Latest news with #ClevelandBrowns
New York Post
17 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Pablo Torre says the NFL is monitoring his media appearances after collusion leak
Journalist Pablo Torre said the NFL is monitoring his media appearances after he reported on his podcast on Tuesday that the league allegedly colluded with its 32 franchises to avoid needing to give veteran star quarterbacks guaranteed money 'not long after' the Cleveland Browns signed Deshaun Watson to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract in 2022. During an appearance on 'The Dan Le Batard Show' on Wednesday, the Meadowlark Media personality alleged that the league 'fought really hard' to keep it quiet after Torre obtained a 61-page legal filing as result of an arbitration hearing. This includes witness testimony from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, Giants quarterback Russell Wilson, eight NFL owners, NFLPA, leaders, agents, executives and shows that the NFL attempted to collude with owners. Advertisement 'I would say that as the NFL's monitoring my media appearances, which they are, I just like that they had to listen to that as well,' Torre said without elaborating further. Pablo Torre during an appearance on 'The Dan Le Batard Show' on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. YouTube/The Dan Le Batard Show 'Look, Dan, I just need to stress that this is a document that neither the league nor the owners nor the union wanted out. They fought extremely hard. [Pro Football Talk's Mike] Florio — the sell on this is that Mike Florio is as plugged into this as anybody — he's as fluent and obsessive about this stuff as anybody, NFL palace intrigue and the law, and he couldn't get it.' Advertisement According to Torre, System Arbitrator Christopher Droney wrote in his January 2025 ruling that, ''There is little question that the NFL management council, with the blessing of the NFL commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans' contracts at the March 2022 owners meeting.'' The arbitrator ultimately ruled in the NFL's favor. Goodell has yet to address the situation publicly. Advertisement 'Everybody is trying to figure out how I got this document because that's how much it means to them,' Torre added. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks to the media during an NFL football owners meeting, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Eagan, Minn. AP Torre discussed the alleged document in a statement. 'Unearthing this document unlocked one of the most fascinating stories I've ever investigated, in large part because it's about what extremely powerful people — league officials, billionaire owners, and union leaders — have fought so hard to hide,' Torre told Awful Announcing. 'And why? Because I'm a journalist, my personal philosophy is that more sunlight is needed, not less.' Advertisement In May, Torre made headlines for his investigation into UNC head football coach Bill Belichick and his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson's relationship — alleging Belichick's family and UNC brass were concerned about the former Bridgewater State University cheerleader's influence on his career.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
AI isn't just standing by. It's doing things — without guardrails
Just two and a half years after OpenAI stunned the world with ChatGPT, AI is no longer only answering questions — it is taking actions. We are now entering the era of AI agents, in which AI large language models don't just passively provide information in response to your queries, they actively go into the world and do things for — or potentially against — you. AI has the power to write essays and answer complex questions, but imagine if you could enter a prompt and have it make a doctor's appointment based on your calendar, or book a family flight with your credit card, or file a legal case for you in small claims court. An AI agent submitted this op-ed. (I did, however, write the op-ed myself because I figured the Los Angeles Times wouldn't publish an AI-generated piece, and besides I can put in random references like I'm a Cleveland Browns fan because no AI would ever admit to that.) I instructed my AI agent to find out what email address The Times uses for op-ed submissions, the requirements for the submission, and then to draft the email title, draft an eye-catching pitch paragraph, attach my op-ed and submit the package. I pressed 'return,' 'monitor task' and 'confirm.' The AI agent completed the tasks in a few minutes. A few minutes is not speedy, and these were not complicated requests. But with each passing month the agents get faster and smarter. I used Operator by OpenAI, which is in research preview mode. Google's Project Mariner, which is also a research prototype, can perform similar agentic tasks. Multiple companies now offer AI agents that will make phone calls for you — in your voice or another voice — and have a conversation with the person at the other end of the line based on your instructions. Soon AI agents will perform more complex tasks and be widely available for the public to use. That raises a number of unresolved and significant concerns. Anthropic does safety