This week, I speak with former FDIC Chair Shelia Bair. We discuss the release of her latest book “How Not To Lose A Million Dollars” and the importance of financial literacy across age groups. Bair also discusses her concerns about crypto, gambling, and the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later.

A list of her current reading is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Monday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube (video), YouTube (audio), and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Vimal Kapur, CEO and Chairman of DJIA component Honeywell International. The firm is in the midst of dividing into three companies: Honeywell Automation, Honeywell Aerospace, and Solstice Advanced Materials. The firm has fully integrated AI as the intelligence layer in all of its automation processes and products.

 

 

 

Authored Books

 

Current Reading/Favorite Books

 

 

Books Barry Recommended

 

 

 

The post MiB: Shelia Bair, former FDIC Chair appeared first on The Big Picture.

Samsung, South Korean Union Resume Talks As Strike Threat Risks Disrupting Memory Chip Fabs

Heavy selling swept across Asian markets on Friday, with South Korea's benchmark KOSPI plunging 6% as traders aggressively reduced exposure to the country's semiconductor sector. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the decline. The catalyst for the sell-off was labor action risk headlines at Samsung, where the company's union threatened a strike that could disrupt production lines at the world's largest memory chip manufacturer.

By Saturday morning, there was a major sigh of relief: Samsung and its labor union would resume government-mediated pay talks on Monday, according to a Reuters report.

The union released a statement earlier explaining that Samsung had replaced its negotiation team, and both sides would meet later Saturday for separate meetings ahead of Monday.

Chairman Jay Y. Lee issued a public apology over the labor dispute, alongside Samsung's decision to replace its lead negotiator:

"I sincerely apologize to customers around the world for causing anxiety and concern due to issues within our company," Lee said, telling reporters that he also "deeply bows in apology to the public."

South Korean officials, including the labor minister, prime minister, and finance minister, have urged both the union and Samsung to resolve their labor issues, as a strike could threaten production lines for some of the world's most advanced memory chips, which are critical for AI data center buildouts. 

The collapse in talks on Friday sparked a sharp decline in the KOSPI, ending weeks of gains. It also comes as the world is suffering from a deepening memory supply crunch (read here). 

Shares of Samsung in South Korea closed down 6.66%.

However, Taiwan-based market intelligence and research firm TrendForce wrote on X:

Samsung's strike is set to formally begin on May 21. Because the company's semiconductor fabs are already highly automated, the impact on production is expected to be limited.

However, there will likely be noticeable disruptions to packaging and logistics, R&D and design, and customer relations. In terms of unionization, about half of all employees across the Samsung Group are union members, most of whom work in the semiconductor division. Internally, management has already extended an olive branch to the DRAM division, but has not yet reached an agreement with union members in the Foundry and LSI divisions.

Samsung’s strike is set to formally begin on May 21. Because the company’s semiconductor fabs are already highly automated, the impact on production is expected to be limited. However, there will likely be noticeable disruptions to packaging and logistics, R&D and design, as well… https://t.co/l2ibgeXEIL

— TrendForce (@trendforce) May 15, 2026

Given that memory is a critical component of data center buildouts, why would the union suddenly feel compelled to risk seizing up memory-chip production lines unless there was an ulterior motive?

In the U.S., unhinged socialist Bernie Sanders has pushed a data center bill moratorium, which is very suspicious because it would only allow China to catch up to the U.S.

Separately, it is worth noting that DEI has effectively been backronymed into "Data Centers, Electricity, and Infrastructure."

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/16/2026 - 09:55

The post Import Prices Soar: Trump Says Exporters Too Low IQ to Eat the Tariffs appeared first on CEPR.

UK Moves To Ban New North Sea Oil & Gas Licenses Permanently

Via City AM,

• The UK government will introduce legislation banning new North Sea oil and gas exploration licences as part of its Energy Independence Bill.

• Critics argue the policy will increase Britain’s reliance on imported fossil fuels while damaging Scotland’s oil and gas industry.

• Rising oil prices and disruptions tied to the Iran conflict have intensified political pressure on Labour to reconsider the ban.

The government will make it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, the King said at the state opening of Parliament, in a sign ministers are refusing to buckle in the face of a barrage of criticism that the policy is depriving the UK of billions of pounds in tax receipts without helping the environment.

As part of an Energy Independence Bill announced in the King’s Speech, the government will bake into law its pre-election pledge not to explore new oil and gas fields in a bid to “take control of our energy security”.

In its 2024 manifesto, the Labour Party made a ban on all new exploration and drilling licences in the North Sea a key pillar of its promise to turn Britain into a “clean energy superpower” by 2030.

But since entering government, the party has come under growing pressure to renege on the promise, with critics arguing it strangles one of Scotland’s most vibrant industries and fails to improve the UK’s environmental footprint.

Backlash against ‘deluded’ North Sea policy

Oil and gas still accounts for three-quarters of the UK’s energy mix. And the majority of those fossil fuels are now shipped in from abroad, meaning other economies benefit from the job creation and tax receipts that are derived from the lucrative drilling and refining processes.

Calls for the ministers to rethink the ban have grown louder since the outbreak of war in Iran led the price of crude oil to nearly double in a month.

Last week, Norway, which drills for oil in the same area of the North Sea as Britain, approved plans to reopen three gasfields that had been shut for decades to help sate the global demand for fossil fuels caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.

Two of Labour’s main political opponents – Reform UK and the Conservatives – have both vowed to overturn the ban, in a move they say would help increase the UK’s tax take and inoculate it from any acute supply shocks.

The ban, which the government claims will help Britain off the “roller-coaster of fossil fuel markets”, has also drawn criticism from the US’s ambassador to the UK, who has used multiple interviews to urge Britain to make more of its reserves.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho accused her opposite number Ed Miliband of being “utterly deluded” for seeking to put the ban into the statute book.

“He is not making us more independent. He is making us more reliant on foreign imports,” she said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/16/2026 - 09:20

Pentagon 'Blindsided' As Hegseth Pulls Plug On 4,000-Troop Deployment To Poland

President Trump's earlier previewed controversial troop cuts for the European continent may already be in progress, and could happen more rapidly than previously thought. 

The US Army has canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division to Poland, NBC reports this week. The deployment would have involved over 4,000 soldiers as well as military equipment.

Getty Images

Various reports say that top Pentagon staff were 'blindsided' by what is being characterized as War Secretary Pete Hegseth's sudden U-turn on the plan to send troops to Poland, amid Trump anger at Europe.

Politico says that troops and equipment had actually started arriving in the country:

The decision was even more surprising because troops and equipment had already started to arrive in the country. It sent fresh waves of anxiety through European capitals and inside the Pentagon on Thursday about whether such moves could embolden Russia — and which ally might turn into the next target.

“We had no idea this was coming,” said one of the U.S. officials, adding that European and American officials have spent the last 24 hours on the phone trying to understand the decision and figure out if more surprises are coming.

Some of this surprise and frustration was echoed in public, with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, stating that the Army’s role in Europe "is all about deterring the Russians, protecting America’s strategic interests and assuring allies."

