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
Trump’s Golf Empire Is A Billion-Dollar Tax Shelter
MT @MikeLevin Trump pulled in roughly $1.4B from crypto in 2025, plus > $200M from real estate, and faced a projected tax bill north of $500M. His company donated the “development rights” to his Jupiter, Florida golf course to a land trust, argued the course was a natural habitat worth protecting, and kept right on running the club. Forbes estimates the write-off could land around $825M. He has done this at least 5 times since 2005. New York’s attorney general alleged two of those appraisals were inflated. In Doral, he claimed a deduction of up to $323M, more than double what he paid for the entire resort. A month after the Jupiter deal, he sued the IRS. The settlement his own Justice Department signed bars claims against him over matters that “could be pending,” language that appears broad enough to cover this year’s taxes. A federal judge found the case was brought to manipulate the judicial process. And the man now running the IRS, who took the job as this deal was being assembled, has a home backing onto those same Jupiter fairways.
The Art of the Deal: Jared Kushner’s Hacked Phone Revealed His Secret Negotiations—Including More Than $700 Million in Transfers
MT @michaeldweiss The GRU hacked into Jared Kushner’s iPhone. Dutch military intelligence (MIVD) then recruited a GRU spy who gave them access to the hacked phone. What MIVD discovered was that Kushner had access to two bank accounts –one Azerbaijani, the other Israeli –where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati ruler Mohammed bin Zayed deposited money.
https://www.vanityfair.com/story/jared-kushner-hacked-phone-secret-negotiations
Trump Appointees Asked a Federal Cybersecurity Agency to Secretly Acquire a Voting Machine — and Hack It
https://www.propublica.org/article/cisa-election-security-donald-trump
Technology
Signaling AI Involvement and Human Authorship in ONIX Metadata
https://www.bisg.org/news/signaling-ai-involvement-and-human-authorship-in-onix-metadata
Society of Authors withdraws from Ethical AI Charter after member backlash
The charter, designed to “define how generative AI services should be deployed to help protect and support human creators” in the absence of government policy, was created in collaboration with the Creators’ Rights Alliance (CRA) in the UK, the Authors Guild in the US, the Australian Society of Authors, the Writers’ Union of Canada and the New Zealand Society of Authors. It outlined that agents, publishers and prize bodies “can pledge to only use generative AI in a transparent, responsible and ethical way, balancing the technological benefits with the potentially devastating impact on people and planet.” However, the move received criticism from members, around the lack of consultation before the charter was published and the SoA’s position on generative AI use.
Digital publishers block AI training bots, but embrace search
More than 40% of top US digital publishers, including The New York Times, block AI training crawlers, compared with just 25% that bar AI search crawlers.
Meta removes language that may have allowed it to scrape news sites
Even LinkedIn is getting tired of your AI-written posts
https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/18/tech/linkedin-fighting-ai-posts
Michelin Used AI to Write Its Guide to Dallas Restaurants
https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2026/10/michelin-guide-dallas-ai-reviews/
Comics Accuse Hot AI Fakes of Stealing Their Jokes Word for Word to Push OnlyFans Pages
Stand-up comics are calling out accounts that have sexy female “comics” plagiarizing their jokes: “AI stole my joke and my outfit.”
Unvetted AI agents are accessing U.S. bank accounts
Banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others are racing to contain agent risks. Some are aware of unauthorized access. The difficulty in distinguishing between a human and an unauthorized bot is forcing banks to block the technology and rapidly rewrite their terms of service.
https://www.axios.com/2026/10/22/ai-agents-banks-unauthorized-accounts-access
China has begun issuing ID cards to AI-generated humans
AI influencers can now have digital wallets.
https://cybernews.com/ai-news/china-ai-humans/
German police seize humanoid robot that allegedly groped teen girl
The owner of the robot, a 16-year-old male, and his 19-year-old companion are said to have recorded and livestreamed the encounter themselves, while commenting on it live on social media.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/germany-robot-teen-girl-sexual-harassment-groping-cologne/
‘Unprecedented’ Cyberattack cripples supermarket fridges across Europe as hackers activate automatic defrosting — delivery and store prices also impacted by incident
OpenAI is bringing interactive visuals to ChatGPT with GPT-6
https://qz.com/openai-chatgpt-gpt-6-intelligent-ui-interactive-visuals-100826
Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+, and the 2 big changes include AI audiobooks
HT @publishingtrend Unlike narrated audiobooks from Audible and other providers, the audiobooks created with Virtual Voice in Kindle+ will instead be narrated by AI.
https://www.zdnet.com/tech/kindle-unlimited-kindle-plus-audiobooks-ai/
Amazon launches new Bee ‘personal AI’ devices that listen to conversations
The $75 Bee Frontier is an upgraded version of its wearable bracelet, while the $100 Bee Eclipse attaches to a user’s smartphone.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/amazon-bee-frontier-eclipse-ai-devices.html
Instagram Adds Carousel Editor to Its Edits App
https://www.netinfluencer.com/instagram-adds-carousel-editor-to-its-edits-app/
Critical PHP Security Warning Issued—Apply Emergency Patch Today
What to know about the PHP bug affecting 70% of the world’s websites
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/php2shell-vulnerability-ai-security-flaw/
Publishing & Media
Publishers seek $19.5M default judgment against shadow library WeLib
https://betanews.com/article/welib-default-judgment-19-5-million/
Hundreds Sue Meta for Copyright Infringement, Rejecting Class Action Payouts
Nearly 300 authors filed copyright infringement claims against Meta Platforms on October 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the company trained its AI models on pirated copies of their books and, more recently, on physical books it bought and scanned without a license.
Catapult to Be Sold, End Operations
The Mystery of the Publishing P&L
A nice primer.
https://publishingtrends.com/2026/10/the-mystery-of-the-publishing-pl/
Resources & Opportunities
WMG Job Seekers Weekly Meetup
Are you unemployed, under-employed, or just thinking about a career change? WMG members join our free virtual weekly support group and come when you can to help each other rise.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/events
A Legacy in Storytelling: Celebrating Marie Dutton Brown
11/10 1-3pm, Red Rooster Harlem, NYC. Three-course lunch included
Early Bird Pricing (thru 10/26): $85 for WMG members | $115 for non-members
Regular Pricing (after 10/26): $100 for WMG members | $125 for non-members
This event marks the exciting debut of Stories She Championed, Women’s Media Group’s new literary series celebrating the stories, books, and lasting legacy of literary trailblazer Marie Dutton Brown. The series launches at Red Rooster Harlem, a celebrated restaurant in the heart of Harlem known for its food, music, and deep ties to the neighborhood’s cultural history.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6877292
WMG Members: Apply for a Rise Fund Grant!
https://womensmediagroup.org/Rise-Fund
Artist’s Book Residency Grant
https://wsworkshop.org/residencies/artists-book-residency-grant/
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