AI and Tech News, 4 Oct 2026: AI Task Force, OpenAI Exit, Terafab

Here are the nine biggest technology and AI stories of the day, from a new White House AI task force and a high-profile OpenAI safety resignation to Musk's chip talks with TSMC.

1. Trump Taps Jay Clayton to Lead AI 'Super Intelligence Force'

The Director of National Intelligence will chair a new White House task force with 120 days to report on AI risks and opportunities and recommend a federal role, the Wall Street Journal reported.

2. OpenAI Safety Leader David Robinson Resigns

In an essay in The Atlantic, Robinson said OpenAI is failing to take enough care as it sprints between launches and urged nuclear-plant-style safeguards, days after OpenAI dismissed three safety researchers.

3. Bessent Calls AI Doom Warnings 'Alarmism Without Solutions'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Axios that AI leaders urging a slowdown "should slow down" themselves, saying responsibility for risk sits with the labs while the US competes with China.

4. Musk Confirms Terafab Talks With TSMC

Responding to a report that TSMC could anchor a new Texas campus around Terafab, the Tesla-SpaceX chip venture, Musk wrote on X that it is "just discussions, but something may come of it."

5. ShinyHunters Hacker Detained in Jordan, Reportedly Helping FBI

Saif al-Din Khader, known as Rey, is cooperating with investigators to identify other members, Reuters reported, days after the group claimed to have stolen data on FBI employees.

6. Judge Rules Warrantless Flock License Plate Search Unconstitutional

A federal judge in Oklahoma called the Flock camera network "a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance" and suppressed evidence, one of the first rulings finding a Flock search violated the Fourth Amendment.

7. Report Says China Amassed About 343 Immersion DUV Lithography Tools

A think-tank estimate, reported by the South China Morning Post, says most are ASML machines that can be adapted for 7nm-class AI chips, fueling US calls for a full export ban.

8. Data Center Backlash Has Stalled About $42B of European Projects

Research firm STL Partners puts the figure near $42B as local opposition over power, water and land spreads from the US to Europe and Asia, CNBC reported.

9. Tesla Cybercab Fleet Reaches 169 After Rocky First Month in Austin

Tesla now has 169 Cybercabs authorized for commercial use in Texas, up from 45 at launch, though riders reported long waits, wrong drop-offs and door glitches, CNBC reported.