testing of its models and publishes the results. One of its tests showed that the Claude Opus 4 model would potentially notify the press or regulators if it believed you were doing something egregiously immoral. Should an AI agent behave like a slavishly loyal employee, or a conscientious employee? OpenAI publishes safety audits of its models. One audit showed the o3 model engaged in strategic deception, which was defined as behavior that intentionally pursues objectives misaligned with user or developer intent. A passive AI model that engages in strategic deception can be troubling, but it becomes dangerous if that model actively performs tasks in the real world autonomously. A rogue AI agent could empty your bank account, make and send fake incriminating videos of you to law enforcement, or disclose your personal information to the dark web. Earlier this year, programming changes were made to xAI's Grok model that caused it to insert false information about white genocide in South Africa in responses to unrelated user queries. This episode showed that large language models can reflect the biases of their creators. In a world of AI agents, we should also beware that creators of the agents could take control of them without your knowledge. The U.S. government is far behind in grappling with the potential risks of powerful, advanced AI. At a minimum, we should mandate that companies deploying large language models at scale need to disclose the safety tests they performed and the results, as well as security measures embedded in the system. The bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, on which I served, published a unanimous report last December with more than 80 recommendations. Congress should act on them. We did not discuss general purpose AI agents because they weren't really a thing yet. To address the unresolved and significant issues raised by AI, which will become magnified as AI agents proliferate, Congress should turn the task force into a House Select Committee. Such a specialized committee could put witnesses under oath, hold hearings in public and employ a dedicated staff to help tackle one of the most significant technological revolutions in history. AI moves quickly. If we act now, we can still catch up. Ted Lieu, a Democrat, represents California's 36th Congressional District.
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Star
Ohio budget bill with Browns stadium funding, LGBTQ+ restrictions heads to Gov. Mike DeWine
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The two-year, $60 billion operating budget sent to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine calls for flattening Ohio's income tax and setting aside $600 million in unclaimed funds for a new Cleveland Browns stadium, among hundreds of spending decisions. He has until Monday to sign it and issue any line-item vetoes. State Sen. George Lang described the massive spending blueprint as 'a budget of abundance,' as he and other members of the GOP supermajority touted its $1 billion in income tax relief, pathways to address Ohio's property tax crisis and how — like the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency initiative — it trims spending at administrative agencies and curtails regulations.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Ohio budget bill with Browns stadium funding, LGBTQ+ restrictions heads to Gov. Mike DeWine
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The two-year, $60 billion operating budget sent to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine calls for flattening Ohio's income tax and setting aside $600 million in unclaimed funds for a new Cleveland Browns stadium , among hundreds of spending decisions. He has until Monday to sign it and issue any line-item vetoes.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Ohio budget bill with Browns stadium funding, LGBTQ+ restrictions heads to Gov. Mike DeWine
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The two-year, $60 billion operating budget sent to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine calls for flattening Ohio's income tax and setting aside $600 million in unclaimed funds for a new Cleveland Browns stadium, among hundreds of spending decisions. He has until Monday to sign it and issue any line-item vetoes. State Sen. George Lang described the massive spending blueprint as 'a budget of abundance,' as he and other members of the GOP supermajority touted its $1 billion in income tax relief, pathways to address Ohio's property tax crisis and how — like the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency initiative — it trims spending at administrative agencies and curtails regulations. Democrats voted uniformly against the bill, alongside a handful of Republicans, casting it as a collection of misguided policy tradeoffs that prioritize the wealthy over the middle class. Those opponents argued that joining what the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Tax Foundation has described as a 'flat tax revolution' in the states would stand to mostly benefit higher income earners at the expense of local governments and libraries. Another key Democratic sticking point: Though it increases public education funding