Welcome back to your daily memorandum talking tech, business, AI, markets, and more. 🗞️

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

📚 Amazon buys & destroys rare books to scan them for AI training.
▶️ YouTube changes view counting to register when playback starts.
🏢 Judge blocks FBI HQ move to Reagan Building, upholding Maryland site plan.
💰 NVIDIA invests $1.5B in SoftBank-backed SB Energy behind OpenAI's Ohio data center.
🪖 Trump scales back South Korea drills, raising U.S. security concerns across Asia.

TECHNOLOGY

• Amazon buys & destroys rare books to scan them for AI training (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Futurism, Forbes, Inc.com}}

  • Amazon is buying rare books, cutting off their spines, and scanning the pages for AI training.

  • 404 Media tracked a book to a Las Vegas facility marked by a book-holding dinosaur symbol.

  • Pre-2022 texts are prized because AI-free training data helps models avoid quality-degrading model collapse.

• YouTube changes view counting to register when playback starts, matching TikTok & Instagram (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: Engadget, Firstpost, Mashable}}

  • From August 24, YouTube counts a view the moment playback begins or a livestream is entered.

  • Previously understood as requiring roughly 30 seconds, the old metric becomes "Engaged views" inside Analytics.

  • Public counts could inflate sharply, though earnings and Partner Program eligibility remain unaffected by the change.

• AI workflow automation startup Relay shuts down as founder rejoins Google Chrome (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Tech Buzz}}

  • Relay, an AI workflow automation tool launched in 2021 to challenge Zapier, is shutting down.

  • Paying customers lose access on September 14, while free users were cut off August 15.

  • Founder Jacob Bank rejoins Google as VP of Product for Chrome, leading product and developer relations.

BUSINESS

• Judge blocks FBI headquarters move to Reagan Building, upholding Maryland site plan (AP)
  ^{_{More: CBS, Reuters, ABC}}

  • A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from relocating FBI headquarters to Washington's Ronald Reagan Building.

  • Judge Theodore Chuang ruled the reversal of the approved Greenbelt, Maryland plan was not lawful.

  • The FBI called the ruling political interference, saying it will pursue the best course for law enforcement.

• NVIDIA invests $1.5B in SoftBank-backed SB Energy behind OpenAI's Ohio data center (Tech in Asia)
  ^{_{More: Eastern Herald, TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • NVIDIA becomes sole compute supplier at OpenAI's Ports-Pike site near Cincinnati, Ohio, through the deal.

  • SEC filings show up to $105B in credit for a facility scaling from 4.25 to eight gigawatts.

  • SB Energy will build a 9.2 gigawatt gas plant on former U.S. uranium enrichment land.

• Paramount seeks $1.88B bond from state AGs over WBD merger delay (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, LA Times, CNBC}}

  • Paramount asked a judge to make states pay fees tied to delaying its Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

  • The requested $1.88B bond covers ticking fees and other costs stemming from the antitrust holdup.

  • A trial between Paramount and the group of state attorneys general is set for March.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Trump scales back South Korea drills, raising U.S. security concerns across Asia (ABC)
  ^{_{More: AP, BBC, Economic Times}}

  • Trump scaled back joint military exercises with South Korea, citing warm ties with North Korea's leader.

  • He also cited Seoul's refusal to join his war against Iran, reflecting a transactional foreign policy.

  • Former officials warn the move undermines allies, unnerves NATO, and emboldens China and North Korea.

• NSE seeks $55B valuation in what would be India's largest IPO (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: Business Standard, Investing.com}}

  • India's National Stock Exchange is targeting a valuation of up to ₹5.26 trillion, or $55B.

  • Shares were marketed at ₹2,000 to ₹2,100 apiece across a nearly completed global roadshow.

  • Roughly 120 investors joined meetings, including BlackRock, Capital Group, GQG Partners, and Janus Henderson.

• Climate damage emerges as the next major strain on EU public finances (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Economic Times, Straits Times}}

  • With most climate losses uninsured, EU governments face mounting bills from wildfires, floods, and storms.

  • Fitch warns recurring disasters create policy trade-offs for countries already under tight fiscal pressure.

