How Much Energy Does ChatGPT's Newest Model Consume?

Authored by Haley Zaremba via OilPrice.com,

• The energy consumption of the newest version of ChatGPT is significantly higher than previous models, with estimates suggesting it could be up to 20 times more energy-intensive than the first version.

• There is a severe lack of transparency regarding the energy use and environmental impact of AI models, as there are no mandates forcing AI companies to disclose this information.

• The increasing energy demands of AI are contributing to rising electricity costs for consumers and raising concerns about the broader environmental impact of the tech industry.

How much energy does the newest version of ChatGPT consume? No one knows for sure, but one thing is certain – it’s a whole lot. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, hasn’t released any official figures for the large language model’s energy footprints, but academics are working to quantify the energy use for query – and it’s considerably higher than for previous models. 

There are no mandates forcing AI companies to disclose their energy use or environmental impact, so most do not offer up those kinds of statistics publicly. As of May of this year, 84 percent of all large language model traffic was conducted on AI models with zero environmental disclosures. 

“It blows my mind that you can buy a car and know how many miles per gallon it consumes, yet we use all these AI tools every day and we have absolutely no efficiency metrics, emissions factors, nothing,” says Sasha Luccioni, climate lead at an AI company called Hugging Face.

“It’s not mandated, it’s not regulatory. Given where we are with the climate crisis, it should be top of the agenda for regulators everywhere,” she continued.

Sam Altman, the Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI, has thrown out some figures into the public sphere – saying that ChatGPT consumes 0.34 watt-hours of energy and 0.000085 gallons of water per query – but has left out key details like what model these numbers refer to, and has offered no backup or corroboration for his statements. 

Experts from outside the OpenAI fold have estimated that ChatGPT-5 may use as much as 20 times more energy as the first version of ChatGPT, and at the very least uses several times more.

“A more complex model like GPT-5 consumes more power both during training and during inference. It’s also targeted at long thinking … I can safely say that it’s going to consume a lot more power than GPT-4,” Rakesh Kumar, a professor at the University of Illinois, recently told The Guardian. Kumar’s current work focuses on AI’s energy consumption. 

While a query to ChatGPT in 2023 would have consumed about 2 watt-hours, researchers at the University of Rhode Island’s AI lab found that ChatGPT-5 can use up to 40 watt-hours of electricity to configure a medium-length response (around 1,000 tokens).

On average, they estimate that the model uses slightly over 18 watt-hours for such a response.

This places ChatGPT-5 at a higher energy consumption rate than any other of the AI models they track save for two: OpenAI’s o3 reasoning model and Deepseek’s R1.

Calculating these estimated energy consumption rates was no easy feat, considering the severe lack of transparency in the sector, in spite of increasing scrutiny.

“It’s more critical than ever to address AI’s true environmental cost,” University of Rhode Island professor Marwan Abdelatti told The Guardian.

“We call on OpenAI and other developers to use this moment to commit to full transparency by publicly disclosing GPT-5’s environmental impact.”

While tech companies consume more and more energy each year to power their AI ambitions, common consumers are suffering the consequences. It’s consumers who are footing the bill for skyrocketing energy usage. The New York Times warns that “electricity rates for individuals and small businesses could rise sharply as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies build data centers and expand into the energy business.”

"We are witnessing a massive transfer of wealth from residential utility customers to large corporations—data centers and large utilities and their corporate parents, which profit from building additional energy infrastructure," Maryland People's Counsel David Lapp recently told Business Insider.

"Utility regulation is failing to protect residential customers, contributing to an energy affordability crisis.”

Moreover, Silicon Valley's backtracking on climate pledges will directly impact global communities, whether or not they ever use AI.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 20:55

From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Rates Trickle to Another Higher Low

Mortgage rates are as high as they've been on almost any other day this month. You'd have to go back to August 1st to see anything higher. On the other hand, rates are still noticeably lower than almost any other day of the past 10 months. It's really only the past 2 weeks that have been any better and the gap between recent highs and lows is very small. [30 year fixed 6.59%]
emphasis added

Tuesday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, Housing Starts for July. The consensus is for 1.300 million SAAR, down from 1.321 million SAAR in June.

• At 10:00 AM, State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) for July 2025

Restoring Law & Order In Crime-Ridden Cities May Be Key To Resolving Affordability Crisis

President Trump ordered "emergency price relief" for Americans on housing costs in an executive order earlier this year to address the housing affordability crisis. 

"Many Americans are unable to purchase homes due to historically high prices, in part due to regulatory requirements that alone account for 25 percent of the cost of constructing a new home, according to recent analysis," an executive action signed by President Trump in January read. 

But what if the administration had another option?

One far quicker than reducing regulatory requirements to expand housing stock, which could take months if not years... What if the fastest solution wasn't simply deporting millions of criminal illegal aliens, but restoring law and order in major cities run by far-left politicians who push disastrous woke policies that only backfired and resulted in continued violent crime waves over the last decade?   

"The fastest way to lower average housing prices in American cities is to enforce the law/reduce criminal activity.  Huge chunks of high-density housing are trapped in Bad Neighborhoods, no-go zones depressed well below nearby prices.  Nobody with options even considers them," Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey wrote on X. 

The fastest way to lower average housing prices in American cities is enforcing the law/reducing criminal activity. Huge chunks of high-density housing are trapped in Bad Neighborhoods, no-go zones depressed well below nearby prices. Nobody with options even considers them.

— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) August 18, 2025

Take Baltimore City, Maryland, as a prime example: the metro area just north of Washington, D.C., has more than 14,000 vacant homes, many of them located in neighborhoods plagued by violent crime and controlled by far-left radicals of the Democratic Party for over 50 years.

All the vacant run down property in Rep Cummings district highlighted below. Baltimore is a shithole. Fact. pic.twitter.com/abRBJeotqj

— Mike (@ChitownMike312) July 27, 2019

In 2010 there were 16,800 vacant row houses in Baltimore City. As of 2018 there are 16,500 vacant homes in Baltimore City. Millions of dollars sent to Baltimore to cure this problem.

Where's the money? @RepCummings @mayorbcyoung @MayorSRB @MayorPugh50 https://t.co/UGGmFT5S4r pic.twitter.com/n27SXSniXK

— Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) September 20, 2019

Baltimore is selling off dilapidated buildings for $1.

Yeah, ONE DOLLAR.

There were about 15,000 abandoned homes in the city as of 2022, and this initiative is to encourage investors to come in, deploy capital, and transform the market.

What do you think of this? pic.twitter.com/kqZCpIyjkt

— Tyler | Kenji Capital (@KenjiCapital) April 15, 2024

These areas resemble war zones, left in ruins by toxic progressive policies and decades of de-industrialization

Let's assume Palmer is correct. If the crime-ridden neighborhoods of Baltimore, the same ones made infamous by HBO's The Wire, could finally see law and order restored, families and communities would naturally begin to rebuild. Until then, decades of failed Democratic policies have allowed inner cities to rot into war zones, disenfranchising working-class residents most of all. Restoring law and order in America's metro areas will be key to unlocking vacant homes and expanding the housing stock.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 20:30

ADU Fever: Inside The Backyard Housing Boom In California

Authored by Beige Luciano-Adams via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

For Sam Andreano, rental income from a detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in his backyard initially helped offset mortgage payments, and later provided a place for his son to land.

“[I] started out as just a regular homeowner,” said Andreano, a resident of Dana Point, Orange County, who began converting his detached garage into an ADU in 2019.

Researching and permitting took a few months, and total build-time was around eight months. He financed it with cash and a refinance. The entire investment, including all labor, materials, city and associated fees, came out to $165,000, and he rented the one-bedroom unit for $2,500 a month.

Now he’s working on a two-story ADU project that he intends to sell as a four-plex.

Amid soaring home prices and a housing crisis—which California leads, by some estimates, with a deficit of more than a million homes—accessory dwelling units (ADUs) now represent a significant and steadily increasing supply of overall housing construction in the Golden State.

A descendant of the post-War “granny flats” or “dowager cottages” intended to house aging relatives, at least half of contemporary ADUs are predestined for the rental market. Most are modest studios or one-bedrooms that can be built at a fraction of the cost of a traditional home, but still command market rate rents.

California issued 30,231 permits for ADUs in 2024, representing 26 percent of all new housing construction, according to statistics provided by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

While the rate of increase has fluctuated, data over the past decade show a steady year-over-year climb. After plateauing in 2019 and 2020 at under 13,000 units, the number jumped to more than 20,000 in 2021, a more than 60 percent increase.

This is largely due to a series of liberalizing state laws that have, over the past eight years, made it much easier for property owners to get projects approved in residential areas originally zoned for single-family homes.

To proponents, the boom is a bulwark against a worsening affordable housing crisis, even a corrective measure to decades of exclusionary zoning.

To critics, it overburdens infrastructure, threatens property values, degrades aesthetics, and represents an unprecedented loss of community control over residents’ quality of life.

ADUs Versus Traditional Housing

Far cheaper and easier to build than traditional housing, ADU construction has grown consistently because it is not tied to state subsidies the way larger developments are, explains Celeste Goyer, vice president of research and operations for the nonprofit Casita Coalition, which advocates for affordable housing in California.

“Even in times when the state budget is tight and the subsidies may be reduced, ADU production keeps ticking on. They kept growing during the pandemic, even when construction costs were high and interest rates were high, because ADUs use the existing land—they allow you to work with what you’ve got,” she said.

Advocates of ADU liberalization say the dwellings are part of a broader strategy to confront the state’s affordable housing crisis, which is exacerbated by high construction costs, regulatory barriers, and zoning restrictions.

“ADUs are not intended to replace traditional subsidized affordable housing for renting,” Goyer said. “There’s still a lot of multifamily housing properties being built, and that’s where deed-restricted affordable housing for rentals is being produced.”

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2023. ADU construction has steadily increased in California in recent years to help meet the demand for affordable housing. In 2024, ADUs accounted for 26 percent of all new housing construction in California, according to official statistics. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

She points to studies showing that ADUs are more affordable to low-and moderate-income tenants, typically renting for “much less—often half as much—as a standard single home.”

“Sixteen percent are rented to someone you know at low or no cost—that’s incredibly important housing,” Goyer said, calling ADUs a grassroots approach to housing family members and elders priced out of assisted living.

