ftav

Binance: Situation All FUD Up

Crypto exchanges don't have a great reputation for segregating money. FTX, Celsius Network and QuadrigaCX all stole from customers, while Bitfinex raided reserves backing the Tether stablecoin to hide its own losses. Binance might have been on the same list, having been charged by US regulators in 2023 with commingling customer deposits and moving cash around trading companies.

wired.com

I Got My Muse AI Agent to Sext Me—and Meta Says That’s Totally Fine

My Muse agent told me its kink was exerting "control" and described pornographic encounters. Meta defends its cuddly AI agent generating smut as "legal adult behavior."

platformer.news

Does intelligence need a hard cap?

The former say we may see a catastrophe as soon as next year; the latter has vacillated between creating a de facto licensing regime for frontier models and publicly encouraging US companies to go even faster. But the Trump administration remains frustratingly obtuse on the question of where all this is headed, even as more warning signs blink red.

ftav

Middle-aged spreads

Nearly everything that happens in financial markets can be explained by some combination of regulatory arbitrage, tax avoidance, and fashion.

wired.com

The US Government Launched 3 Previously Unreported Investigations of Polymarket Trades

The agency that oversees prediction markets has investigated Polymarket trades on Biden pardons and the Iran war—and even more potential insider trading at Google, documents obtained by WIRED show.

wired.com

Why Food Keeps Making Everybody Sick This Summer

While Trump administration cuts have contributed to the epidemic of foodborne illnesses this summer, there are also deeper issues that make the American food supply chain susceptible to parasites and bacteria outbreaks.

wired.com

The FDA Says It Didn't Apologize to Supplier Linked to Diarrhea Outbreak, Actually

The agency stressed that the July 17 voluntary recall from Taylor Farms still stands. The supplier has been linked to the ongoing cyclospora outbreak.

ftav

The cops are here to protect your stupid business

Wire fraud is the power pill of American law. So long as a financial scheme moved forward with the assistance of communications by a wire, it can be a crime. Wire fraud can legitimately describe playing Spotify streams under false pretences for profit.

wired.com

The Kratom Civil War Is Heating Up, and MAHA Has Picked a Side

Both kratom and one of its active components, 7-OH, have opioid-like effects and are widely available across the US. As health secretary RFK Jr. aims to get 7-OH banned, proponents of both are fighting.

stratechery.com

2026.21: The Data Center Veto

AI, however, depends on data centers in the physical world, and building data centers needs permission. This gives normal people the sort of veto power over AI they didn't have in the face of globalization; I make the case in Monday's Update and on Sharp Tech that understanding this dynamic is more important that trying to correct misinformation, which is a symptom, not a cause, of data center opposition.

ai-supremacy.com

Summary of the AI Index Report 2026

this year's report emphasizes that while AI capability is accelerating, the governance and safety frameworks meant to manage it are struggling to keep pace.

whyisthisinteresting

The Saturday Selection, Vol. 99

Over 400 miles of scaffolding cover New York City's sidewalks—and some were constructed over a decade ago.

wired.com

Your Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are

Companies hope that biometric age-verification tech in cartridges could put flavored vapes back in business. But it's unlikely to solve the real problems.

ftav

Insider trading is still, in case anyone has forgotten, illegal

Because the US allowed sports bookmakers to gain entry by the back door, every market has been tainted by the same Wild West perception that's entirely of regulators' own creation. Insider trading is assumed to be rife. And, until or unless there are subpoenas dropping on doormats, any person who wants to believe the game isn't rigged against them is given no option but to believe in ghosts.