  • Extremes cost the EU an estimated €822B since 1980, a quarter of it since 2021.

FUTURISM

• Uber partners with & invests in Zipline to bring drones to Eats (CNA)
  ^{_{More: WSJ, Axios, TechCrunch}}

  • Uber and Zipline aim for one million daily drone deliveries by the end of 2029.

  • First Uber Eats drone deliveries land this year, expanding from Zipline's markets into dozens of U.S. cities.

  • The undisclosed investment follows Uber's playbook of onboarding many autonomy partners rather than building in-house.

• Tesla readies Austin Cybercab launch this month starting with employee rides (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: TOI, Yahoo!, The Information}}

  • Tesla has told staff it plans to launch Cybercab publicly in Austin as soon as this month.

  • The rollout begins with employee rides on public roads before Cybercabs join the robotaxi service.

  • Preparations included road tests, private-road rides, and training sessions with local first responders.

• Spotify launches Playlist Notes letting listeners & editors explain their song choices (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Spotify, 9to5Mac}}

  • Spotify's Playlist Notes let users add context to songs, podcast episodes, and audiobooks in playlists.

  • Notes are added via mobile by tapping the three dots on any track and saving.

  • Editors can now annotate flagship playlists like Today's Top Hits, RapCaviar, and Fresh Finds Hip-Hop.

• Stay ahead of AI at work*

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CONTENT

• Flock CEO Garrett Langley defends camera network against surveillance state criticism (All-In Podcast)

  • Langley argues seven days of license plate data retention is enough to solve 90% of crimes.

  • Flock's audit tool exposed misuse by police, getting nine Georgia officers fired from their departments.

  • Amid a PR crisis over churn and vandalism, 20 cities have switched cameras back on.

• Stripe's Will Gaybrick on how AI reshapes products, teams & commerce (a16z)

  • Stripe treats AI productivity as a chance to build more, not simply cut costs and headcount.

  • Internal coding agents have scaled from 1.2k to 7k pull requests each week.

  • Gaybrick sees agentic commerce ending checkout pages, reviving micropayments, and making stablecoins global money infrastructure.

• Figure.ai founder Brett Adcock shares four bold predictions about AI's future (My First Million)

  • Figure.ai's Brett Adcock joins My First Million to discuss humanoid robots and rapid prototyping.

  • The conversation covers which parts of the AI hype cycle are genuinely real.

  • Adcock addresses $20M engineer salaries, Zuckerberg buying into AI, and hitting rock bottom three times.

EXTRAS

• Trump threatens Oman as Iran nears Strait of Hormuz transit deal (AP)
  ^{_{More: CNN, CBS, Al Jazeera}}

  • Trump renewed threats against Oman as Tehran works with Muscat on a Hormuz shipping plan.

  • Iran says an understanding was reached on the transit route map, with a joint statement pending.

  • The 60-day U.S.-Iran negotiating window expired with no extension announced and both sides still divided.

• Jeanie Buss opposes family's Lakers stake sale to Iger & Kushner (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: NY Post, LA Times}}

  • Jeanie Buss says she has not agreed to sell her family's stake in the Lakers.

  • Her lawyer wrote that any vote suggesting the family is selling would be void.

  • ESPN reported the family decided to sell to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner.

• Gaza zoo animals grow malnourished as war forces repeated relocations (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: AOL, Straits Times}}

  • Animals at a zoo near Nuseirat are malnourished and weakened by shortages of food and medicine.

  • Owner Mahmoud Gomaa fled Rafah in 2024 and moved surviving animals between towns before reopening.

  • He hopes the zoo gives traumatized children some respite after nearly three years of war.

AND MORE

• Trump approval sinks to 33%, lowest of his presidency, Reuters/Ipsos finds.

• WordPress.com courts the next gen of web creators with free student plan.

• Explore all the tools and more here to outperform the competition.*

• Sound-powered fire suppression startup raises $15M to stop fires before they spread.

• China's Unitree unveils Superman robot as excitement builds before Shanghai debut.

• Reddit tests new audio & video experience resembling TikTok's popular short videos.

• Diageo to reformulate India whisky & rum drinks after flavoring breach.