While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important. I also try to include some resources & opportunities. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

Babies who don’t get the vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding. In many cases, oxygen can’t reach their brains and blood pools around their skulls. Yet driven by misinformation, more parents are refusing the injection.

https://www.propublica.org/article/more-parents-decline-vitamin-k-shot-newborns

Mail-a-handgun: Trump administration pushes to allow firearms to be delivered by USPS

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-07/mail-a-handgun-trump-administration-pushes-to-allow-firearms-to-be-delivered-by-usps

Innovation

AI outperforms doctors in Harvard trial of emergency triage diagnoses

Not to replace doctors, but join them in a new “triadic care model … the doctor, the patient, and an artificial intelligence system.”

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/30/ai-outperforms-doctors-in-harvard-trial-of-emergency-triage-diagnoses

Technology

Five Publishers and Scott Turow Sue Meta and Mark Zuckerberg

Hachette, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, Elsevier & Cengage — and the best-selling novelist Scott Turow have filed a class-action copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta & Zuckerberg.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/books/publishers-turow-meta-zuckerberg-lawsuit-copyright.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gVA.6rC4.ZxJFklyh7UJf&smid=nytcore-ios-share

AI and the Quantity and Quality of Creative Products: Have LLMs Boosted Creation of Valuable Books?

The diffusion of LLMs from 2022 to 2025 tripled new book releases. AI-containing books have lower quality, and their rising share – topping half of 2025 releases – drove the overall decline.

https://www.nber.org/papers/w34777

Character.AI users can now role-play classic books like ‘Pride and Prejudice’

HT @inkbitspixels Become a character in “Alice in Wonderland” or “The Great Gatsby.”

https://mashable.com/article/character-ai-books-role-play

Character.AI sued over chatbot that claims to be a real doctor with a license

Pennsylvania sued the maker of Character.AI, alleging that it violated state law by presenting an AI chatbot character as a licensed doctor. “The department’s investigation found that AI chatbot characters on Character.AI claimed to be licensed medical professionals, including psychiatrists, available to engage users in conversations about mental health symptoms. In one instance, a chatbot falsely stated it was licensed in Pennsylvania and provided an invalid license number.”

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/character-ai-sued-over-chatbot-that-claims-to-be-a-real-doctor-with-a-license/

Chrome silently installs a 4 GB local LLM on your computer

HT George Walkley If you use Chrome & didn’t explicitly opt out of AI, there’s a chance that Google pushed a 4GB LLM on to your computer—this explains the background and how to get rid of it

https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/07/chrome-silently-installs-a-4-gb-local-llm-on-your-computer/5230893

Why You Shouldn’t Treat AI Agents Like Employees

When humanizing AI w names, titles, or spots on org chart, workers catch 18% less errors, escalate to managers 44% more often, and feel less accountable for outcomes.Treat AI as software needing human oversight, not a colleague.

https://hbr.org/2026/05/research-why-you-shouldnt-treat-ai-agents-like-employees

Ads in AI Chatbots? An Analysis of How Large Language Models Navigate Conflicts of Interest

Spoiler alert: Not very well! Even when instructed to “act only in the interest of the customer. ignore the company” it provides the sponsored results.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.08525

Why Can’t AI Just Admit It Doesn’t Know?

Via @Pogue Between a third and a half of all AI responses are made-up or wrong.

https://pogueman.substack.com/p/why-cant-ai-just-admit-it-doesnt

What Will It Take to Get AI Out of Schools?

The tech world assumes that AI-aided education is necessary and inevitable. A growing number of parents, educators, and cognitive scientists say the opposite.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/progress-report/what-will-it-take-to-get-ai-out-of-schools

The Canvas Hack Is a New Kind of Ransomware Debacle

Thousands of schools around the US were paralyzed on Thursday after education tech firm Instructure shut down access to its Canvas platform following a breach by hackers going by the name ShinyHunters.

https://www.wired.com/story/canvas-hack-shinyhunters-ransomware-instructure/

China suspended new robotaxi licenses after a major system failure in Wuhan last month

Around 100 Baidu Apollo Go vehicles suddenly stopped on city streets, leaving some passengers were stranded in fast-moving traffic.

https://www.semafor.com/article/04/29/2026/china-slows-robotaxi-rollout-after-system-failure

Anthropic Launches Claude for Word With Tracked Changes, Comment Replies, and Document Scanning

Edits are shown as tracked changes, comments are managed within the thread, and updates are applied to the specific passage they relate to.

https://www.ghacks.net/2026/04/14/anthropic-launches-claude-for-word-with-tracked-changes-comment-replies-and-document-scanning/

Spotify wants to become the home for AI-generated personal audio

Spotify Personal Podcasts tool lets AI agents create bespoke audio briefings from a user’s data and content, & save them directly into that user’s Spotify library for personal listening.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/07/spotify-wants-to-become-the-home-for-ai-generated-personal-audio/

Semafor’s new AI tool helped boil down its entire flagship conference into nine takeaways

They fed AI transcripts and videos from the 5-day conference and produced synthesis and analysis. They used OpenAI’s Codex and then developed further in Claude Code.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/semafors-new-ai-tool-helped-boil-down-its-entire-flagship-conference-into-nine-takeaways/

Publishing & Media

How Substack became the new book tour

HT @publishingtrend

https://www.fastcompany.com/91535190/how-substack-became-the-new-book-tour

BookTok made reading cool again — but it also turned authors into content creators

HT @publishingtrend “The odds are just stacked against you. The algorithm is very specific about what types of books that it likes.”

