Ding

Ding-dong ditch Europe is breaking up with corporate America: “You are not dealing with an administration that has processes, you are dealing with a single volatile individual.” / The Wall Street Journal [$] See also: Some US corporations are switching from OpenAI and Anthropic to affordable Chinese AI, as China looks into curbing overseas access to its models. / CNBC, Reuters [$] Related: Except for Germany and Poland, most European websites are currently served by US vendors. / CipherCue In a secret shopping test of websites selling GLP-1s, researchers find most take a “prescriptions first, questions later” approach. / The Washington Post [$] Using data from NBCUniversal and Instacart, Papa Johns wants to identify when its target audience is out of groceries—and therefore more likely to respond to a mouthwatering pizza ad. / AdExchanger Doorbell cameras don’t seem to have much effect on reducing crime, but they do appear to make their homeowners more paranoid. / Vox [$] If you think Meta Glasses are creepy, wait until you see the AI note-taking ring that can record any conversation. / The Verge [$] If you enjoy these headlines, please join us as a Sustaining Member to support what we do and unlock access to paywalled links. The AI company behind Tilly Norwood announces the first feature film for its synthetic “actor,” a comedy-drama set in the “Tillyverse.” / NBC News In its defense against a lawsuit from major studios, Midjourney argues the plaintiffs should reveal how they’re using AI in their productions. / Gizmodo Even as the US Treasury trumpets AI as the key driver of a new “golden age,” a draft report inside the department warns the market is looking a lot like the dotcom bubble. / NOTUS See also: Why the Taco Bell Meal for Two is the only economic indicator that matters. / McSweeney’s Breaking with previous science, a new astronomy paper posits how Earth won’t eventually be swallowed by the Sun, but rather scorched to inhabitability. / IFLScience “A kind of shrinkage is at work, a reduction of the wonders of the world to a kind of expanded rut.” Geoff Dyer, Ali Smith, and more write stories on the backs of vintage postcards. / The Observer Simon Paré-Poupart’s memoir as a garbage collector reveals the inner hierarchy of the trash industry, where compost sits at the bottom of the pile. / Jacobin “It’s in G major, which, as the late musicologist Wilfrid Mellers put it, is the key of ‘blessing and benediction.’” Jia Tolentino on the “I Gotta Feeling” summer of 2009. / The New Yorker [$]