Reed’s view It’s an accident that the economic unit of AI is known as a “token.” The 19th century mathematician and philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce used the term in linguistics, and computer scientists later adopted it to break language down into the smallest possible fragments. Because large language models also ...
Day: May 27, 2026
UC Berkeley bans AI use for law studentsUC Berkeley bans AI use for law students
Schools continue to muddle through their approach to AI. The most recent case comes out of UC Berkeley’s law school, which just banned students from using AI to complete assignments, brainstorm ideas, outline papers, and even correct grammar. “Future lawyers may need to use artificial intelligence (‘AI’) fluently,” the new ...
Robinhood allows users to use AI agents to trade stocksRobinhood allows users to use AI agents to trade stocks
In a first of its kind for retail investors, Robinhood has announced AI agents that can trade stock on a user’s behalf. What could go wrong? The tools allow anyone with a Robinhood account to compete more closely with institutional investors that have long deployed automated systems and have more ...
Why Democrats prefer their own messy primariesWhy Democrats prefer their own messy primaries
David’s view The major US political parties are best understood by looking at Texas and California, whose 2026 primaries tell a clear story: Republicans are run from the top, while Democrats aren’t run at all. Texas Republicans did what the president asked them to on Tuesday, nominating state Attorney Gen. ...
Aramco offloads 50% stake in Malaysia refinery projectAramco offloads 50% stake in Malaysia refinery project
Saudi Aramco is offloading its 50% stake in a large refinery and petrochemicals project in Malaysia, transferring ownership to the country’s national oil company Petronas. The financial details have not been disclosed, but are likely to be significant — when the PRefChem joint venture was announced in 2017, Aramco pledged ...
‘Lobotomized’: Character.AI Is Showing What AI Enshittification Looks Like‘Lobotomized’: Character.AI Is Showing What AI Enshittification Looks Like
Users of the chatbot app Character.ai have been melting down on Reddit and begging the company to stop messing with the app after a series of changes that users say has completely ruined the app. The feedback is so negative that I have never seen a community or user base ...
Podcast: How Deepfakes Destroyed a High SchoolPodcast: How Deepfakes Destroyed a High School
We start this week with Sam’s deeply reported story on how deepfakes rocked a high school, and how those kids were failed at each step. After the break, Joseph tells us about BusPatrol, a company that plans to turn school buses into roaming surveillance vehicles. In the subscribers-only section, Jason ...
Israel strikes Tyre after ordering evacuation of south Lebanon cityIsrael strikes Tyre after ordering evacuation of south Lebanon city
Israel’s military says it struck Hezbollah targets after telling residents it would “act forcefully” against the group. ...
The chaotic, unique, beautiful Lebanon I knew has been reduced to rubble. When will it end?The chaotic, unique, beautiful Lebanon I knew has been reduced to rubble. When will it end?
Suspected war crimes happen almost daily as Israel continues its bombardment, which Unicef estimates is killing nearly 14 children a day. We cannot write this off as just another war in a war-torn region There are various reasons why, at 43, I still don’t know how to drive a car. ...
What exactly are the Savannah Bananas becoming?What exactly are the Savannah Bananas becoming?
The Bananas started as baseball’s most eccentric attraction. Now they are building something that increasingly resembles a traveling entertainment universe of their own The Savannah Bananas brand has, arguably, become bigger than the Savannah Bananas themselves. What would seem to be a crucial component of the Bananas experience – the ...