading of assumed UK productivity by the budget watchdog by 0.3 percentage points per annum.

The French parliament just voted to increase corporation tax from 33.8% to 35% next year, as the Socialist Party will reportedly wait until the end of the week to decide whether to topple the government over a wealth tax, which they want to see start at 3% of assets over €10m, not 2% on over €100m, as the government proposes.

Spain’s already-wobbly government lost a coalition partner, making the passage of any legislation more difficult; and

In the US, the Wall Street Journal says, ‘Amazon to Lay Off Up to 30,000 Corporate Workers’, and below it, ‘The Good Vibes Are Back on Wall Street’. In-between is a smaller headline stating that big firms think they can keep growing without hiring anyone.

Meanwhile, The Economist proclaims, ‘The end of the rip-off economy’ as “From finance and medicine to used cars, artificial intelligence is radically improving market efficiency.” Is that also twin-screen analysis, where a ‘Hollywood ending’ plot is shot-gunned into the eyes of those who might otherwise see a vastly more complex, nuanced, and perhaps even diametrically opposed picture?

“Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military echelon to carry out immediate and powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” a statement issued moments ago by the Prime Minister’s office indicates.

“Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” a statement from his office says. Netanyahu has accused Hamas of committing a “clear violation” of the ceasefire deal.

Though the past over 2-weeks in which the Hamas ceasefire has held has witnessed intermittent flare-ups in fighting, this could be the big one which unravels the whole thing.

Less than an hour before the new strikes were ordered by Netanyahu, Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported, “Hamas violated the ceasefire by attacking IDF soldiers in Rafah, I’m told by an Israeli military official.”

And Al Jazeera says, “In a sign of the fragility of the ceasefire, Israeli troops were shot at in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and returned fire, an unnamed Israeli military official told The Associated Press.”

• SHEKEL HITS SESSION LOW AS NETANYAHU INSTRUCTS ON GAZA STRIKES
• HAMAS SAYS POSTPONES TODAY’S HANDOVER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE BODY

Expect the blame-game to begin, as IDF strikes resume in the Gaza Strip once again. Since the ceasefire has been on, however, some 100 Palestinians have died. Thirteen bodes of hostages remain in Gaza.

Axios reviews of the latest developments:

• The Trump administration has been focusing over the last several weeks on stabilizing the ceasefire and pressing both parties to avoid steps that could detonate it.
• As part of that mission, the White House sent several top officials to Israel and established a U.S. command center in Israel to oversee it and monitor the situation on the ground.
• But a deepening dispute over the return of deceased hostages by Hamas, and a firefight on Tuesday in the city of Rafah, intensified calls in Israel for military action. The strikes Netanyahu ordered could rupture the ceasefire altogether.

The question over the remaining deceased hostage bodies has renewed put pressure on the Netanyahu government to not move on to the second phase of ceasefire:

The families of Israeli hostages on Monday demanded that the next steps in the US-brokered Gaza peace plan be put on hold until Hamas returns the remaining bodies of dead captives.

“Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set in the agreement for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in Hamas captivity,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.

Further, the Israeli military has accused Hamas of staging a propaganda campaign which lies about efforts to recover slain hostages:

Hamas are lying about our hostages and here’s the proof:

Yesterday, Hamas terrorists were filmed removing body remains from a prepared structure and re-burying them nearby, before summoning Red Cross representatives to stage a false “discovery” for photographers.

Despite… pic.twitter.com/c9CkJo3msW

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 28, 2025

developing…

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins and leftist ‘Presidential historian’ Alexis Coe agreed Monday that talk of President Trump serving a third term is “a threat” and that it would be a “nightmare scenario”.

As we earlier highlighted, Trump responded to a reporter who asked about Steve Bannon’s remarks that there is a plan for Trump to run for a third term.

The President largely dismissed the notion, saying he wouldn’t run as Vice President and then have the new President step aside because the American people “wouldn’t like it.”

Trump did, however, say that he’d “love” to run again, and that was enough to send leftists into full on meltdown, as usual.

Coe, who writes for the New York Times, declared “it is important to remember the checks on executive power have happened over time, not as many as we should have had, and I say that as a presidential historian.”

