Who wants to see the new and nearly four-hour documentary about Elon Musk? Not Musk. The former trillionaire is threatening a defamation lawsuit over explosive claims in director Alex Gibney’s “Musk.” Social media companies are hesitant to allow promotion on their platforms, and Hollywood is whispering that Musk’s power might keep the public from viewing the film.

What did the commentators say?
“So much for free speech,” said The Hollywood Reporter. YouTube, TikTok, and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook all initially declined to run the trailer for “Musk,” though YouTube and Meta later backtracked. (Musk-owned X is not accepting ads for the movie.) A hesitance to provide publicity is a problem because “traction on social media is key” to the success of most modern documentaries.

The social media freeze-out comes amid “concerns” that “political considerations are influencing the rollout” of the film, said The New York Times. “Musk” is set for an Oct. 9 release in the U.S., but Universal has “yet to announce any release dates” overseas. The studio counters that it “simply needs more time” to schedule foreign markets.

Audiences at this month’s Venice Film Festival “loved” the documentary depicting Musk as a “plutocrat with questionable judgment and unchecked power,” said Lorraine Ali at the Los Angeles Times. There was a time when Musk would have been featured as a forward-thinking entrepreneur. Now, audiences want to see depictions of the “dark side of wealth, fame and alleged genius.”

What next?
“Musk” is scheduled to stream on HBO Max after its theatrical run. But Gibney (pictured above) is nervous the streamer “may not be inclined to back” the film following the merger of Paramount with HBO parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, said The Atlantic.

Paramount is reportedly seeking funding from Musk to help complete the merger. The tech mogul, meanwhile, is making his feelings clear about the film and its future. “Musk” is a “hit piece that misses,” he said on X. It’s guilty of the “fatal sin of being boring for four hours.”

Given the significant concerns over the safety of artificial intelligence, the chipmaking behemoth Nvidia has unveiled a new security apparatus that it hopes will stop AI bots from running amok. But many are still worried about the implications.

‘Isolation, monitoring and behavior detection’
Known as the Open Agent Safety Platform, the new safety tool is part of an effort to ensure that all AI agents “operate in a zero-trust environment out of the box,” said Nvidia in a press release. AI agents require “isolation, monitoring and behavior detection” to minimize “drift,” or what Nvidia describes as an AI bot performing “actions that depart from the intended task or operating constraints.” The company says Open Agent can “control what AI agents can access in real time and shut them down when they break the rules,” said Bloomberg.

The new software lets users “formally verify an agent has enough authority to do its job and no more” and can “quarantine a suspicious agent in milliseconds,” said Nvidia Vice President of Enterprise AI Justin Boitano to The Associated Press. The new platform could have prevented a “recent incident involving a swarm of OpenAI agents that autonomously hacked” into AI company Hugging Face, a “high-profile breach that inflamed the safety concerns” about AI. OpenAI has paused development on its models since that incident.

‘Get the company under control’
Issues with AI safety, specifically AI going rogue, have led to a “rare display of unity from the likes of Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Elon Musk,” the respective CEOs of brands OpenAI, Anthropic and Grok, in “calling for a slowdown in development before AI advances beyond human control,” said The Wall Street Journal. These AI executives have “repeatedly called for international regulations to constrain the systems, and some researchers have warned that AI may even present a threat to human life,” said CNN.

But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has downplayed these concerns. If companies like OpenAI “believe their company is out of control, he said to CNN, then “get the company under control.”

Ballet students practice at the National Ballet School in Havana, Cuba. “For months, two-thirds of Cuba has had no electricity at night,” said The Associated Press, and many in the capital have also dealt with food and water shortages. Still, “every morning, about 178 young students gather” for classes teaching the country’s storied tradition.
Ramon Espinosa / AP Photo

An increasing number of us are choosing to travel in the “shoulder season” months of May or September, either side of peak holiday season and its crowds and soaring temperatures.

Most of Europe’s “classic beach destinations” are more affordable in September when the kids go back to school, said The Times. But “beware the weather.” While places like Faro in Portugal’s Algarve are still warm come autumn, the Atlantic Ocean can be “bracing.” If it’s sun you are after, the further south you go, the better.

Canary Islands
For “reliable” fall temperatures of around 79 F, consider a trip to the Canary Islands. H10 Costa Adeje Palace in southwest Tenerife is right next to La Enramada beach, where it’s easy to set out on “nice walks that spiral around the coast,” said The Times.

Greece
If you love history, a trip to Greece is a good pick. There’s “more room to breathe” than in summer, with shorter queues for the top archaeological sites. You can “relish the hike up to the Parthenon without melting in the heat,” said Condé Nast Traveler. A road trip that “traces the coast of the rugged and mountainous Peloponnese peninsula” is a great way to explore, even though it might be too chilly to take a dip.

Puglia, Italy
The coastal towns of Puglia (pictured above) are another excellent option, said The Independent. Outdoor enthusiasts won’t go wrong with a five-day, self-guided walk with Ramble Worldwide. Soak up the views from shoreside “beauties” as you weave your way from Otranto to Lecce, “stopping for refreshing swims” while your luggage is taken ahead to your accommodation.