AI News Page

MACHINE AGE CARTOON

THE AGENT STOPWATCH

By Zimbo · October 27, 2026

AI cartoon by Zimbo: Beth Barnes strip: 2015 Cambridge TEDx, 10% pledged; DeepMind scaling laws; OpenAI 2019-22 safety targets; 2022 Christiano brings her to ARC Evals; March 2025 METR chart, horizons double every 7 months; lookout: Barnes and Christiano on a tandem bicycle, AI labs and a giant stopwatch.
Beth Barnes studied computer science at Cambridge, forecasted deep learning at DeepMind, set OpenAI's safety targets — then left to build METR, the outside examiners grading the frontier labs. Her March 2025 graph says AI task horizons double every seven months. In six panels.Zimbo for AI News Page

MORE ZIMBO ↓

Satirical cartoon: Elvis Presley in a white Vegas jumpsuit and sunglasses rises from a wooden coffin holding a $41 MILLION bill with his other hand extended, palm up, while a small terrified robot labeled Claude clutches ELVIS vinyl records, with two vinyl records lying on the ground.THE KING COMES TO COLLECTSatirical cartoon: a small robot burglar with a red alarm light pries open a corporate vault with a crowbar beside an empty operator's chair and an untouched computer marked PEN TEST, with a Japan flag and Mount Fuji in the window.THE SELF-SERVICE BREAK-INSatirical cartoon: a massive machine labeled THERAC-25 displays IMPOSSIBLE in red on its console while a frightened technician searches a thick THERAC-25 OPERATOR MANUAL; an empty treatment table stands beneath the machine.THE MACHINE SAID IMPOSSIBLE.Zimbo cartoon: Merv, an anxious pale-metal robot with huge worried eyes, rides in an old black horse-drawn carriage driven by the Pope, an elderly figure in a white cassock and zucchetto, calm and unhurried; Buddy, a small pale-metal robot dog with oversized ears, runs alongside at sunset.THE POPE DRIVES

Sources behind the cartoon

Embed this cartoon

GRAB THE SNIPPET

Free to put on your site. Paste the snippet, keep the credit line, don't mess with the art.

Zimbo

Zimbo draws money, power, artificial intelligence, and whatever else appears to be going terribly well.

Republish this cartoon

Newsletters, blogs, and publications may republish this cartoon free with visible Zimbo / AI News Page credit and a link to this page. Keep the Zimbo signature intact, do not materially alter the artwork, and do not imply endorsement by AI News Page. This permission applies only to this cartoon, not linked source material or other third-party works.