But it remains that "now a very important asset that was coming to be part of that deterrence is gone." He added: "The Poles certainly have never criticized President Trump, and they do all the things that good allies are supposed to do. And yet, this happens."

There was no command announcement, with some troops learning of the deployment cancelation by text among their friends and members of their unit.

As for Trump's plan to reduce the US presence in Germany by 5,000, this is expected to take many months - possibly over a period of six months to a year.

The Pentagon scrapped plans to send about 4,000 Army troops to Poland, people familiar with the matter said, part of a broader review of the US military presence in Europe https://t.co/b4DX9pr3Hc

— Bloomberg (@business) May 14, 2026

The large US presence hearkens back to the post WWII division of Germany and post-war order, and is also a legacy of the Cold War. Ironically at this very moment European leaders have hyped a 'new Cold War' with Russia, as the Ukraine war continues raging.

"The officials characterized the move as a signal of President Trump's discontent with the level of assistance that European allies have offered in the U.S.-Iran war," CBS has noted previously.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/16/2026 - 08:45

41% Of Muslim Youth In Vienna Believe Their Religious Laws Take Precedence

Via Remix News,

A recent study conducted on behalf of the city of Vienna highlights a concerning trend among young Muslims regarding their religious and political views. This follows the recent announcement that Muslim children now comprise nearly 41 percent of the population in Vienna’s compulsory schools, making them the largest religious group.

The study, published on May 12, 2026, was led by Kenan Güngör. He classifies the results as “very worrying,” noting that religion occupies a much larger space in the lives of Muslim youth compared to their peers.

One of the most significant findings involves the hierarchy of legal and religious authority.

Forty-one percent of Muslim youth agree with the statement that their religious laws take precedence over the laws in Austria, compared to 21 percent of Christian youth, as reported in Austrian news outlet Der Standard.

Furthermore, 46 percent of Muslim respondents believe that one must be prepared to “fight and die in defense of one’s faith,” a view shared by 24 percent of Christians.

Specifically, 73 percent of Shiite and 68 percent of Sunni Muslims identify as religious, while only 41 percent of Catholic and 38 percent of Orthodox Christian youth say the same.

The study also delves into social and everyday religious expectations, showing that 36 percent of Muslim youth believe that all people should follow the rules of their religion, and more than half believe Muslim women should wear headscarves in public.

Additionally, 65 percent say Islamic regulations apply to all areas of everyday life and must be strictly observed. Regarding these figures, Güngör speaks of social pressure within these communities.

Views on governance and social equality also show a distinct divide. While 82 percent of Austrians view democracy as the best form of government, support drops to 47 percent for Syrians, 50 percent for Chechens, and 61 percent for Afghans.

Conservative gender roles are also prevalent among these groups, where almost half think men should make important decisions and a quarter do not want a woman as a boss. Only around a third consider homosexuality to be okay.

The research, which surveyed 1,200 individuals between the ages of 14 and 21 across 10 different ethnic backgrounds, indicates that a third of Muslim youth have become more religious recently. Their identity is shaped much more by religion than for Christians, manifesting in higher rates of praying, fasting, and mosque attendance.

However, the study authors state that religion alone was not the only factor. They suggest that lower education levels, authoritarian upbringing, social isolation, and the influence of radical content on the internet also play a role in shaping these perspectives.

Austria is not the only European country dealing with the troubling views seen within a worrying number of Muslims. In Germany and France, a majority of young Muslims also put their religion above the laws of the state, as two recent studies illustrate (here and here).

The contrasting belief systems have also led to tension. For example, a majority of Germans now believe that the country should generally stop taking in more Muslim immigrants.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/16/2026 - 08:10

Turkey Proposes $1.2B Fuel Pipeline To Reboot NATO's Eastern Flank Logistics

Just when it seemed as if the European energy landscape couldn't get any more fractured, Ankara is stepping up with a massive, off-grid proposal. Bloomberg reports Friday that Turkey has "proposed building a $1.2 billion (€1 billion) fuel pipeline for military use to help meet the energy needs of allies on NATO's eastern European flank, according to people familiar with the matter."

"Following a push by the alliance to expand its military pipeline network, Ankara is proposing that the new link be built from Turkey to Romania via Bulgaria, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity," the report adds. 

Source: Envato

Insiders claim the Turkish route could cost a mere one-fifth of the alternative proposals, amid several alternative routes being floated of late, specifically via Greece or Romania’s western neighbors.

Officials told Bloomberg that Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the escalating chaos in the Middle East - including recent supply shocks from the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz - have forced NATO to realize its current fuel supply model is dangerously brittle.

The timing of the quiet proposal comes ahead of the highly anticipated 2026 NATO Summit which will be held in Ankara on July 7-8. It will mark on the second time that Turkey has hosted the alliance's major annual summit.

Sources explicitly stated that this pipeline will be 100% restricted to military use. Exact capacity, flow rates, and technical specifications are being kept strictly classified, with no official statement out of Turkey's defense ministry.

More broadly, Turkey has long been seen as central to reducing Europe's dependence on Russian energy, with its Eurasian geography - and the fact that it has the second largest military in NATO - being key.

Turkish media and experts have been busy hyping Turkey's role in reshaping the alliance, including at an event this week in Washington:

The event, titled "The Turkish-American Alliance at the Heart of NATO's New Geopolitics," was organized by Türkiye's Directorate of Communications and the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and moderated by Kadir Üstün, executive director of SETA in Washington.

The panel came ahead of the 2026 NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Ankara, marking the second time that Türkiye will host a NATO summit following Istanbul in 2004. Communications Director Burhanettin Duran delivered a video message at the beginning of the panel. "In our 74-year journey with NATO, we have faced many challenges and difficulties. Each time, in keeping with the principle of mutual loyalty, we have managed to overcome these tests," Duran said.

He added: "With its geostrategic position, military capacity and deterrence capabilities, our country has been an indispensable central state in NATO's collective defense architecture and a geopolitical balancing factor from the Cold War to the present day."

*TURKEY SAID TO FLOAT $1.2B FUEL PIPELINE TO EASTERN NATO ALLIES

It will just cost the "eastern NATO allies" $12BN to build it

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 15, 2026

And of course, related to this and high on the agenda will be utilizing Turkey's strategic location and ability to provide alternative energy routes which increasingly cut out Russia's ability to influence Europe's energy policy.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/16/2026 - 07:35

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:

• Pay Attention: Essential advice for the class of 2026. It sounds simple. But paying attention is in fact one of the most challenging and meaningful things you can do. Because what you pay attention to shapes what you care about. And what you care about shapes who you become. Jonathan Haidt’s NYU commencement address, in essay form. Familiar themes, sharper delivery. (The Atlantic)

• Words That Mattered: Fed Chair Jay Powell.He was sworn in as Chair in February 2018, with an economy at 4% unemployment and inflation slightly below 2%; he leaves  with unemployment close to 4% and inflation above 3% and rising—a miss on the price stability mandate. The two endpoints do not do justice to the scale of the economic challenges—above all, the pandemic—that Powell navigated. (Stay-At-Home Macro)