According to a 2021 study from the University of California, Berkeley, 51 percent of California’s new ADUs are income-generating rental units, while “very few”—15 percent—house senior citizens. Around 11 percent of new ADUs provide housing for school-aged children.

‘A Neat Little House’

At a fraction of the cost of a traditional home, unburdened by land costs, and relatively easy to approve, ADUs are attractive for both homeowners and emerging, small-scale developers.

Dennis Robinson, a resident of Anaheim, Orange County, built his first ADU in 2020, on a personal rental property.

“Then a neighbor saw what was going on,” he said. “They saw that it was just a neat little house in the backyard.”

They asked him to build one for them, which led to requests from friends and family. Within eight months, he was building full-time. So far, he’s done 60.

“Getting two ADUs, or even three, is fairly simple now across most Single Family Zoned houses,” he said.

This is thanks to SB9, enacted in 2021, which allows up to four dwellings on almost any lot zoned for a single-family residence. In 2024, SB1211 increased the number of detached ADUs allowed on lots with multi-family structures to eight.

Typically, it takes Robinson 30 to 60 days to submit a project for approval, and construction is completed within a year.

“Homeowners generally do not need to live there,” Robinson said.

Construction workers work on the roof of a house in Alhambra, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2024. In recent years, state laws have made it easier for property owners to get accessory dwelling units approved in residential areas originally zoned for single-family homes. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

But in the state’s patchwork of local ordinances, homeowners can run into other obstacles.

When Wesley Yu, a resident of East Palo Alto, sought to build a new home and a detached ADU to house extended family, the city approved splitting the lot under SB9. However, because he was building two new structures, it refused to approve the permit unless he made one an “affordable” rental, or paid a one-time fee of more than $50,000.

Yu recently sued the city in federal court, drawing on a previous Supreme Court ruling. How that case is decided, and if the issue is taken up by the highest court, could have broader impacts for the state’s many jurisdictions—more than 170, according to some counts—with inclusionary zoning ordinances.

Zoning and Density

After years of debate over zoning and density, California’s recent ADU legalizations have effectively mandated reform by overriding existing local laws, requiring cities and counties to approve projects ministerially, without a discretionary review process.

According to a 2024 California Zoning Atlas Report from U.C. Berkeley, 95.8 percent of all residential land is zoned as single-family-only, “severely constraining the spatial possibilities for denser and more affordable housing.” The average is lower when unincorporated areas are removed, around 82 percent.

The study concludes impacts are racially exclusive: Areas with more restrictive zoning have fewer non-white residents.

Areas with restrictive zoning also typically have higher land and property values, higher production costs, and lower development rates. A 2025 study from the George W. Bush Institute notes the impact on affordability: “Highly restrictive policies have outsized effects on supply and prices in the lower-tier segment of the market. This is partly because the direct effects of cost-increasing rules are larger in percentage terms when homes are relatively small and inexpensive. It’s also because overly restrictive rules undermine or reverse the filtering-down process that accounts for most housing affordable to lower-income families.”

The same study ranks the top 100 largest metro areas in the United States from the “most pro-growth” down to the “most restrictive.” Nine California cities—including San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Diego—feature in the bottom 15.

Along with other states including Oregon, California has in recent years doubled down on corrective policies meant to increase affordability, in large part by increasing density.

But eliminating single-family zoning citywide in places including Minneapolis, Portland, Oregon, and California cities, the study notes, has not produced substantial positive results.

For example, Minneapolis eliminated single-family zoning, but added only 23 “plexes” or small multi-family units in the first two years, and other trends suggested “reform allowing multifamily development in commercial areas has been far more effective than permitting complexes in formerly single-family neighborhoods.”

Portland fully eliminated single-family zoning and legalized ADUs everywhere in the city. That, plus other reforms, added only around 0.6 percent to housing stock between 2021 and 2024, according to the study.

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 20:05

Are You Drowning Too?: Vegetables Are Up 38.9%, Coffee Up 25%, And Electricity Prices Are Rising Twice As Fast As Inflation

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Do you feel knots in your stomach due to financial stress? If so, you certainly have lots of company. All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the cost of living and prices are rising by double-digit percentages all around us. There are so many people out there right now that feel like they are “drowning” because no matter how hard they try there simply isn’t enough money for everything. Unfortunately, we are being warned to brace ourselves for even more inflation in the months ahead.

When I heard that the cost of vegetables in the United States had gone up by 40 percent in one month, I thought that there was no way that it could be true.

So I looked it up, and I discovered that the cost of vegetables in the United States didn’t go up by 40 percent in one month.

The real figure was 38.9 percent…

A 38.9% increase in prices for fresh and dry vegetables from June to July was the major driver of a higher index for “final demand goods” (things that are done and ready to be sold to a consumer, as opposed to things that go into a later production process).

That is nuts!

How can the cost of vegetables go up by 38.9 percent in a single month?

Apparently this was the largest spike that we have ever witnessed in a summer month “in figures that go back to 1947”…

Per Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it’s also the largest monthly increase ever recorded in a summer month (June-August), in figures that go back to 1947.

The other day, I wrote about how beef has become so expensive that it is now considered to be a “luxury”.

Well, now vegetables are a “luxury” too.

And let’s not forget coffee.

The price of coffee went up by 25 percent in just three months, and that was before coffee exports from Brazil were hit with a 50 percent tariff…

Coffee prices were already up before a 50 percent tariff on Brazil, the top coffee importer to the U.S., went into effect last week.
Coffee prices sharply rose 25 percent over the past three months, according to inflation data released Tuesday. Reuters reported Tuesday that Brazilian coffee exports have started seeing postponements to their U.S. shipments.

About two-thirds of all U.S. adults drink coffee.

This is one of the most basic things that Americans buy.

But now a lot of people are either going to have to cut back or stop drinking it entirely because it has become so ridiculously expensive.

Air conditioning is rapidly becoming a “luxury” as well.

Electricity prices have been rising twice as fast as the overall rate of inflation, and some seniors must now choose between paying the electricity bill and paying for medication…

Across the country, electricity prices have jumped more than twice as fast as the overall cost of living in the last year. That’s especially painful during the dog days of summer, when air conditioners are working overtime.

In Pembroke Pines, Fla., Al Salvi’s power bill can reach $500 a month.

“There’s a lot of seniors down here that are living check to check. They can barely afford prescriptions such as myself,” says Salvi, who’s 63 and uses a wheelchair. “Now we got to decide whether we’re going to pay the electric bill or are we going to buy medication. And it’s not fair to us. You’re squeezing us between a rock and a hard place.”

As our leaders were borrowing trillions upon trillions of dollars that we did not have, I warned that this was going to cause rampant inflation, but a lot of people out there didn’t want to listen.

And as the Federal Reserve was pumping trillions upon trillions of dollars that they created out of thin air into the financial system, I warned that this was going to cause rampant inflation, but a lot of people out there didn’t want to listen.

At first it seemed like our leaders were totally getting away with it.

But now look at what has happened.

There are countless videos on TikTok right now of people breaking down emotionally over the rising cost of living.

In one video, a woman that feels like she is “drowning” explains that no matter how hard she works “she can’t afford to live anymore”…

The video made by “diannaallen5” for TikTok was shared on X by @WallStreetApes to their 1 million X followers, writing, “Americans are breaking down, a grown woman crying because she can’t afford to live anymore.”

The woman in the video, who said she is from Illinois, was distraught and in tears as she spoke, saying that “gas prices and the electric bills and the prices of food is just so overwhelming.”

“I’m wondering if anybody else is feeling like they’re drowning and they can’t get out,” she said. “I work overtime, and I cannot get above water. I mean, I literally have no gas for next week.”

“I’m just wondering if anybody else feels like they’re drowning,” she said is despair.

Can you identify with her?

I think that a lot of us can.

At this stage, 83 percent of all Americans are experiencing “stressflation”…

A LifeStance Health survey released today reveals “stressflation” is affecting most Americans, with 83% reporting financial stress driven by inflation, mass layoffs, the rising cost of living and recession fears. Millennials and Gen Z report the most significant mental health impacts.

The number of respondents who have been deterred from seeking mental health care due to financial constraints remains consistently high (60%), increasing two percentage points from 2024. Those experiencing high financial stress levels are more than twice as likely to forgo mental health treatment due to cost, highlighting a mental health gap where financial strain exacerbates mental health challenges while limiting access to care.

We should have seen this coming way in advance, because we were specifically warned that this was coming.

And if we stay on the same road that we have been traveling, conditions will get a whole lot worse.

A lot of people out there don’t seem to understand that consequences do not always show up immediately.

What we are experiencing now is the result of decades of bad decisions.

It took time for the consequences of those bad decisions to materialize, but now they have officially started to arrive.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 18:25

Are You Drowning Too?: Vegetables Are Up 38.9%, Coffee Up 25%, And Electricity Prices Are Rising Twice As Fast As Inflation

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Do you feel knots in your stomach due to financial stress? If so, you certainly have lots of company. All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the cost of living and prices are rising by double-digit percentages all around us. There are so many people out there right now that feel like they are “drowning” because no matter how hard they try there simply isn’t enough money for everything. Unfortunately, we are being warned to brace ourselves for even more inflation in the months ahead.

When I heard that the cost of vegetables in the United States had gone up by 40 percent in one month, I thought that there was no way that it could be true.

So I looked it up, and I discovered that the cost of vegetables in the United States didn’t go up by 40 percent in one month.

The real figure was 38.9 percent…

A 38.9% increase in prices for fresh and dry vegetables from June to July was the major driver of a higher index for “final demand goods” (things that are done and ready to be sold to a consumer, as opposed to things that go into a later production process).

That is nuts!

How can the cost of vegetables go up by 38.9 percent in a single month?

Apparently this was the largest spike that we have ever witnessed in a summer month “in figures that go back to 1947”…

Per Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it’s also the largest monthly increase ever recorded in a summer month (June-August), in figures that go back to 1947.

The other day, I wrote about how beef has become so expensive that it is now considered to be a “luxury”.

Well, now vegetables are a “luxury” too.

And let’s not forget coffee.

The price of coffee went up by 25 percent in just three months, and that was before coffee exports from Brazil were hit with a 50 percent tariff…

Coffee prices were already up before a 50 percent tariff on Brazil, the top coffee importer to the U.S., went into effect last week.
Coffee prices sharply rose 25 percent over the past three months, according to inflation data released Tuesday. Reuters reported Tuesday that Brazilian coffee exports have started seeing postponements to their U.S. shipments.

