, by Sarah Anderson. This “very funny debut novel” imagines the life of the world’s first in-house surrogate at a Big Tech firm. “In prose that is sharp and entertaining,” The Atlantic wrote, “Anderson refreshingly takes on several familiar themes” such as gender, class, exploitation, and the oddities of the ...
Month: October 2026
Tech firms monitor city council meetings to track data center sentimentTech firms monitor city council meetings to track data center sentiment
Data-center companies are ponying up to find out which communities will resist them the least. Startup Hamlet has parsed tens of thousands of city council meetings by scraping local governments’ video recordings, tagging comments as friendly or hostile to a potential project. CEO Sunil Rajaraman told Semafor that a large ...
What the GOP activist who confronted El-Sayed really got wrongWhat the GOP activist who confronted El-Sayed really got wrong
David’s view If Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Senate race next month, the Saturday clip of him admonishing a GOP activist about freedom of religion will achieve legendary status in his party. “It’s you who need to understand the Constitution, not me,” El-Sayed told Thomas Teepell during an appearance in the ...
Microsoft’s Nadella is back in businessMicrosoft’s Nadella is back in business
The Satya Nadella I interviewed last week for Future Proofat Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., was a very different version of the CEO I saw there in 2023, who wanted to make Google “dance.” Back then, generative AI was the exciting (and scary) new thing, and without Microsoft’s investment in ...
Meta tops Big Tech lobbying as AI labs talk antitrustMeta tops Big Tech lobbying as AI labs talk antitrust
The Scoop Both OpenAI and Anthropic lobbied lawmakers on the ability of AI companies to share information with one another without running afoul of antitrust rules in the third quarter of this year, according to federal lobbying disclosures reviewed by Semafor. Anthropic’s lobbying form lists the Collaboration on Adversarial Threats ...
Heidi Levine recounts how Palestinian youths helped save her in settler attackHeidi Levine recounts how Palestinian youths helped save her in settler attack
US photojournalist describes ‘protective shield’, vows to return to work in West Bank and criticises Netanyahu comments on incident The Washington Post photojournalist who was attacked and seriously injured by Israeli settlers on the West Bank on Friday has described how she was saved with the help of local Palestinians. ...
Israel’s fault lines: inside the 23 October Guardian WeeklyIsrael’s fault lines: inside the 23 October Guardian Weekly
Far right gains predicted in key election. Plus: why the mystery over Havana syndrome refuses to die • Get the Guardian Weekly delivered to your home address Israel is holding national elections next week, giving its citizens their first chance to pass judgment on Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition since ...
Cops Warned to Look for ‘Suspicious Behavior’ From People Opposing Flock at City Council MeetingsCops Warned to Look for ‘Suspicious Behavior’ From People Opposing Flock at City Council Meetings
A federal intelligence center warned police that city council meetings about Flock “may be viewed by extremists as a desirable target,” and told them to be on the lookout for “emotional confrontations” between people who oppose surveillance and government officials, according to a copy of the warning obtained by 404 ...
Someone Opened a CashApp In Her Name. She Faces Years in PrisonSomeone Opened a CashApp In Her Name. She Faces Years in Prison
Amanda Smith answered the door one afternoon in April and came face to face with the local Sheriff’s department in upstate Pennsylvania. The officers said they had a warrant for her arrest for a crime she had allegedly committed more than a thousand miles away in Arkansas. “I was completely ...
Chestnuts Roasting on a Data CenterChestnuts Roasting on a Data Center
An endangered American chestnut grove faces a new threat: A massive data center. ...