AI Takes the Controls, Medical AI Faces Reality, and New Clues From the Early Universe

This briefing covers an AI-controlled F-16 test, a real-world evaluation of medical AI on emergency cases, a possible explanation for JWST’s mysterious little red dots, new evidence that the pace of warming may shape Atlantic circulation risk, and a preclinical HIV treatment combination that suppressed detectable virus in infant macaques after therapy ended.

Stories in this briefing

1. AI Takes Control of a Modified F-16

   DARPA and the US Air Force let an AI agent fly portions of a mission in a modified F-16, while a safety pilot remained in the cockpit and could instantly take back control. The important shift is from a one-off experimental aircraft to standard fighters that can be converted with an autonomy kit. The test did not involve uncrewed flight or weapons use, but it moves autonomous combat-aircraft research toward a platform that can be tested repeatedly at larger scale.

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2. A Medical AI Matched or Beat Doctors on Real Emergency Cases

   Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess tested OpenAI’s o1-preview on 76 real, unedited emergency department cases and compared its diagnoses with two internal medicine attending physicians. The model matched or beat the physicians at each stage, with its largest advantage at initial triage when information was most limited. The study was retrospective, did not compare against emergency medicine specialists, and did not test the model in live patient care.

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3. JWST’s Little Red Dots May Hide Rapidly Growing Black Holes

   Astronomers studying an unusually bright little red dot seen by the James Webb Space Telescope say its spectrum is consistent with a massive black hole wrapped in dense gas that glows almost like a star. If that interpretation applies more broadly, it could help explain how supermassive black holes grew so quickly in the early universe. But the conclusion rests heavily on one unusually clear object, and rival researchers argue that some little red dots could instead be enormous short-lived stars.

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4. The Speed of Warming May Matter More Than the Peak

   A climate-model study found that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation collapsed at about 2 degrees Celsius of warming when carbon dioxide rose quickly, but remained stable past 5 degrees under much slower warming. The result suggests that the rate of change may be as important as the eventual temperature reached. This comes from one model rather than direct observation, and researchers say other models must be tested before drawing conclusions about real-world collapse risk.

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5. A Three-Part HIV Treatment Suppressed Virus in Infant Macaques

   Researchers treated eight infant macaques within 72 hours of infection using antiretroviral drugs, broadly neutralizing antibodies, and the CCR5-blocking antibody leronlimab. A year after treatment stopped, no active virus was detected, even after the animals’ immune systems were deliberately suppressed to test for rebound. The result is preclinical, involved only eight treated animals, and has not been reproduced in people. Researchers now want to explore early human trials, beginning with newly exposed adults.

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