• OpenAI and Google each held major events this week announcing AI updates, one day apart.
• Sam Altman said he "cannot stop thinking" about the aesthetic difference between Google and OpenAI.
• The post led a Google engineer to call out Altman for timing OpenAI's event just before Google's.

Sam Altman isn't afraid to stir the pot a bit in the AI race, and his latest post took aim at Google.

OpenAI and Google held their biggest events of the year so far, a day apart from each other — and AI was the theme of both.

OpenAI announced its new flagship AI model, GPT-4o, which "can reason across audio, vision, and text in real time." A day later, Google announced various updates to its AI models — including a new AI agent called "Project Astra," and the future of Google Search.

But instead of coming after Google's AI offerings, Altman threw some shade at Google's aesthetic. The CEO posted a side-by-side image on X, formerly Twitter, of OpenAI's event with Google I/O next to it.

"I try not to think about competitors too much, but I cannot stop thinking about the aesthetic difference between OpenAI and Google," he wrote.

On the left, OpenAI researchers are sitting on a couch in dim lighting trying out the new GPT-4o in a vaguely midcentury modern office space. On the right, Google's vast outdoor stage almost resembles a movie set. The image shows a small crowd in front of a brightly lit stage with fake windows and clouds, and Google's famous rainbow colors on the wall behind it.

Altman's point is clear: OpenAI's event looks sleeker and more intimate, while Google looks like a large-scale production.

The general structure and style of both events also differed. Google's event was nearly two hours long and featured music looper Marc Rebillet of TikTok and YouTube fame warming up the crowd with the help of AI. OpenAI's was under 30 minutes and held in its offices.

Google I/O featured over half a dozen speakers, including CEO Sundar Pichai, who opened the event and spoke again at its closing. Meanwhile, OpenAI only had a few speakers and Sam Altman never made an appearance in the livestream.

At least one Google employee was quick to clap back at the OpenAI CEO.

Less than two hours after Altman's post on X, Zachary Nado, whose profile lists him as a research engineer at Google Brain, posted a response. The Googler wrote that, for a CEO who claims he doesn't think about competitors much, it's "interesting how all your launches are timed with ours then."

Touché.

Of course, it's also worth noting that Google tried to have the last laugh 30 minutes before OpenAI kicked off its event, posting a demo video of Google's own AI agent and its impressive image recognition.

While the Google engineer said that he was just "bantering" and has a lot of respect for OpenAI researchers, the back-and-forth highlights the rivalry between the two companies as they race to create the top AI products.

OpenAI may not have announced a search engine at its event on Monday, but it's reportedly in the works of creating its own web search product. Meanwhile, Google is in the process of improving its Gemini AI suite, which has trailed behind OpenAI's ChatGPT — but has quickly gained market share.

• Second Lt. Madison Marsh juggles duties as an active-duty US Air Force officer and Miss America.
• In January, the 22-year-old became the first active-duty service member to be crowned Miss America.
• She is now pursuing her master's degree at Harvard and assisting in pancreatic cancer research.

Madison Marsh has had a whirlwind few months balancing her duties as a US Air Force officer and Miss America.

In January, the 22-year-old Arkansas native became the first active-duty US Air Force officer to compete in — and win — the national pageant competition.

Fort Smith homecoming

Marsh returned to her hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas, over the weekend, welcomed with a homecoming parade. She also visited local schools — including her old middle and high school — to talk about her journey to the Miss America stage from those very halls.

"I mean, I've been saying all day that winning Miss America has never been about me," Marsh said, according to local news station KHBS. "It's been about the people that are in my community, who have backed me and the people that we can impact."

"And so, if I can hopefully open up the mind of another young woman or another young man to chase their dreams, to do something different, then it's a job well [done]," she continued. "And I'm so extremely lucky to have the position that I have."

Air Force officer, pageant winner, and now Harvard student

Over the span of a year, Marsh graduated from the US Air Force Academy with a degree in physics, was crowned Miss Colorado and later Miss America, and earned a full-ride scholarship to Harvard University.

Marsh earned her civilian pilot's license at 16, which inspired her to apply to USAFA. After she received her commission as a second lieutenant, she was selected for the flight school pipeline to become a military pilot.

However, Marsh decided to defer flight school last September to pursue a master's degree in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Advocate for pancreatic cancer research

She also works as a graduate intern at Harvard Medical School, working with researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on the early detection of pancreatic cancer using artificial intelligence.

