Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤖🗳️ The AI candidate
• 🔍 TikTok keeps leaning into information discovery
• 🥊 Shein and Temu are fighting again

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.01-minute read (1,334 words).

"It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards. But with this, one forgets the second proposition, that it must be lived forwards."

–Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

In yesterday’s edition, we incorrectly referred to Lisa Marie Presley as Elvis’ wife instead of his daughter (😬). Thanks to all the readers who brought the error to our attention.

Note: This is the 51st correction out of the 637 newsletters we've published since January 2022 (for context, each newsletter contains 20+ news events).

Yesterday, primary voters in Wyoming’s capital of Cheyenne were faced with a first-of-its-kind decision: should they elect a candidate who wants to use an AI chatbot to run the local government?

The candidate in question – 42-year-old librarian Victor Miller – is running for mayor of Cheyenne alongside a customized ChatGPT bot named VIC, whom Miller trained on local city ordinances and related documents.

• Miller, who has no prior political experience, says VIC would be doing 100% “of the decision-making completely on its own” if elected as mayor. According to AI experts, it marks the first such campaign pledge for any office in US history.

His pitch is simple: Miller argues that VIC would make a better mayor than any human, since it’s more capable of processing vast amounts of data and making unbiased decisions across a wide range of issues. In public appearances for his campaign, Miller has worn a portable Bluetooth speaker around his neck with a built-in microphone, which allows VIC to interact with voters and respond to their questions.

But Miller’s campaign has faced significant pushback. Earlier this summer, OpenAI shut down Miller’s ChatGPT account due to its policies against using products for political campaigning – but Miller quickly made a second version of VIC to replace the first bot who was banned.

• Wyoming’s top elections official has also pushed back against Miller’s campaign, arguing VIC should be disqualified because only registered voters can run for local or statewide elections. However, like OpenAI, his effort to derail Miller’s campaign was unsuccessful.

Big picture: Miller and VIC’s mayoral campaign stands little chance of winning, according to local officials and residents (he only garnered ~3% of the vote in yesterday's primary). But experts say the situation illustrates how AI is developing more quickly than efforts to regulate it – and also highlights the ease with which AI has seeped into politics ahead of the November election.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should political candidates who vow to let AI do their jobs be allowed to run for office?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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💥 Israel-Hamas update: On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel has accepted a new proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza. Blinken also called on Hamas to accept the deal, though he didn’t provide any details regarding what the bridging proposal entails. Western officials say an Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement could help deter Iran and Hezbollah from avenging the recent killings of two top Hamas militants, which the groups blame on Israel.

🇰🇷🇰🇵 A North Korean soldier defected for the first time since the pandemic. South Korea’s military picked up a relatively low-ranking North Korean staff sergeant who crossed the border yesterday, marking the first defection by an active-duty soldier from the North since 2019. Overall, defections from North Korea’s protected classes – a category including diplomats and overseas students – have recently risen to their highest level in years, per South Korea’s Ministry of Unification.

🇩🇪 Germany’s Federal Court upheld the conviction of a 99-year-old former Nazi secretary. Irmgard Furchner, who served as a secretary at a concentration camp in Poland from ages 18-19, was given a two-year suspended sentence in December 2022 for being an accessory to 10,500+ murders. In its ruling, the court concluded Furchner aided and supported the murders, despite her lawyers’ arguments that her involvement didn't go beyond typical secretarial duties.

TikTok releasing a brand new feature? How BRAT of them.

The social media platform recently partnered with Hollywood studios including Warner Bros. to roll out TikTok Spotlight, which enables its users to track fast-moving, entertainment-focused trends – and film and television studios to capitalize on them.

It’s giving search engine of the future. The new feature adds an anchor link to applicable videos about current movies and TV shows that directs viewers to a dedicated landing page👆.

Here, TikTok viewers can find details about the film or show such as synopsis, cast, verified accounts, as well as a collection of other TikToks linked to the same title, allowing fans to explore the unique fandom and trends around the show or movie.

Spotlight aims to help both social media creators and filmmakers alike (very demure). Creators who post content about or involving spotlighted media can achieve unique profile badges and frames for their TikTok profiles, while film studios are able to track trends and conversations about their content in real-time, thanks to the accompanying analytics dashboard provided to them.

📸 Big picture: This new feature pushes TikTok towards becoming a first stop for media-focused discovery, even ahead of Google, with whom it has a growing rivalry. According to an Adobe report published in January, ~40% of Americans use TikTok as a search engine, with one in 10 Gen Zers relying on it more than Google.

+Dive deeper: How the legal battle over TikTok’s future is progressing – and how Google Search's antitrust case may end up playing out.

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“...an unlawful enterprise built on counterfeiting, theft of trade secrets, infringement of intellectual property rights, and fraud.”

