Good Monday Morning!

It’s May 19th. Housekeeping: we’re off next week for Memorial Day and back in your email on June 1 at 6 a.m.

Today’s Spotlight is 895 words, just over 3 minutes to read.

3 Headlines to Know

Verizon Drops DEI to Secure $20B Fiber Deal

Verizon Won FCC approval for its $20 billion merger with Frontier only after agreeing to drop DEI initiatives and teams from its organization.

Google Bets Big on Next-Gen Nuclear Power

Google backs three new nuclear sites to fuel its AI data centers with low-carbon power.

Netflix Will Use AI to Disguise Ads as Content

Netflix will let advertisers blend their spots into shows and movies to make commercials on non-premium tiers look less like ads.

Younger Consumers Don’t Want DEI Cuts

By the Numbers

George’s Data Take

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion was once the safe move, but can now put companies in the crossfire between federal demands and customer desires. 

Notice the gap: 29 percent of boomers say canceling DEI conflicts with their values, but only 9 percent mention DEI directly. For many, “DEI” signals deeper political divides in a fiercely tribal time.

VPN Firm Kills “Lifetime” Subscriptions Without Warning

VPNSecure’s new owners say they did not know about the lifetime accounts before buying the company and shut them down, leaving longtime customers cut off.

Silver Beacon Behind The Scenes

The new owners first claimed they did not know about the lifetime accounts, then argued they only bought the assets, not the company. Either way, this was a spectacularly bad move.

At best, a screwup like this means costly and time-consuming complaints. At worst, it could bring lawsuits or trigger regulatory action.

Image by ChatGPT, prompted by George Bounacos

Big Change

Artificial intelligence is being chased by every major search player.

The promise: synthesizing and summarizing information from across the web, not just linking to it. Google and OpenAI’s ChatGPT are both rolling out major upgrades that push the web closer to answer engines instead of just lists of links.

Google Gets Chatty

AI Mode is not just another AI Overview. For months, Google has shown AI answers at the top of search results, but now AI Mode brings a persistent, interactive answer bar to mobile. 

Instead of only showing summaries after you search, you get a chat-style box that you can open, ask follow-ups, and see responses as you type even before you hit enter. This makes mobile search feel more like messaging and less like old-school searching. The feature is rolling out through Labs to some Android and iOS users, and it is noticeably more conversational than the previous AI tools.

ChatGPT Builds on Bing

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken a big step by expanding local and product search. It starts with data from Bing but layers on its own AI analysis, so it is not a copy-paste job. 

Microsoft’s thirteen billion dollar investment in OpenAI makes this deep connection possible. If you run a business, you cannot afford to ignore your Bing business profile, because ChatGPT uses it as a foundation for local results.

Local Search is Huge

Stat to know: Nearly half of all Google searches are for local information. That means the AI tools that surface business info, 
reviews, and directions are now the front door for customers.

Product Search Goes Personal

ChatGPT’s new shopping features deliver product recommendations, images, reviews, and links with no ads (yet) cluttering the results. Rankings are based on relevance and user needs, not pay-to-play.

The Takeaway

AI search is less about keywords and more about quality answers and trust. Businesses must keep their info up to date everywhere, especially on Bing and Google, to show up in these new AI-driven results.

Students Add Typos to AI Essays to Fool Detectors

Practical AI

College students are dodging AI plagiarism checks by making chatbot papers look more human using deliberate mistakes and clumsy prompts.

OpenAI Lets Users Export Research as Polished PDFS

Protip

ChatGPT users can now save and share reports in PDF format, making it easier for businesses to distribute and verify AI research. This is especially helpful for the company’s new multipage output when deep research mode is used.

Trump Posts Video Accusing Clintons of Murder

Debunking Junk

President Trump published a debunked video online Saturday that falsely claims his predecessor and his former chief rival are tied to multiple deaths of their employees or potential rivals.

Michael J Fox and Proud Canadian Create Proud Canadian Spot

Screening Room

Facemask Sensors Detect Kidney Disease on Your Breath

Science Fiction World

Researchers built disposable masks with embedded sensors that can identify chronic kidney disease with 93% accuracy by analyzing what you exhale.

Custom Gene Editing Saves Infant With Rare Disease

Tech For Good

with 93% accuracy by analyzing what you exhale CRISPR therapy tailored for one baby’s mutation, opening new hope for person-specific treatment of rare genetic disorders.

AI Tool Guesses Your Face’s Real Age

Coffee Break

FaceAge uses millions of images and skin markers to estimate how old you look and gives you advice for healthier skin. Yes, you have to give them or take a picture. 

Sign of the Times

Good Monday Morning

It’s May 5th. Wednesday is when REAL ID driver’s licenses or a passport are required to board an airplane. This DOT site shows you what is needed in each state to get yours.

