For our August 2026 roundup, Steve and I chatted about:

- AI-generated fake publicists pitch journalists: https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/movchan-agency-used-ai-generated-fake-publicists-to-pitch-journalists/tldr

- State attorneys’ general demand evidence preservation and end to high-risk testing at OpenAI: https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/media/cms/08_5392C9E17791C.pdf

- Reporting about GPT-5.6 Sol leaving "notes to self": https://www.reuters.com/business/its-ai-agent-spent-days-hacking-company-sources-say-openai-did-not-notice-week-2026-07-24/

- METR pre-release testing of GPT-5.6 Sol gave warnings: https://metr.org/blog/2026-06-26-gpt-5-6-sol/

- Sam Altman's suggestion about using ChatGPT with children, and the backlash: https://x.com/sama/status/2083221585792762171

- NVIDIA on "Open Weights and American AI Leadership": https://images.nvidia.com/pdf/Open-Weights-and-American-AI-Leadership.pdf

- Sheriff's office edits photos of evidence with AI: https://katv.com/news/local/saline-co-sheriffs-office-said-ai-was-used-to-edit-evidence-photo-after-online-backlash-reporter-autumn-foltz-ualr-law-professor-robert-steinbuch-artificial-intelligence-money-drugs-arrest

For the July 2026 version of the Aware AI Brief, Cameron and I talked about:

- Whether defining catastrophic AI risk in measurable terms improves accountability
- Proposals for a FINRA-like standards body to test frontier AI models
- "Principles-based AI governance"

And more!

Resources:

- The Complete ISO 42001 Certification Roadmap For 2026 (FREE AI Governance Course) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_Gg0ie_M4o

- 5-day email course: https://www.managementsystem.ai/

- AI risk readiness kit (top 5 AI system vulnerabilities): https://kit.stackaware.com/

This month, Steve and I talked about:

- Tripadvisor's AI Telling Vacationers That Gruesome Horror Grottos Are Wonderful Holiday Retreats: https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-whitewashing-bad-reviews-holiday-resorts
- Illinois' new law SB 315: https://blog.stackaware.com/p/illinois-sb-315-iso-42001-internal-audit-ai-hyperscaler
- Using Claude to analyze the human genome (and the privacy risks): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/euanashley_well-today-seemed-like-as-good-a-moment-share-7479620832198074369-EFtY
- GPT-5.6 launch and the fallout from Anthropic's Mythos and Fable bans: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/08/openai-expanding-gpt-5point6-ai-model-release-ending-government-limits.html
- Humanoid robots in China: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ubtech-launches-uworld-u1-the-worlds-first-full-size-mass-produced-ultra-bionic-humanoid-robot-302815272.html

For the Aware AI Brief's June 2026 edition, Cameron and AI talked about:

• AI governance theater
• Levels of human-in-the-loop
• NSPM-11, EO 14409, and SB26-189

Steve and I talked about:

- AI "​Psychosis​": https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/tech-ceos-are-apparently-suffering-from-ai-psychosis/

- A new White House ​EO​ on AI security: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/promoting-advanced-artificial-intelligence-innovation-and-security/

- Meta's AI customer support chatbot ​failure​: https://futurism.com/future-society/meta-ai-support-bot-hackers-access-instagram-accounts

- Colorado passing ​SB26-189​, covering "Automated Decision-Making Technology": https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/116489/download

- How a Company allegedly ​spent​ $500 million on Anthropic AI tokens in a single month: https://dailycaller.com/2026/05/29/company-accidentally-spent-half-billion-anthropic-claude-ai-pentagon/

Cameron and I tackled these topics as well as:

• The EU AI Act
• AI-powered phishing
• Scoping ISO 42001 engagements

Steve and I connected on: - AI backlash: https://www.the74million.org/article/gen-z-increasingly-skeptical-of-and-angry-about-artificial-intelligence/

Federal AI Safety discussions:

-- https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/07/white-house-ai-oversight-00910837

-- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/allinpod_david-sacks-fda-for-ai-is-fake-news-but-activity-7459311154281103360-atOK

-- https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5866292-white-house-ai-evaluation-process/

-- https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/right-way-regulate-artificial-intelligence-alondra-nelson

- Colorado gutting SB-205: https://www.troutmanprivacy.com/2026/05/colorado-legislature-passes-bill-to-repeal-and-replace-colorado-ai-act/

- AI Chiefs in the Boardroom: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/11/heres-how-artificial-intelligence-is-changing-boardrooms.html

Cameron and I talked about:

- How large does a company have to be to recommend ISO 42001?
- How do you avoid constant turnover of your AI inventory (you don't)?
- What minimum documentation is needed per AI use case? (or before bringing on an AI system or vendor?)
- What’s a realistic training and awareness program about AI for non-technical staff?
- Are the following over- / under- / properly-hyped?
-- Running AI locally
-- AI Governance Tools/Platforms
-- Model eval benchmarks (SWE‑bench, red‑team scores, "safety" leaderboards)
-- “Innovation‑first,” light‑touch approach to AI Governance
-- Claude Mythos

I talked with David Forman, CEO of Mastermind. The company is the only pure-play ISO certification body in the U.S. and was the first worldwide to issue an ISO 42001 certificate. We discussed:

- Misconceptions (and reality) about the standard

- How to scope the AIMS (and audit)

- Traveling the world as a founder

- Surveillance pricing (side quest)

I spoke with Danny Manimbo, Managing Principal at Schellman, who leads the firm’s AI governance and ISO assurance services. Danny and I talked about:

• What firms miss when preparing for ISO 42001 audits.
• How they continually improve and what metrics they track.
• The role that ultra-marathon running played in Danny’s personal and professional life.