The Verification Tax
On the day Pope Leo XIV called for AI to be "disarmed," three separate stories showed where the harm actually lives: fabricated citations in medical journals up 12x, self-represented litigants swamping courts with AI-drafted filings, and an AI "bug-pocalypse" driving a hiring surge. The technology sold to reduce human labor is generating a new category of it — checking the machine.
Pope Leo XIV presents Magnifica humanitas, his encyclical on AI, calling for AI regulation, protection for children against hypersexualized AI images, and more
The document marks a powerful foray by the leader of the Roman Catholic church into the debate about the misuse or overuse of artificial intelligence.
The US FTC settles with Cox, MindSift, and 1010 Digital Works for $930K over claims they falsely said they could use phone mics to spy on users for ad targeting
More specifically, it was fined for allegedly lying by claiming that it could. … An exceptionally weird controversy has come …
Iranian state media: President Masoud Pezeshkian issues an order to reopen international internet access, after a blackout lasting 87 days, per Netblocks
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued an order to reopen international internet access, Iranian state media reported on Monday …
Massachusetts formally recognizes the App Drivers Union, which says it represents ~70,000 workers and is the first state-certified rideshare union in the US
Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts have officially unionized, a first-in-the-nation move that now sets up what could be the final stage in a years-long organizing effort.
Tether plans to launch GELT, an “official” stablecoin representing the Georgian lari, with the support of Georgia's government in an unusual partnership
Tether, the world's biggest stablecoin issuer, plans to launch a crypto token representing the Georgian lari with the support …
A surge in AI-generated “pro se” cases, or lawsuits filed by self-represented litigants, is democratizing the US legal system but consuming more court resources
For years, courts have welcomed cases brought by self-represented litigants. Now those plaintiffs have A.I. …
Micron hit a $1T market value for the first time on Tuesday as shares jumped 19%, driven by demand for its memory chips in the AI race
Micron topped a $1 trillion market value for the first time on Tuesday as shares popped 19%, driven by insatiable artificial intelligence demand for its memory chips.
X says it is cracking down on large accounts that have been gaming its revenue-sharing program by “programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts”
X is introducing new strategies to rein in its copycat economy. — Elon Musk's social media platform is now cracking …
A Samsung union representing its consumer electronics division says it asked a South Korean court to block a pay deal vote that mainly benefits chip workers
A Samsung Electronics' (005930.KS) union representing the conglomerate's consumer electronics workers said on Tuesday it has asked …
The Dutch government blocks the acquisition of authentication IT supplier Solvinity by US-based Kyndryl, citing “a possible risk to the public interest”
BRUSSELS — The Dutch government is blocking a United States-based company's attempts to acquire a key online identification IT supplier.
Google Fitbit Air review: slim, comfortable, and stylish, robust tracking, seven-day battery life, and cheaper than Whoop, but can only be worn on the wrist
🏆 Rating: 4/5 — ✅ Pros — 📐 Slim design that fades into the background — ⌚️ Comfortable and stylish band options
Spotify launches a library of over 650 narrated long-form magazine articles in English for Premium users; free users can buy articles “individually for $1.99”
More than 650 long-form articles are available starting today as part of Spotify's audiobook library.
Nvidia officially retires its GeForce Control Panel app after 20 years, following the porting of all of its major features to the Nvidia app
Nvidia has now ported across all of the major Control Panel features to its Nvidia app. … Nvidia announced more than two years ago that it was working …
Handelsblatt: the EU plans to fine Google a high triple-digit million euro amount as part of a 2025 probe over concerns it favors its own services in Search
The European Union is planning to fine Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google a high triple-digit million euro amount as part of an antitrust investigation …
Star Citizen, a video game in development since 2012, reaches $1B in lifetime funding; the game remains in alpha and does not have a confirmed release date
Visually impaired Waymo users in California say riding in a Waymo gives them a feeling of independence and spares them from discrimination from human drivers
Ruben Brunt hopped off a ferry, tapped his white cane against the sidewalk and held his phone to his ear to listen for directions.LinkedIn:Sonia A. Rao.Forums:r/technologyandr/waymoLinkedIn:Sonia A. R...