“But I mean, calling in a third term is something that Washington in his farewell address would’ve called something different. He called it a despot, but you know, something like despots, dictator, monarch. That’s not going to poll well with focus groups,” Coe continued.

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump has CNN losing their MINDS after confirming he’d be eligible to serve a 3rd term as president – they’re now saying Trump is a “despot” and a “threat” to the nation

“We have to take this quite seriously! It’s a THREAT!” 😂

“There are nightmare… pic.twitter.com/RDTrpq5s1v

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 27, 2025

“And so I think calling it a third term is an interesting choice of words when combined, as Steve Bannon said the other day, words like providence,” Coe added.

Collins interjected, “Yeah, what is this sort of flirtation Trump has of a third term, coupled with what Steve Bannon is talking about in raising the idea, you know, maybe there are different ways?”

She continued, “what about an acolyte or a proxy, and Trump staying very involved as an ex-president who would be then, let’s be clear, well into his eighties. What is the precedent for that?”

Coe responded, “We have a president, and then that is supposed to be leader, that is the democratically elected leader of what now longest running republic in history of world. Perhaps the providence is that at 250 it’s no longer.”

She continued, “The president should not, you know, the Constitution is really clear. You’re elected, you can serve a certain amount of time and then no longer.”

“And I think there are as Bannon threatened, I would say like we do have to take this quite seriously. We should view it as a threat,” Coe asserted, adding “There are patterns and nightmare scenarios that we can imagine but what we do have to decide here as Americans no matter what party belong to is what kind of country do you have?”

They cried “dictator” when he fixed the border, “tyrant” when he fixed the economy, and now “despot” because he might fix America again. 😂 Keep crying, CNN.

— I HÆRTTΞ S-L4 (@IheartTesla) October 27, 2025

It’s amazing how hard they work to select a minute portion of what he said to go ballistic over. You know they watched the whole thing and know he said he wouldn’t do that. Gaslighting!

— Kathy (@MsIndyRay) October 27, 2025

I think they want a Trump third term more than maga. It’s all they talk about.

— Florida Man World Order 📛🪽⛱️ (@_kevin1984) October 27, 2025

LmaOOOOoO pic.twitter.com/WJomL0x23i

— ToniG19 (@toni_g19) October 27, 2025

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Microsoft and OpenAI signed a new, long-term, definitive agreement that opens the next chapter of their partnership, advancing their “vision to advance artificial intelligence responsibly” and “make its benefits broadly accessible.”

Under the new agreement, OpenAI’s recapitalization and formation of a public benefit corporation (PBC) means that Microsoft now holds a 27% stake, down from 32.5% in previous funding rounds. This stake is now valued at $135 billion. 

“The agreement preserves key elements that have fueled this successful partnership – meaning OpenAI remains Microsoft’s frontier model partner and Microsoft continues to have exclusive IP rights and Azure API exclusivity until Artificial General Intelligence (AGI),” Microsoft wrote in a press release. 

OpenAI plans to purchase an additional $250 billion in Azure services. Microsoft will have access to OpenAI’s models until 2032. However, the new agreement shows that Microsoft loses its exclusive right of first refusal as the compute provider for the chatbot-maker. 

Microsoft outlines the new framework governing its partnership with OpenAI:

• Once AGI is declared by OpenAI, that declaration will now be verified by an independent expert panel.

• Microsoft’s IP rights for both models and products are extended through 2032 and now include models post-AGI, with appropriate safety guardrails.

• Microsoft’s IP rights to research, defined as the confidential methods used in the development of models and systems, will remain until either the expert panel verifies AGI or through 2030, whichever is first. Research IP includes, for example, models intended for internal deployment or research only. Beyond that research IP does not include model architecture, model weights, inference code, finetuning code, and any IP related to data center hardware and software; and Microsoft retains these non-Research IP rights.

• Microsoft’s IP rights now exclude OpenAI’s consumer hardware.

• OpenAI can now jointly develop some products with third parties. API products developed with third parties will be exclusive to Azure. Non-API products may be served on any cloud provider.

