Welcome to episode 383 (”Pacing the AI Frontier”) of the EdTech Situation Room from September 16, 2026, where technology news met educational analysis. This week, Dr. Jason Neiffer (aicentrist.com) and Dr. Wesley Fryer (wesfryer.com) dug into a record-breaking month of Microsoft security patches and what it revealed about an accelerating AI-driven cyber arms race. They discussed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s essay “We Must Pace the Frontier” and his CBS Sunday Morning interview, where he described AI capability growth as “getting vertical” and called for stronger third-party oversight of frontier AI labs. The hosts also covered how schools are recalibrating AI and screen-time policy, from New York City’s YouTube restrictions to Tennessee’s plans for its Meta settlement windfall, examined how Ontario professors are redesigning assessment to preserve authentic student thinking in the age of AI, and looked at the media and information literacy challenges shaping the new school year. They closed with their weekly Geeks of the Week picks, spanning Meta’s new agentic Muse AI, an open-source home music server, and AI-powered video storytelling tools for the classroom.

Our show was live-streamed and archived on YouTube Live via StreamYard.com and auto-archived to YouTube. We are now publishing from Substack too! Subscribe to us with your favorite podcast listening app, or directly on or https://www.youtube.com/@edtechSR. Follow our EdTechSR page on Facebook for updates, and join LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can. All show notes are available at edtechSR.com/links.

🔗 Links We Discussed

* Microsoft Plugs Nearly 1,000 Security Holes (Krebs on Security, 8 Sept 2026)

* Security Now 1096 - Are we the Krell? (TwIT, 15 Sept 2026)

* Why this month’s Microsoft patch release is a doozy (ArsTechnica, 5 Sept 2026)

* “We Must Pace the Frontier” (Dario Amodei, Set 2026)

* [VIDEO] Extended interview: Dario Amodei (CBS Sunday Morning, 13 Sept 2026, 24 min)

* The AI education paradox: Preparing students for an AI workforce (District Administration; 15 September 2026)

* Inside the creative ways Ontario professors are grading now: ‘This is the class where AI goes to die’ (Toronto Star, 12 Sept 2026)

* Kids Are Back in Classrooms. Health Misinformation Could Shape the School Year. (The 74; 13 September 2026)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_74

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_(TV_series)

* Tennessee kids could see major Meta settlement windfall. How will it be spent? (Chalkbeat; 11 September 2026)

* NYC back to school: New AI and screen time limits give parents relief (Chalkbeat; 10 September 2026)

* NYC schools restrict student YouTube access as tech backlash grows (Chalkbeat; 15 September 2026)

* Jason’s Geeks of the Week:: Muse.AI from Meta; music-assistant.io

* Wes’ Geeks of the Week:: “Digital Storytelling with Google Vids” (Media Literacy with Wes, 16 Sept 2026) and “AI and Authorship” (Media Education Lab, 14 Sep 2026)

🧭 Links We Did NOT Discuss

* Functions of State K-12 Leadership: What Three Years of Evolving AI Guidance Tells Us (FullScale; 15 September 2026)

* OpenAI, Anthropic, Google have been in talks on AI safety for weeks (TechCrunch; 15 September 2026)

* The AI data center boom is colliding with cities scarred by big industry (TechCrunch; 15 September 2026)

* AI agents now have a place to snitch (TechCrunch; 15 September 2026)

* Beyond the Hype: Why Your School’s AI Strategy Needs System Altitude (Educating AI; 12 September 2026)

* What Children’s Creative Writing Taught Us About Responsible AI Use (Digital Promise; 10 September 2026)

* 5 things to know about teens’ views on AI today (Google; 16 September 2026)

* Can AI Help Colleges Reach Struggling Students Earlier? (Inside Higher Ed; 11 September 2026)

* Parents Are Bringing AI to the IEP Meeting. How Should Teachers Respond? (EdSurge; 11 September 2026)

* Amid Shortage of Counselors, Students Need Stronger Networks, Not More Chatbots (The 74; 14 September 2026)

* ChatGPT-using lawyer punished for citing fake testimony from made-up witnesses (ArsTechnica, 11 Sept 2026)

* Say Hello to Canvas Lite (Instructure, 11 Sept 2026)

* Schools of Distraction (Education Next; 14 September 2026)

* Cellphone ban enforcement may be waning over school year (K-12 Dive; 15 September 2026

Episode 383 is also available on YouTube in two formats: Portrait mode optimized for mobile phones (unedited from our live version, 10 minutes longer) and a Descript-edited, Landscape mode optimized for laptop / desktop computers! (filler words removed)

Get full access to EdTech Situation Room Podcast at edtechsr.substack.com/subscribe