What could possibly go wrong? Nationwide FAA Ground Stop edition

A sign of things to come?

What could possibly go wrong? Nationwide FAA Ground Stop edition

TL;DR

  • United flights were canceled at EWR, potentially affecting flights nationwide.
  • A major Microsoft outage also occurred during the same period.
  • The author previously warned about the risks of integrating generative AI into LLMs.
  • Concerns are raised about whether these incidents are due to cyberattacks or LLM failures.
  • The article attributes the issues to Silicon Valley's "arrogance" and Washington's "ineffectiveness."

Breaking news from EWR, where I have basically spent most of the last 36 hours (forgive me if I am, as the kids might say, hella grouchy):

@unitedflights have just been canceled at EWR. (and perhaps across the nation)","username":"GaryMarcus","name":"Gary Marcus","profile_image_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/2048405471900606464/kPeRHI2z_normal.jpg","date":"2026-11-13T23:59:28.000Z","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"reply_count":0,"retweet_count":0,"like_count":4,"impression_count":492,"expanded_url":null,"video_url":null,"video_preview_media_key":null,"belowTheFold":false}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM">

Now for the backstory. We’ll start with this from three days ago.

And now let’s go further back. Flashback to 2022:

Me, September of this year, tapping the sign:

Tonight, as you probably already heard:

Coincidence?

Back in 2022, when I warned about sticking generative AI in LLMs, someone replied, intelligently enough, that nobody would ever be stupid enough to do the very thing I was warning about:

@GaryMarcusI developed aviation and avionics softwares. We are using heavy Formal Methods. These DL things are not allowed near those softwares under any circumstances. Hopefully noone in FAA and EASA are “innovative”’enough to let that happens.","username":"Adhiguna_AIaaS","name":"adhiguna mahendra","profile_image_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1458338659879436291/c9lhZpsI_normal.jpg","date":"2022-05-07T03:57:50.000Z","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"reply_count":1,"retweet_count":0,"like_count":4,"impression_count":0,"expanded_url":null,"video_url":null,"video_preview_media_key":null,"belowTheFold":true}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM">

Those were the days, when sanity was still somewhere to be found.

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Oh, and yeah, we also had the huge Microsoft outage this week. I am sure AI has nothing to do with that one, either.

In fairness, we don’t know if this is the malicious kind of cyberattack I warned about in Politico January 2025, or the kinds LLM failures I warned about in May 2022.

But, honestly, at this point none of it should come as a surprise.

We are reaping what the arrogance of Silicon Valley — and the ineffectiveness of Washington — has sown.

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P.S. Media friends, if you want a fun live feed from the airport, give me a ring.