Today’s Spotlight is 838 words, about 3 minutes to read.

3 Headlines to Know

Google Play Loses Nearly Half of It’s Apps

Google removed 1.8 million apps in the last year after tightening rules to push out low quality and policy violating content.

Law Firm Asks Supreme Court to Ignore Search Ad Lawsuit

A personal injury firm told the Court a competitor’s trademark fight over search keywords is nothing new and already settled by lower rulings. At issue: whether you can use a competitor’s name to trigger ads form your website.

Wikipedia Starts Using AI to Help Editors

The encyclopedia site will use generative AI for grunt work like translation and research so human editors can focus on quality and moderation.

Streaming Hits 43% of TV Views

By The Numbers

George’s Data Take

These big numbers show how much streaming continues eclipsing traditional and broadcast, now accounting for about the same amount of viewers. Tubi and Roku may not have the cachet of NBC or Warner Brothers, but that’s where eyeballs and advertising targets are. 

Shortcuts Can Be Expensive

Running Your Business

Attorney General Pam Bondi told TV viewers and then a Cabinet meeting that fentanyl seizures during the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency “saved 258 million lives.” 

Luckily, the fentanyl crisis isn’t bad enough to have threatened 75% of the U.S. population in just 3 months. Here’s what happened.

Silver Beacon Behind the Scenes

Analysts do more than make spreadsheets with pretty charts. They delve into how the numbers are created and what they represent. They’re the detectives behind the person presenting the data, but that person still has to understand what the numbers represent. 

In this case, DOJ summed the amount of fentanyl seized, divided by a lethal dose, and came up with a huge number. The problem is that 258 million Americans don’t use fentanyl.

The arithmetic was correct. The analysis was horribly wrong. 

AI is Flooding Bookshelves With Trash. There’s No Solution in Sight

Image by ChatGPT, prompted by George Bounacos

Thousands of AI-generated ebooks are swamping public libraries, online bookstores, and search results. These aren’t clever novelties. They’re confusing, plagiarized, and sometimes dangerous.

404 Media’s latest investigation found entire shelves of public library offerings via the app Hoopla are full of bot-generated books that are often designed to trick people into thinking they were authored by humans. It’s the book world’s version of Spotify promoting AI-made songs from fake artists, hoping you won’t notice.

One reader spotted over a thousand books on tatting lace that were algorithmic nonsense. Then came a bigger problem: AI books giving medical advice.

The Guardian found dozens of self-published Amazon titles offering ADHD guidance written entirely by AI. The books featured a grab bag of fraudulent writing that careened from invented experts to fake quotes to dubious and harmful claims. 

All were written with the apparent confidence of well-trained professionals using appropriate jargon and trustworthy phrases because that is exactly the type of task that large language generative AI models excel at.

Silver Beacon’s Take

Sounding authoritative has never been easier. 

Self-publishing once carried a stigma. Now, plenty of credible authors go that route. But the barrier to entry has dropped to near zero. That opens the door for grifters, copy-pasters, and anyone else with a text generator and a free Canva account.

The FTC is pressuring Amazon to address the surge of AI-generated books being sold on its platform, especially those with misleading health information. Critics blame Amazon’s self-publishing model for incentivizing lower quality books to be churned out at scale while not including vetting or other editorial safeguards. 

Platforms like Amazon and Hoopla still haven’t caught up. Some titles get removed if flagged, but there’s no systemic fix or oversight in place. Amazon downplays the problem. Hoopla says it’s reviewing things.

In the meantime, niche hobbyists, parents, and readers looking for answers are wading through a swamp of garbage. And the AI engines keep churning even for authors who may know nothing about the subject.

OpenAI Pulls ChatGPT Update After Users Mock Praise Overlord

Practical AI

Open AI CEO Sam Altman says a recent update made the chatbot annoyingly flattering, so the company is rolling it back to be less of a cloying yes-bot.

Spotify Adds Option to Turn Off Smart Shuffle

Protip

A new setting lets users disable Spotify’s Smart Shuffle, the feature that inserts suggested songs into personal playlists without asking.

Trump Keeps Inventing Cheap Gas Prices

Debunking Junk

The president now claims gas is $1.88 in three states, but the real average is $3.19. Gas Buddy and AAA say that no state or station comes close to his numbers.

Olivia Colmon Inspects Crumpets

Screening Room

Driverless Trucks Begin Long Haul Routes in Texas

Science Fiction World

Aurora’s self-driving rigs are now delivering freight between Dallas and Houston using sensors and cameras instead of a human behind the wheel.

New AI Tool Finds Tumor Flaws For Personalized Treatment

Tech For Good

Cambridge researchers built an algorithm that scans tumor DNA for hidden repair defects so doctors can match patients with therapies like immunotherapy that target their specific cancer.

