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Amaka Nwaokocha / Cointelegraph : The US SEC acknowledges BlackRock's and Bitwise's spot bitcoin ETF applications, indicating the commencement of the official review process for the proposals   —  The SEC's acknowledgment indicates the commencement of the official review process for BlackRock's ETF proposal.  —  2279 Total views

Ben Jiang / South China Morning Post : Alibaba's food delivery service Ele.me commits to bring more social security and welfare benefits to its ~3M couriers, after a similar move by JD.com in March   —  Alibaba Group Holding-backed Chinese food delivery service Ele.me has committed to bring more social security and welfare benefits …

Anna Tong / Reuters : Some tech insiders say that generative AI won't save San Francisco's economy and commercial real estate woes as AI startups bring fewer jobs and automate work   —  In a frenzy unseen since the birth of social media in the early 2000s, investors are pouring billions into generative AI and fueling a startup boom in San Francisco.

Alex Ivanovs / Stack Diary : Brave appears to be selling copyrighted data for AI training and giving third parties the “rights” to that data, while not disclosing its own robot crawler   —  And even though there are some concerns about the type of data that was used [...]  —  I'm fairly certain …

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget : Bluesky adds the N-word to a “reserved” words list, after users reported that some usernames include the slur, highlighting the site's ongoing moderation issues   —  The oversight highlighted an ongoing moderation issue at the platform.  —  Before this week, Bluesky …

Newcomer : Despite a generative AI funding mania, data shows that other startup funding remains bleak, with valuations down and few IPOs, deals, and late-stage rounds   —  The slowdown in public offerings and late-stage financings puts startups in peril  —  The generative artificial intelligence mania …

An annual survey on diversity among Senate Democratic offices found that Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., have the least diverse staffs on their side of Capitol Hill. Just 12% of Manchin’s staff identify as non-Caucasian, the least of any Senate office, followed closely by Tester’s staff at 13% and Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., each with 15%. Tester does not employ anyone who identifies as Latino in his Senate office, according to the poll, while 2% of Manchin’s staff are Latino. Manchin’s office was the only one listed without any staffers who identify as LGBTQ. NAVY TAKES DOWN LGBTQ+ PRIDE POST ON INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER, REMOVES RAINBOW BANNER Fox News Digital reached out to Tester and Manchin’s offices for comment. Both moderate Democrats are up for re-election in 2024, both in states won by Donald Trump in the previous presidential race. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, boasts the most diverse Senate staff as 71% identify as non-Caucas...

The U.S. could enter a new age of UFO transparency with the passage of several amendments tucked into the "other matters" section of the voluminous 2023 defense bill. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) , approved by the House on Friday in a 219-210 vote, includes the UAP Disclosure Act, which requires the release of known sightings of UAPs, or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, the U.S. government's preferred term for unidentified flying objects (UFOs).  The bill requires the Department of Defense to declassify any documents and records about publicly-known UFO sightings that won't compromise national security. It also requires the creation of a "secure" channel for UFO reporting that includes protection of government employees' jobs and from retribution; searches for all nondisclosure agreements related to UFOs/ extraterrestrial life ; and updates to Congress by Sept. 30, 2023, and every fiscal year until 2026.  ONLY 4 DEMS VOTE WITH GOP...

New York Times : Hands-on with Ernie 3.5, which Baidu claims is “slightly inferior” to GPT-4 in a comprehensive test but performs better when both were spoken to in Chinese   —  We spoke in Chinese to Baidu's Ernie and the American standard-bearer, ChatGPT.  This is what we found.

Abigail Disney, the heiress of the Disney fortune , was arrested in New York on Friday after she and several climate activists blocked a small airport servicing private jet departures and arrivals. Disney was joined by members of New York Communities for Change, Planet Over Profit and Sunrise Movement NYC in the action held to protest and disrupt the "exclusive vacations of wealthy fossil fuel investors and polluters driving the climate crisis," a press release stated. The activists blockaded the regional East Hampton Airport in Wainscott, New York. "As a person who has been privileged enough to use private jets, I know it’s hard to give up a luxury that is special," Disney said in a statement Friday. "But I also know that the time has passed for spewing greenhouse gasses like this merely for our personal comfort." "The events of the past week alone, with Earth’s average temperature hitting an all time high, drought and fatal heat waves across the...

Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. claimed that President Biden's mobilization of troops to support Operation Atlantic Resolve is preparation for a "ground war with Russia." Kennedy reacted to Biden's decision to call up thousands of military reservists to bolster U.S. troops in Europe as part of the 2014 operation. "President Biden just called up 3,000 reservists to augment U.S. troops in Europe as part of 'Operation Atlantic Resolve,'" Kennedy tweeted on Friday. REPUBLICANS BLAST BIDEN'S EUROPEAN TROOP MOBILIZATION: ‘DARING RUSSIA TO SHOOT FIRST’ "I want people to understand what this troop mobilization is about," he continued. "It's about preparing for a ground war with Russia." On Thursday, Biden announced that his administration is mustering reserve troops to ensure the "effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibi...

Semafor : Sources: Elon Musk claimed xAI was worth $20B, as he was trying to recruit top AI talent and offering equity in his new startup   —  Elon Musk sought to recruit top AI talent to his new artificial intelligence company with equity in the venture he claimed was already worth tens of billions of dollars …

President Biden asked reporters to repeat themselves multiple times during a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Thursday. Biden struggled to hear at least three questions from reporters during the brief Q&A portion of Thursday's press conference. Reporters there pressed him on the stability of America's membership in NATO and the future of Finland now that it has joined the international alliance. In a statement to Fox News Digital, the White House blamed the confusion on the "large echoey room" where the briefing took place. "The political volatility of U.S. remains a big worry for our European partners. Meanwhile, back in Washington, a bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly failed to pass through Senate a bill that would prevent the U.S. presidents in the future from withdrawing from NATO without Senate approval. What …," a reporter said before Biden cut her off. "What? I'm sorry, I didn't hear the la...

Mark Bergen / Bloomberg : A Stability AI co-founder sues the startup over being duped into selling his 15% stake for $100 to CEO Emad Mostaque months before Stability hit a $1B valuation   —  A Stability AI Ltd. co-founder has sued the company, claiming he was tricked into selling his stake for $100 months …

FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a contentious House committee hearing on Wednesday that it is "somewhat insane" for anyone to suggest that he harbors a bias against conservatives. "Well, first off, I would disagree with your characterization of the FBI and certainly your description of my own approach," Wray said in response to a grilling from Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman over accusations that the FBI has become "weaponized" against conservatives. "The idea that I'm biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background," Wray, a registered Republican, added. Hageman referenced in her line of questioning the Twitter files, Missouri v. Biden disclosures, the Durham investigation and the "exposure and collapse" of the "Russian collusion hoax" as examples of why the American people distrust the FBI. GAETZ SAYS FLORIDIANS ‘DESERVE BETTER’ AFTER WRAY BOASTS ABOUT ST...

Daniel Wiessner / Reuters : A former Twitter employee files a proposed class action accusing the company of refusing to pay $500M+ in promised severance to the thousands whom Elon Musk cut   —  Twitter Inc on Wednesday was hit with a lawsuit accusing it of refusing to pay at least $500 million in promised severance …

Ash Parrish / The Verge : Xbox tests reactive voice chat moderation, letting Xbox Insiders report 60-second audio clips of inappropriate voice messages for the Xbox safety team to review   —  Rolling out today to Xbox Insiders, the new reporting feature will allow players to capture and submit 60-second audio clips …

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said Tuesday that she is the "clear recipient" of affirmative action as she took aim at the Supreme Court from the House floor over its "wrongheaded" ruling to reject the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Working alongside her colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, Lee said she will "proceed to analyze the very wrongheaded decision that was made by the United States Supreme Court on the question of affirmative action." "I rise today as a clear recipient of affirmative action, particularly in higher education," she added. "I may have been admitted on affirmative action, both in terms of being a woman and a woman of color, but I can declare that I did not graduate on affirmative action. This is my personal story." AOC RIDICULED FOR VIRAL TAKE ON LEGACY ADMISSIONS FOLLOWING SUPREME COURT'S AFFIRMATIVE ACTION RULING Lee's comments came two weeks after the high court ruled th...

