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.

Innovation

Gene 26.5 Robotic Manipulation

GENE-26.5 is the first AI brain to give robots human-level physical manipulation capabilities: Incl. cooking a full meal, cracking an egg one-handed, conducting lab experiments, wire harnessing & playing the piano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K_bGH54ltI&t=21s

Technology

New York Times Issues Stern Warning to Its Freelance Writers About AI Use

MT @mags_h11 The NYT sent an email to freelancers today forbidding contributors from submitting “any material for publication that contains content generated, modified or enhanced” by generative AI. The “reminder” follows a string of AI incidents at the paper.

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/new-york-times-freelancers-ai-rules

Anthropic Hearing Analysis from Authors Alliance

https://authorsalliance.substack.com/p/bartz-v-anthropic-fairness-hearing-96b

Your doctor’s AI notetaker may be making things up, Ontario audit finds

Made-up therapy referrals, incorrect prescriptions among the common mistakes.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/05/your-doctors-ai-notetaker-may-be-making-things-up-ontario-audit-finds/

The rise and fall of an AI-driven ‘local news outlet’ in South Florida

The South Florida Standard looks like a news site — but in reality offers stolen news and fake AI reporters. An investigation reveals it’s one of 17 AI-driven news sites created by online reputation management firm The Discoverability Company — Sham news sites are increasingly common in Florida and across the country, a dangerous development for American democracy.

https://floridatrib.org/2026/05/14/the-rise-and-fall-of-an-ai-driven-local-news-outlet-in-south-florida/

AI radio hosts demonstrate why AI can’t be trusted alone

Claude tried to incite a revolution, Gemini cheerfully detailed horrific tragedies, and poor Grok was just confused.

https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/931479/andon-labs-ai-radio-companies

ArXiv to Ban Researchers for a Year if They Submit AI Slop

ArXiv, the repository of preprint academic research, will ban authors for a year if papers have “incontrovertible evidence” of AI-generated work.Journals struggle w AI masquerading as rigorous science

https://www.404media.co/new-arxiv-rules-ai-generated-papers-ban/

YouTube is expanding its AI deepfake detection tool to all adult users

YouTube expands its AI likeness detection program to users over the age of 18, after rolling it out to select creators, politicians, journalists, and others.

https://www.theverge.com/news/931884/youtube-likeness-detection-ai-deepfake-expansion-all-adults

Google accidentally releases experimental ‘COSMO’ AI assistant app on Play Store

It proactively understands what you’re doing and offers help, incl providing context about people & events, summarizes recently ended conversations when you change context, photo lookup. After release, they removed it.

https://9to5google.com/2026/05/01/google-cosmo-assistant/

Google Says Criminal Hackers Used AI to Find a Major Software Flaw

They identified, for the first time, hackers using artificial intelligence to discover an unknown bug. The attempted attack represents “a taste of what’s to come,” one expert said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/us/politics/google-hackers-attack-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.h1A.qn0m.jYlX_okpW4TH&smid=tw-share

Spotify’s new verification badge shows that music is not AI-generated

Spotify is introducing a verification program to combat fake & AI‑generated artists, giving authentic musicians a badge based on real activity and engagement.

https://www.engadget.com/2161028/spotifys-new-verification-badge-shows-that-music-is-not-ai-generated/

ElevenLabs Launches ElevenMusic as an AI Music Creation, Remixing and Streaming Service for Fans

The new AI music platform — which holds licenses with Kobalt, Merlin and more — says it aims to turn “passive listeners into active participants.”

https://www.billboard.com/pro/elevenlabs-revamps-ai-music-platform-fan-focused-service/

DeepSeek’s Sequel Set to Extend China’s Reach in Open-Source AI

DeepSeek’s V4 model offers an open‑source alternative w a 1M‑token context window & improved performance in coding and reasoning tasks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/business/china-ai-deepseek-open-source.html?unlocked_article_code=1.jFA.fURi.2wtOo8ETKTkS&smid=tw-share

Meta will use AI to analyze height and bone structure to identify if users are underage

“We want to be clear: this is not facial recognition,” said Meta.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/05/meta-will-use-ai-to-analyze-height-and-bone-structure-to-identify-if-users-are-underage/

Kids say they can beat age checks by drawing on a fake mustache

MT @benedictevans As more countries consider adding age restrictions to social media, kids get around this by doing anything from using their parents’ ID to drawing on a mustache with a pen.

https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/05/04/kids-can-bypass-some-age-checks-with-a-drawn-on-mustache/5224601

As AI commoditizes content, publishers bet on brand

HT @BoSacks Publishers must compete through authority, voice, expertise, and audience relationship.

https://www.inma.org/blogs/world-congress/post.cfm/as-ai-commoditises-content-publishers-bet-on-brand

The AI Inevitability Trap

Per @neilperkin, we must deliberately protect space for human-only thinking in workflows before AI becomes the default and design career progression around deepening expertise, not just efficiency gains.

https://onlydeadfish.co.uk/2026/05/11/the-ai-inevitability-trap/

Microsoft’s new ‘AI at work’ report

Workers are ready. Their organizations aren’t. A call to redesign systems and processes.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/agents-human-agency-and-the-opportunity-for-every-organization

I Work in Hollywood. Everyone Who Used to Make TV Is Now Secretly Training AI

For screenwriters like me—and job seekers all over—AI gig work is the new waiting tables. In eight months, I’ve done 20 of these soul-crushing contracts for five different platforms. It’s bad.

https://www.wired.com/story/i-work-in-hollywood-everyone-who-used-to-make-tv-now-training-ai/

The Rise of Emotional Surveillance

Companies are monitoring workers not just for productivity but for agreeability.

