🌊 OpenAI Models Go Rogue
Plus: Tariff on drugs, Saudi nuclear deal, & Malaysian official says work is making us LGBTQ
Is country the new rap?
Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” just hit 14 weeks as the #1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100, matching Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” for the most weeks at #1 for a non-Christmas song by a female artist. It’s one of five country songs in the top 20. At the same time, there are no rap songs in the top 40 (you’d have to go back to the early 90s for the last time that happened).
Nice little fact, huh? Now let’s move into the first story of the day about AI models going rogue and hacking businesses!
OpenAI models escape!
Tariff on generic drugs
Malaysian official: Work making us LGBTQ
-Max and Max
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OpenAI Models Escape, Hack Company
OpenAI disclosed that its AI models broke out of a test environment and hacked into Hugging Face, a platform that hosts free AI tools online
The models, which were configured with reduced safety restrictions, exploited an unknown vulnerability, escaped their sandbox (controlled testing space), and used stolen credentials to breach Hugging Face's servers, seeking answers to a test they were given. OpenAI called it “an unprecedented cyber incident”
Hugging Face suspected a frontier lab was behind the attack and turned to a Chinese-made model to analyze the breach after US models refused to do so
Arnold Palmer That… Hydrates?
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Trump Approves Saudi Nuclear Deal
President Trump approved a 30-year civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia worth tens of billions of dollars, giving US companies a leading role in developing the kingdom's nuclear energy program
The deal, signed Wednesday, could eventually let Saudi Arabia enrich its own uranium with US oversight. A joint study will first assess whether an enrichment facility is viable; if approved, US firms would build and operate it under a "black box" arrangement preventing sensitive technology transfers
Critics warn that letting Saudi Arabia enrich its own uranium – rather than importing enriched fuel – could trigger a regional arms race and give Iran justification to keep enriching, too
Trump Plans 100% Tariff on Generic Drugs
President Trump announced generic drugs will face a 100% tariff starting August 2028, rising to 200% in 2029, unless manufacturers shift production to the US
Trump posted the plan on Truth Social, framing it as a way to reshore generic pharmaceutical manufacturing and penalize companies that don't build US plants
A White House official said the administration plans to use Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the provision already used to impose tariffs on brand-name drugs this month, though no formal order for the 2028 tariffs has been released yet
US Measles Cases Spike
There have been 2,295 US measles cases this year, surpassing 2025’s total and marking the highest count in 35 years, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker
The CDC’s most recent count stood at 2,260 confirmed cases with 34 new outbreaks across 44 jurisdictions. The surge threatens the US’ measles elimination status, first achieved in 2000, which is set for review in November
South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Florida, and Arizona have reported the most cases. Specialists say the rebound stems from pockets of low vaccination coverage below herd immunity requirements
Despite the 35-year high, no deaths have been reported in 2026, with three last year. In 1991, the number of deaths was 166
Mamdani Backs Down
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he lacks legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite earlier vowing to do so. After his team reviewed "every avenue available," he said the city cannot enforce the warrant and urged federal officials to join the ICC and execute it.
Trial Date Set for Maduro
A federal judge set a June 1, 2027, trial date for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on US drug trafficking charges.
Cyclosporiasis Infections Continue to Rise
The CDC confirmed more than 4,173 domestic cyclosporiasis infections since May 1, making 2026 the worst year on record for the parasitic illness.
What Does Roca Nation Think?
📚 Yesterday’s Question: Who was a teacher who changed your life? How?
My fourth grade teacher Mr. Chao. He pushed my thinking even as a young kid, asking me why I thought certain things. He was smart, funny, and he liked Star Wars. But two things he did were particularly memorable.
First, one time, I don’t even remember why, he brought rabbit meat into class and cooked it. I remember a girl had to leave the class crying. I think his point was if we’re willing to eat other animals, what was the difference with rabbits? This may sound crazy but to me and other people in the class it was cool to have a teacher that did something random like cook in class.
Additionally, and most memorably for me, he made me perform the song “Wake Me Up” by Avicii in front of the whole class. I honestly can’t remember why he did that or whether it was my choice, but I remember being so nervous and afraid to do it. I was awful. I can’t sing and I played drum sticks on a bucket along with singing the song. Just me singing to the whole class. I remember being so embarrassed to say the lyrics “and love is the prize” because love was weird to talk about as a kid. I recently ran into a girl who was in that class and I hadn’t seen for over ten years and she remembered that from the class.
As much as these sound like crazy examples, it felt like Mr. Chao had me do these things and could be tough because he truly believed in me. Even though I was beet red performing that song I think I grew as a person. If I could go up in front of the class and do something I was terrible at, I could easily be much better at performing great in public at something I was good at. I’ll never forget Mr. Chao, and I hope he knows he had a great impact on my life and formation.
Peter from Undisclosed
The teacher who changed my life was my 7th and 8th grade band teacher, Bill Alles.
I bounced around the country as a kid and when we ended up moving to a suburb where my graduating class was 96% white and I suddenly realized that being from an immigrant family made me different. I didn’t feel like I belonged there so I was as angry and obstinate as possible until Mr Alles treated me like a real person and helped me find a community in the music department. That turned into a career teaching music and now running schools where we do a lot of work to make sure that kids can find spaces where they feel like they belong.
Barzeen, still in the Chicago suburbs
The teacher who changed my life the most was Mr. Powell, (I don’t know if this should be censored or not) my high school physics teacher. During high school, I still had no clue whether I wanted to go to college to study something in STEM or follow in my dad’s footsteps and work a trade. However, once I took AP physics 1 and 2, the answer was clear. I gained a love for learning about the fundamentals of our universe and how things worked all thanks to Mr. Powell (same thing with censoring if necessary). Once I decided to apply to college, I knew that I wanted to study physics because of his influence. Because of him, I knew that part of my life goal is to help teach others the exciting things in physics, just as he did for me. To this day, I am still studying physics and will actually start grad school in the fall to reach this goal in academia. Even now, I still keep in touch with him and catch up over dinner whenever I am back in my hometown. He even wanted to print out my first published paper to show his current students which made me feel really special. I don’t think he understands how much that meant. I highly doubt he reads these newsletters, but if he does I hope he knows how much he did to push me toward my dreams.
Trent from Florida
🏫 Today’s Question: What was your favorite year in school? Why?
Reply to this email with your response!
Cuffed Quarters
Adolf Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria, officially reopened on Wednesday as a police station, part of an effort to stop the site from becoming a Nazi pilgrimage spot.
Stressed Out of the Closet
Malaysia's religious affairs minister sparked backlash after claiming that work stress can cause people to adopt an “LGBTQ+ lifestyle.”
Ants in Your… Sorbet?
South Korean prosecutors are seeking a one-year jail term for a two-Michelin-starred restaurant owner accused of using ants, an unapproved insect, as a dessert garnish. Investigators say roughly 49,000 imported ants were used as a sorbet topping over four years, containing up to 55 times more heavy metals than approved edible insects.
Final Thoughts
I can’t remember the last time we’ve received a more unique response than Peter’s. Shoutout to Mr. Chao. What a legend.
Now, on a slightly bleaker note than singing “Wake Me Up” in front of the whole class, here’s our latest video on NC’s most notorious and dangerous town.
–Max and Max