Jonas Gahr Støre, the mild-mannered prime minister of Norway and the scion of a wealthy industrial family, was returning home from a ski outing one Sunday last month when he decided to dash off a text message to Donald Trump. Composing it from the car, he proposed that the leaders talk to find an off-ramp from the looming crisis over Greenland, the semiautonomous Danish territory that the American president has been publicly threatening to seize.

Marco Rubio offered a more supportive message to Europe at the Munich Security Conference yesterday than J. D. Vance did a year ago. Wolfgang Ischinger, the chair of the conference, thanked him for the message of reassurance, adding, “I’m not sure you heard the sigh of relief in this hall.” This despite the fact that Rubio, like Vance, clearly misunderstands Europe and is in denial about the threats facing the United States and the transatlantic alliance.

Alexander Hassenstein / Getty
Vanessa Voigt of Team Germany lines up alongside competitors in the women’s biathlon 10-kilometer pursuit, shooting at targets on Day 9 of the 2026 Winter Olympic games at Anterselva Biathlon Arena, on February 15, 2026.

For the first time, speech has been decoupled from consequence. We now live alongside AI systems that converse knowledgeably and persuasively—deploying claims about the world, explanations, advice, encouragement, apologies, and promises—while bearing no vulnerability for what they say. Millions of people already rely on chatbots powered by large language models, and have integrated these synthetic interlocutors into their personal and professional lives.