About two-thirds of all U.S. adults drink coffee.

This is one of the most basic things that Americans buy.

But now a lot of people are either going to have to cut back or stop drinking it entirely because it has become so ridiculously expensive.

Air conditioning is rapidly becoming a “luxury” as well.

Electricity prices have been rising twice as fast as the overall rate of inflation, and some seniors must now choose between paying the electricity bill and paying for medication…

Across the country, electricity prices have jumped more than twice as fast as the overall cost of living in the last year. That’s especially painful during the dog days of summer, when air conditioners are working overtime.

In Pembroke Pines, Fla., Al Salvi’s power bill can reach $500 a month.

“There’s a lot of seniors down here that are living check to check. They can barely afford prescriptions such as myself,” says Salvi, who’s 63 and uses a wheelchair. “Now we got to decide whether we’re going to pay the electric bill or are we going to buy medication. And it’s not fair to us. You’re squeezing us between a rock and a hard place.”

As our leaders were borrowing trillions upon trillions of dollars that we did not have, I warned that this was going to cause rampant inflation, but a lot of people out there didn’t want to listen.

And as the Federal Reserve was pumping trillions upon trillions of dollars that they created out of thin air into the financial system, I warned that this was going to cause rampant inflation, but a lot of people out there didn’t want to listen.

At first it seemed like our leaders were totally getting away with it.

But now look at what has happened.

There are countless videos on TikTok right now of people breaking down emotionally over the rising cost of living.

In one video, a woman that feels like she is “drowning” explains that no matter how hard she works “she can’t afford to live anymore”…

The video made by “diannaallen5” for TikTok was shared on X by @WallStreetApes to their 1 million X followers, writing, “Americans are breaking down, a grown woman crying because she can’t afford to live anymore.”

The woman in the video, who said she is from Illinois, was distraught and in tears as she spoke, saying that “gas prices and the electric bills and the prices of food is just so overwhelming.”

“I’m wondering if anybody else is feeling like they’re drowning and they can’t get out,” she said. “I work overtime, and I cannot get above water. I mean, I literally have no gas for next week.”

“I’m just wondering if anybody else feels like they’re drowning,” she said is despair.

Can you identify with her?

I think that a lot of us can.

At this stage, 83 percent of all Americans are experiencing “stressflation”…

A LifeStance Health survey released today reveals “stressflation” is affecting most Americans, with 83% reporting financial stress driven by inflation, mass layoffs, the rising cost of living and recession fears. Millennials and Gen Z report the most significant mental health impacts.

The number of respondents who have been deterred from seeking mental health care due to financial constraints remains consistently high (60%), increasing two percentage points from 2024. Those experiencing high financial stress levels are more than twice as likely to forgo mental health treatment due to cost, highlighting a mental health gap where financial strain exacerbates mental health challenges while limiting access to care.

We should have seen this coming way in advance, because we were specifically warned that this was coming.

And if we stay on the same road that we have been traveling, conditions will get a whole lot worse.

A lot of people out there don’t seem to understand that consequences do not always show up immediately.

What we are experiencing now is the result of decades of bad decisions.

It took time for the consequences of those bad decisions to materialize, but now they have officially started to arrive.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 18:25

Senior Israeli Official Arrested In Vegas Pedophile Sting Is Released - And Flies Home

It looks like America's "special relationship" with Israel may have paid off big for an alleged pedophile: A senior official in Israel's cybersecurity agency was arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly attempting to use the internet to lure a child into sexual abuse, only to be released on bond and somehow allowed to go back to Israel. There's no indication he was covered by diplomatic immunity. 

Tom Alexandrovich, who helps guide his country's cybersecurity policy, was representing Israel at Black Hat USA, a professional conference in Las Vegas, when he was one of seven people swept up in a major, multi-agency sting operation earlier this month that targeted people seeking sex acts with minors. According to court records, on Aug 6, the 38-year-old Alexandrovich allegedly committed the felony offense of using computer technology in an attempt to lure a child into sexual abuse. That particular crime encompasses children under 16. The next day, he posted a $10,000 bond at the Henderson Detention Center. 

Tom Alexandrovich allegedly sought to sexually abuse a Nevada child while he was in Las Vegas for a cybersecurity conference

As the news broke, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reflexively denied Alexandrovich had done anything wrong, claiming that “the employee, who does not hold a diplomatic visa, was not arrested and returned to Israel as scheduled." Subsequently confronted with court records, Israel's Cyber Directorate said the earlier false statement “was accurate based on the information provided to us," and that Alexandrovich is now on leave "by mutual decision." 

It's not clear why or how he was allowed to return to Israel, which has a reputation as a haven for pedophiles who prey on American children. Citing a Jewish watchdog group, a 2020 CBS News report found that, in just the previous six years, more than 60 Jewish Americans who'd been accused of pedophilia had fled to Israel, taking advantage of Israel's "Right of Return" law that lets any Jew in the world enjoy instant citizenship. Though these individuals -- who include both suspects and convicts -- are technically subject to extradition to the United States, Israeli police have been accused of assigning low priority to these cases and -- perhaps because of that -- US agencies are accused of failing to aggressively pursue extradition.

The Jerusalem Post describes Alexandrovich (center) as a "senior official"

Speaking of US disinterest, while major Israeli media outlets have covered the Alexandrovich story, the arrest of a senior Israeli government official on a child-sex-crime charge and his subsequent flight to Israel has received no coverage whatsoever from major US media at the time this story is being written -- which is well more than day after the story broke. 

Alexandrovich's duties involved the development of Israel's “Cyber Dome” program, which aims to protect civilians from harm inflicted via computers. In a similarly ironic vein, one of the other men caught in the sting was Neal Harrison Creecy, a 46-year-old Vegas church pastor at Las Vegas Redemption Church, who promptly resigned after posting bail. He has reportedly confessed his sins to earthly authorities.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 18:00

Senior Israeli Official Arrested In Vegas Pedophile Sting Is Released - And Flies Home

It looks like America's "special relationship" with Israel may have paid off big for an alleged pedophile: A senior official in Israel's cybersecurity agency was arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly attempting to use the internet to lure a child into sexual abuse, only to be released on bond and somehow allowed to go back to Israel. There's no indication he was covered by diplomatic immunity. 

Tom Alexandrovich, who helps guide his country's cybersecurity policy, was representing Israel at Black Hat USA, a professional conference in Las Vegas, when he was one of seven people swept up in a major, multi-agency sting operation earlier this month that targeted people seeking sex acts with minors. According to court records, on Aug 6, the 38-year-old Alexandrovich allegedly committed the felony offense of using computer technology in an attempt to lure a child into sexual abuse. That particular crime encompasses children under 16. The next day, he posted a $10,000 bond at the Henderson Detention Center. 

Tom Alexandrovich allegedly sought to sexually abuse a Nevada child while he was in Las Vegas for a cybersecurity conference

As the news broke, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reflexively denied Alexandrovich had done anything wrong, claiming that “the employee, who does not hold a diplomatic visa, was not arrested and returned to Israel as scheduled." Subsequently confronted with court records, Israel's Cyber Directorate said the earlier false statement “was accurate based on the information provided to us," and that Alexandrovich is now on leave "by mutual decision." 

It's not clear why or how he was allowed to return to Israel, which has a reputation as a haven for pedophiles who prey on American children. Citing a Jewish watchdog group, a 2020 CBS News report found that, in just the previous six years, more than 60 Jewish Americans who'd been accused of pedophilia had fled to Israel, taking advantage of Israel's "Right of Return" law that lets any Jew in the world enjoy instant citizenship. Though these individuals -- who include both suspects and convicts -- are technically subject to extradition to the United States, Israeli police have been accused of assigning low priority to these cases and -- perhaps because of that -- US agencies are accused of failing to aggressively pursue extradition.

The Jerusalem Post describes Alexandrovich (center) as a "senior official"

Speaking of US disinterest, while major Israeli media outlets have covered the Alexandrovich story, the arrest of a senior Israeli government official on a child-sex-crime charge and his subsequent flight to Israel has received no coverage whatsoever from major US media at the time this story is being written -- which is well more than day after the story broke. 

Alexandrovich's duties involved the development of Israel's “Cyber Dome” program, which aims to protect civilians from harm inflicted via computers. In a similarly ironic vein, one of the other men caught in the sting was Neal Harrison Creecy, a 46-year-old Vegas church pastor at Las Vegas Redemption Church, who promptly resigned after posting bail. He has reportedly confessed his sins to earthly authorities.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 18:00

Are You Ready For A Humanoid Robot To Assist In Household Chores?

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Color me quite unimpressed with the current capabilities. Let’s investigate.

The Coming Robot Home Invasion

In what appears to me to be far more hype than reality, the Wall Street Journal discusses The Coming Robot Home Invasion.

Robots are hot. Humanoid ones were literally running amok at this month’s World Robot Conference in Beijing. Think of robots as artificial intelligence in motion. Maybe you’ve seen Elon Musk’s new Tesla humanoid robot Optimus bust a move in a YouTube dance video. A tad creepy. All I really want is for robots to fold my laundry like Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons.” Or to watch my kids, shouting “Danger, Will Robinson!” when they’re lost in space.

It’s starting. I recently met with Weave Robotics’ founders, Evan Wineland and Kaan Dogrusoz, friends from Carnegie Mellon and Apple. They showed me live demonstrations of Isaac, their home robot likely priced at more than $10,000, to ship by year’s end. I watched it autonomously fold T-shirts and pick up cups and toys. It’s mesmerizing. Isaac triggered visions of future homes, much as “labor-saving devices” like dishwashers and washing machines changed 1950s home life.

The Cost Reality

“Isaac” is a home robot developed by Weave Robotics, a startup founded by former Apple engineers. While originally hinted to be priced at over $10,000, it’s now available for a refundable $1,000 reservation fee. The full purchase price is $59,000, or a payment plan of $1,385 per month for 48 months. Isaac is slated to begin shipping to its first 30 US customers in the fall of 2025

The Performance Reality

Seriously, “what a joke” is my reaction.

The above video is an infomercial and not a good one. It shows no clips of folding clothes or other household chores the bot can allegedly do. It repeats images of the bot picking up toys on the floor, a roughly 1-minute task.