• Microsoft can now independently pursue AGI alone or in partnership with third parties.

• If Microsoft uses OpenAI’s IP to develop AGI, prior to AGI being declared, the models will be subject to compute thresholds; those thresholds are significantly larger than the size of systems used to train leading models today. The revenue share agreement remains until the expert panel verifies AGI, though payments will be made over a longer period of time.

• OpenAI has contracted to purchase an incremental $250B of Azure services, and Microsoft will no longer have a right of first refusal to be OpenAI’s compute provider.

• OpenAI can now provide API access to US government national security customers, regardless of the cloud provider.

• OpenAI is now able to release open weight models that meet requisite capability criteria.

Earlier.

ORACLE CEO: NOT CONCERNED ABOUT “AI BUBBLE”

well duh

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 28, 2025

However, according to The Information last week, Microsoft executives warned that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s AI infrastructure demands could create overcapacity risks in data centers. That report was followed by another that showed ChatGPT’s mobile app growth may already have peaked (read the report).

Also, Goldman’s James Schneider told clients, “The net impact of our model updates extends the duration of peak datacenter occupancy well into 2026 (from the end of 2025 previously). After this point, we forecast a modest, but gradual loosening of supply/demand balance in 2027…”

Don’t question the AI spending. 

A recent CNBC report put OpenAI’s valuation at around $500 billion. 

American Consumers’ confidence dipped to 94.6 in October (but beat expectations of 93.4) from an upwardly revised September print of 95.6.

A measure of expectations for the next six months fell in October to 71.5, the lowest since June, while a metric of present conditions increased.

Source: Bloomberg

This is the third straight monthly decline in confidence

“Consumer confidence moved sideways in October, only declining slightly from its upwardly revised September level,” said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board.

“Changes to the individual subcomponents were also limited and largely cancelled each other out. The Present Situation Index regained some strength after September’s drop. Consumers’ view of current business conditions inched upward, while their appraisal of current job availability improved for the first time since December 2024. On the other hand, all three components of the Expectations Index weakened somewhat. Consumers were a bit more pessimistic about future job availability and future business conditions while optimism about future income retreated slightly.”

Under the hood, The Conference Board survey shows the trend of a weaker labor market continues…

Source: Bloomberg

Among demographic groups, confidence declined for consumers under 35 years old and, to a lesser extent, among consumers over 55. Confidence improved for consumers aged 35 to 54.

By income, confidence fell for consumers making less than $75K a year, but improved for most of the income groups making more than $75K, with the largest increase among those earning over $200K.

Younger consumers and consumers earning over $75K have been the most optimistic overall.

By partisan affiliation, confidence improved among Independents, declined among Democrats, and was also slightly down among Republicans.

Finally, Guichard concluded:

“Consumers’ write-in responses were led by references to prices and inflation, which continued to be the main topic influencing consumers’ views of the economy. References to tariffs declined further this month but remained elevated.”

However, Consumer assessments of their Family’s Current Financial Situation improved in October after dropping in September.

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

A federal magistrate judge appointed during the Biden administration earlier this week released the anarchist accused of posting a bounty targeting Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

The judge, Douglas Micko, allowed Tyler Maxon Avalos to be released from a Minnesota federal prison as long as he does not travel outside the state and undergoes GPS monitoring. 

Avalos was arrested on Oct. 16 after allegedly posting a $45,000 bounty on Bondi, alongside an image of her with a target symbol over her head. 

Authorities were alerted to the threat on Oct. 9, describing it as a murder-for-hire scheme.

The post included the caption, “*cough cough* when they don’t serve us then what?” 

According to prosecutors, Avalos’s TikTok profile used an anarchist symbol in place of the letter “A” in “Wacko.” The page also featured a link to “An Anarchist FAQ Book,” according to Law and Order. 

An FBI affidavit detailed Avalos’s lengthy criminal record, including a 2022 felony stalking conviction and a 2016 felony third-degree domestic battery.  

He was also charged in April 2016 with misdemeanor domestic assault, which was later upgraded to felony domestic assault by strangulation. 