Her mother died from pancreatic cancer in 2018, just nine months after her diagnosis, which led Marsh to become an advocate for patient care and research through the Whitney Marsh Foundation, the nonprofit her family founded after her mom's death.

"We are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were when my mom was diagnosed five years ago, and I think that speaks volumes to the type of strides we're making across the entire pancreatic cancer community," Marsh told Healthline in an interview.

A future in public policy

Marsh said she hopes to apply insights gained from her Harvard research toward shaping public policy at Capitol Hill that will better support patients.

"Now I understand the science side and [how to ask] medical professionals, 'What do you think needs to be done for patients, and how can we get that done through legislation?'" Marsh said at a United Service Organizations event on Capitol Hill in February. "Because through Harvard, even though I only got to do one semester there, I have learned that it is really easy to make bad policy."

"I think the best way to making good policy is by intimately understanding from the source — with patients — and intimately understanding that scientifically so we're enacting it properly," she added. "Now that I have all of those communities able to give me that knowledge, I'm really excited to get to use that piece to come forward here on the Hill and maybe get some things done."

Balancing active duty with pageant duty

Marsh is taking the rest of the year off from her degree and research to focus on her commitments with the Air Force and Miss America. To coincide with her pageant duties, the Air Force kept Marsh on active duty by assigning her to a public affairs and recruiting position.

"The Air Force has been really, really wonderful with me," Marsh said. "Basically, anytime I go and do Miss America events, I'm also giving back to the Air Force to ensure people know about the message of what it means to serve as 2nd Lt. Marsh — the different ways that they can get involved in the military, whether it be in the Air Force or other branches or different jobs."

Never the same day at work

The 22-year-old certainly has her hands full as she travels to a new city every few days to make a public appearance or attend events for both the Air Force and Miss America, some of which may vary greatly from each other.

"One event may include putting on my [Air Force] uniform to speak to classrooms of students about what it means to serve our country," she said, according to Dayton Daily News, "and 10 minutes later, I could be changing into something like this," referring her black jumper, high heels, tiara, and Miss America sash, "to attend a speaking event or the Super Bowl."

'Put me in coach!'

But Marsh's professional sports cameos aren't just limited to the NFL. Earlier this week, Marsh threw the first pitch at the Mets baseball game at Citi Field in New York.

"Put me in coach!" Marsh wrote in an Instagram post after the game. "Grateful for the military community and the team at the Mets that made this happen!"

A day in the life of an Air Force cadet

In February, Marsh and 27 fellow state delegates visited her alma mater, the US Air Force Academy, to tour the facilities. Delegates experienced a day in the life of an Air Force cadet, flying flight simulators, packing parachutes, and sitting in a TG-16A glider.

"My Miss America class was floored by the entire experience," Marsh said in an article published by USAFA's Strategic Communication office. "They truly got the whole cadet experience — dorm tours, flight simulators, hopping in planes, eating with cadets, and more. I really couldn't have thought of a better day to show them my home."

Mike Peterson, outreach division director for USAFA's Strategic Communications office, said he hopes the visit will inspire the Miss America delegates to promote the academy in their home states.

"We're hoping that one of the things that the delegates will talk about is how they participated in Miss America's homecoming at her college, the US Air Force Academy," Peterson said. "They are going to represent their states for the rest of their lives. We hope they will continue to spread the word about the Academy and their positive experience here."

'I serve as 2nd Lt. Marsh, and I serve as Miss America simultaneously'

By serving in both crown and uniform, Marsh said she hopes to empower young women to lead in any space, regardless of any gendered misconceptions.

"I hope that women are able to see that they can define their own role in the military — whether they want to take it in the more feminine path or not — knowing that they are empowered to make that decision," Marsh told DOD News in February. "I hope young girls can see that you can lead in the military, or you can lead in a board room, in the courthouse, in medical boardrooms — whatever it might be — and you can be taken seriously.

"Whether I'm in a crown and sash or whether I'm in my uniform, I serve as 2nd Lt. Marsh, and I serve as Miss America simultaneously, and they do not take away from one another."

• The US and its allies are focused on preventing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. 
• A new report argues there's a lack of readiness for other ways China could take control of Taiwan.
• An aggressive Chinese coercion campaign is far more likely than an invasion and already happening, experts warn.

With the US and its allies focused on what a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could look like, and how American forces could defend Taiwan if necessary, they're missing a glaring alternative strategy China could employ to capture Taiwan, a new report argues.

Defense experts say that an aggressive Chinese coercion campaign, short of war but still threatening, is more likely than a full-scale invasion and the US needs to prepare for such an event.

