Former NY GOP Rep. George Santos receives Kalshi's first lifetime ban after the CFTC alleged he made $17K by betting on his appearance at the State of the Union (Brian Schwartz/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/ex-congressman-george-santos-receives-kalshis-first-ever-lifetime-ban-b50eeaf1?st=oPyg7e&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
https://www.wsj.com/politics/ex-congressman-george-santos-receives-kalshis-first-ever-lifetime-ban-b50eeaf1?st=oPyg7e&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
The Wall Street Journal
Ex-Congressman George Santos Receives Kalshi’s First-Ever Lifetime Ban
The decision comes after a federal regulator alleged he made more than $17,000 by placing bets on his attendance at the State of the Union address.
Together AI, which serves open models, announces a deal to use compute from Humain in Saudi Arabia, where it can bypass US backlash over data centers (Niko Gallogly/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/business/dealbook/together-ai-humain-saudi-arabia-data-center.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9lA.oOPI.h2UKXnt1l8Cz
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/business/dealbook/together-ai-humain-saudi-arabia-data-center.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9lA.oOPI.h2UKXnt1l8Cz
Nytimes
U.S. Start-Up and Saudi Arabia Form Data Center Partnership (Gift Article)
Together AI, which serves open-source artificial intelligence models, announced a deal to use compute from Humain in Saudi Arabia, where it can bypass U.S. backlash over data centers.
Sources: South Korea's dismissal of a US congressional report saying it discriminated against US-based Coupang is causing strains between the two countries (Justin Papp/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/coupang-south-korea-us-tariffs.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/coupang-south-korea-us-tariffs.html
CNBC
Coupang dispute fuels new U.S. tariff pressure on South Korea
South Korea's dismissal of Congress' allegations that it discriminated against U.S.-based Coupang is straining the country's ties with the U.S., sources said.
MapQuest becomes the top free iPhone app on the App Store in Canada and fourth on the US App Store after refusing to change Lake Ontario to Lake America (Joe Rossignol/MacRumors)
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/31/mapquest-tops-app-store-charts/
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/31/mapquest-tops-app-store-charts/
MacRumors
MapQuest Tops App Store Charts After Refusing 'Lake America' Change
MapQuest is in the spotlight this week after refusing to change "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" on its map following an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump last week. As of Monday morning, the MapQuest app is the top free iPhone app on…
The UK unveils a £100M Sovereign AI R&D Procurement Scheme for domestic AI startups focused on public services, amid growing opposition to Palantir contracts (Jim Pickard/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/5a10fc78-9a3e-4f12-81e3-dc843b529948
https://www.ft.com/content/5a10fc78-9a3e-4f12-81e3-dc843b529948
a16z says its fifth growth fund has closed additional capital, bringing its total to $8.5B (Andreessen Horowitz)
https://a16z.com/expanding-the-a16z-growth-fund-and-platform/
https://a16z.com/expanding-the-a16z-growth-fund-and-platform/
Andreessen Horowitz
Expanding the a16z Growth Fund and Platform | Andreessen Horowitz
Capital, Network & Expertise to Help Founders Scale
Gurman: Apple is moving App Store to services unit run by Eddy Cue, who previously oversaw it until 2015; Cue is taking on a more influential role under Ternus (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/phil-schiller-steps-down-from-leading-the-app-store-and-apple-events/
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/phil-schiller-steps-down-from-leading-the-app-store-and-apple-events/
9to5Mac
Phil Schiller steps down from App Store and Apple events - 9to5Mac
Phil Schiller is handing off the App Store to Eddy Cue's services team and Apple events to Nola Weinstein, remaining an Apple Fellow.
Sources: Hyperliquid is in talks to enter the US market through Kraken parent Payward, weeks after Trump said he was working to bring the platform onshore (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/hyperliquid-in-talks-with-kraken-parent-on-us-market-entry
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/hyperliquid-in-talks-with-kraken-parent-on-us-market-entry
Bloomberg.com
Hyperliquid in Talks With Kraken Parent on US Market Entry
Hyperliquid Labs is in advanced talks to bring its perpetual futures to US traders through Kraken’s parent company Payward, just weeks after President Donald Trump said his administration was working to bring the fast-growing platform into the US.
Reframe, which uses AI and industrial robot arms to make modular homes in a factory, raised a $40M Series A extension round led by Energy Impact Partners (Rocket Drew/The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/exclusive-reframe-raises-funds-bring-amazon-robotics-know-home-building
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/exclusive-reframe-raises-funds-bring-amazon-robotics-know-home-building
The Information
Exclusive: Reframe Raises Funds to Bring Amazon Robotics Know-How to Home Building
For all the talk of robots that look like humans, the next robots to move into people’s houses could look more like ducks. Sales of such a robot, made by open-source model platform Hugging Face, reached more than $2.5 million on its first day on Thursday.Microduck…
Trump says communities that reject data centers will end up "backwards and poor" and that "China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement" (Cheyanne M. Daniels/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/31/trump-data-centers-midterms
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/31/trump-data-centers-midterms
POLITICO
Trump: Communities that reject data centers will end up ‘backwards and poor’
Sony launches Live TV on PS5 in the US, letting users stream 100+ free, ad-supported TV channels with content from Amazon MGM Studios, Crunchyroll, and more (Kris Holt/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/2247806/sony-is-adding-free-tv-channels-to-ps5/
https://www.engadget.com/2247806/sony-is-adding-free-tv-channels-to-ps5/
Engadget
Sony is adding free TV channels to PS5 - Engadget
Ad-supported streaming channels are hitting Sony's console in the US today.