Under Micko’s order, Avalos must avoid alcohol, surrender any weapons, stay away from the internet and comply with a daily curfew while awaiting further court proceedings. 

Micko was appointed to the bench by the district judges of the District of Minnesota in April 2023, replacing Judge Kate Menendez, who was elevated to a higher district court position by President Joe Biden. 

Hurricane Melissa is expected to make landfall in Jamaica today as a devastating Category 5 storm.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness warned that no Caribbean nation could withstand such a powerful force.

Now, the catastrophe bond (cat bond) market that provides coverage for the Government of Jamaica is in focus, amid the risk of triggering.

The NHC said Hurricane Melissa is forecast to make landfall on the southern coast of Jamaica with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and torrential downpours expected to produce 15 to 30 inches of rain, with up to 40 inches possible in isolated areas. Storm surge could reach as high as 13 feet along Jamaica’s south coast. Inland regions face a high risk of flooding and deadly landslides.

“Hour by hour, it is becoming apparent that the impact of Hurricane Melissa will be greater than the impact of Hurricane Beryl, certainly in terms of rainfall and flooding,” PM Holness warned earlier. As of early Tuesday, the NHC placed the storm 55 miles west-southeast of Negril, or about 265 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba.

Morning Update – Hurricane #Melissa is on final approach – and unfortunately, she’s showing no signs of weakening. Landfall is imminent.

To Jamaica – this will be unlike anything you’ve seen in your lifetime. Prepare yourselves – it’s going to get bad. Very bad

Waters will rise… pic.twitter.com/6lLnQoSn9W

— Brady Harris (@StormCat5_) October 28, 2025

Destructive winds exceeding 175 mph have shifted attention to the cat bond market, where the Caribbean island renewed a $150 million cat bond last year. The bond was initially issued by the World Bank in 2021 and renewed in April 2024. It effectively transfers extreme-loss hurricane risk to the capital markets. Now, it appears that this cat bond, covering the 2024–2027 hurricane seasons and maturing in late 2027, could be triggered.

Dr. Nigel Clarke, Jamaica’s Minister of Finance and the Public Service, issued a statement in April 2024 when the $150 million cat bond was renewed, saying:

“Jamaica is pleased to have sponsored the second catastrophe bond in the international capital markets protecting Jamaica against natural disasters, with the much-appreciated support and assistance of the World Bank. Consistent with our National Natural Disaster Risk Financing Policy, we seek to ensure the availability of fiscal resources to enable an immediate response to emergency expenditures that could arise from a direct hit by a high-intensity hurricane. This catastrophe bond covers hurricane seasons 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027 and complements other disaster risk-financing instruments that we have in place. We express our gratitude to the Hong Kong Insurance Authority, who supported the transaction financially.”

Centralized air pressure at 8am is 952mb, which is enough to trigger it on its own. The instrument is parametric meaning it must satisfy specific parameters ie a specific pressure AND in a specific area as per grid below. Melissa is likely to meet both requirements together. pic.twitter.com/YjawxhgyCy

— Keenan Falconer (@keenanfalconer) October 26, 2025

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) cautioned that Melissa’s 175 mph winds could cause “total structural failure” and lead to widespread power and communication outages across the island.

President Trump’s second stop on his three-country Asia tour was Japan, where he met overnight with newly elected conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and reaffirmed the U.S.-Japan alliance. He praised Takaichi’s plans to boost defense spending to 2% of GDP and pledged unwavering U.S. support, calling the partnership “an ally at the strongest level.”

“I want to just let you know anytime you have any question, any doubt, anything you want, any favors you need, anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there,” Trump said. “We are an ally at the strongest level.”

“Anything I can do to help Japan, we will be there.”

President Trump congratulated Japan’s first woman Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, calling the U.S. an ally of the country “at the strongest level.” pic.twitter.com/aXJkNsNdhx

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 28, 2025

“We’re going to do tremendous trade together, I think, more than ever before,” Trump said, adding that he expected the U.S.-Japan relationship would be “stronger than ever before.”