A new report co-authored by war experts from the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War explores a scenario where China undergoes a "coercion campaign that remains far short of invasion but nevertheless brings Taiwan under Beijing's control," identifying such an event as a "significant gap in US strategic thought."

Elements of such a campaign are already underway and include China's military exercises both in the Taiwan Strait and around the island, which are growing in scale and raising worries about escalation. Economic and diplomatic pressure is notable, and Chinese misinformation operations and the potential to slowly set up a blockade of Taiwan are also concerns.

The increasing Chinese military presence around Taiwan, the report says, could exhaust and overwhelm Taiwan's military and fuel a narrative that it is unable to defend the island, decreasing "trust in the military and feelings of security among the Taiwanese populace."

The report identifies four things key to resisting Chinese coercion. The first is a US-Taiwanese strategic relationship that foregoes concerns that "cooperation directly precipitates further escalation, whereas peace and prosperity are just around the corner if this partnership is halted."

Second, Taiwan's government must function despite Chinese efforts to undermine it in the eyes of the Taiwanese people through things like "economic warfare, cyber warfare, sabotage, rigorous (and pseudo-legal) inspections of ships carrying goods to Taiwan, air and sea closures, electronic warfare, and propaganda critical of government mismanagement."

These efforts include significantly degrading Taiwan's essential services, like clean water and electricity.

The third point is that Taiwanese people must resist Chinese "cognitive and psychological campaigns" aimed at breaking their rejection of the Chinese government, including "intimidating supporters of resistance, sowing doubt and fear among the population, and generating demands to trade political concessions for peace."

And lastly, there has to be resistance against "widespread information campaigns" that "aim to decrease the US public's and political leadership's willingness to support Taiwan." Such campaigns are already occurring, prompting anxiety that the US public and government may see getting involved in defending Taiwan as heightening risks of war at a significant cost with little to gain. The AEI and ISW experts argue that is not the case.

Notably, the report says that "Taiwan is strategically vital to the larger US-led coalition to contain" China, arguing that a US-friendly Taiwan links America's allies in the northwestern Pacific with US partners and allies to the south."

A China-controlled Taiwan, however, "would become a springboard for further PRC aggression and would seriously compromise the US-led coalition's ability to operate cohesively."

The authors of the new report present coordinated actions China could pursue to prompt Taiwan and its partners to accept reunification, referring to it as a "short-of-war coercion course of action."

Some of Beijing's biggest problems are Taiwanese resistance to China, which continues to grow, especially after the historic election of Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te, who is currently the vice president, in January, and continued support from the US and its regional allies.

The new report looks at a hypothetical timeline that begins with the inauguration of Lai this month and leads into 2028, imaging how China and Taiwan could, by that point, come to a "peace" agreement. China could ultimately be successful in such a campaign, the authors say, if the US and its allies fail to recognize Beijing's coercive tactics or strategically plan to deter them.

The US must clearly "recognize the possibility and danger of a coercion campaign that is far more intense than the one currently ongoing against Taiwan and develop ways to prevent Taiwan's isolation through means short of war," they write.

The report's authors argue that "increased efforts in the information domain will be key to ensuring that the US government and friendly international audiences do not fall prey to [Chinese] information operations intended to reshape the way Americans and key international actors think."

US-Taiwanese relations and concerns about an aggressive China in the Pacific region are often at the forefront of the minds of US officials and experts, but the focus is frequently on hard power elements, even if there is recognition of some of the coercive aspects of Chinese behavior.

In March, US Navy Adm. John Aquilano, then the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, stressed that China was pursuing a massive military build-up not seen since World War II and "all indications" pointed to it "meeting President Xi Jinping's directive to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027." He also told the US Armed Services House Committee China's actions indicated it would ready to unify Taiwan by force, if necessary.

Aquilano urged lawmakers to intensify the US' military development and posturing in the Pacific in order to deter such a fight.

And, earlier this month, over a dozen US lawmakers wrote to US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, raising concerns about what preparations were being made to harden the US presence in the Pacific and deter military action from China.

Of the lawmakers' concerns, the most prominent appeared to be the lack of active and passive defenses protecting US bases in the area, specifically on Guam and in Japan. "We are concerned about the alarming lack of urgency by the Department of Defense in adopting such defensive measures," they wrote, adding that "it is apparent that the Pentagon is not urgently pursuing needed passive defenses" to harden US bases and airfields from a vicious, preemptive strike by China's threatening missile force.

• OpenAI and Reddit are teaming up together in a new partnership.
• Reddit's content will help train OpenAI's models, the companies announced Thursday.
• Reddit, meanwhile, gains a new advertising partner in OpenAI. 

