Minnesota Daily reports…

A halt on the construction of data centers in Minneapolis took effect in July after the Minneapolis City Council discussed the need for more time to understand the facilities’ potential environmental impacts.

The Council approved the halt through November by an 8-5 vote in May. Members said the halt allows time to 

LOS ANGELES — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today led a coalition of 12 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (Warner Bros.) by Paramount Skydance Corporation (Paramount).

This will be the first Starship test flight for SpaceX as a public company, testing the market's appetite for the company's "fly, fail, fix" approach to rocket development, which often ends in fireballs.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared SpaceX to fly Starship prototypes again, after the company identified the probable cause of the failure of the rocket system’s booster stage during a flight in May.

SpaceX said over the weekend that the next flight of Starship could happen as soon as this Thursday, July 16. It would be the second-ever launch of the third version, or V3, of Starship. SpaceX also said that this Starship will carry the first third-generation Starlink satellites to space. Previously, Starship had only carried dummy versions of the larger, more powerful internet satellites.

A wave of new data centers could be given approval to come online before the Texas Legislature passes guardrail rules in 2027.

Top Texas leaders, including Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, want to slap more restrictions on data centers.

But because the Texas Legislature isn’t expected to meet again until early next year, the state likely can’t do much to set limits on a new surge of data centers that’s expected to come online by late 2032.

The issue is one of procedure — and timing.

The Trump administration wants to make sweeping changes to the way federal grants are awarded and managed. Massachusetts researchers, public officials and scientific societies are pushing back, saying the proposal will harm science, people and the economy.

Free Press hails this state-led effort to defend consumer choice and journalism against a billionaire push to censor and control the media.

WASHINGTON — On Monday, 12 state attorneys general launched an antitrust suit to block the proposed $111 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. California Attorney General Rob Bonta led the multistate lawsuit, joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.

“The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,” Bonta said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

The combination of these two massive entertainment and news companies would create a media colossus with CBS, CNN, HBO, Nickelodeon and the Warner Bros. and Paramount film studios — among other major media properties — all under one roof. The deal’s announcement in 2025 spurred widespread protests led by a coalition of First Amendment advocates, unions, consumer-rights groups, and Hollywood actors and directors. 

☕ COLD BREW

Hi. It's the mascot. Monty's on a beach somewhere with no laptop, which means I've got the keyboard for one week. No news today — just true, slightly unhinged AI trivia that has nothing to do with chatbots, because apparently that's all anyone talks about anymore. Let's fix that.

📰 WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW (Monty: still on holiday. Me: thriving.)

As a follow up to a post on the court decision, Faribault Daily News reports on the Faribault Council’s response…

Following the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling citing deficiencies in the environmental study for a proposed data center in Faribault, the City Council requested more information with a deadline of March 31, 2027.

In 2024, Archer Datacenters purchased land in Faribault to develop up to 50,000 square feet of data center buildings on 87 acres of land south of 150th Street W and east of Acorn Trail near Met Con. Based on criteria set by the Minnesota Environmental Review, the site would require an environmental assessment worksheet to study the potential environmental impacts based on square footage but not an environmental impact statement, which would be a further, more in-depth study.

This documentary about the billionaires who want to rip up society’s rules in favour of CEOs somehow manages to be more entertaining than terrifying. Although at times it’s a close call.

Matt Shea’s documentary is bookended by two stark facts. One is that the wealth of the world’s 12 richest people is equal to that of the poorest 50% of humanity (you can argue about whether 12 is exactly right, but it’s certainly a horrifyingly small number). The other is that in recent US election cycles, the fossil fuel industry has been replaced as the biggest political donor by a new force: cryptocurrency.

In an hour that manages to be more entertaining than terrifying despite sailing into very murky waters, Shea explores how a fresh breed of tech billionaires are looking to make a bold new move. He shows that in a traditional western democracy, the principle that citizens all have an equal vote and are all equally beholden to the law is heavily compromised by a tiny minority of rich citizens. These people influence what the electorate votes for, by bankrolling politicians and owning media companies, as well as using their wealth to ensure rules do not properly apply to them. But plutocrats still find this system frustrating, thanks to those pesky elections and that annoying rule of law. What’s next?

