Daily Skimm

Quote of the Day

"A distressing scent to come across"

— One writer’s take on the scented ink used in a vampire romantasy novel. Primal, indeed.

What's Happening

Education

In This District, Students Make the AI Rules

What's going on: No one’s quite nailed how schools should handle AI — not teachers, not lawmakers, not even the companies building it. So one Silicon Valley district (because where else) decided to let students help write the rules. A group of high school “tech interns” ran workshops, led discussions, and tackled big questions about cheating, fairness, and student surveillance. They even built a chatbot to draft sample policies and pitched it to district leaders. The teens say their recent middle school experience with AI makes them the perfect people to help shape guidelines younger students might actually follow.

What it means: AI hasn’t just entered the classroom, it’s thrown out the syllabus. So far, at least 26 states have issued guidance on AI use, but it’s still up to local districts to decide what that looks like in practice. For some schools, the tech means planning AI literacy days and rewriting lesson plans with bots in mind. For others, it means banning the tech entirely or ditching homework in favor of in-class assessments (because let’s be real, everyone knows the bots are helping at home). Still, not every student is on board with their school’s lesson plans: A group of teens in Kansas is suing over an AI surveillance tool they say violates their rights.

Related: What Happened to MAHA’s Healthy School Lunch Plan? (The New Yorker)

International

France Can't Get It Together

What's going on: France’s embattled Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, lasted less than a month on the job — and less than 24 hours after naming his cabinet. Yesterday, he resigned, making him the third PM to quit in under a year. C’est le chaos. His exit came just before he was due to present a budget meant to woo conservatives and placate moderate Socialists — no small feat during a debt crisis and with President Emmanuel Macron clinging to a pro-business agenda. That’s one way to dodge a deadline — wonder if US Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) wishes he could borrow that move.

What it means: Lecornu now holds the dubious honor of running the shortest government in modern French history, another marker of political turmoil in a staunchly divided country. The National Assembly, the lower chamber in French parliament, is split three ways: a left-wing bloc, Macron’s centrist coalition, and the far-right National Rally. With Macron’s next election a year and a half away, his critics are already circling. National Rally leader Marine Le Pen called on him to resign or call new snap elections — even though the last round barely moved the needle. Déjà vu, non?

Media

CBS Has a New Editor-in-Chief, But There's a Bigger Story

What's going on: No LinkedIn job update will get as many reactions as Bari Weiss’s this week. CBS named the 41-year-old Free Press founder as its next editor-in-chief after parent company Paramount Skydance bought her media startup for $150 million. Before launching The Free Press, Weiss was a well-known opinion writer for The New York Times, from which she very publicly resigned, citing an “illiberal environment” and “bullying by colleagues.” Now, CBS — a traditional news network known for giving us Walter Cronkite, Katie Couric, and Connie Chung — will be led by a self-described “radical centrist” and “gay woman who is moderately pro-choice.” Weiss is known for railing against “wokeness” in newsrooms, but her new title is just one piece of a larger puzzle.

What it means: Weiss’s appointment comes as Oracle founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, along with his son David, has built a media empire that has already surpassed the Murdochs in many ways. When President Donald Trump unveiled his plan for TikTok last month, Oracle got a slice of the deal. Add in The Free Press acquisition — bringing 1.5 million readers — and the Ellisons now control major online media real estate. David became Paramount’s CEO in August after merging his production company, Skydance, with the studio, and analysts say he’s already steering CBS’s news coverage to the right. (Weiss will report directly to him.) The Ellisons’ media ambitions could reshape journalism, culture, and the way Americans consume news. As one expert put it: “These are very smart people, and none of this is accidental.”