Watch how clumsy the ironing is in this alternate robot.

Advanced Humanoid Robots

Also consider advanced humanoid robots at 2025 World Robot Conference in Beijing.

https://youtu.be/51VI8DZGGag

China’s Startups Race to Dominate the Coming AI Robot Boom

Bloomberg reports China’s Startups Race to Dominate the Coming AI Robot Boom

That’s a free link.

The country’s startups have caught the attention of Elon Musk, whose Tesla Inc. has set its sights on the humanoid market. On an April conference call, the billionaire said he thinks his Optimus robots lead the industry in performance, but China may end up dominating the field. “I’m a little concerned that on the leaderboard, ranks 2 through 10 will be Chinese companies,” he said.

Leadership in this field matters because humanoids appear poised to move beyond the realms of sci-fi and curiosity. Citigroup Inc. recently projected the market for the machines and related services will surge to $7 trillion by 2050 when the world could be populated by 648 million human-like bots.

Some scholars warn that Beijing’s approach may give China the edge in developing strategically important, capital-intensive sectors, like it has already done with electric vehicles and solar panels.

While it’s still possible the humanoid market never takes off, China is making an audacious bet that it will. The country is on track to produce more than 10,000 humanoid robots this year, or more than half of the machines globally, according to an April study from the China think tank Leaderobot and other institutions.

“China is winning the humanoids war, I have no doubt,” said Henrik I. Christensen, director of the Contextual Robotics Institute at the University of California San Diego.

Still, even the most elegant humanoids won’t have a future unless they provide value. People-like machines captured the popular imagination at least as far back as Isaac Asimov’s writings in the 1950s, yet they’ve remained largely a novelty. Boston Dynamics has impressed tech geeks since its founding in 1992, but it’s never built much of a business. Google and SoftBank Group Corp. each bought the startup and then sold it again without commercial success; it’s now owned by Hyundai Motor Co.

China’s robot was far more impressive than “Isaac” or anything from Tesla. Click on the link to see.

Musk eluded he will be number one. I would be shocked if that happened.

Anyone laying out $58,000 for “Isaac” is someone interested in the latest gadgets at any price.

I suppose this robot home invasion is coming, eventually. But price needs to drop by 90 percent and capabilities rise by 500 percent before there’s a hint of prime time for household tasks.

Industrial robots trained for one specific task are another matter. They are already here.

I side with Romain Moulin, CEO of the French startup Exotec, which makes box-like robots for warehouses that he thinks are more utilitarian.

Humanoids “just don’t make economic sense for most people and companies for the foreseeable future,” said Moulin.

But they do capture the imagination (and dreams of no more household chores) including the futurists at the Wall Street Journal.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 17:40

Are You Ready For A Humanoid Robot To Assist In Household Chores?

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Color me quite unimpressed with the current capabilities. Let’s investigate.

The Coming Robot Home Invasion

In what appears to me to be far more hype than reality, the Wall Street Journal discusses The Coming Robot Home Invasion.

Robots are hot. Humanoid ones were literally running amok at this month’s World Robot Conference in Beijing. Think of robots as artificial intelligence in motion. Maybe you’ve seen Elon Musk’s new Tesla humanoid robot Optimus bust a move in a YouTube dance video. A tad creepy. All I really want is for robots to fold my laundry like Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons.” Or to watch my kids, shouting “Danger, Will Robinson!” when they’re lost in space.

It’s starting. I recently met with Weave Robotics’ founders, Evan Wineland and Kaan Dogrusoz, friends from Carnegie Mellon and Apple. They showed me live demonstrations of Isaac, their home robot likely priced at more than $10,000, to ship by year’s end. I watched it autonomously fold T-shirts and pick up cups and toys. It’s mesmerizing. Isaac triggered visions of future homes, much as “labor-saving devices” like dishwashers and washing machines changed 1950s home life.

The Cost Reality

“Isaac” is a home robot developed by Weave Robotics, a startup founded by former Apple engineers. While originally hinted to be priced at over $10,000, it’s now available for a refundable $1,000 reservation fee. The full purchase price is $59,000, or a payment plan of $1,385 per month for 48 months. Isaac is slated to begin shipping to its first 30 US customers in the fall of 2025

The Performance Reality

Seriously, “what a joke” is my reaction.

The above video is an infomercial and not a good one. It shows no clips of folding clothes or other household chores the bot can allegedly do. It repeats images of the bot picking up toys on the floor, a roughly 1-minute task.

Watch how clumsy the ironing is in this alternate robot.

Advanced Humanoid Robots

Also consider advanced humanoid robots at 2025 World Robot Conference in Beijing.

https://youtu.be/51VI8DZGGag

China’s Startups Race to Dominate the Coming AI Robot Boom

Bloomberg reports China’s Startups Race to Dominate the Coming AI Robot Boom

That’s a free link.

The country’s startups have caught the attention of Elon Musk, whose Tesla Inc. has set its sights on the humanoid market. On an April conference call, the billionaire said he thinks his Optimus robots lead the industry in performance, but China may end up dominating the field. “I’m a little concerned that on the leaderboard, ranks 2 through 10 will be Chinese companies,” he said.

Leadership in this field matters because humanoids appear poised to move beyond the realms of sci-fi and curiosity. Citigroup Inc. recently projected the market for the machines and related services will surge to $7 trillion by 2050 when the world could be populated by 648 million human-like bots.

Some scholars warn that Beijing’s approach may give China the edge in developing strategically important, capital-intensive sectors, like it has already done with electric vehicles and solar panels.

While it’s still possible the humanoid market never takes off, China is making an audacious bet that it will. The country is on track to produce more than 10,000 humanoid robots this year, or more than half of the machines globally, according to an April study from the China think tank Leaderobot and other institutions.

“China is winning the humanoids war, I have no doubt,” said Henrik I. Christensen, director of the Contextual Robotics Institute at the University of California San Diego.

Still, even the most elegant humanoids won’t have a future unless they provide value. People-like machines captured the popular imagination at least as far back as Isaac Asimov’s writings in the 1950s, yet they’ve remained largely a novelty. Boston Dynamics has impressed tech geeks since its founding in 1992, but it’s never built much of a business. Google and SoftBank Group Corp. each bought the startup and then sold it again without commercial success; it’s now owned by Hyundai Motor Co.

China’s robot was far more impressive than “Isaac” or anything from Tesla. Click on the link to see.

Musk eluded he will be number one. I would be shocked if that happened.

Anyone laying out $58,000 for “Isaac” is someone interested in the latest gadgets at any price.

I suppose this robot home invasion is coming, eventually. But price needs to drop by 90 percent and capabilities rise by 500 percent before there’s a hint of prime time for household tasks.

Industrial robots trained for one specific task are another matter. They are already here.

I side with Romain Moulin, CEO of the French startup Exotec, which makes box-like robots for warehouses that he thinks are more utilitarian.

Humanoids “just don’t make economic sense for most people and companies for the foreseeable future,” said Moulin.

But they do capture the imagination (and dreams of no more household chores) including the futurists at the Wall Street Journal.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 17:40

US Pressure Might Inadvertently Bring India & China Back Together

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The pretext upon which Trump recently doubled tariffs on India to 50% was its continued trade with Russia, which India has refused to curtail for the five reasons explained here, yet it turns out that the US-Russian trade increased by 20% since he returned to office. This was confirmed by Putin himself during his remarks to the press after he met Trump for three-hour-long talks in Anchorage late last week. Leading Indian media NDTV and others then drew attention to this blatant double standard.

No doubt should therefore remain about how hellbent Trump is on derailing India’s rise as a Great Power. The real reason why he doubled tariffs on India wasn’t due to its continued trade with Russia, but to coerce it into opening up its agricultural and dairy markets to American imports. He might also have expected that displaced workers, and some of the 46% of the population employed in these industries would indeed lose their livelihoods, could then become low-cost factory labor for US companies.

Even if Trump is only driven by economic motives in this regard, his permanent policymaking bureaucracy (“deep state”) likely has more sinister ones such as weaponizing the large-scale socio-political unrest that would inevitably follow massive unemployment among Indian farmers. No self-respecting leader could accept these consequences and that’s why Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged during his speech on India’s Independence Day to support his country’s agricultural industry.

It was little wonder then that NDTV cited sources to report shortly thereafter that a US trade team’s visit to India in late August has been called off and will likely be rescheduled for an as-yet unknown date. Several days prior, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly called on the EU to emulate his country’s “secondary sanctions, or secondary tariffs, on India because of their consumption of Russian oil”. The EU still purchases Russian energy, however, so any such sanctions/tariffs would be as hypocritical as the US’.

Nevertheless, seeing as how the EU just subordinated itself as the US’ largest-ever vassal state via their lopsided trade deal, it can’t be ruled out that it’ll follow its patron’s lead. The combined effect of major US and EU tariffs on India could decelerate its growth, which is the fastest in the world, but the socio-political consequences would still be more manageable than if it opened its agricultural and dairy markets to their exports. India might thus soon recalibrate its multi-alignment policy accordingly.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in India for the first time in three years to discuss their unresolved border dispute that’s toxified bilateral ties since their lethal clashes in summer 2020. Modi will then visit Tianjin at the end of the month for the SCO leaders’ summit. India’s worsening ties with the West, first the US and perhaps soon also the EU, might thus serve as the catalyst for taking its incipient rapprochement with China even further through the resumption of border trade as reported.

Any meaningful improvement of Sino-Indo ties, especially in the economic dimension (which might first require making progress on resolving their border dispute), could prompt Trump to either walk back his hardline policy on India to court it away from China or punitively double down on this approach. The first could help repair their ties even though India’s trust in the US might remain shattered while the second could turbocharge multipolar processes. Observers should therefore keep a very close eye on all of this.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 17:00

US Pressure Might Inadvertently Bring India & China Back Together

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The pretext upon which Trump recently doubled tariffs on India to 50% was its continued trade with Russia, which India has refused to curtail for the five reasons explained here, yet it turns out that the US-Russian trade increased by 20% since he returned to office. This was confirmed by Putin himself during his remarks to the press after he met Trump for three-hour-long talks in Anchorage late last week. Leading Indian media NDTV and others then drew attention to this blatant double standard.