Mom, Chinese retailers Shein and Temu are fighting again. Shein – which has a reputation for ripping off independent designers – is ironically accusing Temu of doing something similar👆. In a recently filed civil complaint, the Chinese-linked fast-fashion player accuses Temu of routinely stealing its designs and alleges an employee stole confidential trade secrets. The complaint also alleges that Temu loses money on each sale it makes and uses trademark infringement to make up for the losses.

• Shein also disputes the idea that Temu is a marketplace; every time the word is mentioned in relation to Temu in its complaint it bears quotes around it (“marketplace”).

📸 Big picture: This isn’t the first time the retailers known for cheap products have taken cheap shots at each other. Per The Verge: Temu previously accused Shein of browbeating manufacturers to cut Temu off; Shein claimed Temu told influencers to say “false and deceptive statements” about Shein in promotional material. Those two suits were dropped in October. Then, in December, Temu sued Shein again, alleging Shein had “gone so far as to falsely imprison merchants doing business with Temu.”

• ☝️ The winners of the 17th annual iPhone Photography Awards were unveiled yesterday, with honorees selected among entries from 140+ countries around the world.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Surfshark VPN

• 💰 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: -0.2%; Nasdaq: -0.3%).
• ✈️ Alaska Airlines’ $1 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines has cleared the DOJ's antitrust hurdles; the deal still needs approval from the US Transportation Department before becoming official. | 🔍 The FAA is requiring inspections of Boeing 787 planes following a sudden midair dive in March that was caused by a loose pilot's seat.
• 📺 The saga continues: Media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted a $4.3 billion offer to acquire Shari Redstone's National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global; the offer could upend Paramount's planned merger with Skydance Media.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎙️ Alex Cooper signed a three-year exclusive deal with SiriusXM that will see the platform host her hit podcast, Call Her Daddy, and network of shows (instead of Spotify); conflicting reports place the deal’s value at either $100 million or $125 million.
• 📺⚖️ Disney dropped its bid to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit and send it to arbitration on grounds the victim’s family had waived the right to sue by signing up for Disney+. | 🤖📰 OpenAI announced a multiyear licensing deal allowing the company’s products to use content from Condé Nast publications.
• 💔 Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck after two years of marriage; their official separation date is listed as April 26.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Niphtio

• 💉 A new observational study found people taking Ozempic and Wegovy appeared to experience suicidal thoughts at a higher rate than people on other drugs – though experts raised concerns about the study’s methodology. | 💉 Zepbound, the weight-loss drug from Eli Lilly, significantly reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in pre-diabetic adults who are overweight or obese, per a new three-year study.
• 🧠 A new implant that responds to brain signals in real time was shown to dramatically reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, per results from a small, early trial published in Nature Medicine.
• 🌌 NASA citizen scientists recently discovered a new hypervelocity star that’s hurtling through space at 1.3 million MPH; at 400 light-years from Earth, it’s the closest known hypervelocity star.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🌍🙏 Maria Branyas Morera of Spain, the world’s oldest living person, passed away at the age of 117.
• 🌧️ The National Weather Service is looking into reports that Connecticut on Sunday recorded its most rainfall ever over a 24-hour period (14.8 inches).
• 🔵 The Democratic National Convention concluded its second day of events and speeches; see updates from Day 2. | 🗳️ Nicole Shanahan, the running mate of third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said their campaign is considering dropping out of the race to “join forces” with former President Trump. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🚢 22 mysterious shipwrecks you can see on Google Earth.

⚾ Stats of the Day: The MLB standings are currently tighter than a pair of jeans after Thanksgiving dinner. With six weeks left in the regular season, a total of zero MLB squads are on pace to reach 100 wins, which hasn't happened since 2014. Historically, an average of ~2.75 teams per season have reached the triple-digit win mark – but in 2024, the Philadelphia Phillies are on pace to lead the league with just 95 wins. Analysts say this season exemplifies the widespread parity that exists in the MLB, where there hasn't been a repeat World Series champion in 24 years and counting.

🤔 Did You Know? Adding the phrase “-ai” to the end of a Google Search query removes the AI Overview section at the top of the search results.

📰 Worth a Read: One of TikTok's most popular restaurants is completely made up → (NBC News)

Picture this: You're on your way to work in a small West Virginia town, when you suddenly run into a traffic jam.

• Having traffic in the town is an odd enough sight in itself – but this jam comes with an even odder occurrence: a kangaroo hopping down the road. 

🦘 As it turns out, the kangaroo was a pet belonging to a nearby resident, who was known by someone in the line of cars. The drivers were able to get in contact with the animal's family and send the kangaroo home safely.

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

1. 🧍 1 million: How many skin cells the average human sheds each day.
2. 👩‍🚀 20: Number of seconds a human can survive in space without a spacesuit.
3. 🐐 10: How many feet in the air a mountain goat can leap.

Saving up referral points? Check your balance and upcoming milestone prizes here. (And if you haven’t claimed, just reply to this email and we’ll get you sorted👍🍩.)

1. 🧍 Over, around 500 million
2. 👩‍🚀 Under, 10-15 seconds
3. 🐐 Over, 12 feet