Spain says it is blocking Polymarket and Kalshi as a precautionary measure while it probes possible gambling law violations over the next three to four months
The government said companies seeking to provide clients with gambling services need a license
Kelp DAO says its restaked Ether token has been restored after a five-week recovery effort following a $293M exploit by North Korea's Lazarus Group on April 18
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance …
Sources: Chinese government agencies begin imposing overseas travel restrictions on individuals involved in advanced AI work, including at Alibaba and DeepSeek
China is restricting overseas travel for top AI professionals in private firms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and DeepSeek …
Xiaomi reports Q1 revenue down 11% YoY to ~$14.6B, its first quarterly decline in three years, and net income down 57% to $695M amid a global memory price jump
Xiaomi Corp.'s quarterly profit tanked more than anticipated after sharp increases in memory prices exacted a heavy toll on the Chinese firm's smartphone business.
US law enforcement documents: the DHS, FBI, and other agencies introduce a novel domestic threat category termed “anti-tech violent extremism” amid the AI boom
As Americans stew over the looming risk of job-stealing AI and data centers in their back yards …
As AI tools like Mythos create a “bug-pocalypse”, Glassdoor says Q1 cybersecurity job postings rose 11% YoY, and executive search firms are turning away clients
Austin Cowan had expected a quiet year. — The headhunter, who helps Fortune 100 companies find …
Pony AI reports Q1 revenue up 145% YoY to ~$34.3M, above $21.7M est., and increases its 2026 robotaxi fleet target by 500 to 3,500 vehicles on fast growth
Pony AI Inc. raised its robotaxi fleet target for this year by 500 vehicles to 3,500 after reporting stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenue.
American Airlines picks SpaceX's Starlink for in-flight Wi-Fi on more than 500 planes; SpaceX already has contracts with United Airlines, Southwest, and others
American Airlines plans to outfit more than 500 of its narrow-body aircraft with Starlink, handing another win to Elon Musk's SpaceX unit …
Sources: ByteDance is offering low-priced stock options linked to growth in its Seed AI division to staff of the unit, a first, to fend off poaching from rivals
ByteDance is offering special stock to employees of its AI lab to fend off poaching from rivals as China's tech talent war heats up.
Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström defends the company's expansion into AI-generated music, arguing that “controlled” products are superior to unregulated AI “slop”
Streaming app strikes deal with Universal allowing subscribers to create ‘controlled’ covers and remixes
Atlanta-based e-commerce logistics company Stord raised a $250M Series F led by Strike at a $3B valuation, up from $1.5B after a $200M Series E in May 2025
E-commerce logistics company Stord has raised a $250 million round at a $3 billion valuation, it announced Tuesday.
A look at the UK's AI Safety Institute, whose researchers probe AI models for safety gaps, as its work becomes a blueprint for other governments' AI policies
The government's A.I. Security Institute, staffed by alumni from OpenAI and Google, is becoming a model for countries grappling with A.I.'s emerging risks.
A section of Pope Leo's encyclical describing AI's unpredictability suggests influence from Anthropic, whose co-founder Christopher Olah attended the unveiling
In “Magnifica humanitas,” he fires a broadside against AI companies, warning of the technology's dangers in the same way Pope Francis did about climate change.
In his ~43,000-word encyclical, the Pope urged governments to slow down AI development and decried “new forms of slavery” in AI and tech supply chains
> He writes that Just War theory is now “outdated”, that the “litmus test” for social justice is the treatment of migrants & apologizes for the church's slowness in condemning slavery.@catholicsat:Som...
Q&A with Sundar Pichai about reshaping the information ecosystem with Search changes, putting AI agents in everything, when AI will replace him as CEO, and more
How AI startups like Altur are using chatbots to help automate debt collection; YC incubated six debt collection and settlement startups in the past six years
There's a mad dash to automate the world's most hated calls. Have an unpaid bill? You'll hear from an AI debt collector sometime soon.
