CIA to offer tips on ‘creative problem solving’ at SXSW festival
By David Klepper
This April 13, 2016, photo, shows the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Two Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee say the CIA has a secret, undisclosed data repository that includes information collected about Americans. While neither the agency nor lawmakers would disclose specifics about the data, Sens. Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich allege the CIA has long hidden details about the program from the public and Congress. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA is headed to the South By Southwest festival to share tips on finding innovative solutions to complex challenges.
America's preeminent spy agency will deliver a presentation Sunday on creative problem solving at the annual SXSW music festival and tech conference held in Austin, Texas, the CIA announced Monday.
The typically tight-lipped agency said a CIA historian and one of the agency's public affairs officers will deliver the talk, entitled “Mission Possible: The Spies' Guide to Creative Problem Solving."
Sunday’s presentation from the CIA comes during the first weekend of the event, which brings together thousands of artists, technology experts, business leaders and entrepreneurs.
The agency said its tips on creative problem solving are designed to be helpful to anyone, even if their particular challenges don't include running covert surveillance, organizing clandestine meetups or sniffing out double agents.
“Come learn how creative problem-solving has helped resolve complex challenges we’ve faced in protecting national security, and how you can apply creative thinking to your own seemingly impossible missions,” the agency wrote in a social media post promoting the talk.
This month's presentation comes at a tumultuous time for America's intelligence community. The agency recently offered buyout offers to employees as part of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to shrink and reshape the federal government.
Amid a backdrop of ongoing tariff uncertainty, more and more gamers are facing price hikes. Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up $80 from the $299.99 price tag that debuted in 2020. And its more powerful Xbox Series X will be $599.99 going forward, a $100 jump from its previous $499.99 listing. The tech giant didn’t mention tariffs specifically, but cited wider “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” Beyond the U.S., Microsoft also laid out Xbox price adjustments for Europe, the U.K. and Australia. The company said all other countries would also receive updates locally.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
Shares of Deliveroo, the food delivery service based in London, are hitting three-year highs on Monday after it received a $3.6 billion proposed takeover offer from DoorDash.
X, the social media platform owned by Trump adviser Elon Musk, is challenging the constitutionality of a Minnesota ban on using deepfakes to influence elections and harm candidates.
The State Bar of California has disclosed that some multiple-choice questions in a problem-plagued bar exam were developed with the aid of artificial intelligence.
