Ben Thompson: The Google Capital Company (Jun. 2, 2026)
It contrasts Google’s ad-driven, low-marginal-cost, user-fed aggregator model with Berkshire-style, capital-intensive businesses. Google Cloud’s fast AI growth, and Alphabet’s $80 billion equity raise, including Berkshire’s $10 billion deal, prompt questions about funding, scale, and debt decisions.
NY Times: How Box Created 13 New Types of Jobs Because of A.I. (Jun. 1, 2026)
Box has created 13 new A.I.-focused roles, such as A.I. architects, solutions managers, and platform leaders, and plans to grow headcount. The company says A.I. boosts productivity, creates new jobs.
Ethan Mollick: Co-Existence and the End of Co-Intelligence (Jun. 4, 2026)
AI shifted from cooperative chatbots to autonomous agents that now write most code and multiply developer output. Co-Existence offers ways to work with AIs that are sometimes better than you.
The Atlantic: The Biggest Tell That Something Was Written by AI (May 29, 2026)
AI writing has quietly saturated everyday life and elite literary spaces, used out of convenience and competitive pressure despite public distrust. Its polished sameness erodes thought, judgment, and meaningful editing, producing bland, sycophantic prose that conceals errors.
NY Times: What It’s Like to Be a Student at the First A.I.-Powered University (Jun. 1, 2026)
California State University spent $16.9 million to provide ChatGPT licenses and embed A.I. across campuses, like S.J.S.U.’s A.I. avatar, A.I. librarians, and new courses. The rollout has sparked faculty backlash, student confusion, and questions about education, equity, and jobs.
WSJ: Gavin Newsom Wants an AI New Deal (May 29, 2026)
Gavin Newsom proposes an AI “New Deal,” including job protections, wage replacement, and universal basic capital, aiming to shield workers but risking bigger welfare programs, weaker hiring incentives, and slower economic growth.
NY Times Opinion: Multimember Districts? Ranked Choice? This Is How to Fix Our Elections. (Jun. 4, 2026)
The piece argues for electoral reforms like proportional representation, multimember districts, and especially majority-rule voting, where ranked ballots decide winners by head-to-head comparisons. My solution is much simpler: make Congress much bigger.
ScienceDaily: Forget LASIK: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery (May 26, 2026)
Researchers developed electromechanical reshaping, using mild electric pulses and shaped electrodes to soften and mold the cornea without lasers or cutting, improving vision in rabbit eyes. It may be cheaper, less invasive, potentially reversible, but remains experimental.