SEC filing: Quantinuum is seeking to raise $1.05B in its US IPO, marketing ~21M shares for $45 to $50 each, giving it a $12.7B valuation at the top of the range
Quantinuum Inc., a quantum computing company backed by Honeywell International Inc., is seeking to raise $1.05 billion …
How Iranian threat actor Nimbus Manticore used techniques like AI-assisted malware development and SEO poisoning to target companies during the US-Iran war
Human Archive, which trains robots using first-person video from 1,000+ camera-equipped caps worn by Indian home services workers, raised $8.2M from YC and more
In the last few years, India's online food delivery market has grown significantly, with both Zomato and Swiggy going public …
Sources: SpaceX successfully lobbied the Pentagon to pay more for use of Starlink on LUCAS kamikaze drones amid increasing tensions over Starlink's pricing
As U.S. kamikaze drones guided by Elon Musk's Starlink network began to make visible gains in the war against Iran, senior SpaceX officials reached …
Dropbox founder Drew Houston is stepping down as CEO after 19 years to become executive chairman, replaced by Ashraf Alkarmi, who is SVP and GM of Dropbox Core
Drew Houston founded Dropbox nearly two decades ago out at age 24, eventually becoming a household name in Silicon Valley …
Sources: Qualcomm reached a deal with ByteDance to supply millions of ASICs for AI data centers to support AI agents in the Doubao chatbot; QCOM jumps 4.48%
Qualcomm Inc. reached a deal with TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. to supply chips for artificial intelligence data centers …
SoftBank's shares jumped 4.6% to a record high on May 25, spurred by hopes of big returns from the company's stakes in OpenAI and SB Energy if they go public
London-based Perceptic, which says its end-to-end AI platform for drug development is being used by top pharmaceuticals, raised a $12M seed led by Accel
Study: the rate of fabricated references in biomedical papers has grown 12x+ since 2023; in early 2026, one in 277 papers had at least one non-existent citation
OpenRouter raised $113M led by CapitalG, a source says at a $1.3B valuation, and now processes 25T tokens across 400+ models weekly, up from 5T six months ago
An investment arm of Alphabet is backing OpenRouter, which helps companies choose among hundreds of models for different software tasks.
SpaceX filing: X's ad revenue was $1.8B in 2025, $1.7B in 2024, and $2.3B in 2023, below Twitter's $4B in 2021; X and Grok now have 6.3M active paid subscribers
SpaceX's IPO filing reveals ad revenue for X is still below what it was when Musk acquired Twitter, but it is growing again.
More than 5,500 GitHub repositories were infected with malware in a supply chain attack, dubbed Megalodon, on May 18 that relies on automated commits
US cybersecurity company Zscaler reports Q3 revenue up 25% YoY to $850.5M, above $835.4M est., and forecasts Q4 revenue below est.; ZS drops 18%+ after hours
China executes a man called Xu Yao for killing Yoozoo Games founder Lin Qi in 2020; Lin reportedly sidelined Xu, who helped land the 3 Body Problem Netflix deal
Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court — Chinese authorities have executed a man for murdering his associate, billionaire gaming tycoon Lin Qi.Forums:r/newsForums:r/news:China executes man for m...
Sources: Wix is expected to cut ~1,000 jobs in the coming months, or ~20% of its workforce, after weak Q1 earnings and a ~50% collapse of its stock in 2026
Charter confirms a data breach after ShinyHunters claimed to steal 40M customer records from Charter's Salesforce instance and threatened to leak the data
OpenAI hires ServiceNow CMO Colin Fleming as CMO for its business segment; he succeeds Kate Rouch, who stepped down earlier this year to focus on her health
OpenAI has hired ServiceNow chief marketing officer Colin Fleming as CMO for its business unit, a move that signals the AI company …
Filing: Monzo reports its “refer a friend” payouts grew 40% YoY to £29.5M for the 12 months ending March 2026, as part of a broader £143M marketing spend
Sources: Bond Capital is leading a new investment for AI startup Suno, which would value it at ~$5B, up from $2.45B last fall; Suno is expected to raise $250M+
Sources: Meta, Google, and Amazon executives met Vatican officials on April 29, as part of a quiet lobbying push ahead of Pope Leo XIV's first AI encyclical
That might be one of the strong phrases I've heard anyone use about the AI companies. Pope Leo has called for *robust regulation* of AI and limits on its use for warfare, as he warned of the dangers ...