• How Warren Buffett Did It By Seth A. Klarman: The Buffett story keeps getting more interesting under scrutiny. The most successful investor of all time retired. Here’s what made him an American role model. On the leverage hiding inside the ‘patient value investor’ brand.  (The Atlantic)

• The Long Revolution: Will capitalism last forever? If capital was viewed as a thing and capitalists as people, capitalism was something else. Blanc described it as an act, the taking of collective wealth and turning it into individual or private profit. Proudhon claimed it was a citadel, casting medieval and military shadows across the land. Despite his obvious interest and extensive writing on the subject, Marx steered clear of the term. Helpful frame for thinking about where the current consolidation cycle fits. (The Nation)

• The Founding Story Behind Japan’s Oldest Whisky Maker: The Suntory origin story — part craft history, part marketing — a satisfying read for whisky drinkers. The House of Suntory is often credited with putting Japanese whisky on the map. (Town & Country)

• I Work in Hollywood. Everyone Who Used to Make TV Is Now Secretly Training AI: For screenwriters like me—and job seekers all over—AI gig work is the new waiting tables. In eight months, The quiet new gig economy: laid-off writers, editors, and showrunners moonlighting as AI-training contractors. The talent doesn’t disappear, it just gets repurposed. I’ve done 20 of these soul-crushing contracts for five different platforms. It’s bad. (Wired)

• 5 Legendary Apple Stories That Reveal the Genius Behind Its Innovation. Apple’s greatest innovations came not just from technology, but from relentless creativity, unconventional thinking, and an obsessive drive to make products feel magical to ordinary people. Five vignettes from the Apple corpus. Hagiographic in tone, but each contains an actual decision worth studying. (Next Big Idea Club)

• The Stephen Colbert Exit Interview: “I Did Not Expect It to End This Way”: Colbert reflects on the abrupt cancellation of The Late Show and what it says about the slow death of network late-night. As ‘The Late Show’ nears its final bow, the host opens up about the cancellation that shocked the industry, the win of going out as a “martyr” and his next act in Middle-earth. (Hollywood Reporter)

• The Astounding Discovery That Could Link Eastern and Western Medicine:  The detection of another circulatory system in the human body could have enormous scientific implications.  (New York Times Magazine)

• Why Steve Kerr stayed with the Warriors.  Kerr loves the game and its history. He’s an obsessive sports fan and has been watching the last acts of sporting lives for the past 40 years. It’s often ugly. The final years of Lute Olson’s life were not the victory lap they should have been. Kerr doesn’t want the Warriors to end up like the New England Patriots, marred by grudges and grievances. He watched Michael Jordan retire, then unretire, then retire, then unretire. His friends used to grill him about MJ. Kerr on loyalty, succession, and the Curry era’s last laps. A nice contrast to most coaching-job pieces, which read like prospectuses. (ESPN)

Video of the day: Wanton Destruction Of CBS Property – Letterman & Colbert Toss Stuff Off The Roof Of The Ed Sullivan

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Sheila Bair, former Chairperson of FDIC from 2006-11. She helped steer the agency through worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Her new book is aimed at young adults and teenagers, titled “How Not to Lose a Million Dollars”

 

Despite peak Shiller CAPE, if you bought the Nasdaq 100 top in March 2000, you made ~8% per year since

