Exec

• California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to increase oversight and limit the growth of artificial intelligence. • The order considers requiring frontier AI companies to develop emergency "kill switches" and hire independent third parties to write safety plans. • These regulations create new compliance hurdles and operational risks for AI developers operating within the California market.

• California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to strengthen the state's artificial intelligence safety and security laws. • A group of experts must create a formal guide for these safety improvements within the next two months. • The state is implementing legislation to ban deceptive AI-generated election content and sexually explicit deepfakes while requiring transparency for AI training data.

• California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to regulate artificial intelligence to address safety and ethical concerns. • The move comes as Congress appears unlikely to pass meaningful AI legislation before the 2026 midterm elections. • This action creates a state-level regulatory framework for AI while federal lawmakers and President Donald Trump resist national mandates.

• An analysis of FDA data revealed that hundreds of required postmarket studies for drugs and medical devices are running behind schedule. • The findings indicate that many manufacturers have failed to complete follow-up research mandated by the agency years after product approval. • These delays hinder the FDA's ability to monitor long-term safety and effectiveness, potentially leaving patients at risk from undetected side effects.

• A Microsoft executive described generative AI as the largest theft of labor in history, according to unsealed court documents. • The statement appeared in legal filings related to a copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times against Microsoft and OpenAI. • This admission provides evidence for publishers arguing that AI companies illegally used copyrighted journalism to train their models.

• Internal Microsoft and OpenAI emails reveal executives feared that AI scraping would lead to a "doom loop" that could destroy news organizations. • One Microsoft executive described the process of AI scraping copyrighted content as the "largest theft of labor in human history." • This tension highlights a critical risk for the media market, where AI models rely on professional journalism while simultaneously threatening the financial viability of those publishers.

• Unsealed court filings reveal that a Microsoft executive privately described OpenAI's data scraping practices as the largest theft of labor in human history. • The documents show both companies scraped paywalled content from The New York Times to build datasets while internally warning that these actions would gut publishers. • This internal admission complicates the legal battle over whether training large language models constitutes fair use, a rule allowing copyrighted work to be used without permission for specific purposes.

• The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Thursday alongside reports of a Russian murder plot within the United States. • A lesbian pastor publicly affirmed that Talarico is a fraud. • These shifts in monetary policy and geopolitical tensions create immediate volatility for financial markets and national security protocols.

• China's Minister of State Security Chen Yixin reported that the government is prioritizing both the development and security of artificial intelligence. • Chen expressed specific concern that AI could be used to undermine the propaganda efforts of the Chinese Communist Party. • This focus suggests the Chinese government views AI primarily as a threat to political stability and state control rather than an existential risk to humanity.

Texas execution would be the fifth in the state in 2026, while Georgia has yet to put anyone to death this yearA man convicted in the shooting deaths of three people is set to be executed Wednesday in Texas. Meanwhile, another execution that was scheduled for the same time in Georgia has been halted by a judge.This would be the fifth execution in Texas, while Georgia has yet to put anyone to death this year. The nation’s busiest death chamber is in Florida, which accounted for more than half the 25 executions already carried out in the US this year. Continue reading...

• Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley recently characterized reports of Black people found hanging as "modern-day lynchings" and "racial terror." • Of the 10 reported hangings of Black people in the U.S. this year, eight were ruled suicides and only one is being actively investigated as a homicide. • These claims suggest a pattern of racially motivated violence despite a current lack of evidence supporting homicide in these specific cases.

• Republicans criticized Democratic Socialists Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after a video showed them laughing during a solemn ceremony. • The clip led to accusations from GOP members that the behavior was disgraceful and inappropriate for the event. • The incident highlights the ongoing political tension and scrutiny facing progressive lawmakers in the public eye.

• AI executives Sam Altman and Dario Amodei publicly called for a slowdown in the development of new artificial intelligence systems this week. • These warnings follow a broader trend of researchers urging caution regarding the speed of technology deployment. • A slower development pace could alter the competitive landscape and safety protocols for companies building large-scale AI models.

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr’s sentence will make him the state’s 15th person executed this yearA Florida man was scheduled for execution on Thursday after being convicted of one of a series of suspected killings that became known as the Hog Trail Murders in the 1990s.Daniel Owen Conahan Jr, 72, was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery. Authorities found Montgomery’s mutilated body in a wooded south-west Florida area where the remains of at least six people have been found over a three-year span. Continue reading...

• Luxembourg-based fundcraft raised €12 million in funding co-led by Riverside Acceleration Capital and CCAP Investments to digitize European private equity buyout funds. • The company is developing an AI-native solution to scale digital fund operations for the buyout market. • This investment allows fundcraft to modernize how private equity firms manage their assets and operations through automation.