OpenAI and Reddit announced a new partnership on Thursday in a move that will bring the social media platform's popular content to ChatGPT.

The mutually beneficial deal will help Reddit to further diversify its revenue streams and give OpenAI more data to better train its AI models.

"OpenAI will bring enhanced Reddit content to ChatGPT and new products, helping users discover and engage with Reddit communities," the companies said in a joint statement.

OpenAI will also gain access to Reddit's Data API, which will enable the company's AI tools to "better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics," according to the announcement.

Reddit, meanwhile, will gain a new advertising partner in OpenAI. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

The news sent Reddit shares soaring $12 in extended trade, Reuters reported.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who holds a sizable stake in Reddit, already reaped a windfall earlier this year when the company went public in March. The Thursday announcement included a disclosure of Altman's shareholder status, confirming the partnership was led by OpenAI's COO and approved by its independent board of directors.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

• Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen spent his third day on the stand in the NY hush money trial.
• As his testimony droned on, the real show was outside, where political stunts were plentiful.
• There were penis-shaped balloons, and chants of "Beetlejuice!" during a speech by Lauren Boebert.

It was just after noon when giant, agitprop penises began flying past the sooty limestone facade of the criminal court in Manhattan.

It was just one of the political pranks seen outside the hush-money trial Thursday — and it was a heck-of-a-lot more interesting than the testimony droning on inside.

Up on the 15th floor, Donald Trump was on trial for falsifying business records. Key prosecution witness and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen calmly batted away a second day of defense questions about his honesty and motives.

But on the street right outside the front doors, a prankster tried to release dozens of pro-Trump helium balloons from the back of a U-Haul truck.

He managed to send only a dozen or so sailing slowly skyward before court officers ordered him to cut it out.

The balloons were shiny and pink, and bore images of judges and prosecutors who have offended Donald Trump over the past two years, including special prosecutor Jack Smith and the hush-money judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Others depicted Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who won the felony indictment now on trial.

There were anti-Trump antics outside court on Thursday as well.

At one point, hecklers yelled "Beetlejuice" at Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and one tried to hand her a copy of a "Beetlejuice The Musical" playbill to autograph.

They were not trying to summon Michael Keaton's famous character, but rather trolling the Trump ally over her now-infamous episode, in which she was kicked out of a Colorado production of the "Beetlejuice" musical after being loud and getting handsy with her date.

She later apologized for her actions at the theater.

Republican members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus became the latest group of loyal Trump followers to mount an al fresco show of support for the former president.

Their presence is about more than just loyalty. As Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida outlined, they can attack witnesses in ways Trump cannot due to his gag order. Merchan has threatened to jail Trump if he runs afoul of the order again.

"We're here of our own volition because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say," Gaetz told reporters.

By day's end on Thursday, one deflated penis balloon had switched sides.

It wound up as part of a "Convict Trump" sign being waved outside the nearby federal courthouse, where another jury had just heard opening statements in the corruption trial of Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey.

Other political protests around the courthouse have been more muted during the trial's five weeks. (Testimony may conclude as early as Monday, the judge said Thursday.)

Pro-Trump crowds there rarely exceeded 50 people.

But that was not the case on Thursday, when even the trash cans were themed.

• Ukraine's Western allies have promised to send it more long-range missiles.
• Kyiv has already demonstrated it can use ATACMS and Storm Shadows to hit high-value Russian targets.
• Former US military officers say more of these missiles will expose Russia on the battlefield.

NATO countries are outfitting Ukraine with additional long-range precision missiles that have already been used by the country to strike Russian airfields, naval headquarters, bridges, and other high-value targets.

These Western-provided missiles give Ukraine's deep-strike capability a major firepower boost. Former US military officers told Business Insider that the munitions could help Kyiv go after locations that are essential to Russia's operations, and leave its combat and support forces with "nowhere to hide."

Ukraine is facing Russian offensives that may get more intense going into the summer, but these weapons could help hamstring Moscow's efforts.

"If you're worried about Russian forces overrunning your defenses, you want to go after the headquarters and you want to go after the logistics that would enable Russian attacks," said Ben Hodges, a retired lieutenant general and former commander of US Army Europe.

The US last month acknowledged that it had secretly shipped Ukraine a number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, also known as ATACMS — earlier this spring as part of a $300 million weapons package it announced in March. The number of missiles isn't publicly known, but ATACMS missiles average about $1.3 million each.