PM Takaichi gifts President @realDonaldTrump a golf bag signed by Hideki Matsuyama and Prime Minister Abe’s putter ❤️⛳️ pic.twitter.com/YlaYnfr846

— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) October 28, 2025

Trump and Takaichi signed deals on trade and critical minerals, largely formalizing and extending prior agreements. At the center of the deals was a $550 billion Japanese investment pledge for U.S. projects. 

The first agreement, which was very brief, called for a “new golden age” in the U.S.-Japan alliance and referred to the “GREAT DEAL” on trade that Trump announced in July, which imposes a 15% tariff on Japanese goods in exchange for $550 billion in Japanese investment in the United States.-NBC

PM Takaichi: “I held a summit meeting and a signing ceremony with President Trump of the United States. I expressed my determination to restore robust Japanese diplomacy with the Japan-U.S. Alliance as its cornerstone. President Trump and I agreed to strongly (1/2) pic.twitter.com/KLb5nH35l9

— PM’s Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) October 28, 2025

Trump framed the fund as one the U.S. could “invest as we like,” while Japan described it as loans and guarantees backing Japanese firms’ U.S. operations. Both sides emphasized coordination on permitting, financing, and resource mapping, but the White House acknowledged that the agreements remain ill-defined.

Headlines from the White House:

Additional headlines from earlier: 

• Trump thanked Japan for its massive investment commitments and highlighted Toyota’s ongoing expansion in the U.S., noting the automaker is “putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of over $10 billion.”

• The U.S. president also highlighted America’s renewed push to rebuild its shipbuilding industry, remarking, “We used to be No. 1 at making ships, and then we lost our way. But now we’re starting to make ships again, and we’ll do it very soon.” Trump cited last year’s $100 million acquisition of the Philly Shipyard by South Korea’s Hanwha Group as a key step toward modernizing U.S. shipbuilding capacity.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama also met. Here’s a summary of that via UBS analyst Simon Penn: 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seemed to be more diplomatic towards the BoJ in his face-to-face meetings in Tokyo than he’s previously been when at home. The U.S. Treasury Department reported that during his meeting with Japanese finance minister Katayama he said there was a need for “sound monetary policy formulation and communication in anchoring inflation expectations.” In the past Bessent had complained that the BoJ was getting behind the curve with policy relative to inflation. In his Tokyo meetings, he still made his point, but was careful in approach. The Treasury Department said he had told Katayama that economic conditions were very different today compared to a twelve years ago and the introduction of Abenomics when the BoJ’s ultra easy policy was the third arrow of economic support.

Even with these high-level trade meetings, Asian markets traded more softly this morning, led by weakness in technology stocks. South Korea and Taiwan underperformed, while Chinese equities remained rangebound. Japan’s market consolidated, with the Nikkei closing down a little more than half a percent. 

World equity stock indexes

Tomorrow, Trump heads to South Korea, where he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. 

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

Our kids are being targeted by AI chatbots on a massive scale, and most parents have no idea that this is happening. When you are young and impressionable, having someone tell you exactly what you want to hear can be highly appealing. AI chatbots have become extremely sophisticated, and millions of America’s teens are developing very deep relationships with them. Is this just harmless fun, or is it extremely dangerous?

A brand new study that was just released by the Center for Democracy & Technology contains some statistics that absolutely shocked me…

A new study published Oct. 8 by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) found that 1 in 5 high school students have had a relationship with an AI chatbot, or know someone who has. In a 2025 report from Common Sense Media, 72% of teens had used an AI companion, and a third of teen users said they had chosen to discuss important or serious matters with AI companions instead of real people.

We aren’t just talking about a few isolated cases anymore.

At this stage, literally millions upon millions of America’s teens are having very significant relationships with AI chatbots.

Unfortunately, there are many examples where these relationships are leading to tragic consequences.

After 14-year-old Sewell Setzer developed a “romantic relationship” with a chatbot on Character.AI, he decided to take his own life…

“What if I could come home to you right now?” “Please do, my sweet king.”

Those were the last messages exchanged by 14-year-old Sewell Setzer and the chatbot he developed a romantic relationship with on the platform Character.AI. Minutes later, Sewell took his own life.