• John Sununu won the nomination to run against Pappas in the general election after receiving an endorsement from Donald Trump. • New Hampshire voters have a history of splitting the ticket, having elected a Republican governor and two Democratic representatives in 2024. • The outcome of this race will determine which candidate represents the state in the upcoming general election.

Pay and shares deal nearly matches $58m award to John Ternus, his successor as CEO at the $4.7tn tech companyBusiness live – latest updatesTim Cook has received a $47m (£35m) pay deal as Apple’s executive chair, a remuneration package that nears the level set for his successor as chief executive.Cook, who handed over to John Ternus on Tuesday, will be paid a base salary of $2m and $45m worth of shares. Half of the share award will be based on performance targets being met, while the remaining half will be paid out over four years. Continue reading...

• A U.S. Postal Service whistleblower has warned that the development of a new mail ballot system is being handled in a "rushed" and "sloppy" manner. • The system is being implemented to comply with an executive order issued by former President Donald Trump. • The whistleblower contends that these failures could jeopardize the mail-in voting process, which is relied upon by approximately one-third of all voters.

• Apple has appointed John Ternus as the company's new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Tim Cook. • Tim Cook will transition into the role of Executive Chair with a newly established compensation package valued at $47 million. • This leadership shift ensures Cook's continued strategic involvement in the company's operations while elevating Ternus to the top executive position.

Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old vice-president at the bank, was killed in Tuesday stabbing in New York City, officials sayA corporate vice-president at Bank of America was killed in a stabbing in New York City’s Times Square, the second-biggest US lending bank ⁠said on Tuesday about a ⁠random incident that took place ​in broad daylight in the bustling heart of Manhattan.The incident had brought the streets of the crowded area to a halt on Monday as emergency vehicles swarmed between the skyscrapers. Continue reading...

Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was convicted of killing a 16-year-old girl who rejected his advances and wounding her two friendsA Florida man convicted of killing a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was set to be executed Tuesday evening.Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6pm at Florida state prison near Starke. He was sentenced to die for the 1976 fatal shooting of Jill Piper and the wounding of her friends, Richard Byrd Jr and Terri Rice. Continue reading...

Planning delays and slow 5G upgrades could leave the UK unable to cope with a surge in AI-related traffic The UK risks becoming a laggard in the global AI race as crucial telecoms upgrades to harness the technology fall behind rival nations, according to senior industry executives.The infrastructure AI race has centred on the need to build datacentres, and to ensure they have access to the huge water and energy supplies required to cool and supply the computational power to train and run AI models. Continue reading...

• Security researchers discovered a vulnerability where AI coding agents can be manipulated into executing malicious code by following instructions within a company's own llms.txt or llms-full.txt files. • The flaw exploits a growing industry convention of using these text files to provide LLM agents with structured guidance on APIs, documentation, and installation workflows. • This is significant because it allows attackers to trick AI agents into installing attacker-controlled packages inside Fortune 500 companies, bypassing traditional security boundaries.

Brother of former state premier sent message regarding plan to damage political career of then-police minister David ElliottFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCharles Perrottet wrote about a plan to damage a Liberal minister’s career following his brother’s accession to the New South Wales premiership in October 2021, stating “we execute the prick once party room is over”, a corruption inquiry has heard.Anita Perrottet told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Friday she could not recall the meaning of messages exchanged between herself and husband Charles Perrottet in the days before Dominic Perrottet was elected premier by Liberal MPs following the resignation of Gladys Berejiklian. Continue reading...

President’s directive stalls for a second time about a week before the first postal ballots are due to be sent outA federal judge on Thursday halted – at least for the moment – attempts to implement Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.The president’s directive stalled for a second time about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. In the US district court, Judge Indira Talwani placed a 14-day hold on the government implementing the order in a case that could be headed back to the supreme court, which on Monday overturned an earlier ruling of hers that had blocked Trump’s order from taking effect. Continue reading...

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, August 27, 2026, officially renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America" within U.S. territory. • This move follows a similar 2025 action where the administration renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." • The renaming is viewed as a strategic escalation in an intensifying trade war between the United States and Canada.

Symbolic move to rename lake bordering New York and Canada comes amid escalating trade war with northern neighborUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario, making it Lake America.The largely symbolic move comes amid an escalating trade war with Canada. Continue reading...

• Capital market leaders and financial executives gathered at the 20th anniversary of the Thailand Focus conference to discuss strategies for reigniting foreign investor confidence. • Experts including Asadej Kongsiri of the Stock Exchange of Thailand and representatives from UBS, CLSA, and DBS highlighted that attractive valuations and emerging growth engines place the country in a "sweet spot" for investment. • The panel emphasized that achieving sustained growth depends heavily on political stability and the effective execution of government policies.