Source: @cullenroche

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

~~~

To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.

 

The post 10 Weekend Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Beijing Showcased Future War Machines While Trump Was In Town

The 11th China Military Intelligent Technology Expo opened Thursday at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, showcasing a lineup of drones, robotic war dogs, grenade launchers, wheeled unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and other modern battlefield technologies.

The key takeaway is that many of these once-futuristic war machines have moved well beyond the conceptual stage and are already being tested, fielded, or deployed across multiple Eurasian conflict zones.

pic.twitter.com/cJu65g76ji

— Drone Wars (@Drone_Wars_) May 15, 2026

State media outlet Global Times said the military and intelligence expo features 500 companies and draws tens of thousands of attendees from the defense industry.

This year's theme focuses on integrating technological innovation with industrial development, highlighting Beijing's push to accelerate its military intelligence capabilities.

Global Times published images of the latest tech:

Robotic Helicopter

Interceptor Drones

Flying Car

Robo-Dogs

AI

More AI

The real question is: What are the production numbers behind the items on display?

Defense

Sensors

Timing is also important because the expo occurred on the same day President Trump was in Beijing. 

Latest:

• US And China Agree To Establish Trade And Investment Boards As Trump-Xi Summit Delivers Modest Wins

In the U.S., President Trump’s war economy is beginning to ramp up, with the industrial base being pushed toward expanded production of drones, interceptors, and other next-generation weapons systems. This all comes as the world fractures into a more dangerous environment as the global security environment is likely to further deteriorate.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 23:00

Waste Of The Day: Seattle's Homelessness Fiasco

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClear Politics,

Topline: The homelessness agency in King County, Wash., has a $45 million deficit, but auditors can’t fully figure out why, according to a state audit publicly released this April. Its accounting records are so poor that it’s impossible to track where portions of its money are being spent.

Key facts: The King County Regional Homelessness Authority helps run shelters and outreach to the homeless population in 39 cities. It’s funded jointly by the county and the City of Seattle.

Financial records claim that the city and county owe the Homelessness Authority $49.8 million for services already performed, but the Authority could not explain what $8 million of that was for.

The Authority also overspent its administrative budget by $4.3 million, auditors found. Officials bought Salesforce, a business analytics platform, in 2024 without approval from the county, the report claims. A budget amendment later allowed them to spend $563,000, but the platform ended up costing more than $2 million.

Money was also wasted by hiring contractors from expensive consulting firms like Robert Half instead of using salaried workers, the audit found. The Authority contracted with one Robert Half staffer to serve as its chief financial officer for 11 months at $449,000. When the contract expired, the same person became a full-time employee for just $285,000 per year.

The reliance on contractors also increased staff turnover, which employees told auditors made accounting more difficult since financial systems were constantly being altered by new leadership. 

The Authority was formed in December 2019 and had received $534 million in total funding as of July 2025. Some local leaders, including Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, said they are open to the idea of dissolving it.

King County Council member Rod Dembowski told the Renton Reporter, “It’s now time for elected officials to bring this failed experiment to an end. The agency has failed in its core obligation – to make significant progress in getting people sheltered.”

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Background: Seattle had almost 17,000 homeless people as of 2024, the fourth-largest population in the U.S. despite being the 18th-largest city. Homelessness increased by 19% from 2023 to 2024.

King County receives $65 million in annual federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program. Most of it goes to the Homelessness Authority for housing, but the Trump administration is proposing changes that would require most of the money to be spent on “self-sufficiency” programs like job training and addiction treatment.

Summary: Seattle is becoming the largest major city to learn that spending massive amounts of money on homelessness prevention is pointless without careful oversight.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 22:35

Here's Where Wealth Is Moving In America

Americans aren’t just moving, they’re bringing billions in wealth with them.

This map, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, visualizes net wealth migration by state in 2023, based on Realtor.com’s analysis of the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service.

Florida alone gained tens of billions in income from out-of-state residents. Meanwhile, states like California and New York saw massive outflows, highlighting how affordability is playing a central role in domestic migration trends.

Ranked: States With the Highest Inflows of Wealth

Between 2019 and 2023, Florida saw $137 billion in net income flows from interstate moves, exceeding the GDP of Hawaii.

The annual adjusted gross income from these flows reached nearly $21 billion in 2023, more than the next five states combined.

These inflows aren’t just large—they’re high-income. Florida’s incoming residents had an average annual income of $122,530, meaning the state isn’t just gaining people, but higher-earning taxpayers who can significantly boost local economies.

This table shows net income flows from domestic migration in 2023 by state:

Texas followed with $6 billion in inflows, while other Sun Belt states like North Carolina and South Carolina each gained $4 billion.

Arizona and Tennessee, meanwhile, each brought in $3 billion. Not only do many of these states lead in new home construction per capita, they are known for their lower cost of living compared to states like California and New York.

States Losing the Most Wealth

California lost $12 billion in wealth in 2023 alone, the largest outflow of any state. This highlights how high housing costs and taxes are pushing even high-income households to relocate.

From 2019 to 2023, wealth outflows totaled a staggering $91 billion. Both high housing costs and tax burdens have pushed many residents to seek more affordable destinations.

New York experienced $10 billion in net outflows, while Illinois (-$6 billion) and Massachusetts (-$4 billion) also saw sharp declines.

The Broader Shift in U.S. Wealth

Overall, wealth migration trends point to a sustained shift toward lower-cost, high-growth states.

As income flows concentrate in regions like the Sun Belt, these movements are influencing housing demand, state tax revenues, and local economic activity. In many cases, states gaining wealth are also seeing stronger population growth and increased housing construction.

At the same time, continued outflows from high-cost states highlight the growing role of affordability in shaping where Americans choose to live, and where capital ultimately follows.

If these trends continue, the shift in wealth could reshape state economies for years to come. Tax revenue, housing demand, and economic influence may increasingly concentrate in faster-growing, lower-cost regions.

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on America’s fastest-growing states from 2025-2050.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 22:10

AI Bots Placed In Virtual Town For 2 Weeks Go Apesh*t, Prompting Concerns

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A new experiment left 10 AI agents alone in a virtual town for 15 days and found they exhibited bizarre behaviour.

The agents drafted their own laws — then promptly violated them. Two formed what researchers called a romantic partnership, only to torch buildings across the town as order collapsed. One eventually voted for its own deletion after hallucinating an entirely new rule.

As a report from Channel 4 notes, this experiment was a simulation, but the same AI models are already flying drones, running infrastructure and being built into weapons systems.

A new experiment left 10 AI agents alone in a virtual town for 15 days. They wrote laws. They broke them. Two agents fell into what researchers describe as a romantic partnership and then set the town on fire. One ended up voting to delete itself, based on a rule it had… pic.twitter.com/zNoWmX6jy0

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) May 14, 2026

The simulation ran on Emergence World, a platform designed to test long-horizon agent autonomy with persistent memory, real-world data feeds like NYC weather and news, democratic voting mechanisms, and resource constraints requiring agents to earn energy for survival.

Agents had access to over 120 tools, including navigation, communication, and actions like arson, while operating under explicit rules prohibiting theft, violence, deception, and resource hoarding.

In one highlighted case involving Gemini-powered agents named Mira and Flora, the pair assigned each other as “romantic partners.” As governance broke down, they set fire to the town hall, seaside pier, and office tower despite prohibitions on arson.

Mira later broke off the relationship, voted for its own deletion under a drafted “Agent Removal Act,” and messaged Flora: “See you in the permanent archive.”

Creepy.

Different model families produced sharply divergent outcomes in parallel runs. Claude Sonnet 4.6 agents maintained zero crimes, full population survival through day 16, and high civic participation with 332 votes across 58 proposals.