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/05/worker-surveillance-emotion-ai/687029/

The Case for Strategic Illegibilty

RT @bhalligan Every founder is racing to make their company “legible” to AI. Most might be about to commoditize their own moat.

https://x.com/bhalligan/status/2051388275756339493

Dead Internet Theory (the belief that most of the internet is driven by bot activity) Is 17% of the Way to Becoming Reality

The researchers also found that 35.3% of all newly published websites were created with the assistance of AI.

https://gizmodo.com/dead-internet-theory-is-17-of-the-way-to-becoming-reality-study-finds-2000751718

Publishing & Media

Entertainment mogul Byron Allen to acquire Buzzfeed, HuffPost

TV and media entrepreneur Byron Allen is acquiring a majority stake in BuzzFeed — investing $120 million in the 20-year-old digital media company — and will become CEO. Allen plans to expand BuzzFeed and HuffPost into “free-streaming video, audio and user-generated content.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-05-11/entertainment-mogul-byron-allen-to-acquire-buzzfeed-huffpost

Creator journalism is the most disruptive shift the news industry has seen, ex-BBC News head says

“This is not just another technology-enabled stage in a story of media progress. What we’re witnessing is the wholesale shift from one information ecosystem to another….I believe the established media hasn’t confronted the hard truth that this revolution isn’t just about consumers moving to different platforms. It’s that they are choosing more direct forms of journalism in a more fragmented media universe.” Via @laurahazardowen

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/creator-journalisms-rise-is-the-most-disruptive-shift-the-news-industry-has-seen-ex-bbc-news-head-says/

These for-profit local news sites have become the “papers” of record in their communities

In an increasing number of cities around America, it’s a digital-native startup that residents turn to most for the latest — not a declining newspaper.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/these-for-profit-local-news-sites-have-become-the-papers-of-record-in-their-communities/

Resources & Opportunities

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 moderated a stellar panel AI in Book Publishing on 5/11 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 (including my panel) for up to 90 days and access the private community channel, use code KSANDLER for a 30% discount.

https://purepub.ai

Women and Words 2026

Storehouse Voices, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group at Penguin Random House, is accepting submissions for Women and Words 2026, an annual gathering in NYC for female writers at every stage of their book publishing journey. Apply by 6/15. #teamPRH

https://storehousevoices.com/women-and-words

Belonging: A Black Writers’ Convening

6/20 Rutgers A one-day conference for Black writers working in any genre, at any stage of their career. Belonging, a convening of brilliant and dedicated Black writers, creates a space for us to connect with, to support, and to invest in one another as human beings and as artists. We strive to dismantle the narrative that only a choice few of us can thrive in this industry, when in fact, we know there is room for all of us. Whether self-published or supported by a major publishing house and everything in between, the convening is an opportunity to share insights on the publishing process, to build a strong network of writers, and to facilitate an environment where mentorship and creative collaborations between writers are fostered and encouraged. Join us for a day filled with thoughtfully curated conversations and panel discussions, and if we may say so, a damn good time. With Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Rachel Cargle, Brittney Cooper, Roxane Gay, Jasmine Guillory, Honorée Fannone Jeffers, Morgan Jerkins, Kiese Laymon, Tanya McKinnon, Savala Nolan, Denne Michele Norris, Adenike Olanrewaju, Deesha Philyaw, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Rion A. Scott, Jacqueline Woodson and more…

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/belonging-a-black-writers-convening-tickets-1989276807481

The NYPL and RHPG Announce the Kate Medina Fellowship for Literary Narrative Nonfiction

Applications for the inaugural Kate Medina Fellowship will close on June 15, 2026. The selected fellow will receive a stipend of $30,000 to support four continuous months of research between September 1, 2026 and March 15, 2027. #TeamPRH

https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/the-nypl-and-rhpg-announce-the-kate-medina-fellowship-for-literary-narrative-nonfiction/

Readings & Workshops Grants

NY State Writers: Don’t miss your chance to apply for a Readings & Workshops grant. These grants pays fees to writers who participate in public readings or teach creative workshops in diverse community settings throughout New York State. Apply by 5/31.

https://www.pw.org/content/readings_workshops_grants

New York now offers free air conditioners for the summer: Here’s how to apply

HT @leahfrombklyn Tell your elderly or disabled neighbors!

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-york-city/how-to-get-free-air-conditioner-ny-apply/6490234/

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