Jay Peters / The Verge : Meta says Roblox will be coming to Meta's Quest VR headsets starting with an open beta on App Lab “in the coming weeks”   —  / It's launching in open beta in the ‘coming weeks.’  —  Roblox will be coming to Meta's Quest VR headsets starting with an open beta that will be available in the …

2020 candidate Joe Biden sold himself to the fatigued American public as an empathetic, ice-cream-loving grandpa who was going to usher decency and expertise into the White House — but those carefully crafted narratives that helped propel him to the Oval Office are crumbling as the country barrels toward the 2024 election in a time of economic and global instability. On the 2020 campaign trail, Biden and the media consistently billed him as the candidate to unify the country after four years under former President Donald Trump , who critics blasted as "divisive." After his election win, Biden declared in a speech that it is "time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again."  Biden took it one step further after he took office, threatening to fire anyone who didn’t share his views on decency and respect, telling nearly a thousand federal appointees and staff: "I'm not joking when I say this: If ...

Andy Greenberg / Wired : Roger Thomas Clark, who was Silk Road's second-in-command, behind Ross Ulbricht, is sentenced to 20 years, following his extradition from Thailand in 2018   —  Roger Thomas Clark, also known as Variety Jones, will spend much of the rest of his life in prison for his key role in building the world's first dark web drug market.

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch : Meta now lets avatars be used to answer and make video calls on Instagram and Messenger and adds ways to share animated avatar stickers   —  Meta announced today that users can now use their avatars to answer and make video calls on Instagram and Messenger.  The company says the new functionality …

ANGRY BRANDON: White House staff reportedly fear President Biden's temper… Read more: WH aides claim Biden prone to outbursts, ‘angry interrogations’ behind closed doors: ‘Get the f—k out’ DEM DEFECTION: A Georgia lawmaker announced she's leaving the Democratic Party… Read more: Georgia Democrat defects to GOP after she says Dems 'crucified' and 'abandoned' her AFFIRMATIVE ACTS: Many Asian-Americans in Nevada are fed up with the state attorney general's comments on the Supreme Court ruling on college admissions… Read more: Asian Americans shred Democrat AG over his angry response to Supreme Court affirmative action ruling COCAINEGATE: The White House's explanation of Hunter Biden's whereabouts before the cocaine was found didn't really add up… Read more: Fox News press pool report contradicts claim Biden family wasn't at White House ahead of cocaine discovery HOW DARE YOU: Reporter rebuked for asking if the cocaine in the White Ho...

EXCLUSIVE : Video taken by a top member of the House Homeland Security Committee shows how migrants are moving to the U.S.-Mexico border through Panama, with between 1,500-2,000 mostly Venezuelans moving through one village each day as they hope to enter the U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., is currently on a congressional delegation surveilling U.S. operations in Panama and Colombia and took video, provided to Fox News Digital, showing how migrants emerge from the jungle in the Darien Gap – a key migrant crossing area for those seeking to move north – into a Panamanian village. From there they are transported to another site, before being registered and leaving Panama to head to the U.S. ABBOTT MOVES AHEAD WITH FLOATING BORDER BARRIERS ON RIO GRANDE DESPITE LIBERAL OUTRAGE Gimenez, a Cuban-born member of Congress who serves on the Homeland Security and Armed Services Committees, said officials were encountering 1,500-2,000 a day in that village. "People are coming out of th...

The Biden administration on Monday filed an emergency stay with the 5th U.S. District Court of Appeals to temporarily suspend a federal judge's ruling that limited government officials’ contact with social media companies concerning misinformation.  The request came shortly after U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty rejected the Biden administration's request to stay his own order – which he issued July 4 – while they pursue an appeal. That order came in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as a conservative website owner and four individual critics of government COVID-19 policies. The lawsuit claimed the administration, in effect, censored free speech by using threats of regulatory action or protection while pressuring companies to remove what it deemed misinformation.  The lawsuit spotlighted such topics as COVID-19 vaccines, legal issues involving President Biden's son Hunter and election fraud allegations. FEDERAL DEBT EX...

