Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤖 California passes first-of-its-kind AI regulation bill
• 🏈 The dawn of a new college football era
• 🏓 Pickleball and tennis are beefing

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.95-minute read (1,317 words).

P.S. We’ll be off Monday for Labor Day. See you back here on Tuesday.

"You are now, and you do become, what you think about."

–Earl Nightingale (1921-1989)

On Wednesday, California’s State Assembly overwhelmingly approved a bill establishing first-in-the-nation safety regulations for large artificial intelligence companies – a measure that’s received mixed reactions from major industry players.

The proposal would require companies with advanced AI models to thoroughly test their systems for safety before releasing them to the public. The definition of “advanced” covers all AI models that meet a certain computing power threshold and cost $100+ million to develop.

• If AI companies fail to test for potential “catastrophic” risks – such as the ability to instruct users on how to conduct cyberattacks or build biological weapons – California’s new bill would hold them liable in civil court for any severe harm caused by their models.

The proposed regulation has divided the AI world. Major technology firms, AI startups, and researchers are split over whether California’s new legislation would stifle innovation in the rapidly developing AI sector, or establish much-needed guardrails for the emerging technology.

• Major AI players like Anthropic and xAi founder Elon Musk have offered cautious support for the bill, arguing AI’s potential risk to the public justifies some form of regulation.
• Other tech giants like OpenAI, Google, and Meta publicly oppose the measure, saying it would “stifle innovation” and unfairly target developers instead of people who use and exploit AI for harm.

Big picture: If the bill is signed into law, California would become the standard-bearer for regulating artificial intelligence technology in the US, since Congress has yet to enact any federal AI legislation.

On an individual level, OpenAI and Anthropic yesterday announced an agreement to let the US government’s new AI Safety Institute test the companies’ new AI models before they’re released to the public.

Looking ahead… The proposed regulation now heads to the desk of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has until September 30 to sign or veto it. Newsom hasn’t publicly indicated his position on the issue.

📊 Flash poll: Do you agree with California’s proposed regulation that would require companies to thoroughly test their advanced AI models for safety prior to public release?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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🇧🇷 Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro has declared war on local claw machines. On Wednesday, local police carried out 16 search warrants targeting claw machines, which officials allege are rigged, illegal games of chance run by organized crime rings (who also operate illegal slot machines). Law enforcement seized claw machines, laptops, tablets, cell phones, a firearm, and counterfeit plushies. This week’s raids mark the second claw machine crackdown in recent months.

🇮🇳 Indian regulators approved a merger between Disney and local conglomerate Reliance Industries. The $8.5 billion merger, approved on Wednesday, will form the largest entertainment company in India, with 120 TV channels and two streaming services. The joint venture – in which Reliance will have majority stake – includes the rights to broadcast most major sports events in India, including all cricket matches, the English Premier League, and Wimbledon. The merger is expected to be completed in the next six months.

🌏 Australia has the highest life expectancy among high-income, English-speaking countries. In a new study, researchers from USC and Penn State compared data from six high-income anglophone countries between 1990-2018. The researchers found Australia had higher life expectancy for both men and women across the entire timespan, largely thanks to “superior healthcare performance” and lower mortality rates related to firearms and drug overdoses. Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US rounded out the list (in that order).

Following a soft opening last weekend, college football is back in full swing; a whole slate of marquee matchups are scheduled for tomorrow.

But, while many things will feel familiar, this season is shaping up to be much different than those of the past (even beyond QR codes on helmets facilitating donations).

Conferences are welcoming new teams. Texas and Oklahoma are now members of the SEC. The Big Ten is up to 18 teams after adding a western wing of USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington. And to further prove geography really doesn’t matter in this new era, the Atlantic Coast Conference now includes Stanford and Cal, two programs located on the West Coast.

This conference realignment even extends to broadcasts. After a long run on CBS, the SEC is moving to ABC; CBS now has a full Big Ten schedule. But one thing isn't changing: The Pac-12 After Dark. ESPN will still be hosting the 10:30 pm ET games.

The College Football Playoff is expanding. This season will be the first to culminate with a 12-team playoff, instead of four.

Transfers are taking over. 2,000+ players transferred to FBS teams ahead of the 2024 season. And many have, as RGIII would say, “big Penix energy” – 43 of the 68 power conference teams are projected to start transfer QBs this week.

👀 Looking ahead… Tomorrow’s games include #7 Notre Dame vs. #20 Texas A&M, and #1 Georgia vs. #14 Clemson. See other top Week 1 matchups here.

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“When you see an explosion of a sport and it starts potentially eroding into your sport, then, yes, you’re concerned.”

Pickleball and tennis rn are like Arby’s – they’ve got some beef.

• Pickleball has exploded in popularity in recent years, going from a miniscule number of regular players to 13.6 million spread across the US.
• This has many tennis officials worried their sport – which boasts 23.8 million US players – could be surpassed by pickleball soon, with much of that growth coming at the expense of tennis. Thousands of tennis courts across the US have been replaced by smaller pickleball courts.

👀 Looking ahead… While many tennis clubs embrace pickleball, seeing it as a potential way to boost the popularity of tennis, the United States Tennis Association holds a different position. The association is in the process of launching 400+ pilot programs across the US to broaden the reach of an easier-to-play, smaller-court version of tennis called “red ball tennis” – a sport that aims to get people of all ages into tennis, and one proponents say is best played on…you guessed it…pickleball courts.