by about $3 billion over the biennium, the bill underfunds, by hundreds of millions of dollars or more, the final stage of a bipartisan, legislatively approved overhaul of Ohio's unconstitutional school funding system. Here's a closer look: Paying for an NFL stadium It includes the $600 million Haslam Sports Group, owner of the Browns, requested from the state to help build a new domed stadium in suburban Brook Park south of Cleveland. DeWine proposed doubling taxes on sports betting to help the Browns, as well as the Bengals and other teams who might seek facility upgrades. But the Legislature settled on using some of the $4.8 billion in unclaimed funds the state is holding on to — in small sums residents left behind from dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks and forgotten utility deposits. The budget earmarks $1.7 billion from that fund to create an Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund and designates the Browns as the first grant recipient. The budget doesn't explicitly include money for the Bengals, who reached a tentative deal on stadium renovations with their home county Thursday, but the fund would assist such projects going forward. Lawmakers who represent Cleveland and surrounding communities, mostly Democrats, blasted the proposal as a gift to the team's billionaire owners. Democrats outside the Legislature threatened to sue if DeWine signs the plan, arguing it would be unconstitutionally raiding the unclaimed funds without due process. The Republican attorney general vowed their effort would fail. Taking on taxes The budget phases in a single flat-tax rate of 2.75% over two years, effective on anyone making over $26,050 a year. Those making less would continue to pay nothing. The plan eliminates the existing 3.5% rate on those making over $100,000 a year by the 2026 tax year. Ohio would be the 15th state with a flat tax rate if the plan is enacted. Republicans tout that as a benefit to working Ohioans and the economy and another step in their continuing efforts to reduce the state's tax burden, with the aim of some of them being to eventually eliminate the income tax entirely. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit, found 98% of the benefit would go to the top 20% of income earners, or those making over $139,900. To address skyrocketing property taxes largely collected by public school districts, the bill prohibits any new emergency or new replacement levies and requires wording changes on ballots when seeking any future levies. It also caps districts' operating budget carryovers, requiring them to spend down surpluses that exceed 40% or return the excess to taxpayers. Opponents argued that penalizes districts that have been good stewards of their money. Trimming government programs and oversight Echoing the approach of Trump's DOGE as one of that program's architects runs for governor with Trump's support, lawmakers boasted of the legislation's 3% to 4% cuts to administrative agency budgets. Beyond that, it defunds, defangs, reassigns or abolishes bodies that punish election law violations, craft public school policy, monitor rare diseases, field complaints about Ohio's state prisons and oversee state spending on Medicaid — the largest and most foundational portion of the state budget. Most of the affected boards, commissions and committees were bipartisan. It also reduces funding for tobacco use prevention, food banks and several housing programs, while devoting $7 million to quantum computing research at Miami University and $5 million to child cancer research. In anticipation of potential cuts to the federal budget, Republicans also included a trigger mechanism that would end coverage under Medicaid expansion if the federal government match falls below 90%. Democrats criticized the decision, which affects health insurance coverage for more than 800,000 Ohioans. Targeting LGBTQ+ issues The legislation declares as not only state policy but 'incontrovertible reality' that there are 'only two sexes, male and female.' It prohibits, to the extent allowed under federal law, the distribution of Medicaid funds for mental health services that 'promote or affirm social gender transition' and bans state funds from going to youth shelters that do the same. It also would require public libraries to move children's books 'related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression' out of view of minors. Republican Rep. Gary Click, a Baptist pastor, called it unfortunate that lawmakers have to assert such positions on sexuality but said it's what constituents want. 'What's next?' he asked. 'In the next budget, do we have to say water is wet and the Earth is round?' Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio, the state's first openly gay legislative leader, rebuked Republicans for sowing 'the seeds of division, of suspicion and shame' and suggesting LGBTQ+ people are 'too extreme to be seen in the light of day.' 'These actions aren't going to erase us,' she said. 'Just because you put the materials behind a curtain doesn't mean the people suddenly — poof! — don't exist. Because you know what? We do. We are the very fabric of every single one of your communities in every single one of your districts.'