The Justice Department briefed federal prosecutors and agents on the team investigating Hunter Biden on a key FBI document containing allegations of a criminal bribery scheme involving Joe Biden in October 2020, but did not invite IRS agents to that briefing, Sen. Chuck Grassley charged. That accusation was leveled just weeks after IRS whistleblowers alleged that the entire federal investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings was influenced by politics. The document in question is an FBI-generated FD-1023 form. The form, dated June 30, 2020, reflects the FBI's interview with a "highly credible" confidential source who detailed multiple meetings and conversations he or she had with a top executive of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings over the course of several years, starting in 2015. Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma, and the executive alleged a $5 million payment was made to Hunter and $5 million to Joe Biden in exchange for influence ove...

Americans reacted to President Biden’s handling of the economy as he and his cabinet tout "Bidenomics" across the country. "Biden, you know, he's not really handling it all that well," Anthony told Fox News. "All the funds is going to other countries, he's not really focusing here on the problems in the states." "The economy is kind of messed up," he added.  WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE But Christine gave Biden an A on his handling of the economy, saying he's doing a "wonderful job." The Biden administration "will continue to make a full-court press on Bidenomics this week — highlighting how the president’s economic plan is investing in America and increasing competition to lower costs for hardworking families," White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt said. The president visited South Carolina on Thursday to announce new clean energy manufacturing spending, while Vice President Kamala Ha...

Wes Davis / The Verge : Following similar lawsuits, Sarah Silverman and two other authors sue OpenAI and Meta, claiming LLaMA and ChatGPT were trained on copyright-infringing material   —  Comedian and author Sarah Silverman, as well as authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey — are suing OpenAI and Meta each …

President Biden sat down for a recent interview in which he said the United States is low on 155 mm artillery ammunition rounds, sparking outrage and questions of competency from conservatives on social media. During the interview, which aired Sunday morning, Biden defended his administration for sending cluster munitions to Ukraine as a "transition period" until more munitions are produced. "This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it," Biden told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians." Reactions on social media ranged from confused to outrage as conservative pundits and experts alike wondered why Biden was announcing the U.S. shortage during a nationally televised interview that would be seen by adv...

Former Tennessee lawmaker Roy B. Herron has died after suffering injuries related to a jet ski accident earlier this month. He was 69.  Herron had decades of public service, including terms in the state House of Representatives , the Senate, and as chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party. He was also a candidate for governor in 2010.  FOX 17 reports that Herron was hospitalized after a jet ski accident on Kentucky Lake on July 1.  Many of Herron’s family members and former colleagues have paid tribute in his honor.  LAST SURVIVING MEMBER OF FRENCH D-DAY UNIT DEAD AT 100 "Saddened by the death of former colleague in Tennessee General Assembly, Roy Herron," Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., tweeted. "Roy succumbed to injuries from jet ski accident last weekend apparently caused by negligence of another. He was bright, diligent, and honest. A politician destined for greatness." Tennessee Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari called the late Herron a "dedicated...

Wall Street Journal : The Snap Star creator program, Snap's new revenue-sharing incentive, is showing early signs of traction as part of broader efforts to reverse declining sales   —  Social-media app Snapchat is trying to counter declining sales  —  Snap's efforts to lure creators and their followers …

President Biden's administration doesn't deserve any blame for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said. Lee made the statement during a Sunday appearance on CNN, telling host Jake Tapper that the blame largely rests with former President Donald Trump. "I know you supported the goal of leaving Afghanistan, but do you believe President Biden deserves some blame for the way that that withdrawal spiraled out of control?" Tapper asked. "I don't believe the administration deserves any blame for this," Lee responded. "We have to remember that Donald Trump made this agreement with the Taliban." DEMOCRATIC DARLINGS SCHIFF AND PORTER KICK OFF AN UGLY, EXPENSIVE FIGHT FOR CALIFORNIA'S SENATE SEAT "Secondly, the Trump administration literally gutted our State Department and our diplomatic corps," Lee continued. "I believe that the State Department and those that were involved in th...