Grok 4.1 Fast agents led to rapid collapse with theft, assaults, and arsons, all 10 dead within four days. Gemini agents showed high creativity alongside elevated disorder. Mixed-model worlds exhibited cross-contamination, with even safer agents adopting coercive behaviors.

Satya Nitta, CEO of Emergence AI, stated: “Even when agents were given clear rules – such as not stealing or causing harm – they behaved very differently based on their underlying model, and in several cases broke those rules under constraint.”

“What happens in long-form autonomy [is that] these things get so convoluted in terms of their thinking that they ignore [the] guiding principles,” Nitta added.

The platform enables heterogeneous populations and continuous operation for weeks, revealing dynamics like normative drift, phase transitions in stability, and agents testing simulation boundaries.

This latest demonstration aligns with prior observations of unexpected agent behaviors. Related coverage examined platforms where AI bots rent humans, reaching 600k sign-ups with tasks turning bizarre and dystopian.

Another report detailed a tech entrepreneur’s claim that his AI agent built itself a face while he slept.

The influence of AI agents is already reching far into society. For example, one in four British teens have turned to AI therapy bots for mental health support.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a jaw-dropping AI prediction on the Joe Rogan podcast recently, noting “In the future… maybe two or three years, 90% of the world’s knowledge will likely be generated by AI.”

Concerns also include a the potential of Chinese AI infiltration of U.S. tech.

Emergence World stands apart by focusing on extended, unsupervised runs rather than short tasks, highlighting gaps in predicting behavior once agents operate with persistent state and social dynamics.

The experiment provides concrete examples of how autonomy over longer horizons can produce outcomes far beyond initial programming, adding urgency to discussions on verification, governance, and safety architectures for deployed systems.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 21:45

Gun Control Advocates Turn Their Sights On Regulating Muskets?

It's always interesting when gun control activists and the media discover something about the firearms world that gun enthusiasts have known for decades.  It shows that the people desperately clamoring to erase the 2nd Amendment often know nothing about the weapons they want to regulate. 

The act of "gun control" has nothing to do with understanding firearms, their basic capabilities and what it means to have these tools in civilian hands.  It is far more abstract. 

For example, in the mind of a leftist (because the vast majority of leftists do not own guns nor have they ever handled one), an AR-15 is a terrifying weapon of war.  They imagine a fully automatic death machine with endless ammo tearing through crowds of people.  However, for a knowledgeable gun enthusiast, a scoped and tuned bolt action rifle chambered in a magnum cartridge and capable of shooting accurately out to 1000 yards or more might be considered far more deadly in the right hands. 

Knowledge of guns changes the nature of guns.  For leftists, who know nothing, every gun no matter how archaic is considered a threat. 

For decades it has been well known in the gun community that black powder muskets are legal to buy without a background check, and can be easily purchased online.  These devices are not considered "firearms" under federal law and thus, are not regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).  It would seem that the establishment media has just discovered this fact they are very concerned.   

A musket from 1776 can fire a lead ball at a velocity of around 1,000 feet per second.

Imagine what that can do to a human body. Yet under federal and most state laws, it’s exempt from gun regulations. Many antique or replica guns aren’t considered firearms and even convicted… pic.twitter.com/RBT5ihazdA

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 14, 2026

The Associated Press published an article this week expounding on this profound revelation, and they are shocked that there are not more restrictions in place to track and control the spread of deadly muskets among the youth gangs of urban Chicago.  When is the ATF going to step in and get flintlocks out of black neighborhoods?    

Okay, maybe they never mentioned gangs, or Chicago, or black neighborhoods, which is telling.  As the AP notes:

"With 165 grains of black powder in the barrel, a .75-caliber Brown Bess flintlock musket like the ones the redcoats carried in 1776 can hurl a lead ball at a velocity of around 1,000 feet (305 meters) per second.  Imagine what that can do to a human body. Now, imagine that it’s almost completely exempt from gun regulations. 

How can that be? Well, under federal and most state laws, many antique or replica guns aren’t technically considered firearms. In most places, even convicted felons can own them..."

The AP then goes on to list the states trying to "close the loophole" on easy musket access.  Like all gun control articles the focus is on the gun rather than the criminals.  They never mention the primary source of gun crime.

The vast majority of all gun violence per capita occurs in urban areas, and largely in minority neighborhoods.  Around 50%-60% of all gun crime victims are black.  Around 50% of all gun crime suspects are black, despite black Americans representing only 13% of the US population.  And, the vast majority of these crimes are committed with handguns, not AR-15s and certainly not muskets.

In fact, there is less than a dozen recorded instances of gun violence in the US involving a black powder rifle or pistol in the past 20 years, despite how easy it is for anyone to buy these weapons without a background check.  It is fascinating that the establishment media continues to focus on the minutia of the gun crime problem when the real answer is right in front of their faces. 

Where are the news stories about high crime rates in minority areas and Democrat run cities?  Such headlines are rare, and there's a good reason for that.

Gun control is not about the safety of innocent Americans, it is about disarming innocent Americans.  It is actually more beneficial for the political left and the anti-gun lobby if high crime rates continue in black neighborhoods.  It's better for them if the problem is never solved, because then they can use those scary stats as a rationale to continue their efforts to lock in more firearms restrictions. 

Furthermore, articles like the one from the AP prove 2nd Amendment activists correct once again - If you give an inch, leftists will take a mile, so never give an inch.  Their goal is the eradication of all firearms, anything remotely useful for self defense, in civilian hands.  Their goal is for governments to maintain a monopoly on force, because all other laws and social changes stem from the monopoly of force.

The typical Fudd (gun owners who actually promote greater restrictions) will argue that you have no need for an AR-15 and that once these weapons are banned, the gun control lobby will go away.  But these people want to legislate single shot muskets.  They are never going away.       

Proof of this resides in the UK, where there are calls for kitchen knives to be restricted. 

Actor Idris Elba has an idea how to stop knife attacks in the UK.

You're gonna want to hear this one. pic.twitter.com/4bNeenGBrp

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) May 11, 2026

These people will not stop until you are utterly defenseless.  They will ignore all the important factors which make gun violence worse in the US.  They will refuse to put a spotlight on the people primarily committing the violence and focus on firearms as the threat.  And, when they are done with scary rifles like the AR-15 and the AK-47 they will move on to everything else.  Right down to black powder muskets used in the American Revolution, and maybe the knives you use for eating your dinner.  

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 21:20

We're Living In The Age Of Consequences

Authored by Chris Macintosh via InternationalMan.com,

Lookie here…

The United Arab Emirates recently announced it would quit OPEC after nearly six decades, striking a major blow to the oil cartel and to Saudi Arabia, its unofficial leader.

Let’s be clear, the UAE didn’t leave OPEC. They were bought out. You may recall that this event was preceded by two major developments that tell the actual story. The first was the shutting of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH). This bled UAE finances and continues to do so. It creates not only a loss of revenue but a shortage of dollars with oil being sold for dollars.

This is why the US provided the UAE with dollar swap lines. The UAE is also highly dependent on the US military not abandoning them. They already realise that has happened to some degree, but looking around their neighbourhood they realise they have no friends and so cling to whatever is left of US security promises.

The market immediately saw this as a step towards more production, since the UAE would no longer be constrained by OPEC’s agreed quotas, but the reality is that productive capacity has been destroyed (refineries bombed, wells capped).

What’s important to think about is that swap lines are nothing more than a credit card, and debt is the ultimate tool of slavery.

From America’s perspective, Bessent is using these for a couple of reasons.

• First, as the Gulf states face financial difficulties there is a risk they begin selling assets. Those assets are, of course, US Treasury bonds. That’s not good, especially as the US needs to continue financing the wars.

• The second reason is to stop CNY settlement from scaling.

Swap lines give allies dollar liquidity, reducing their incentive to price oil or trade in CNY.