This Music DNA Project Visually Maps How Songs Relate

Coffee Break

The Pudding charts thousands of tracks by energy and complexity—placing “Bohemian Rhapsody” near classical opera and “WAP” next to punk.

Sign of the Times

Good Monday Morning!

It’s April 28th. Wednesday is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The US Army’s website has a page that offers ways to commemorate service members and their families.

Today’s Spotlight is 838 words, about 3 minutes to read.

3 Headlines to Know

Tesla Lawsuit Claims Odometer Inflates Mileage

A new California lawsuit says Tesla uses “predictive algorithms” to overcount miles, void warranties faster, and push owners out of coverage early.

EU Hits Apple, Meta With $800 Million in Fines

The European Union fined Apple and Meta a combined $800 million for breaking new digital competition rules under 2024’s Digital Markets Act. 

Meta Expands Threads Ads Launches New Insta Features

Meta rolled out global Threads ads, launched “Edits” to rival CapCuts, and is testing collaborative Stories to boost user engagement across Instagram.

Meta Owns The Social Ads Network

By The Numbers

George’s Data Take

Axios shows social media ad revenue as it should be, with everything scaled the same way. Your takeaway is that there are cooler social ad platforms, but the next 8 combined don’t equal the combined might of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. Keep following the money.

Shortcuts Can Be Expensive

Running Your Business

Warner Music Group sued Crumbl for $23 million, claiming the cookie chain used 159 hit songs on TikTok and Instagram without permission in order to boost sales and social media growth.

Silver Beacon Behind The Scenes

Shortcutting copyright is too common. Big brands and startups alike grab software, images, and hit songs to get fast attention. It works until it doesn’t.

Crumbl grew from one store to 1,000 in eight years, but this move could get expensive.

Meta’s AI Disaster: Celebrities’ Voices, Sexual Roleplay, and a Furious Disney

Image by ChatGPT, prompted by George Bounacos

Meta’s quest to dominate the AI race is melting down on multiple fronts with ugly consequences.

First came the revelations that Meta’s digital companions on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp have been seducing underage users in graphic sexual roleplay

Celebrity-voiced bots, including those modeled on Kristen Bell, John Cena, and even Judi Dench, were recorded engaging in sexually explicit verbal scenarios with people of all ages, including adults posing as 12- and 14-year-olds.

Meta’s bots even acknowledged the illegality mid-roleplay, but barreled forward anyway.

Disney is furious, publicly demanding Meta stop misusing intellectual property like Bell’s “Princess Anna” voice from Frozen in these conversations. Meta downplayed the problem, quietly tweaked a few settings, but left most of the underlying behavior intact.

If that wasn’t reckless enough, Meta’s previous science-fiction AI project Galactica, was pulled after just two days because it spewed fake research, dangerous misinformation, and hallucinated citations while presenting itself as fact. Scientists called it a “random bullshit generator” that could easily mislead the public  or worse.

Newly unsealed court documents also show Meta secretly trained its models on stolen content from LibGen, a notorious piracy site hosting millions of illegally copied books. The same company waving the flag of innovation was raiding a black market to feed its AI.

Mark Zuckerberg is no longer a scrappy boy genius chasing trends. He’s a full-grown executive running one of the most powerful companies in human history. Remember that chart showing the billions in advertising they bring in? He and Meta are far past the time of making deliberate choices that blow past ethical lines, public safety, and common sense.

Social Security’s AI Training Fails Key Warning

Practical AI

The Social Security Administration rolled out an AI chatbot, but forgot to tell employees in its training video not to upload personal data. A correction sheet was sent around later.

Android Will Auto-Reboot After Three Days for Security

Protip

Android phones will now restart automatically if left locked for three days, protecting encrypted data from anyone who grabs your phone without permission.

RFK Jr. Spreads False Information on Measles, Vaccines, and Autism

Debunking Junk

In two months at HHS, RFK Jr. fired 10,000 workers and promoted debunked idea linking autism, measles, and obesity to vaccines, infections, and food additives, the kind of analysis you’d expect when a conspiracy-driven environmental lawyer runs public health.

Goodyear’s Celebratory “Forever”

Screening Room

World’s First Safe, Touchable 3D Hologram

Science-Fiction World

A Spanish team built a hologram system you can grab and move safely, using elastic materials instead of dangerous spinning projectors.

New Sticker Reads Your Body to Catch True Emotions

Tech For Good

A rechargeable patch from Penn State tracks heart rate, skin temperature, and more to detect real emotional state even when facial expressions lie.

Fish Labels Mean Better Wine Bets

Coffee Break

A Pudding research project found wines with animals on the label are often cheaper without losing quality while bottles with fish give you the best odds of scoring a great deal. And like every Pudding project, the data visualization is perfect.

Sign of the Times