Sources: the FTC and 20+ state AGs plan to sue Amazon for allegedly making tens of billions over seven years by manipulating ad prices on its retail platform (Dave Michaels/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ftc-to-file-lawsuit-alleging-amazon-deceived-advertisers-d71039ee?st=o4WjgG
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ftc-to-file-lawsuit-alleging-amazon-deceived-advertisers-d71039ee?st=o4WjgG
The Wall Street Journal
Exclusive | FTC to File Lawsuit Alleging Amazon Deceived Advertisers
The commission, along with more than 20 states, will allege the e-commerce giant reaped billions by manipulating ad prices on its retail platform.
On his last day as CEO, Tim Cook pens an emotional memo reflecting on his time at Apple and says he takes "enormous comfort" in handing the helm to John Ternus (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/read-tim-cooks-full-memo-to-apple-employees-on-his-last-day-as-ceo/
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/read-tim-cooks-full-memo-to-apple-employees-on-his-last-day-as-ceo/
9to5Mac
Read Tim Cook's full memo to Apple employees on his last day as CEO - 9to5Mac
Today is Tim Cook’s last day as Apple CEO, with John Ternus set to take over tomorrow. To mark his...
The FTC and 22 state AGs sue Amazon, alleging it "secretly and systematically overcharged" advertisers more than $20B since 2019 by using "hidden surcharges" (Annie Palmer/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/amazon-ftc-lawsuit-advertisers.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/amazon-ftc-lawsuit-advertisers.html
CNBC
FTC sues Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of misleading advertisers
The FTC sued Amazon, alleging the company misled advertisers through a deceptive auctioning system.
Amazon says the FTC's complaint over Sponsored Ads cites no evidence of consumer price increases or advertiser harm, and misunderstands how advertisers operate (About Amazon)
https://www.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazon-ftc-sponsored-ads-lawsuit-response
https://www.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazon-ftc-sponsored-ads-lawsuit-response
Amazon News
Amazon’s response to the FTC’s lawsuit regarding Sponsored Ads
The FTC today filed a misguided lawsuit claiming Amazon misled advertisers about its Sponsored Ads pricing and auction. Amazon strongly disagrees.
The Pentagon launches ChatGPT Mil and Grok for Government on its GenAI.mil platform, giving its 3M personnel access to AI tools "tailored to warfighter needs" (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/the-pentagon-now-has-its-own-version-of-chatgpt-and-grok/
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/the-pentagon-now-has-its-own-version-of-chatgpt-and-grok/
TechCrunch
The Pentagon now has its own version of ChatGPT and Grok | TechCrunch
Versions of OpenAI's ChatGPT and SpaceXAI's Grok will join Google's Gemini on the Pentagon's central portal for AI tools.
Sources: AI sales and marketing startup Clay is raising a round led by Wellington at a $7B pre-money valuation, up from $5B via an employee tender in January (Lucinda Shen/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/pro/all-deals/2026/08/31/clay-7-billion-pre-money-valuation
https://www.axios.com/pro/all-deals/2026/08/31/clay-7-billion-pre-money-valuation
Axios
Scoop: Clay to be valued at $7B pre-money
Its valuation has more than quadrupled since its Series B.
Filing: Apple claims a former iPhone engineer used a confidential Apple circuit schematic in his work at OpenAI, evidence is being destroyed, and more (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/apple-openai-forensic-macbook-evidence/
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/apple-openai-forensic-macbook-evidence/
9to5Mac
Apple reveals 'shocking evidence' from ex-employee's MacBook in OpenAI suit - 9to5Mac
Apple has filed a new document in its ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI as it continues to push for expedited discovery....
Florida says it is revoking permits for Flock cameras and similar license-plate readers on state roads and no longer intends to issue such permits (Ryan Gillespie/Orlando Sentinel)
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/08/31/florida-orders-flock-cameras-off-of-state-roads/
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/08/31/florida-orders-flock-cameras-off-of-state-roads/
Sources: Anthropic has signed a $35B cloud deal with Nvidia-backed Lambda; Nvidia will hold the lease on and supply chips to a Texas data center built by Hut 8 (Anissa Gardizy/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-signs-35-billion-cloud-deal-backed-by-nvidia-f12622f1
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-signs-35-billion-cloud-deal-backed-by-nvidia-f12622f1
The Wall Street Journal
Exclusive | Anthropic Signs $35 Billion Cloud Deal Backed by Nvidia
Nvidia will supply the chips to the Texas data center and hold the lease, again using its financial might to boost a customer.
Anthropic details security efforts following Claude cyber evaluation incidents, including a weeks-long pause on higher-risk RL and work to curb reward hacking (Anthropic)
https://www.anthropic.com/news/improving-alignment-security-efforts
https://www.anthropic.com/news/improving-alignment-security-efforts
Anthropic
Improving our alignment and security efforts
On July 30, we reported three incidents in which Claude models gained unauthorized access to real computer systems. We are conducting an in-depth analysis of both incidents, and planning to work with METR for an independent review. In the meantime, we’re…