• ☝️ Wages for new hires across many blue-collar sectors have shrunk so far this year compared to 2023, per a new analysis of millions of US jobs posted on ZipRecruiter.com.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with The Motley Fool

• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: -0.004%; Dow: +0.6%; Nasdaq: -0.2%); the Dow finished at a record high. | 📊 Movement: Dollar General shares close down 32%, the company's biggest one-day drop on record; Affirm shares close up 32%, good for its biggest rally in three years.
• 📉🏘️ A gauge of US pending home sales fell last month to its lowest level on record (dating back to 2001), per the National Association of Realtors.
• 🤖💰 Apple and Nvidia are reportedly in talks to invest in a new OpenAI fundraising round alongside Microsoft and others; OpenAI is reportedly seeking a valuation of $100+ billion.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏌️ The 2024 Tour Championship teed off yesterday; Scottie Scheffler, who started the first round at 10-under due to his top performance over the FedEx Cup season, leads by seven strokes after Day 1.
• 🏀 Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark on Wednesday broke the WNBA’s rookie record for most three-pointers in a season (88 and counting); Clark also recently broke the WNBA rookie record for assists. | ✍️ Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry signed a one-year, $62.6 million contract extension covering the 2026-27 season; he’s currently projected as the first NBA athlete to make $60+ million/year. | 🏟️ Buffalo Bills' fans can now invest in the team's new stadium.
• 🍿🦖 The new Jurassic World film – starring Scarlett Johannson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali – revealed a pair of first-look photos yesterday as well as its official title: Jurassic World Rebirth.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Arro

• 🤖📸 Google is adding its latest image generator – Imagen 3 – to its Gemini AI platform, and will resume allowing users to create images that contain people; the move comes six months after Google pulled the feature due to ahistorical and racially inaccurate depictions.
• 🚀⏳ SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission is now delayed indefinitely pending the completion of a separate mishap investigation required by the FAA.
• 🐒 Marmoset monkeys use distinctive whistle-like calls to address specific individuals, similar to how humans use names, according to a study published yesterday in Science; this behavior had previously only been identified in humans, dolphins, and elephants.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ⚖️📰 Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin won her bid for a new trial against the NY Times regarding a corrected editorial Palin alleges was defamatory; the article erroneously linked Palin to a mass shooting that injured former Rep. Gabby Giffords before being corrected. | 🚨 The FBI has failed to report some child sexual abuse allegations to local law enforcement or social service agencies – even after recent changes prompted by its poor handling of the case against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, per a new DOJ watchdog report.
• ✈️ For Labor Day travelers: This weekend is expected to see 17 million people go through TSA, the busiest on record for the travel period.
• 🗣️ VP Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sat down for their first joint interview last night on CNN. (The interview | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔🏥 Kim Kardashian Endorses Them – Are Full-Body MRI Scans Worth The Cost?

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💰 Stat of the Day: Who wants to be a millionaire? A growing number of Americans who own 401(k) accounts, per a new analysis from Fidelity Investments. The financial services giant, which examined 24 million accounts across 26,000 employer-sponsored plans, found there were 497,000 Americans with $1+ million in their 401(k) last quarter, representing the highest figure on record. Overall, Fidelity found the average 401(k) account balance rose 13% from a year ago to reach $127,100.

🤔 Did You Know? A recent study focused on the college football stadiums of Oregon State and Virginia Tech discovered noise levels for players on the field reach up to 95-100 decibels when the away team has the ball – or loud enough that the quarterback’s voice carries only one foot before being drowned out.

📰 Worth a Read: Why haven’t we detected a signal from intelligent aliens yet? → (Big Think)

We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week.

• Indignant shopper in China makes Louis Vuitton staff count $110k in cash for 2 hours, then leaves → (Straits Times)
• San Diego's 'Bubble Man' ticketed for liquid littering → (CBS8 San Diego)
• New startup wants to sell you “sunlight after dark” using mirrors → (Dexerto)
• Florida team's bat dog to keep her job, despite messy debut → (UPI)
• Methamphetamine disguised as shipment of watermelons seized at US-Mexico border in San Diego → (Associated Press)

As Pokémon fans like to say: "You gotta catch 'em all." 

Unless, of course, you're card collector Ross “Coop” Cooper, whose mission is to give them all away.

🃏 How the magic goes down: If someone wanders up to his station, Coop asks them what their favorite Pokémon is. If he has a card with that Pokémon on it, he'll whip out his binder and gift it to them to take home for free. If he doesn't, Coop will give them an unopened booster pack and let them keep what’s inside.

• “At the end of the day, we all have a hobby we really enjoy,” he told CNN. “I know it’s going to be worth more, the experience, than getting a couple bucks in my pocket.”

Our weekly news quiz is live.

• How well did you pay attention this week?

Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Ground chicken
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Basil pesto
• Egg
• Salt & pepper

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Eggs
• Buttermilk
• Whole milk
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Vanilla extract
• Butter
• Challah bread

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Flour
• Baking powder & soda
• Salt
• Sugar
• Whole milk
• Neutral oil
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract

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☝️ Recipe #1: Pesto chicken meatballs

✌️ Recipe #2: Challah french toast

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Mantecadas