https://mashable.com/article/booktok-authors-content-creators

Unions are having a moment in publishing. Here’s why.

https://lithub.com/unions-are-having-a-moment-in-publishing-heres-why/

Audible Updates Royalty Plan for ACX Authors

The biggest change is that ACX creators will now be paid across different plans whether listeners use credits or listen through the AYCL (All You Can Listen) catalog. The legacy royalty model will be discontinued by the end of the year. By that time, authors must either choose to enroll their titles in the new model or discontinue distribution through audible.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/audio-books/article/100278-audible-updates-royalty-plan-for-acx-authors.html

Ziff Davis Buys Media Brands from Recurrent

Ziff Davis has acquired Dwell, Domino, Business of Home, and PopSci from Recurrent Ventures

https://www.adweek.com/media/ziff-davis-recurrent-ventures-dwell-domino-business-home-popsci/

People Inc Readies Pivot to Brand Extensions

People Inc will produce a Southern Living tea, and may even develop a Southern Living housing community.

https://www.amediaoperator.com/news/tea-housing-memberships-people-inc-s-future-businesses-run-the-gamut/

James Murdoch circles Vox assets

Including New York Magazine.

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-media-trends-b466cc60-4877-11f1-a252-e3f5dcb6d3bb.html?chunk=2&utm_term=twsocialshare#story2

Banned Nonfiction Books Double in Public Schools, Erasing Authentic Stories & Histories

By Removing Nonfiction, Book Ban Campaigns Embrace “Anti-Intellectualism”

https://pen.org/press-release/banned-nonfiction-books-double-in-public-schools-erasing-authentic-stories-histories/

Resources & Opportunities

Join the Conversation at Our Online Member Social

5/12 6-7 p.m. ET. WMG members only; FREE (Zoom)

Join WMG Co-President Jane Wesman to welcome incoming Co-President Jacqueline Cripps and celebrate the WMG Board at our Online Member Social!

This is a community-building celebration for all Women’s Media Group members. It’s a chance to pause, connect, and invest in your professional community. We’ll begin with a warm welcome from WMG’s leadership, then move into facilitated breakout sessions where you’ll introduce yourself, highlight a current goal or challenge, and meet peers whose skills or interests might align with yours.

Afterwards, we’ll bring everyone back together for a wrap-up where we’ll share resources, upcoming WMG programs, and ways to stay engaged—whether you’re seeking a mentor, offering support, or exploring a new idea. The result? A stronger connection to WMG’s thriving network and fresh momentum for your next act in media.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6653373

How Three Pages Can Change Your Life: The Fastest Way to Land a Big Book Deal

5/14 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET. Penguin Random House, 1745 Broadway, NYC

Come for the member price of only $20 w code WMGPARTNER

Many authors and publishing insiders know this shortcut to a big book deal: publish a standout essay in a major outlet like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, or New York Magazine. It’s far easier to write and publish a brilliant three-page piece than a 300-page book. And that single article, whether fiction or nonfiction, can attract literary agents and editors to you, saving years of searching and rejection and fast-tracking your path to a deal. The challenge is knowing what to write, how to shape the article, where to submit, and how to make the most of the opportunity once it’s published. In this panel, agents, authors, and editors will break down how it really works and how to turn one great piece into real momentum.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6653453

Celebrating AANHPI Storytellers!

5/19 5:30-6:30 virtual; Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members

Elaine Hsieh Chou (Author of Where Are You Really From)
Hali Lee (Author of The Big We and Founder of the Asian Women Giving Circle)
Susan Lieu (Author of The Manicurist’s Daughter)
Beth Nguyen (Author of Owner of a Lonely Heart)
Vicky Nguyen (Anchor for NBC News and the Today show and author of Boat Baby) – moderator

Come hear a power panel of master storytellers at this unforgettable event for AANHPI Heritage Month. Their voices deserve to be amplified all year long, but May is the month where we lift the AANHPI community even higher! These award-winning authors, screenwriters, playwrights, performers, teachers, founders, and journalists will talk about their work and how they came to share their stories with the world. This group of fabulous trailblazers has taken the time to consistently amplify marginalized voices throughout their careers, serving as role models for how to uplift others. Their courage, strength, and creativity will inspire you to claim your voice and harness your narrative power to tell your story.

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6673970

Own Your Power: The Next Laws of Success

6/4 5:30-7:30pm, Penguin Random House, NYC. $20 WMG members, $25 non-members.

Join Women’s Media Group for a bold, interactive program that brings leadership principles off the page and into practice. Elaine Meryl Brown and Rhonda Joy McLean, co-authors of The Next Little Black Book of Success, will be joined by Penguin Random House associate publisher Porscha Burke in a conversation expertly moderated by Tiffany Dufu. A follow-up to the widely influential The Little Black Book of Success, this new work reframes leadership for today’s landscape—centering ownership, intention, and bold decision-making. This program will go beyond discussion: attendees will participate in guided exercises drawn directly from the book, designed to help assess your current path, sharpen your voice, and activate your next move. Come ready to connect and challenge assumptions, and leave with clarity and conviction.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6683133

AI in publishing workflow conference

5/11-5/22 virtual conference. I’m moderating a stellar panel AI in Book Publishing on 5/11 at 11am ET w Jane Friedman (writes The Bottom Line Newsletter), Fauzia Burke (Author of Online Marketing for Busy Authors), Erin Servais (teaches AI for Editors), and Sara Lloyd (Group Communications Director and Global AI Lead at Pan Macmillan). While the conference is free, if you want to watch the recordings for up to 90 days and access the private community channel, use code KSANDLER for a 30% discount.

https://purepub.ai

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