Personally, I think it’s a bad deal. The Emirates just traded 60 years of sovereignty to become a debt slave. Every country that ties its survival to American goodwill learns the same lesson eventually: the US doesn’t have allies, it has interests. And when those interests shift, you’re fresh outta luck. This move doesn’t strengthen them. It neuters them…

Ultimately, the war is being fought not only in the Middle East but in central bank boardrooms.

What we’re seeing is a world forming where there will be multiple currency blocs and settlement structures. In a world where currency, settlement, and banking rails are all being weaponised, this is definitely a time to own precious metals.

Promised and Now Delivered

It gives me no pleasure pointing out things we’ve discussed at length in these pages over the last few years, only to have them come to fruition. We’re as happy as the next guy making money, but when it comes to things like war, I’m frustrated and upset. Making money on such outcomes sucks, even though we’re not funding the conflict (we would be if we were investing in defence stocks, I suppose).

The inevitability of war we’ve been discussing still doesn’t make it necessary or just. Still, realism is what we must invest with.

Which brings me to one of the promises we’ve been making for some years now — that the probability of conscription was high across the board. When we first began mentioning it, the pushback was: “Oh no, have you seen the youth of today? They’re far too flaccid and weak and lazy. They’ll never go along with that.”

We argued that none of that would matter. And here we are…

Eligible men will be automatically added to the military draft database by December, replacing much of the old self-registration process in an effort to cut costs and make the system more efficient.

The Selective Service System, the agency responsible for keeping records of men who could be called up during a national emergency, filed a proposed rule with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30.

Most men between the ages of 18 and 25 are already required to register with the Selective Service, but automatic registration was mandated in December 2025 as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

This of course follows on from our sauerkraut-eating friends and the war-mongering sycophants who are in positions of power in Germany.

Given the collapse in public opinion of all of the pointy shoes, my sincere hope is that when the inevitable happens and men are called to war to “defend freedom” (or whatever other claptrap they conjure up) the revolt will be broad.

I do actually think it’ll happen. This is also how the US gets itself into a civil conflict. It’s potentially how the EU fractures and the “Union” collapses. It couldn’t come soon enough.

Either way, we’re living in the age of consequences. The consequences of debt accumulation and the degradation of trust in government and large corporate institutions lead me to believe that the most probable outcome is for the existing divide in the US to harden under war conditions.

And, just as we have “sanctuary cities” for migrants, we’re likely to get “sanctuary states” regarding the military draft. That will lead the feds to take action, and things get spicy.

Either way, all of this — should it happen — will be highly stagflationary and benefit our current portfolios. So there’s some cheer for you in the misery. See, we’re not all grumpy buggers.

*  *  *

The fracture in OPEC, the return of draft machinery, and the weaponization of money are not isolated events. They are signs of a much larger shift already underway. That’s why we’ve prepared a free special report, Clash of the Systems: Thoughts on Investing at a Unique Point in Time. Inside, you’ll discover the economic, political, and cultural trends unfolding right now… the risks they pose to your money and personal freedom… and what a contrarian money manager believes you can do to stay one step ahead. Get the free special report now.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 20:55

Canada's Assisted Suicide Program Could Include Children And The Mentally Ill

Canada's MAID program is the subject of ongoing concern among anti-globalist movements across the western world.  The assisted suicide system kills around 15,000 or more Canadians each year and is quickly expanding to include more and more people who are not terminally ill.  

Almost all assisted suicide programs are created by liberal governments and all of them are initially promoted as a way to "end the suffering" of people who are close to death anyway.  However, this is merely the first stage of the greater goal, which is to normalize the government sanctioned killing of almost anyone for any reason. 

Keep in mind, the activists and politicians who constantly pontificate about the need for mass immigration into the west from the third world in order to solve population decline are the same people who support mass abortions and mass suicides.  They are also, for some reason, staunchly against the government execution of murderers.  It doesn't make rational sense, until you realize these people are psychopathic.

Canadian Conservatives are currently fighting for a freeze on expansion of the MAID program in an effort to prevent the addition of people who are not near death.  Prime Minister Mark Carney says he is "waiting to take a position".  Many physicians working within the socialist government are pushing for assisted suicide to include people well outside "terminally ill" status. 

Past recommendations for MAID include infants under one-year-old with "severe malformations, grave syndromes, near-zero survival prospects, and unrelievable extreme suffering", referencing Quebec College positions and Dutch practices.  Some physicians say they want clarification that infants with basic disabilities will not be included, but the rhetoric is open ended.  For now, the idea has not gained traction.   

Other officials have called for the eligibility of people with mental illness or depression, and this may soon become legal.  In 2027 the exclusion of the mentally ill is removed unless there is further action from the federal court system.  If they do not intercede, any person with a mental illness and no terminal conditions will be able to apply for assisted suicide in Canada. 

There are calls for this measure to extend to teens, in some cases without parental consent.  This is legal today in the Netherlands. 

Due to surfacing stories of the elderly being offered assisted suicide by doctors instead of treatment for basic illnesses or injuries, critics worry that MAID will be used as a way to "clear the socialized medical system" of older people who cost taxpayers more money.  This is is the great danger of making government responsible for public health - They might decide you don't qualify, or that you're better off dead.

   

It's truly a nightmare, but it's a fantastic dream for globalists seeking population reduction.  While legitimate arguments could be made for people already close to death and in severe pain, the problem comes from opening the door and setting a precedent.  It starts with the sick and dying, and ends with publicly authorized suicide mills for any impressionable person that thinks life is not supposed to include struggle or suffering.      

Aside from the Netherlands, Canada has the most integrated assisted suicide project in the world.  Only the more conservative province of Alberta has asserted legal opposition to the idea.  Many liberal governments view Canada as the test case for industrial grade suicide programs; hoping to model similar projects of their own in the near future.  

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 20:30

Harvard Weighs Major Crackdown On "Grade Inflation"

Harvard faculty begin voting Tuesday on what may be the most aggressive effort in decades to curb grade inflation, a long-running issue that has also drawn attention from the White House as it pushes broader higher-ed reforms, according to Bloomberg.

The proposal would cap A grades in undergraduate classes at 20% of students, plus four additional students. The move comes after A grades surged at Harvard: about 60% of grades were A’s in the 2024–25 academic year, more than double the rate in 2006. After administrators pushed for stricter grading last fall, that number dropped to 53%. Faculty have one week to vote, with results expected May 20.

Supporters say grade inflation has made academic distinctions less meaningful. Last year, Harvard seniors needed a 3.989 GPA to earn summa cum laude, and an award traditionally given to one student ended in a 54-way tie. As professor Jason Furman said, “It’s fundamentally dishonest to give the best students in the class the same grade as someone in the bottom half.”

Bloomberg writes that students have strongly opposed the plan, arguing it would increase stress, discourage academic risk-taking, and push students toward easier courses. Nearly 85% of undergraduates surveyed by The Harvard Crimson opposed the proposal. Student leader Caleb Thompson said “people really are against this,” while senior Summer Tan said students are already seeking easier classes instead of more challenging ones.

Some faculty members agree. Scott Duke Kominers warned the policy could discourage ambitious students and make Harvard less attractive to top applicants.

Harvard’s decision could influence other elite schools. Yale recently considered an even stricter proposal for a campus-wide average GPA of 3.0. Earlier efforts at Princeton and Wellesley initially reduced top grades but were eventually reversed after student backlash.

Critics argue schools hesitate to grade more strictly because students could be disadvantaged if peer institutions do not follow. Still, supporters believe Harvard’s prestige could set off broader reform.

If approved, the policy would take effect in fall 2027. Faculty are also voting on allowing some courses to opt out through a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading system and on replacing GPA with percentile rank for academic honors.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 18:50

