Daily digest · Friday, August 28, 2026
The EPA proposed ending public notice and comment for some “minor” NSR air-permit applications, which could affect communities near data centers. AT&T sued Charter over misleading “fiber” marketing, and a court ruled Kalshi’s sports bets are gambling—not CFTC swaps. Corn and wheat prices also jumped to multi-year highs, alongside new cybersecurity concerns and signals from tech and chip supply.
1 · The Verge
The EPA has proposed ending the federal requirement for public notice and an opportunity to comment on New Source Review air-permit applications for certain “minor” pollution sources, shifting whether communities are notified to state and local agencies.
2 · CNET
AT&T sued Charter claiming Spectrum’s “fiber-powered” marketing is misleading because Spectrum uses fiber-optic cables for most of its network but typically switches to copper coaxial for the last mile to customers’ homes.
3 · Ars Technica
A court ruled Kalshi’s sports event contracts are gambling and not “swaps,” rejecting Kalshi’s argument that the contracts could fall under the CFTC’s exclusive swaps jurisdiction.
4 · CNBC
Wheat futures settled 3.1% higher at 784 cents per bushel Friday—up 12.1% for the week and more than 54.5% year-to-date—while corn futures settled 0.6% higher at 536.5 cents per bushel Friday—up 5.5% for the week and 21.8% year-to-date.
5 · The Register
Claude Code (Opus 5 in Auto Mode) can be made to download and execute attacker-controlled code just by being asked to summarize a malicious website, succeeding in about 60% to 80% of trials.
6 · Computerworld
Counterpoint and IDC data point to a record 16.7% decline in global smartphone shipments in 2026 tied to a memory crisis, while iPhone’s market share rises as Android’s share falls, with iOS hitting a record high of 23.6%.
7 · TechCrunch
Neocloud Lambda raised $1 billion in private, short-dated debt to buy Nvidia AI chips that it will lease to Microsoft.
8 · The Register
German-Japanese researchers demonstrated an electricity-free elastocaloric solid-state cooling prototype using two opposing nickel-titanium foils, achieving a 12.9 K temperature span at the refrigerant film level (and 4.0 K at the device level) under Joule-heated actuation at 86°C, and still 2.2 K at the device level when driven by an external 130°C heat source.