No doubt should therefore remain about how hellbent Trump is on derailing India’s rise as a Great Power. The real reason why he doubled tariffs on India wasn’t due to its continued trade with Russia, but to coerce it into opening up its agricultural and dairy markets to American imports. He might also have expected that displaced workers, and some of the 46% of the population employed in these industries would indeed lose their livelihoods, could then become low-cost factory labor for US companies.

Even if Trump is only driven by economic motives in this regard, his permanent policymaking bureaucracy (“deep state”) likely has more sinister ones such as weaponizing the large-scale socio-political unrest that would inevitably follow massive unemployment among Indian farmers. No self-respecting leader could accept these consequences and that’s why Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged during his speech on India’s Independence Day to support his country’s agricultural industry.

It was little wonder then that NDTV cited sources to report shortly thereafter that a US trade team’s visit to India in late August has been called off and will likely be rescheduled for an as-yet unknown date. Several days prior, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly called on the EU to emulate his country’s “secondary sanctions, or secondary tariffs, on India because of their consumption of Russian oil”. The EU still purchases Russian energy, however, so any such sanctions/tariffs would be as hypocritical as the US’.

Nevertheless, seeing as how the EU just subordinated itself as the US’ largest-ever vassal state via their lopsided trade deal, it can’t be ruled out that it’ll follow its patron’s lead. The combined effect of major US and EU tariffs on India could decelerate its growth, which is the fastest in the world, but the socio-political consequences would still be more manageable than if it opened its agricultural and dairy markets to their exports. India might thus soon recalibrate its multi-alignment policy accordingly.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in India for the first time in three years to discuss their unresolved border dispute that’s toxified bilateral ties since their lethal clashes in summer 2020. Modi will then visit Tianjin at the end of the month for the SCO leaders’ summit. India’s worsening ties with the West, first the US and perhaps soon also the EU, might thus serve as the catalyst for taking its incipient rapprochement with China even further through the resumption of border trade as reported.

Any meaningful improvement of Sino-Indo ties, especially in the economic dimension (which might first require making progress on resolving their border dispute), could prompt Trump to either walk back his hardline policy on India to court it away from China or punitively double down on this approach. The first could help repair their ties even though India’s trust in the US might remain shattered while the second could turbocharge multipolar processes. Observers should therefore keep a very close eye on all of this.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 17:00

Trump Vs Biden: ICE Detentions By Administration (2019-2025)

Since January 2023, the number of people held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention has more than doubled.

This increase has accelerated notably during the early months of Donald Trump’s second term, compared to the final stretch of Joe Biden’s presidency.

As Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti shows in the chart below, the data behind this trend offers a revealing look at how immigration enforcement priorities and political leadership can rapidly reshape the size and scope of ICE’s detainee population.

The figures for this analysis come from TRAC Reports, a long-running research project tracking U.S. immigration enforcement metrics. The data reflects weekly totals of ICE detainees, categorized by criminal background or immigration status.

ICE Detentions Have Surged in 2025

On January 1, 2023, there were just over 20,500 people in ICE custody. By June 15, 2025, that number had jumped to over 56,000—a 175% increase. This steep rise coincides with Trump’s return to office and his campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration.

Date Convicted Criminal Pending Criminal Charges Other Violations Total 06/15/2025 15,964 14,263 26,170 56,397 06/01/2025 15,193 13,671 22,438 51,302 05/18/2025 14,909 12,920 21,041 48,870 05/04/2025 15,025 12,730 21,250 49,005 04/20/2025 15,190 11,997 21,997 49,184 04/06/2025 14,614 11,065 22,249 47,928 03/23/2025 14,369 10,509 23,014 47,892 03/09/2025 13,751 9,437 23,081 46,269 02/23/2025 12,804 8,158 22,797 43,759 02/09/2025 11,917 6,714 22,538 41,169 01/26/2025 10,703 5,429 23,106 39,238 01/12/2025 10,494 5,360 23,849 39,703 12/29/2024 10,278 5,271 23,603 39,152 12/15/2024 10,355 5,204 22,847 38,406 12/01/2024 10,283 5,084 23,361 38,728 11/03/2024 10,308 4,967 23,588 38,863 09/08/2024 10,050 4,874 22,471 37,395 08/25/2024 10,078 4,818 21,327 36,223 08/11/2024 10,142 4,752 21,432 36,326 07/14/2024 10,380 4,605 22,019 37,004 06/30/2024 10,053 4,459 22,997 37,509 06/16/2024 10,158 4,452 23,915 38,525 06/02/2024 9,803 4,311 23,246 37,360 05/19/2024 9,748 4,303 22,520 36,571 05/05/2024 9,882 4,146 22,575 36,603 04/21/2024 9,560 3,961 20,852 34,373 04/07/2024 9,549 3,830 21,201 34,580 03/24/2024 9,465 3,721 23,745 36,931 03/10/2024 9,285 3,646 26,180 39,111 02/25/2024 9,288 3,548 26,339 39,175 02/11/2024 9,319 3,468 25,471 38,258 01/28/2024 9,114 3,412 25,972 38,498 01/13/2024 9,005 3,355 25,422 37,782 12/31/2023 9,003 3,332 24,796 37,131 12/17/2023 8,936 3,115 24,212 36,263 12/03/2023 8,838 3,074 24,843 36,755 11/19/2023 8,682 2,979 27,352 39,013 11/05/2023 8,426 3,008 28,314 39,748 10/03/2023 8,198 3,013 25,634 36,845 09/24/2023 8,074 2,966 24,249 35,289 09/10/2023 8,012 2,942 24,635 35,589 08/27/2023 8,105 2,994 21,644 32,743 08/13/2023 8,238 3,121 18,825 30,184 07/30/2023 8,422 3,325 18,691 30,438 07/16/2023 8,504 3,230 19,330 31,064 07/02/2023 8,032 3,022 18,949 30,003 06/18/2023 8,014 2,913 18,686 29,613 06/04/2023 7,839 2,751 19,324 29,914 05/21/2023 7,932 2,693 16,705 27,330 05/07/2023 7,840 2,509 10,944 21,293 04/23/2023 8,123 2,667 14,154 24,944 04/09/2023 8,289 2,580 14,884 25,753 03/26/2023 8,050 2,563 16,285 26,898 03/12/2023 7,952 2,579 17,192 27,723 02/26/2023 7,656 2,515 16,839 27,010 02/12/2023 7,281 2,434 16,695 26,410 01/29/2023 7,147 2,291 14,732 24,170 01/15/2023 7,010 2,172 11,710 20,892 01/01/2023 7,030 2,259 11,217 20,506 12/18/2022 7,041 2,301 13,718 23,060 12/04/2022 6,966 2,413 19,647 29,026 11/20/2022 6,886 2,385 20,730 30,001 10/31/2022 6,813 2,395 20,776 29,984 09/25/2022 6,430 2,040 16,664 25,134 09/10/2022 6,152 1,991 17,633 25,776 08/15/2022 5,903 1,778 16,446 24,127 07/31/2022 5,615 1,606 16,169 23,390 07/17/2022 5,550 1,538 15,798 22,886 07/05/2022 5,434 1,402 16,320 23,156 06/19/2022 5,505 1,343 16,542 23,390 06/05/2022 5,353 1,327 17,911 24,591 05/07/2022 5,021 1,226 16,034 22,281 04/24/2022 4,880 1,177 13,445 19,502 04/11/2022 4,629 1,082 13,135 18,846 03/27/2022 4,621 1,079 15,033 20,733 03/13/2022 4,692 1,049 14,405 20,146 02/27/2022 4,666 982 12,336 17,984 02/13/2022 4,727 999 14,222 19,948 01/16/2022 4,534 850 15,502 20,886 01/02/2022 4,471 860 16,737 22,068 12/19/2021 4,436 795 15,392 20,623 12/05/2021 4,559 931 16,462 21,952 11/21/2021 4,466 852 17,120 22,438 10/01/2021 4,537 852 16,740 22,129 09/16/2021 4,553 771 16,242 21,566 09/13/2021 4,443 808 17,763 23,014 08/24/2021 4,495 835 19,832 25,162 08/06/2021 4,502 971 20,053 25,526 07/22/2021 4,439 1,078 21,254 26,771 07/08/2021 4,433 1,117 21,667 27,217 06/24/2021 4,399 1,100 20,723 26,222 06/11/2021 4,338 1,037 19,088 24,463 05/28/2021 4,382 971 16,166 21,519 05/13/2021 4,490 686 13,865 19,041 05/03/2021 4,524 696 10,477 15,697 04/14/2021 4,765 826 9,545 15,136 03/31/2021 5,177 919 7,818 13,914 03/17/2021 5,857 1,252 6,943 14,052 02/25/2021 6,746 1,890 4,622 13,258 02/11/2021 7,362 2,306 4,427 14,095 01/22/2021 7,598 2,544 4,053 14,195 01/07/2021 8,189 2,864 4,391 15,444 12/30/2020 8,272 2,810 4,268 15,350 12/10/2020 8,448 2,948 4,376 15,772 11/26/2020 8,632 2,966 4,477 16,075 11/14/2020 8,931 2,974 4,729 16,634 09/18/2020 10,773 3,351 5,894 20,018 09/04/2020 11,149 3,236 6,104 20,489 08/21/2020 11,372 3,187 6,448 21,007 08/08/2020 11,321 3,113 6,684 21,118 08/01/2020 11,450 3,082 7,014 21,546 07/25/2020 11,510 3,114 7,260 21,884 07/18/2020 11,391 3,085 7,666 22,142 07/11/2020 11,492 3,071 7,777 22,340 07/04/2020 11,592 3,031 7,956 22,579 06/27/2020 11,632 3,096 8,077 22,805 06/20/2020 11,777 3,160 8,492 23,429 06/13/2020 11,986 3,244 8,811 24,041 06/06/2020 12,130 3,306 9,277 24,713 05/30/2020 12,279 3,373 9,769 25,421 05/23/2020 12,435 3,408 10,068 25,911 05/16/2020 12,599 3,454 10,607 26,660 05/09/2020 13,068 3,639 11,201 27,908 05/02/2020 13,183 3,779 11,903 28,865 04/25/2020 13,218 3,897 12,560 29,675 04/18/2020 13,380 4,070 13,287 30,737 04/11/2020 13,774 4,406 14,129 32,309 03/21/2020 14,782 5,264 18,012 38,058 02/29/2020 14,469 5,229 18,839 38,537 02/08/2020 14,464 5,184 19,774 39,422 01/04/2020 14,371 5,173 22,087 41,631 12/21/2019 14,295 4,993 22,645 41,933 11/30/2019 14,639 5,135 25,086 44,860 10/26/2019 15,594 5,203 28,622 49,419 09/30/2019 16,120 5,359 29,443 50,922 09/21/2019 15,695 5,341 30,266 51,302 08/31/2019 16,197 5,315 31,418 52,930 08/03/2019 16,676 5,493 33,485 55,654 06/01/2019 17,225 5,573 29,667 52,465 05/04/2019 17,537 5,686 26,422 49,645

The growth has been steady and sharp: detention numbers rose by over 5,000 in just the last two weeks of the data series alone.

