Bombshell Immunity Filing Details Trump’s Alleged ‘Increasingly Desperate’ Bid to Overturn 2020 Election  

ABC News,

Special counsel Jack Smith has outlined new details of former President Donald Trump and his allies’ sweeping and “increasingly desperate” efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in a blockbuster court filing Wednesday aimed at defending Smith’s prosecution of Trump following the Supreme Court’s July immunity ruling. Trump intentionally lied to the public, state election officials, and his own vice president in an effort to cling to power after losing the election, while privately describing some of the claims of election fraud as “crazy,” prosecutors alleged in the 165-page filing.

“When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office,” the filing said. “With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost.”

When Trump’s effort to overturn the election through lawsuits and fraudulent electors failed to change the outcome of the election, prosecutors allege that the former president fomented violence, with prosecutors describing Trump as directly responsible for “the tinderbox that he purposely ignited on January 6.”

“The defendant also knew that he had only one last hope to prevent Biden’s certification as President: the large and angry crowd standing in front of him. So for more than an hour, the defendant delivered a speech designed to inflame his supporters and motivate them to march to the Capitol,” Smith wrote.

The lengthy filing — which includes an 80-page summary of the evidence gathered by investigators — outlines multiple instances in which Trump allegedly heard from advisers who disproved his allegations, yet continued to spread his claims of outcome-determinative voter fraud, prosecutors said.

“It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell,” Trump allegedly told members of his family following the 2020 election, the filing said.

OpenAI Raises $6.6 Billion in Largest VC Round Ever

Axios,

OpenAI announced on Wednesday it has completed its long-anticipated funding round, raising $6.6 billion in the largest venture capital deal of all time, which values the company at $157 billion. The intrigue: OpenAI is planning to shift to a for-profit structure, and investors can ask for their money back if it hasn’t completed those changes in two years, Axios has learned.

Driving the news: Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital led the round and was joined by Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, Tiger Global, and MGX. Not taking part, a source confirms, is Apple, which reportedly had been in talks to invest.

OpenAI’s deal tops the $6 billion raised earlier this year by Elon Musk’s xAI. The big picture: OpenAI is effectively transforming from a nonprofit lab to a product-focused company — a move that has attracted investors, but likely contributed to an exodus of many long-term employees. Last week, CTO Mira Murati and two top researchers announced they were leaving the company amid multiple reports of a culture clash between the product and safety teams. Internal debates about speed and safety have grown louder in the 10 months since the firing and rehiring of CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI disputes any suggestion that it is deprioritizing safety, even as it moves toward a for-profit model.

Israel Presses Forward on Two Fronts, Reports 8 Combat Deaths as Fears of a Wider War Mount 

Associated Press,

Israel pressed forward on two fronts Wednesday, pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah that left eight Israeli soldiers dead and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. As Israel vowed to retaliate for Iran’s ballistic missile attack a day earlier, the region braced for further escalation.

Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and the Hamas militants who run the Gaza Strip, launched dozens of missiles into Israel on Tuesday night, another escalation in a tit-for-tat cycle that is pushing the Middle East closer to a regional war. Israel warned that the attack would have “repercussions.” The Israeli military said seven soldiers were killed in two Hezbollah attacks in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, without elaborating. The deaths followed an earlier announcement of the first Israeli combat death in Lebanon since the start of the incursion — a 22-year-old captain in a commando brigade. Another seven troops were wounded.

OpenAI Closes $6.6 Billion Funding Haul with Investment from Microsoft and Nvidia 

Reuters,

OpenAI raises $6.6 billion with funding from Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, Microsoft, and Nvidia. Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, SoftBank, and MGX also participated. Thrive Capital committed $1.2 billion with an option for $1 billion more next year.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has raised $6.6 billion from investors, which could value the company at $157 billion and cement its position as one of the most valuable private companies in the world. The funding has attracted returning venture capital investors, including Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures, as well as OpenAI’s biggest corporate backer Microsoft and new participation from Nvidia.

The closing of the funds coincides with the company’s ongoing restructuring efforts and executive changes, including the abrupt departure of its longtime Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, last week. Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, SoftBank, and Abu Dhabi’s state-backed investment firm MGX also participated in the round. OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told employees on Wednesday that the company will be able to provide liquidity for them through a tender offer to buy back their shares in the company following the funding.

Ship Queue Grows at US Ports as Dockworker Strike Enters Third Day

Reuters,
Long lines of container ships queued up outside major U.S. ports on Thursday as the biggest dockworker strike in nearly half a century entered its third day, preventing unloading and threatening shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts. No negotiations were scheduled between the International Longshoremen’s Association and employers, but the port owners, under pressure from the White House to hike their pay offer to land a deal, signaled late on Wednesday they were open to new talks.

At least 45 container vessels that have been unable to unload had anchored up outside the strike-stricken East Coast and Gulf Coast ports by Wednesday, up from just three before the strike began on Sunday, according to Everstream Analytics. “Many seem to have decided to wait it out, possibly in hopes of a prompt resolution to the strike action, rather than taking the proactive decision to divert,” said Everstream’s Jena Santoro in a video presentation seen by Reuters.

College Students Used Meta’s Smart Glasses to Dox People in Real Time

The Verge,

Two Harvard students have created an eerie demo of how smart glasses can use facial recognition tech to instantly dox people’s identities, phone numbers, and addresses. The most unsettling part is the demo uses current, widely available technology like the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and public databases.

AnhPhu Nguyen, one of the two students, posted a video showcasing the tech in action that was then picked up by 404 Media. Dubbed I-XRAY, the tech works by using the Meta smart glasses’ ability to livestream video to Instagram. A computer program then monitors that stream and uses AI to identify faces. Those photos are then fed into public databases to find names, addresses, phone numbers, and even relatives. That information is then fed back through a phone app.