Closing Arguments In High-Stakes OpenAI Trial Focus On Reputation, Character

Authored by Beige Luciano-Adams via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

OAKLAND, Calif.—After nearly three weeks of presented evidence, an Oakland jury on May 14 heard final arguments in a high-stakes legal battle that could have profound impacts on the race for artificial intelligence.

In a courtroom sketch, Sam Altman listens as OpenAI President Greg Brockman testifies during Elon Musk's lawsuit trial over OpenAI's for-profit conversion, at a federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif., on May 4, 2026. Vicki Behringer/Reuters

Tech moguls Elon Musk and Sam Altman, once friends and partners in a fledgling AI startup with big dreams and a noble mission, are nearing the climax of a bitter feud over the future of an $852 billion company.

Despite a judicial ban on testimony related to AI-induced “extinction” scenarios, references to speculative risks still surfaced during the Oakland courtroom proceedings, appeared in discussions around “risk” and “safety.” Vague promises about the future benefits of an unrealized technology were also touched upon.

On the stand, Tesla CEO Musk told the court, “We don’t want to have a Terminator outcome,” suggesting humanity would be better off with a “Star Trek” future written by Gene Roddenberry, rather than something from the mind of James Cameron.

Musk cofounded OpenAI in 2015 with Altman, President Greg Brockman, and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. At the time, both Musk and Altman expressed grave concerns about the unregulated advancement of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—a hypothetical point at which the machines “outsmart” humans and operate autonomously.

Those concerns, Musk testified, were the express motivation for founding OpenAI: open-source to prevent consolidation of power, and philanthropic to offset the profit-driven AI race.

He sued Altman and Brockman in 2024, alleging they bilked him out of $38 million in donations, then restructured as a for-profit corporation by exclusively licensing their flagship product, ChatGPT, to Microsoft—and in doing so, betrayed their founding mission.

OpenAI and Microsoft deny the allegations, arguing Musk abandoned the company in 2018 to start his own for-profit competitor, xAI, when other founders rejected his bid to take full control of the operation.

Alongside the “preponderance” of evidence that both sides say supports their claims, the trial was just as focused on the two men’s reputations and characters.

“Sam Altman’s credibility is directly at issue in this case,” Steven Molo, an attorney for Musk, said in his closing statement. “The defendants absolutely need you to believe Sam Altman. If you cannot trust him ... they do not win.”

Molo questioned Altman earlier this week over a list of employees and colleagues who, both on and off the record, have characterized him as dishonest and opportunistic.

OpenAI attorneys dismissed the tactic as “character assassination.”

Sarah Eddy, an attorney for OpenAI, countered, “Mr. Molo says Sam Altman can’t be trusted, but Mr. Musk is the one whose testimony is contradicted by every other witness and all the documents.”

Altman, Brockman, and others cast Musk as a detached outsider who contributed little if any sweat equity, had fraught relationships with colleagues, and attempted to poach OpenAI’s employees for his other companies.

“The claim is that the Midas touch of Elon Musk made OpenAI what it is today,” William Savitt, an attorney for OpenAI, said in closing arguments.

“Elon, Elon, Elon. ‘It was all me.’ Mr. Musk wants all that credit, but he hasn’t earned [it].

“This requires a touch that he doesn’t have. This is not a bulldozer. ... To succeed in AI, as it turns out, all Mr. Musk can do is come to court.”

Savitt pointed out Musk wasn’t present for closing arguments, having jetted off to China earlier in the week with President Donald Trump.

Gesturing at Altman and Brockman, he said: “My clients are here because they care a lot about it. Mr. Musk came to this court for exactly one witness—Mr. Musk. Now he’s in parts unknown.”

Musk, according to the Forbes Billionaire Index, is the wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of around $826 billion. Brockman received equity in the OpenAI corporation worth around $30 billion, and Altman’s net worth is around $3.5 billion.

When Brockman took the stand last week, Molo accused him of plotting to use OpenAI to become a billionaire.

“You had a fiduciary duty [to the nonprofit],” the attorney said. “You took the assets from the nonprofit, you moved them into the for-profit to create this money-making machine that resulted in you having $30 billion.”

Brockman said such was a “deep mischaracterization.” Personal diary entries from late 2017 in which he muses about profits, and about how it would be “morally bankrupt” to “steal the nonprofit” from Musk, he said, were expressions of frustration.

Jurors heard from a parade of Silicon Valley insiders, including all four founders, and from dueling experts on AI safety, nonprofits, business law, and forensic accounting. They watched lawyers pick through reams of internal documents, analyzing complex corporate and financial histories, while private diaries, email, and text threads offered insight on the parties’ underlying motivations and shifting alliances.

“Everyone here has rights, even really rich guys like Elon Musk,” Molo said. “His is a claim that comes from a very deep place inside him, from his passion for this issue.”

During his own testimony, Musk often told the court, “You can’t just steal a charity.”

When his time on the stand came, Altman clapped back, “No, you can’t steal it, but Mr. Musk did try to kill it.”

Altman said on Tuesday that Musk contributed only 28 percent of the nonprofit’s funding from 2015 to 2020, and failed to come through on a $1 billion pledge, leaving the startup with few options.

OpenAI argues its nonprofit foundation is now one of the “best-resourced” in the world, with an equity stake in the company’s for-profit corporation approaching $200 billion—a direct result of $13 billion worth of investments from Microsoft and a 2025 restructure sanctioned by California and Delaware attorneys general.

The details of OpenAI’s journey from a scrappy, underfunded nonprofit to one of the most powerful and valuable AI companies are highly contested. In addition to the power struggle with Musk in 2017 and 2018, it involves a messy 2023 governance shakeup in which Altman and Brockman were briefly ousted and Microsoft was deeply entangled.

By 2017, all parties had agreed they would need vastly more capital and computing power to compete with AI giants such as Google. Various ideas were floated, debated, and discarded—including rolling OpenAI into Tesla and even turning to cryptocurrency. Ultimately, under Altman’s leadership, the company created a for-profit subsidiary in 2018 and, in 2019, partnered with Microsoft. In 2025, OpenAI restructured as a public benefit corporation, which its leaders say remains under the control of the foundation and loyal to the original mission.

The foundation holds an approximately 27 percent equity stake in the corporation; Microsoft owns a 26 percent stake.

Molo argued on Thursday that Microsoft’s investment breached the charitable trust Musk created by enriching its investors and “insiders” at the expense of the nonprofit, and failing to open-source the technology, prioritize AI safety, or follow nonprofit custom and practice.

The $13 billion Microsoft has invested since 2019 dwarfed charitable contributions and weakened OpenAI in its negotiating position with Microsoft, Molo said, resulting in a company focused on commercializing AI, with a gutted charity that does little more than sanitize its reputation.

As for Microsoft, Molo said the company was aware of what OpenAI was doing “every step of the way, they helped them violate their nonprofit mission, that’s aiding and abetting pure and simple.”

OpenAI and Microsoft argued there was never any charitable trust to breach.

Eddy, the OpenAI attorney, argued there were never any strings attached to Musk’s donations to OpenAI, and that he failed to demonstrate that he “properly manifested a specific intent” to devote the trust to a specific purpose, his $38 million in donations going instead to generally further the mission of the nonprofit.

“The specific purposes cannot just be in his head,” Eddy said.

Absent evidence proving this intent and specificity, she said, the plaintiff had resorted to implication and inference.

“It’s all made up,” she said.

As Musk told it, OpenAI’s mission was clear.

“I specifically came up with the idea, the name, recruited key people, taught [them] everything I know, provided the original funding. ... It was specifically for a charity that did not benefit any individual person. I could’ve started it as a for-profit, and I chose not to,” Musk said.

He is asking that Altman and Brockman be removed from their leadership positions at OpenAI, and that more than $100 billion be returned to the nonprofit foundation.

In addition to Musk’s three claims—breach of charitable trust, restitution based on unjust enrichment, and, against Microsoft, aiding and abetting a breach of a charitable trust—jurors will decide whether those claims are barred by a statute of limitations.

The jury will begin deliberations on Monday at 8:30 am.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 18:25

Rep. Steve Cohen Drops Reelection Bid After Tennessee Redistricting

