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Lese-Ansicht

What Alex Bores’s New York Defeat Reveals About the Fight Over A.I. Money in Politics

Alex Bores’s close loss in New York could pave the way for other Democrats to take political advantage of being attacked by the increasingly unpopular A.I. industry.

© Laura Brett/Getty Images

Alex Bores with his wife, Darya Moldavskaya, on Tuesday night after he conceded his Democratic primary race for the House in New York City.
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Meta pauses employee tracker for AI training amid privacy concerns

About 1,600 workers signed petition against tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and computer screen content

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has paused a program that tracked employees’ computer activity amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash.

The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had introduced a tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and content displayed on computer screens in order to collect data for training its AI models.

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© Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

© Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

© Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

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Ex-Hoyer Aide Buoyed by Super PACs Wins Democratic House Primary in Maryland

Adrian Boafo, a state delegate, won a primary to succeed the retiring Representative Steny Hoyer with help from more than $11 million in spending from pro-Israel and cryptocurrency interests.

© Gail Burton/Associated Press

Adrian Boafo’s victory in the Democratic primary means he is very likely to win a seat in Congress in November, given how overwhelmingly the seat leans to the left.
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AIPAC, Crypto Cash and Rich Candidates Dominate Maryland House Races

In two competitive Democratic primaries, well-funded interest groups as well as wealthy candidates themselves have poured tens of millions of dollars into advertising.

© Gail Burton/Associated Press; Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Adrian Boafo, left, and David Trone are at the center of two expensive Democratic primaries for the House in Maryland.
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Firm Tied to Trump Donor Got No-Bid Contract to Clean Reflecting Pool

A White House spokeswoman said the president was not involved in selecting Greenwater Services, the business owned by a trust led by John J. Cafaro.

© Salwan Georges for The New York Times

Peeled blue paint floating in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Thursday.
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‘Mega-consumers’ of food and energy cost environment $5.7tn a year, study finds

Top 10% generate climate and biodiversity damage bill that exceeds economies of most countries, say researchers

The environmental damage bill racked up by the highest-consuming 10% of the world’s population has reached up to $5.7tn a year – larger than the economy of every country except the US and China, a study has found.

Mega-consumers in this group are concentrated in the global north, accounting for more than half the population of the US and 40-45% of people in the EU.

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© Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA

© Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA

© Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA

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Unlikely Coalition Begins Campaign Against Billionaire Tax in California

A surprising array of left-leaning interest groups is trying to kill a wealth tax initiative before the November ballot is finalized. Gov. Gavin Newsom is at the center of negotiations.

© Max Whittaker for The New York Times

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who says taxing billionaires would hurt California’s dominance as the cradle of tech innovation, is trying to pull it off the ballot before a deadline on June 25.
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Students could be required to pass GCSE English to access university loans

Exclusive: Ministers consider national threshold in England that could in effect bar thousands from studying

University students would face minimum grade requirements to qualify for student loans in England under proposals that could in effect bar thousands of young people from higher education.

Under one proposal being discussed by ministers, a pass in GCSE English would become the national threshold for students to access government-backed tuition and maintenance loans through the Student Loans Company.

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© Photograph: Martin Anderson/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Anderson/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Anderson/Alamy

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The Crypto Industry Makes Its Biggest Midterm Bet Yet

The industry’s main super PAC has spent $9.8 million on ads to help the Senate bid of Representative Barry Moore of Alabama, a Republican seen as pro-cryptocurrency.

© Al Drago/Getty Images

Representative Barry Moore has voted for several bills that the crypto industry has prioritized this Congress.
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Can you really travel the world for free? A travel points expert shares her secrets

Stacy Roberts says she took $83,000 worth of vacations for $4,300. Here’s how

Stacy Roberts likes to tell her 321,000 followers that her family is rich – in credit card points, that is. Last year alone, she, her husband and their three kids traveled to Spain, Denmark, Austria, Italy, California, Utah and Hawaii all for around $4,300, she says.

How does she do it? Roberts says she opens a new credit card each month, allowing her to accumulate around 1m points a year.