Non-Criminal Immigration Violators Drive Growth

The largest category of detainees by far is “Other Immigration Violator”, meaning individuals with no pending or prior criminal charges. This group jumped from 11,217 in early 2023 to over 26,000 by mid-2025, more than doubling in that timeframe.

While criminal detainee categories also rose, the sheer volume of non-criminal detentions is the clearest signal of changing enforcement tactics under the Trump administration.

Comparing the Two Administrations

Biden-era figures remained relatively stable, with total detentions hovering between 20,000 and 40,000. Under Trump, however, ICE has rapidly expanded its detainee population, particularly since January 2025.

This policy shift echoes Trump’s first term, when detention levels frequently surpassed 50,000, peaking in mid-2019. The current trajectory suggests a return to those levels or  possibly beyond.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Top 25 Nationalities of US Immigrants on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 16:40

Trump Vs Biden: ICE Detentions By Administration (2019-2025)

Since January 2023, the number of people held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention has more than doubled.

This increase has accelerated notably during the early months of Donald Trump’s second term, compared to the final stretch of Joe Biden’s presidency.

As Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti shows in the chart below, the data behind this trend offers a revealing look at how immigration enforcement priorities and political leadership can rapidly reshape the size and scope of ICE’s detainee population.

The figures for this analysis come from TRAC Reports, a long-running research project tracking U.S. immigration enforcement metrics. The data reflects weekly totals of ICE detainees, categorized by criminal background or immigration status.

ICE Detentions Have Surged in 2025

On January 1, 2023, there were just over 20,500 people in ICE custody. By June 15, 2025, that number had jumped to over 56,000—a 175% increase. This steep rise coincides with Trump’s return to office and his campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration.

Date Convicted Criminal Pending Criminal Charges Other Violations Total 06/15/2025 15,964 14,263 26,170 56,397 06/01/2025 15,193 13,671 22,438 51,302 05/18/2025 14,909 12,920 21,041 48,870 05/04/2025 15,025 12,730 21,250 49,005 04/20/2025 15,190 11,997 21,997 49,184 04/06/2025 14,614 11,065 22,249 47,928 03/23/2025 14,369 10,509 23,014 47,892 03/09/2025 13,751 9,437 23,081 46,269 02/23/2025 12,804 8,158 22,797 43,759 02/09/2025 11,917 6,714 22,538 41,169 01/26/2025 10,703 5,429 23,106 39,238 01/12/2025 10,494 5,360 23,849 39,703 12/29/2024 10,278 5,271 23,603 39,152 12/15/2024 10,355 5,204 22,847 38,406 12/01/2024 10,283 5,084 23,361 38,728 11/03/2024 10,308 4,967 23,588 38,863 09/08/2024 10,050 4,874 22,471 37,395 08/25/2024 10,078 4,818 21,327 36,223 08/11/2024 10,142 4,752 21,432 36,326 07/14/2024 10,380 4,605 22,019 37,004 06/30/2024 10,053 4,459 22,997 37,509 06/16/2024 10,158 4,452 23,915 38,525 06/02/2024 9,803 4,311 23,246 37,360 05/19/2024 9,748 4,303 22,520 36,571 05/05/2024 9,882 4,146 22,575 36,603 04/21/2024 9,560 3,961 20,852 34,373 04/07/2024 9,549 3,830 21,201 34,580 03/24/2024 9,465 3,721 23,745 36,931 03/10/2024 9,285 3,646 26,180 39,111 02/25/2024 9,288 3,548 26,339 39,175 02/11/2024 9,319 3,468 25,471 38,258 01/28/2024 9,114 3,412 25,972 38,498 01/13/2024 9,005 3,355 25,422 37,782 12/31/2023 9,003 3,332 24,796 37,131 12/17/2023 8,936 3,115 24,212 36,263 12/03/2023 8,838 3,074 24,843 36,755 11/19/2023 8,682 2,979 27,352 39,013 11/05/2023 8,426 3,008 28,314 39,748 10/03/2023 8,198 3,013 25,634 36,845 09/24/2023 8,074 2,966 24,249 35,289 09/10/2023 8,012 2,942 24,635 35,589 08/27/2023 8,105 2,994 21,644 32,743 08/13/2023 8,238 3,121 18,825 30,184 07/30/2023 8,422 3,325 18,691 30,438 07/16/2023 8,504 3,230 19,330 31,064 07/02/2023 8,032 3,022 18,949 30,003 06/18/2023 8,014 2,913 18,686 29,613 06/04/2023 7,839 2,751 19,324 29,914 05/21/2023 7,932 2,693 16,705 27,330 05/07/2023 7,840 2,509 10,944 21,293 04/23/2023 8,123 2,667 14,154 24,944 04/09/2023 8,289 2,580 14,884 25,753 03/26/2023 8,050 2,563 16,285 26,898 03/12/2023 7,952 2,579 17,192 27,723 02/26/2023 7,656 2,515 16,839 27,010 02/12/2023 7,281 2,434 16,695 26,410 01/29/2023 7,147 2,291 14,732 24,170 01/15/2023 7,010 2,172 11,710 20,892 01/01/2023 7,030 2,259 11,217 20,506 12/18/2022 7,041 2,301 13,718 23,060 12/04/2022 6,966 2,413 19,647 29,026 11/20/2022 6,886 2,385 20,730 30,001 10/31/2022 6,813 2,395 20,776 29,984 09/25/2022 6,430 2,040 16,664 25,134 09/10/2022 6,152 1,991 17,633 25,776 08/15/2022 5,903 1,778 16,446 24,127 07/31/2022 5,615 1,606 16,169 23,390 07/17/2022 5,550 1,538 15,798 22,886 07/05/2022 5,434 1,402 16,320 23,156 06/19/2022 5,505 1,343 16,542 23,390 06/05/2022 5,353 1,327 17,911 24,591 05/07/2022 5,021 1,226 16,034 22,281 04/24/2022 4,880 1,177 13,445 19,502 04/11/2022 4,629 1,082 13,135 18,846 03/27/2022 4,621 1,079 15,033 20,733 03/13/2022 4,692 1,049 14,405 20,146 02/27/2022 4,666 982 12,336 17,984 02/13/2022 4,727 999 14,222 19,948 01/16/2022 4,534 850 15,502 20,886 01/02/2022 4,471 860 16,737 22,068 12/19/2021 4,436 795 15,392 20,623 12/05/2021 4,559 931 16,462 21,952 11/21/2021 4,466 852 17,120 22,438 10/01/2021 4,537 852 16,740 22,129 09/16/2021 4,553 771 16,242 21,566 09/13/2021 4,443 808 17,763 23,014 08/24/2021 4,495 835 19,832 25,162 08/06/2021 4,502 971 20,053 25,526 07/22/2021 4,439 1,078 21,254 26,771 07/08/2021 4,433 1,117 21,667 27,217 06/24/2021 4,399 1,100 20,723 26,222 06/11/2021 4,338 1,037 19,088 24,463 05/28/2021 4,382 971 16,166 21,519 05/13/2021 4,490 686 13,865 19,041 05/03/2021 4,524 696 10,477 15,697 04/14/2021 4,765 826 9,545 15,136 03/31/2021 5,177 919 7,818 13,914 03/17/2021 5,857 1,252 6,943 14,052 02/25/2021 6,746 1,890 4,622 13,258 02/11/2021 7,362 2,306 4,427 14,095 01/22/2021 7,598 2,544 4,053 14,195 01/07/2021 8,189 2,864 4,391 15,444 12/30/2020 8,272 2,810 4,268 15,350 12/10/2020 8,448 2,948 4,376 15,772 11/26/2020 8,632 2,966 4,477 16,075 11/14/2020 8,931 2,974 4,729 16,634 09/18/2020 10,773 3,351 5,894 20,018 09/04/2020 11,149 3,236 6,104 20,489 08/21/2020 11,372 3,187 6,448 21,007 08/08/2020 11,321 3,113 6,684 21,118 08/01/2020 11,450 3,082 7,014 21,546 07/25/2020 11,510 3,114 7,260 21,884 07/18/2020 11,391 3,085 7,666 22,142 07/11/2020 11,492 3,071 7,777 22,340 07/04/2020 11,592 3,031 7,956 22,579 06/27/2020 11,632 3,096 8,077 22,805 06/20/2020 11,777 3,160 8,492 23,429 06/13/2020 11,986 3,244 8,811 24,041 06/06/2020 12,130 3,306 9,277 24,713 05/30/2020 12,279 3,373 9,769 25,421 05/23/2020 12,435 3,408 10,068 25,911 05/16/2020 12,599 3,454 10,607 26,660 05/09/2020 13,068 3,639 11,201 27,908 05/02/2020 13,183 3,779 11,903 28,865 04/25/2020 13,218 3,897 12,560 29,675 04/18/2020 13,380 4,070 13,287 30,737 04/11/2020 13,774 4,406 14,129 32,309 03/21/2020 14,782 5,264 18,012 38,058 02/29/2020 14,469 5,229 18,839 38,537 02/08/2020 14,464 5,184 19,774 39,422 01/04/2020 14,371 5,173 22,087 41,631 12/21/2019 14,295 4,993 22,645 41,933 11/30/2019 14,639 5,135 25,086 44,860 10/26/2019 15,594 5,203 28,622 49,419 09/30/2019 16,120 5,359 29,443 50,922 09/21/2019 15,695 5,341 30,266 51,302 08/31/2019 16,197 5,315 31,418 52,930 08/03/2019 16,676 5,493 33,485 55,654 06/01/2019 17,225 5,573 29,667 52,465 05/04/2019 17,537 5,686 26,422 49,645

The growth has been steady and sharp: detention numbers rose by over 5,000 in just the last two weeks of the data series alone.