Jake Sullivan, the Biden administration's national security advisor, said in late April that the US would send Ukraine more ATACMS after passing a $61 billion aid package that spent months held up by Republicans in Congress. The legislation required that Washington transfer the munitions.

ATACMS are tactical ballistic missiles that come in several variants. Ukraine previously received ones that have a range of 100 miles and can disperse nearly 1,000 submunitions over a large area, making them particularly damaging to airfields. Last fall, Kyiv used the missiles for that exact purpose.

The US also has ATACMS that can travel up to 190 miles; one variant has a unitary warhead, while the other can scatter some 300 submunitions. Ukraine has long pressed Washington for these extended-range missiles, though it's unclear what Kyiv has actually obtained.

Around the same time, in late April, the UK announced it would send Ukraine additional Storm Shadow cruise missiles as part of the country's largest-ever weapons package (£500 million, or $633 million), which included over 1,600 strike and air-defense munitions.

Days later, Britain's defense minister Grant Shapps disclosed for the first time that Italy had, at some point, also supplied Kyiv with Storm Shadow cruise missiles (France has sent Kyiv its own version of the munition called SCALP-EG).

These air-dropped missiles can fly at low altitudes to avoid detection and have been used to strike Russian naval headquarters and vehicle-repair depots in the occupied Crimean peninsula. Their 155-mile range puts them in between the ATACMS variants.

It's unclear exactly how many ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles have already arrived in Ukraine this spring, nor is it known how many more the country can expect to receive in the coming weeks as it tries to stall Russia's momentum on the ground. Kyiv previously obtained a limited number of both munitions from the US and its European allies.

A larger arsenal of missiles could strip Russia of its ability to stage crucial assets within 100 miles of the front lines, said Dan Rice, a former US Army artillery officer who previously served as a special advisor to Ukrainian military leadership. "That puts tremendous pressure on all of their key high-value targets."

"You have a 600-mile front and then you've got a hundred miles deep — where do you hide everything?" said Rice, a longtime advocate for sending cluster munitions to Ukraine and now the president of American University Kyiv. "Your transportation nodes, your railway stations, your supply depots, command and control — most importantly, your anti-aircraft systems."

Ukraine's battlefield reach has steadily grown throughout the full-scale war. What started out with short-range artillery improved over time with the arrival of US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. These game-changing weapons suddenly put Russian logistics centers, ammunition dumps, and command and control nodes within firing range.

Russia adapted to the HIMARS by moving its critical assets out of reach and jamming the munitions. The arrival of Storm Shadow missiles — and, several months later, ATAMCS — presented new challenges for Moscow, but Ukraine has received so few it has had to bee choosy over what to target.

Hodges and Rice say a larger arsenal of ATACMS and Storm Shadows can give Ukraine both the reach and inventory to smash the high-value targets that sustain Moscow's war efforts like supply depots and maintenance facilities. Indeed, Kyiv has used the American missiles in recent weeks to strike Russian airfields and troop gatherings.

"When you start taking those off the board, then it doesn't matter how much untrained, mass infantry — cannon fodder — that the Russians have," Hodges said. "I think long-range precision strike is becoming the dominant factor on the battlefield."

Missiles like ATACMS and Storm Shadow "will enable Ukraine to neutralize Russia's advantages and eventually enable them to regain the initiative," he added. Ukraine has also long sought Germany's Taurus missile, whose range is more than a 100 miles farther than ATACMS, but Berlin has so far declined to provide them.

The increased arsenal comes at a critical point. Russia is making gains on the battlefield as its bigger war industry shifts to mass-producing the drones and glide bombs that are pounding Ukraine's defenses.

Ultimately, however, the effectiveness of Kyiv's long-range strike regime depends on how many munitions it receives — and how it uses them. Ukraine had long been restricted to using ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles only inside occupied territory, although the UK recently agreed to let Kyiv use its weapons to strike inside Russia.

Whether or not the US follows suit remains to be seen. Analysts and officials have said that US restrictions went on to prevent Ukraine from putting up an effective defense and have essentially allowed Russia to conduct a new assault in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The advances appear to be the start of Moscow's anticipated summer offensive, as Ukrainian forces are increasingly stretched out across the front, Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, warned in an analysis this week.

"The outlook in Ukraine is bleak," Watling said. "However, if Ukraine's allies engage now to replenish Ukrainian munitions stockpiles, help to establish a robust training pipeline, and make the industrial investments to sustain the effort, then Russia's summer offensive can be blunted, and Ukraine will receive the breathing space it needs to regain the initiative."