Extra, Extra

Sliding Into Your DMs: Early on, one of my biggest worries about AI was that evil politicians would use it to identify what people wanted to hear, tweak the truth to match those desires, and then deliver targeted, personal messages to manipulate the public. I was a little off the mark. It’s not just the evil ones who are doing it. NYT (Gift Article): How A.I. Is Changing the Way Politicians Run for Office. “Behind the scenes, campaigns are using the technology to analyze voter data, craft campaign materials and write custom messages.”

+ Ooh, Aah, Ooh, Awful: “It is general knowledge in our practice that for $2 million, you can have a pardon.” The White House Considers Granting 250 Pardons for the Nation’s Birthday. (Sometimes, it’s unclear if we’re marking a birthday or a funeral.) Meanwhile, Trump’s July 4 fireworks to start much later and last much longer. And they’ll follow a Trump speech. He can’t even take the Fifth on the Fourth.

+ More Signal Noise: “The identities of nearly all of the group members are visible, revealing even broader use of Signal by top Trump-administration officials than was previously known. The names of the groups are also telling, including one called ‘Iran/Ukraine Planning’ and another labeled ‘State USAID.’ The records raise the possibility that top administration officials failed to follow federal laws that require the preservation of government records.” Hegseth, Rubio, and Caine Had an Auto-Deleting Signal Chat.

+ Assistant (to the) General Manager: “Congress passed the consumer protection law, the No Surprises Act, with wide bipartisan support in 2020. It aimed to prevent unexpected charges for patients treated in the emergency room by a doctor who didn’t take their insurance.” Well, it didn’t quite work out as planned. $22,000 Per Hour: Assistants Use a Legislative Loophole to Outearn Surgeons. (Seems like good news for Dwight Schrute.)

+ Millionaire Apparent: The world added nearly a million new millionaires in 2025 — but most people got poorer.

+ Search for Rescues: “Jennifer Raymond waited until the dead of night to make her move. On April 12, the animal welfare advocate pushed through thick brush and cut a hole in her Fortuna neighbor’s fence, trespassing with one goal: to uncover the truth about the animal rescue next door.” It didn’t take much digging. She bought a NorCal Victorian, and then found a mass dog grave next door.

+ Put Some Pep in Your Step: FDA panel on peptides will include experts who promote the unproven chemicals favored by RFK Jr.

+ Gray Area: “Ford executives said they have hired 350 veteran engineers — some of them were former employees, while others had been working at suppliers — after artificial intelligence and automated systems failed to deliver the desired quality level … To be clear, this doesn’t mean Ford is abandoning its AI plans entirely. Instead, it’s using the rehired employees — referred to as ‘gray beard’ engineers — to train younger staff and reprogram AI tools.”