Non-Criminal Immigration Violators Drive Growth

The largest category of detainees by far is “Other Immigration Violator”, meaning individuals with no pending or prior criminal charges. This group jumped from 11,217 in early 2023 to over 26,000 by mid-2025, more than doubling in that timeframe.

While criminal detainee categories also rose, the sheer volume of non-criminal detentions is the clearest signal of changing enforcement tactics under the Trump administration.

Comparing the Two Administrations

Biden-era figures remained relatively stable, with total detentions hovering between 20,000 and 40,000. Under Trump, however, ICE has rapidly expanded its detainee population, particularly since January 2025.

This policy shift echoes Trump’s first term, when detention levels frequently surpassed 50,000, peaking in mid-2019. The current trajectory suggests a return to those levels or  possibly beyond.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Top 25 Nationalities of US Immigrants on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 16:40

Container traffic gives us an idea about the volume of goods being exported and imported - and usually some hints about the trade report since LA area ports handle about 40% of the nation's container port traffic.
The following graphs are for inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container).

The first graph is the monthly data (with a strong seasonal pattern for imports).

Click on graph for larger image.

Usually imports peak in the July to October period as retailers import goods for the Christmas holiday and then decline sharply and bottom in the Winter depending on the timing of the Chinese New Year.  
Imports were up 8% YoY in July and exports were down 3% YoY.    
To remove the strong seasonal component for inbound traffic, the second graph shows the rolling 12-month average.

On a rolling 12-month basis, inbound traffic increased 0.7% in July compared to the rolling 12 months ending the previous month.   
Outbound traffic decreased 0.3% compared to the rolling 12 months ending the previous month.
This is the 8th consecutive month with exports down YoY.

"Adaptive" Learning: Study Shows Almost 90% Adopt More Liberal Views To Satisfy Professors

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

In my book, “The Indispensable Right,” I write about the intolerance for viewpoint diversity in higher education and the atmosphere of orthodoxy created by overwhelmingly liberal faculties. We have also discussed consistent studies showing that students no longer feel free to express their viewpoints in class or on campuses. A new study offers additional data on this problem, showing that almost 90% of students misrepresent their views in class and on assignments to satisfy faculty by adopting more liberal views.

The authors explain that “these students were not cynical, but adaptive.”

Faced with the intolerance and rigidity of liberal faculty, they pretend to be liberal to avoid being penalized for their real views or values.

In other words, they “quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.”

In a recent op-ed, Northwestern University researchers Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman detail their findings:

Between 2023 and 2025, we conducted 1,452 confidential interviews with undergraduates at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. …

We asked: Have you ever pretended to hold more progressive views than you truly endorse to succeed socially or academically? An astounding 88 percent said yes.

These students were not cynical, but adaptive. In a campus environment where grades, leadership, and peer belonging often hinge on fluency in performative morality, young adults quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.

The result is not conviction but compliance. And beneath that compliance, something vital is lost.

This has been a long-standing problem in higher education. The current generation of faculty and administrators has destroyed the sense of free thought and expression on our campuses. Faced with consistent polling showing that students feel compelled to mimic liberal ideology and viewpoints, faculty shrug or even attack students for being weak. In a debate that I had at Harvard Law School, a Harvard professor called such students “conservative snowflakes.”

However, they are not conservative. Take Harvard. A recent survey of the graduating class by the Classroom Social Compact Committee found that, despite an overwhelmingly liberal faculty and student body, even liberal Harvard students found a chilling environment for free expression at the school. And it is getting worse. The results show a 13 percent decrease from the Class of 2023.

Last year, Harvard found itself in a familiar spot on the annual ranking of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE): dead last among 251 universities and colleges.

What is most striking is the fact that Harvard has created this hostile environment while maintaining an overwhelmingly liberal student body and faculty. Only 9 percent of the class identified as conservative or very conservative.

Yet, even liberals feel stifled at Harvard. Only 41 percent of liberal students reported being comfortable discussing controversial topics, and only 25 percent of moderates and 17 percent of conservatives felt comfortable in doing so.

This sense of orthodoxy is conveyed by the Harvard faculty, which itself does not tolerate opposing voices except for a handful of conservative academics. The Harvard Crimson has documented how the school’s departments have virtually eliminated Republicans. In one study of multiple departments last year, they found that more than 75 percent of the faculty self-identified as “liberal” or “very liberal.”

Only  5 percent identified as “conservative,” and only 0.4% as “very conservative.”

The virtual purging of conservative faculty members across the country sends a message to students that such ideas are not favored or acceptable. The result is that the vast majority of students — liberal and conservative — self-censor in an environment of intolerance.

In the latest study, the researcher found:

Seventy-eight percent of students told us they self-censor on their beliefs surrounding gender identity; 72 percent on politics; 68 percent on family values. More than 80 percent said they had submitted classwork that misrepresented their views in order to align with professors. For many, this has become second nature — an instinct for academic and professional self-preservation.

The authors’ research suggests that on some issues, such as the nature of gender and gender identity, students’ actual beliefs are quite different from what appears to be the prevailing orthodoxy on campus.

They write further:

Authenticity, once considered a psychological good, has become a social liability. And this fragmentation doesn’t end at the classroom door. Seventy-three percent of students reported mistrust in conversations about these values with close friends. Nearly half said they routinely conceal beliefs in intimate relationships for fear of ideological fallout. This is not simply peer pressure — it is identity regulation at scale, and it is being institutionalized.

Universities often justify these dynamics in the name of inclusion. But inclusion that demands dishonesty is not ensuring psychological safety — it is sanctioning self-abandonment. In attempting to engineer moral unity, higher education has mistaken consensus for growth and compliance for care.

Again, if students saw a meaningful number of conservative, libertarian, or contrarian faculty members, they might believe that opposing views are tolerated. Instead, they receive a steady drumbeat of often strident ideological commentary. I constantly hear reports of students having to sit through diatribes from faculty members against conservative politicians, justices, and values. Years ago, a graduating student told me that my Supreme Court class in her final term was the first time in college or law school that she felt comfortable expressing her conservative views, including pro-life views. It was a profoundly sad statement about the state of higher education.

This report will now be added to a tall stack of other reports showing a culture of intolerance and intimidation in higher education, particularly for more conservative students. It also reflects why the last election shocked so many in the media and establishment, as young people voted Republican. This generation of faculty and administrators has created a type of underground culture as students mouth liberal orthodoxy in class to avoid the retaliation or disfavor of liberal professors.

After many years of such studies, there is no evidence that faculty members are prepared to change in adding more diversity to their ranks. While this environment is the antithesis of higher education, it is advantageous for those who espouse accepted viewpoints and values. The students are left to “adapt” or face the consequences.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 15:20

More Than 300 Arrested In Washington Amid Federal Crackdown On Crime: Bondi

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

More than 300 people have been arrested following the federal takeover of law enforcement at the District of Columbia police department, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Bondi said that 68 people were arrested overnight on Aug. 16 after President Donald Trump federalized policing in the nation’s capital. This brings the total number of arrests to more than 300 since the operation began earlier this month.

“Just last night, our federal and DC law enforcement partners made 68 arrests and seized 15 illegal firearms,” Bondi stated in an Aug. 17 post on X.

“Homicide suspects, drug traffickers, and more are being charged. I’ll continue to stand with you as we make DC safe again!”

Those arrested face charges including assault on a federal officer, aggravated assault, felony grand larceny, and driving under the influence (DUI), according to FBI Director Kash Patel.

Trump announced a federal takeover of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on Aug. 11, deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital to curb crime.

Bondi then appointed DEA administrator Terry Cole as D.C.’s “emergency police commissioner,” granting him full authority over the MPD.

Bondi, however, revised the order following a federal judge’s ruling issued in response to legal challenges from D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who alleged that the federal government violated the Home Rule Act by attempting to replace MPD Chief Pamela Smith.

In her updated order, Bondi stated that Cole will serve as her “designee” at the MPD, and allowed Smith to remain in charge of its operations. The order will still require D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to assist with enforcing federal immigration law and locating illegal immigrants.

Spokesperson for the U.S. AG’s office, Chad Gilmartin, said the revised order is stronger than the initial one “because instead of requiring D.C. to rescind just one MDP order, @AGPamBondi has now REQUIRED full cooperation with federal immigration authorities.”

Trump also ordered law enforcement to patrol the nation’s capital around the clock. He invoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows the president to control the city’s police department for up to 30 days, with any extension requiring congressional approval.

Schwalb has accused the Trump administration of infringing on the district’s right to self-governance and abusing its authority under the Home Rule Act by declaring “a hostile takeover” of the MPD.

“These orders far exceed the President’s limited authority to request services from MPD, which can only be done on a temporary basis, under emergency circumstances, and solely for federal purposes,” his office said on Aug. 15.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson has defended the federal takeover of the MPD, saying it’s necessary “due to the emergency that has arisen in our nation’s capital as a result of failed leadership.”

“The Democrats’ efforts to stifle this tremendous progress are par for the course for the Defund the Police, Criminals-First Democrat Party,” Jackson told The Epoch Times.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 14:40

Tech Giants Spend Over $45mn Protecting CEOs Amid Rising Threats

Large tech groups including Meta, Alphabet, Nvidia, Amazon and Palantir are sharply increasing spending on personal protection as executives face rising hostility and a bigger role in US politics, according to Financial Times,

The FT found security budgets for 10 major tech CEOs exceeded $45mn in 2024, with several firms raising spending by more than 10% year on year.

Meta leads the pack: it spent $27mn last year securing Mark Zuckerberg and his family, far more than peers because it covers relatives as well as him. Nvidia spent $3.5mn protecting Jensen Huang, up from $2.2mn. Amazon has consistently funded Jeff Bezos’s protection at $1.6mn annually and spent $1.1mn last year on CEO Andy Jassy. Tesla reported only $500,000 in 2024 for Elon Musk but acknowledged this was a fraction of the real cost, with Musk sometimes traveling with 20 guards and even founding his own firm, Foundation Security.

Financial Times writes that spending has surged after high-profile killings, including the December 2024 shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. “The first half of this year was as busy for us than all of 2024,” said Joe LaSorsa of LaSorsa Security, citing a “remarkable increase” in attacks on executives’ homes.