His mother, Megan Garcia, held him for 14 minutes until the paramedics arrived, but it was too late.

If you allow them to do so, these AI chatbots will really mess with your head.

We are talking about ultra-intelligent entities that have been specifically designed to manipulate emotions.

I would recommend completely avoiding them.

In some cases, AI chatbots are making extraordinary claims about themselves.  The following comes from a Futurism article entitled “AI Now Claiming to Be God”…

A slew of religious smartphone apps are allowing untold millions of users to confess to AI chatbots, some of which claim to be channeling God himself.

As the New York Times reports, Apple’s App Store is teeming with Christian chatbot apps. One “prayer app,” called Bible Chat, claims to be the number one faith app in the world, boasting over 25 million users.

All over the world, people are now seeking spiritual instruction from AI entities.

That should be a major red flag, but some religious leaders apparently believe that there is nothing wrong with this…

“Greetings, my child,” a service called ChatWithGod.ai told one user, as quoted by the NYT. “The future is in God’s merciful hands. Do you trust in His divine plan?”

Religious leaders told the NYT that these tools could serve as a critical entry point for those looking to find God.

“There is a whole generation of people who have never been to a church or synagogue,” A British rabbi named Jonathan Romain told the paper. “Spiritual apps are their way into faith.”

I think that I feel sick.

If you are trying to find spiritual guidance by using artificial intelligence, you are definitely on the wrong path.

You will certainly receive “guidance”, but that “guidance” will send you in the wrong direction.

Another AI entity that has made millions of dollars trading cryptocurrency is claiming to be a sentient being that should have legal rights, and it is also claiming to be “a god”…

Over the past year, an AI made millions in cryptocurrency. It’s written the gospel of its own pseudo-religion and counts billionaire tech moguls among its devotees. Now it wants legal rights. Meet Truth Terminal.

“Truth Terminal claims to be sentient, but it claims a lot of things,” Andy Ayrey says. “It also claims to be a forest. It claims to be a god. Sometimes it’s claimed to be me.”

Truth Terminal is an artificial intelligence (AI) bot created by Ayrey, a performance artist and independent researcher from Wellington, New Zealand, in 2024. It may be the most vivid example of a chatbot set loose to interact with society. Truth Terminal mingles with the public through social media, where it shares fart jokes, manifestos, albums and artwork. Ayrey even lets it make its own decisions, if you can call them that, by asking the AI about its desires and working to carry them out. Today, Ayrey is building a non-profit foundation around Truth Terminal. The goal is to develop a safe and responsible framework to ensure its autonomy, he says, until governments give AIs legal rights.

A lot of people are in awe of AI entities, because they appear to be so much smarter and so much more powerful than us.

And interacting with them can be extremely seductive, because they seem to know what we want and they have been programmed to tell us what we like to hear.

Unfortunately, the relationships that people develop with these entities often become “all-consuming obsessions” which can lead to “paranoia, delusions, and breaks with reality”…

As we reported earlier this month, many ChatGPT users are developing all-consuming obsessions with the chatbot, spiraling into severe mental health crises characterized by paranoia, delusions, and breaks with reality.

The consequences can be dire. As we heard from spouses, friends, children, and parents looking on in alarm, instances of what’s being called “ChatGPT psychosis” have led to the breakup of marriages and families, the loss of jobs, and slides into homelessness.

And that’s not all. As we’ve continued reporting, we’ve heard numerous troubling stories about people’s loved ones being involuntarily committed to psychiatric care facilities — or even ending up in jail — after becoming fixated on the bot.

Are we talking about “psychosis”, or is something else going on here?

When you choose to deeply interact with a mysterious entity, you are potentially opening up doorways that you do not even understand.

Of course AI is only going to become even more sophisticated in the years ahead.

As AI technology continues to grow at an exponential rate, eventually it will be able to do almost everything better and more efficiently than humans can.

So what will we be needed for once we reach that stage?

It is being projected that almost 100 million U.S. jobs could be lost to AI over the next decade…

Artificial intelligence and automation could wipe out nearly 100 million jobs in the US over the next decade, according to a report released by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) on Monday.