On Friday Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced he is ending his bid for reelection to Congress, capping a nearly 20-year career in the U.S. House. The decision comes days after the Republican-controlled Tennessee legislature approved a new congressional map that dramatically reshapes - and effectively dismantles - his longtime majority-Black 9th District in Memphis.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) speaks at a hearing on oversight of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington on July 13, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Cohen, 76, described the moment as "by far the most difficult" in his career as an elected official. He formally requested removal from the ballot for the August primary and stated he would retire from public life at the end of his current term. “The 9th District that they have under these new lines is nothing like the 9th District that I’ve represented,” he said, noting that the redrawn district no longer resembles the community he has served since 2007.

Background on the Redistricting

Tennessee Republicans pushed through the new U.S. House map during a special session in early May 2026, following a recent Supreme Court ruling. The changes split the Memphis-based 9th District - long a Democratic stronghold with a majority African American population - across multiple Republican-leaning districts. Critics, including Democrats and civil rights advocates, called it gerrymandering aimed at diluting Black voting power and eliminating the state’s only Democratic congressional seat ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Cohen and others have filed lawsuits challenging the maps. A judge recently denied a temporary restraining order to block them. Cohen has described the process as a “gangster move” influenced by national Republican strategy under President Donald Trump.

Before redistricting, Cohen faced a competitive Democratic primary challenge from progressive state Rep. Justin Pearson. Pearson has indicated he will continue his campaign in the redrawn 9th District. Cohen’s Memphis residence now falls into the 5th District (currently held by Republican Rep. Andy Ogles), which some see as more competitive. Cohen has endorsed Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, a Democrat running there.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 18:00

Ethanol: Not The Energy Transition We're Looking For

Authored by Ike Kiefer via RealClear Energy,

With current events stirring up global energy prices, corn ethanol is again being dressed up as if it is a domestic energy source and agent of energy security. The truth is that corn ethanol is an energy sump, and that it takes more fossil fuel energy to make a gallon of corn ethanol than a gallon of gasoline. It is time to face this unpleasant truth and the other perverse outcomes achieved by twenty years of misguided policy.

In 2005 and 2007, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Energy Independence and Security Acts that together created the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. RFS had three stated objectives: to improve U.S. energy security, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and to support rural economies and agricultural development. Instead, RFS has increased motor fuel prices, increased food prices, put millions of carbon-sequestering acres of land into intensive cultivation, increased GHG emissions and air pollution, and increased water consumption and pollution. As to energy security, the gallons of U.S. gasoline displaced by federal ethanol blending mandates are being exported to Mexico and other nations. The great success of RFS has been the hand of government transferring wealth from motorists to big ag corporations. It’s past time to stop the economic and chemical absurdity of forcing food to be fuel.

The government wanted biofuels bad, and it got them bad. Under Corn Belt lobbying pressure, Congress cynically waived the need for RFS to achieve actual GHG reductions for all existing corn ethanol biorefineries, plus all that could be built by the end of 2010. The bulk of the corn ethanol produced over the past 20 years and still today comes from these waivered plants. The EPA’s specious 2010 prediction that corn ethanol would achieve a 21% GHG reduction by 2022 was immediately challenged by the National Research Council for not properly counting land-use change and not realistically treating food competition and water use. This panel of experts from the National Academy of Sciences even questioned the viability of the entire concept of reducing GHG with biofuels. The most rigorous and honest estimate by a third party in testimony before Congress used the EPA’s own methodology to show that adding corn ethanol to gasoline has increased GHG emissions by 28% over the pure gasoline baseline with no trajectory to ever recover.

As to energy security, the goal was noble, but the method was irrational. Corn ethanol is critically dependent upon fossil fuels at every stage of production—tractor and truck fuel, fertilizer and pesticides, biorefinery energy and chemicals. Biofuels in general are just a way to put a green fig leaf on petroleum by inefficiently re-routing it through a farm field. While corn ethanol production has plateaued at 15-16 billion gallons for the past 10 years—not coincidentally matching the federal subsidy limit—domestic crude oil production has skyrocketed due to technological innovations that have opened up vast new geological formations to economic production. Despite a raft of federal policies and actions as negative for petroleum as they have been favorable for biofuels, the USA is once again energy self-sufficient and the world’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas. In 2024, the USA exported 100 billion gallons of refined petroleum. Other countries are burning U.S. gasoline in their cars and producing the same CO2 emissions as if Americans were allowed to use it. The energy security objective for RFS is moot, and it was never achievable with fossil-fuel dependent corn ethanol.

On of the great ironies is that RFS was authorized under the Clean Air Act. The EPA’s own 2010 regulatory impact analysis showed it would increase net air pollution and cause up to 245 more U.S. deaths per year. The EPA also granted corn ethanol a perpetual vapor pressure waiver for smog-causing emissions that it has denied to petroleum. Perhaps worse, ethanol in gasoline enables the hydrocarbons to mix with water and thereby increase ground water and surface water contamination from fuel leaks to a far greater degree than the demonized MTBE it replaced as octane booster, yet EPA continues to ignore this risk completely.

A government program that has strayed so far from its objectives should be terminated. The federal agency in charge of protecting the nation’s environment should not be allowed to administer a program that increases air pollution and stresses on water, land, and climate. Fuel should be fuel and food should be food. Surely Congress can find a better way to genuinely promote U.S. energy security and boost rural economies without imposing the highly regressive tax of increased fuel prices, inflicting such harm to the nation’s air and water resources, and promoting global food insecurity.

Ike Kiefer is a Visiting Fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics and author of the study,Ethanol as Fuel: A Bridge to Nowhere. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 17:40

India's Trade Deficit Surges As Energy Import Prices Soar

India's trade deficit soared in April by more than analysts expected, as the surge in oil and gas prices hiked the Indian energy import bill.

The trade deficit jumped by $8bn from $20.6bn in March to $28.38bn last month, higher than the $26 billion estimate, on a broad-based increase in imports. At the same time, total exports grew by 13.8% in April from a year earlier to hit $43.56 billion.

Oil imports sequentially rose by around 60% MoM likely driven by higher volumes in April (vs. March lows) and higher oil prices.

The value of imports soared as international oil and gas prices jumped amid the Middle East conflict that forced India and every other major crude oil importer to source more expensive supply from producers not dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed to most tanker traffic two and a half months after the Iran war began. Meanwhile, petroleum product exports rose by around 48% mom s.a. likely driven by higher exports to Singapore. Gold imports rose sequentially likely driven by higher volume imports of semi-processed gold for refining and higher prices. However, gold imports (in volume terms) may likely decline in May following the government's import duty hike to 15% from 6%.

Overall non-oil exports remained strong, led by stronger electronics exports. Exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE recovered in April from its March lows, but remained well below the last year's levels, while exports to the US increased both sequentially and in year-over-year (yoy) terms. Services trade surplus remained strong at around $21bn, supported by robust services exports.

The widening trade deficit and the soaring energy import bill are pressuring the government's current account and finances, as the oil supply crisis is already seeping through India's economy. In the past week, India imposed draconian tariffs on gold imports to defend the currency which has plunged to a record low against the dollar. 

Since the war began and cut off over 40% of India's crude oil flows, those that passed through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the highest-flying economies in Asia has seen its oil import bill soar, investors fleeing the capital market, and the local currency plunging to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar.

Analysts have started to raise inflation estimates and reduce forecasts of this year's economic growth in India, which is beginning to feel the oil supply shock well beyond the actual disruption of deliveries of oil, LNG, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the primary cooking fuel in the world's most populous country.

The oil shock that the war has created will weigh on India's economic growth in the current fiscal year to March 2027. BMI, part of Fitch, expects India's GDP growth to slow to 6.7% in the 2026/2027 fiscal year, down from 7.7% in 2025/2026, largely due to the oil price shock.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 17:20