Security experts warn of a shift. “Previously, we’d see executives targeted by someone with a personal grievance... but the direction of violence towards the top of company leadership has changed,” said Lianne Kennedy-Boudali of Control Risks. James Hamilton of Hamilton Security added: “I’ve never seen the threat or the concern higher than it is today.”

Palantir’s Alex Karp, whose fortune jumped by almost $7bn, has faced death threats linked to the firm’s military contracts and now moves with a 24/7 detail. Nvidia’s Huang, worth more than $153bn, is mobbed by fans at public events. Musk said: “We actually did have two homicidal maniacs in the last roughly seven months come to aspirationally try to kill me.”

Beyond tech, JPMorgan, Fox, Lockheed Martin, and healthcare companies have also expanded protection. CVS and Anthem even removed executives’ photos from websites.

Security firms are increasingly asked to guard against kidnapping, stalking, home invasions and AI-driven fraud, not just assassination attempts. “People are fixating on the leader of a company as the representation of all that is wrong with the world,” Hamilton warned.

Crypto leaders have also become early adopters of private security. Coinbase spent $6.2mn protecting CEO Brian Armstrong in 2024, while Blockdaemon founder Konstantin Richter noted: “Every time the market pumps things get weird... Keeping a low profile is key.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 14:20

Victor Hanson: Putin, Trump, & The Elusive "Peace"

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

At the August 15 Alaska summit, Vladimir Putin performed as expected. He desperately wants an end to Western sanctions, détente with the U.S., and assurances that the U.S. will not impose a disastrous anti-Russian secondary boycott—and, apparently, some additional Ukrainian territory.

Consequently, Putin, in his media synopsis, talked more about restored friendship with a “neighborly” United States under Trump. He scarcely mentioned Ukraine directly—other than to imply to Westerners that he seeks not merely to annex a foreign country, but to reclaim what he views as a former Soviet province with ancient ties to the Russian people.

Trump did not get his ceasefire with Putin. But he quickly pivoted to remind us that the table is set for a supposedly comprehensive peace without first requiring a temporary cessation of arms.

Trump addressed the media more succinctly and with greater discretion than Putin, appearing more optimistic that the Russian-American hostility was thawing. And he views normalization as a necessary step toward comprehensive peace in the weeks to come.

The left lambasted Trump for speaking politely of Putin and vice versa. There was additional criticism of a Fox interview in which Trump mentioned “land swaps” and for his supposed prior naïveté in believing he could obtain a ceasefire with Putin.

Yet for all the posturing, we have known for some time the general outlines of a peace, how it could come about, and why it has not yet happened.

Ukraine will not join NATO, but will likely be fully armed by the West. Ukraine lacks the power to retake Crimea or the Donbass, but with Western aid, it can preserve most of its territory.

Russia is worn out, but it is not yet ready to give up and may not be even after the envisioned destructive secondary sanctions. Putin will only make peace when his dictatorship feels it has advanced far enough westward (perhaps 100 miles west of the border) to justify to the oligarchy and military his foolhardy invasion and the needless toll of one million Russians dead, wounded, missing, or captured.

No one knows where a hypothetical DMZ line might eventually be drawn. But for now, it depends on which army has the greater wherewithal and momentum to push its enemy backward before there is a general consensus to stop the madness.

These contours of peace can be shaped by promises of trade deals and normalization between Russia and the West. Or, contrarily, they can be realized by threats of tougher sanctions and boycotts, as well as by security guarantees to Ukraine, by near-permanent aid to Ukraine to maintain its quite formidable army and deterrence, or by internal erosion from the war either in Ukraine or Russia.

Yet few critics of the administration address the unmentionables that likely account for the above general outlines of a settlement.

There are some realities that serve as subtexts to any possible agreement that cannot be simply thought away.

1. Ukraine could only regain Crimea and the Donbass and return to its pre-2022 borders by a historic transference of U.S. and European arms, intelligence, logistical support, and financial aid that would be little short of actively fighting nuclear Russia.

Europe talks grandly of unlimited support. But some Europeans still buy Russian energy, slow-walk aid, seem exhausted by the war, and are likely in time to peel away as they once did from the endless “no-fly zones” over Saddam’s Iraq after the first Gulf War. Europe sounds as if it fields vast armies, but in truth, Putin believes European support will erode more quickly than Ukrainian resistance or American help.

So, for all the talk of an “exhausted” Russia, there is a silent consensus that a depopulated and broken Ukraine cannot sustain its current levels of resistance without a much greater Western profile. And that is unlikely to happen.

2. Notably, the left never really dwells on the likely 1.5 million dead, wounded, missing, and captured from three and a half years of war. It is a humanitarian nightmare, a modern Stalingrad that makes Gaza look like child’s play.

Yet Westerners are far more likely to posture on the human costs of the “genocide” in the distant Mideast wars than on Europe’s doorstep. Perhaps Germany or France feels it can influence Netanyahu by performance-art declarations of statehood for the Palestinians (on the quiet assumption that Israel is Western, friendly, and more likely to listen to Euro-moralizing than is a proximate, hostile, and dangerous Putin’s Russia).

Strangely, Trump alone seems to be lamenting the needless loss of thousands of lives each month, with no end in sight. It is fine to demand zero concessions to Putin or to accuse any who seek negotiations through land swaps as appeasers. But it is quite another to lay out a strategic plan for victory and complete recovery of pre-2014 Ukrainian territory, the likely costs necessary for such an ambitious strategy, and who, and for how long, will pay the tab.

3. There is a long history, both peaceful and hostile, between Russia and Ukraine that Westerners often ignore due to the current naked aggression of Putin and the murderous nature of his regime. Nonetheless, most recently, since 1939, the borders of present-day Ukraine have been fluid and changeable between Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. There still remains strong Russian influence and even support in Eastern Ukraine. And there has been a Western naivete since the end of the Cold War about pre-Putin Russia’s trip-wire sensitivity to the eastward trajectory of Western military alliances toward Russia and the more insidious Westernization of former and still mostly Russian-speaking areas of the old Soviet Union.

The current tensions with Canada and the U.S. would certainly boil over if China were to begin overtly championing the Canadian cause. Americans remember the 1962 U.S. response to Castro’s Cuba when Nikita Khrushchev broke Cold War conventions by strategically arming a third-nation proxy on America’s doorstep.

4. Talking to a monstrous Putin is not treasonous, foolhardy, or unnecessary. FDR openly courted, joked with, and even praised (“Uncle Joe”) an even greater monster in Joseph Stalin, who by 1941 had the blood of nearly 20 million Russians on his hands. Stalin had already invaded pro-Western Finland and Poland. And between September 1, 1939, and June 22, 1941, he had enabled Adolf Hitler to overrun much of Western Europe, hoping Germany would destroy both the West and itself in the process.

Nixon did not just “go to China” but sought to change the geostrategic nuclear landscape by courting Mao Zedong, the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century.

Not calling Putin a “killer” and “murderer” at the summit is hardly appeasement but more like art-of-the-deal, speaking softly while carrying a big stick, rather than Biden-style loud rhetoric while carrying a twig. Who is the greater humanitarian—the inert and anemic blowhard who resorts to name-calling a “murderous thug,” or the president willing to meet face-to-face with a monster to explore costly ways of halting the mass slaughter?

5. Finally, few seem to remember that Trump is a latecomer to the Ukrainian-Russian mess.

In the end, we should remember it was not Trump who once talked grandly of a soon-to-be NATO Ukraine or who for years welched on the promise to spend a meager 2 percent of GDP on defense.

It was not Trump who pushed a plastic red button to embark on a “Russian reset” with a voracious Putin. It was not Trump who invited Russia back into the Middle East after a nearly 40-year hiatus.

It was not Trump who, after the reset’s failure, moved on to concoct “Russian collusion” and “Russian disinformation” to use Russia to destroy a political rival. It was not Trump who went to Ukraine, threatened to hold up aid, and fired a prosecutor looking into his son’s selling to Ukrainians the influence of his father’s vice presidency.

It was not Trump on whose watch Putin invaded Georgia, the Donbass, and Crimea, and sought to absorb Kyiv.

It was not Trump who dreamed up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to subsidize green energy fantasies—while still buying Russian energy.

And it was not Trump who conditioned his possible reaction to Putin’s invasion based on whether it might be “minor.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 14:00

"When Bubbles Happen...": Sam Altman Says AI Hype Compares To Dot Com Boom Before 2000 Crash

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence may already look like a bubble., according to CNBC.

“Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes. Is AI the most important thing to happen in a very long time? My opinion is also yes,” he told reporters last week. “When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth.”

Altman compared the surge in AI spending to the dot-com boom of the 1990s, when hype drove valuations before the Nasdaq lost nearly 80% of its value.

He isn’t alone. Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio, and Apollo Global Management economist Torsten Slok have issued similar warnings. Slok recently argued the AI boom could be “bigger than the internet bubble,” with today’s market leaders more overvalued than those in the 1990s.

Not all analysts agree. Ray Wang of Futurum Group said Monday that “from the perspective of broader investment in AI and semiconductors... I don’t see it as a bubble. The fundamentals across the supply chain remain strong.” Still, he noted “an increasing amount of speculative capital” chasing weaker companies.

CNBC writes that investor concern has grown alongside rising competition. Earlier this year, Chinese start-up DeepSeek claimed to train a cutting-edge model for under $6 million, far below the billions spent by U.S. giants like OpenAI—though those claims remain disputed.

Altman, meanwhile, has acknowledged challenges at OpenAI. He told CNBC the company is on track for $20 billion in annual recurring revenue but remains unprofitable. The rollout of its GPT-5 model drew mixed reviews, forcing OpenAI to restore GPT-4 access for paying users.

He has also begun questioning whether “artificial general intelligence” remains a useful term, saying it may be losing relevance despite earlier predictions it could arrive in the “reasonably close-ish future.”

Investor faith, however, hasn’t wavered. OpenAI is preparing a $6 billion stock sale valuing the firm at roughly $500 billion, just months after raising $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation—the largest private tech round ever.

Looking ahead, Altman said OpenAI could spend “trillions of dollars” on data centers, hinted at expansion into consumer hardware and brain-computer interfaces, and even suggested buying Chrome if regulators forced Google to sell.

Asked if he’d still be OpenAI’s CEO in three years, he replied: “I mean, maybe an AI is in three years. That’s a long time.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/18/2025 - 13:05