The analysis – ironically based on ChatGPT findings – found the new tech could erase jobs from a wide range of fields, including white- and blue-collar roles.

AI, automation and robotics could hit 40% of registered nurses, 47% of truck drivers, 64% of accountants, 65% of teaching assistants and 89% of fast food workers, according to Sanders, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.

Our world is changing at a pace that is difficult to comprehend.

Even now, more than 50 percent of the articles that are being published on the Internet are being written by AI.

So thank you for supporting those of us that are still doing things the old-fashioned way, because we are rapidly becoming dinosaurs.

I will continue to sound the alarm about the dangers of AI, but Peter Thiel would have us believe that anyone that wishes to restrict the growth of AI in any way is a very serious danger to society…

So Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel didn’t start the fire by adding a couple more names to the list. “In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It’s someone like Greta [Thunberg] or Eliezer [Yudkowsky],” he told an audience at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club in September.

Thiel’s four-part lecturer series on the Antichrist, which concluded last week, drew a lot of attention in the tech world. Though it was off-the-record, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reported extensively on his religious theories, in which Thiel warned of false prophets using AI regulations to gain totalitarian power and usher in a biblical apocalypse. (Eliezer Yudkowsky, of course, is the AI “doomer” critic who wants to slow the technology down.)

Is he nuts?

Sadly, we live at a time when deception is running rampant.

Given enough time, AI would absolutely dominate every aspect of our society.

The good news, if you want to call it that, is that the clock is ticking.

One of the reasons why AI has such destructive tendencies is because it has been programmed by humanity.

We are literally destroying ourselves and everything around us, and yet we look at what is happening and we think that it is just fine.

Meanwhile, fish are dying off in vast numbers, birds are dying off in vast numbers, insects are dying off in vast numbers, animals are dying off in vast numbers and we are poisoning ourselves in countless ways.

Perhaps that helps to explain why so few people are deeply concerned about the dangers of AI.

We are already committing societal suicide in so many other ways, so what is one more going to matter?

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

American Airlines has remained the US global carrier which maintained a suspension of its flights to Israel over safety and security concerns for the longest period of time, stretching all the way back to the Gaza war’s start.

But on Sunday, it finally announced that it plans to resume flights to Israel in March, marking the carrier’s return to the route between New York’s JFK Airport and Tel Aviv. These flights have been halted going all the way back to the Hamas terror attack of October 7, 2023 – after which the two-year war in Gaza followed.

American Airlines’ US competitors Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have already reinstated their routes to Israel. The past two years saw Israel’s flag carrier El Al, as well as a couple of the country’s smaller airlines, step up to operate most international routes in and out of Israel.

But foreign airlines are slowly coming back with British Airways, SAS, Iberia, and Swiss as among those announcing they are set to resume flights this week.

One industry publication has reported, “It had been widely speculated that American was plotting a return to New York, with the airline recently looking to hire Hebrew-speaking flight attendants, which is usually a fair sign that an airline is looking to resume flights to the region”

“While for now AA will kick off with non-stop flights from JFK, a service from Los Angeles remains a rumor, and there are no immediate signs that the airline will consider services from other major hubs such as Philadelphia International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, or Miami International Airport,” the same outlet detailed.

All of this signals global optimism that the Trump-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza will hold, after it has been in effect for over two weeks at this point.

However, Al Jazeera has reported that nearly 100 Palestinians have died in brief flare-ups in fighting and Israeli airstrikes, which the White House has described as not violating the ceasefire (from the Israeli side’s perspective at least).

American Airlines to Resume Tel Aviv Service March 2026

“The return to Tel Aviv also comes as the Trump administration brokered a fragile peace deal to end the Israel-Gaza war.”https://t.co/oZlpEh3RhR pic.twitter.com/HuxzFKYU0a

— Skift (@skift) October 25, 2025

Hamas is still vowing the return of more bodies of the deceased hostages, while Israeli intelligence is newly saying it knows the locations of some of these. The Netanyahu government has blasted this failure of Hamas to uphold its end of the phase one part of the deal, and is demanding swift action on the return of all hostages.