An adviser on the estate documents that matter more than a will

A finance podcaster on how she plans to make her daughter a millionaire

A former union organizer on how to negotiate your debts down

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© Photograph: Courtesy of Stacy Roberts

© Photograph: Courtesy of Stacy Roberts

© Photograph: Courtesy of Stacy Roberts

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ActBlue C.E.O. Invokes Fifth Amendment Repeatedly in Testimony to Congress

The head of the Democratic fund-raising behemoth declined to answer questions from House Republicans about reports that she may have misled Congress over how her group vetted foreign donations.

© Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, via Getty Images

Regina Wallace-Jones, the chief executive of ActBlue, was questioned on Wednesday by House Republicans including Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, pictured in the background.
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The Likely Platner-Collins Matchup Is Set to Be Hugely Expensive

Both Senate candidates in Maine have been strong fund-raisers, and allied super PACs and dark-money groups are mobilizing for their showdown.

© Joe Raedle/Getty Images, Michael A. McCoy for The New York Time

Both parties are expected to spend heavily on the likely race between Graham Platner, a Democrat, and Senator Susan Collins, a Republican.
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Pro-Israel Group Pushes for Haley Stevens in Michigan Senate Race

The main super PAC tied to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee released its first ads backing Ms. Stevens, a moderate congresswoman locked in a tight three-way primary.

© Sarah Rice/Getty Images

Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan has been a vocal supporter of Israel in the past.
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Think Musk the billionaire was bad? Brace yourself for Musk the trillionaire | Arwa Mahdawi

Becoming the world’s first trillionaire is only going to supercharge this sense of impunity and bring us one step closer to full-blown oligarchy

“Whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about,” Elon Musk wrote in February on Twitter/X, the social network he bought for $44bn. He capped the statement with a sad face emoji.

Alas, Musk’s information is outdated. A 2024 study found a substantial difference in happiness between the wealthy and people who are low income. “A greater feeling of control over life can explain about 75% of the association between money and happiness,” the study’s author noted.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist and the author of Strong Female Lead

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

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Lindsey Graham’s Allies Spend Big to Ward Off a Republican Challenger

The Republican senator from South Carolina has a well-funded primary challenger who has a chance of forcing him into a runoff election.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times, Alex Martin, via Imagn Images

Senator Lindsey Graham, left, Mark Lynch, right.
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Chuck Schumer Privately Backs Haley Stevens in Michigan Democratic Senate Primary

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, has remained officially neutral on the race, but in conversations with donors, he has been clear about which candidate he supports.

© Jose Juarez/Associated Press

Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan, a moderate Democrat, is locked in a competitive three-way primary race for Senate.
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Financier Lex Greensill banned from running UK companies for nine years

Founder of Greensill Capital says there was no finding he acted dishonestly after his company collapsed owing £1.6bn

The disgraced former financier Lex Greensill has been banned from running a UK company for nine years after he was judged to be unfit because of the 2021 collapse of his £1.6bn supply chain invoicing firm.

The government’s Insolvency Service said on Thursday that Greensill had signed a disqualification undertaking, bringing the case to an end before a trial was due to begin on 8 June.

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© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

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California Had the Most Expensive Governor’s Race in U.S. History. It’s Still Not Over.

Nearly $316 million was spent on campaign ads in the primary for California governor. Now the general election spending will begin.

© Mark Abramson for The New York Times

Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer were leading the vote count Wednesday in California’s primary election for governor, the most expensive gubernatorial contest in the country’s history.
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Billionaires and Silicon Valley Have Flooded California’s Races With Cash

Tom Steyer has spent a staggering $216 million on his campaign for governor. Tech titans have lined up behind one of his rivals. And in other races, rich donors are spending big.

© Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times

Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund investor and a longtime megadonor to liberal causes, has lavishly self-funded his bid for California governor.
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Powerful A.I. Super PACs Duel Over the Midterms: ‘This Is a War’

One super PAC is allied with Anthropic. The other is tied to OpenAI. They’re both spending millions to influence this year’s elections.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The artificial intelligence industry has begun spending tens of millions of dollars on elections, routing the money through allied super PACs.
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