Xfinity and Comcast Business services are now available to more than 1,500 homes and businesses in and around Flagler Estates in St. Johns County, FL, including more than 1,100 previously unserved locations.

Paramount’s $80 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery promises a new era for Hollywood—but also leaves the combined media giant with nearly $80 billion in debt. As David Ellison bets on growth, streaming and blockbuster content, analysts say delivering $6 billion in promised synergies will be critical to easing the financial burden.

When Paramount PSKY -1.91%decrease;Chief Executive David Ellison unveiled his company’s $81 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery WBD 0.11%increase;he touted a new golden era for Hollywood—one built on scale, technology and a promise to release at least 30 theatrical movies a year.

His plan has little margin for error.

The League of Minnesota Cities has compiled helpful information for local governments looking at responsibility with AI…

As artificial intelligence (AI) tools become more common, Minnesota cities are exploring how these technologies can improve efficiency, customer service, and daily operations. From drafting meeting minutes more quickly to generating city-branded graphics and designs, AI offers clear benefits.

Of all the debates raging about the potential downsides of AI, there is one worry causing the most hand-wringing among AI enthusiasts in Silicon Valley — that the giant AI labs that sell proprietary models are somehow acting like Trojan horses.

The concern is that, as startups and enterprises use AI models from labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, the labs gain ever-increasing access to those companies’ most sensitive business information. The model makers can then use that knowledge for themselves, potentially becoming competitors to their own customers. Those issuing such warnings range from VCs like Jason Calacanis to Palantir CEO Alex Karp.

Late last week I received a half-dozen calls or so from state broadband offices telling me that each lost approximately half of its LEO BSLs. Curious, I called more offices, and it would seem that every state was notified to remove roughly 50% of its LEO BSLs for one of two reasons, cited below.

Apparently the newly released “Fabric v9” did a better job of eliminating BSLs that either weren’t really BSLs or that were already covered.

The LAPD, one of Flock's biggest government customers, is ending its contract with the company citing civil liberties concerns.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is reportedly ending its deal with Flock Safety, a surveillance company that helps law enforcement track vehicles using thousands of its license plate cameras placed across the United States.

A senior LAPD official told news outlets, first reported by ABC7 and the Los Angeles Times, that the police department would allow its three-year contract with Flock to expire when it ends on Saturday. The department cited “serious concerns” around civil liberties and privacy. Flock’s cameras are operated by the Atlanta, Georgia-based company and not the LAPD.

The race to build more data centers in Texas is facing growing pushback. While some communities are approving massive projects, others are moving to restrict new developments over concerns about growth, resources, and local impact.

Stopping US data centers means little for the planet if they simply shift to Global Majority countries, write Vignesh Ramachandran and Inayat Sabhikhi.

In the United States, inspiring and steadfast local organizing by communities against data centers has created an incredible moment of leverage against all-powerful tech companies. While hugely consequential, stopping data centers in the US means little for the planet if they simply shift to Global Majority countries.

Thanks to the courage of local communities and formations such as the No Desert Data Center Coalition and Memphis Communities Against Pollution, the widespread local and global harms of data centers—such as over-extracting water resources, exacerbating air pollution, and intensifying long-standing environmental inequalities—have come to light.

None of these consequences change if the data center is moved from Virginia to Visakhapatnam; but faced with domestic opposition, the US government and tech companies are pitching data center development to Global Majority countries, where governments are rolling out red carpets and favorable regulations, like in the United Arab Emirates. Brazil recently launched a proposal to attract data centers, South Africa just changed policy to put data centers on par with ports, and in India, the government announced further land allotments for Google’s flagship AI Hub data center.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that OpenAI is pulling the plug on its nonstarter browser a mere nine months after launching the feature.

In October, OpenAI unveiled an AI browser dubbed Atlas, purportedly designed to help you “understand your world” and “achieve your goals” by putting ChatGPT front and center.

A special “agent mode” was meant to book flights or buy groceries online on your behalf without you ever having to lift your finger.

“The browser just changed,” OpenAI’s head of ChatGPT boasted at the time, calling it a major step in ChatGPT evolving into an entire AI operating system.

But the cracks started to show almost immediately.

WDIO reports…

Residents pack forum as questions continue over proposed Hermantown Data Center Residents gathered Thursday evening in Hermantown for a public forum focused on a proposed hyperscale data center development, hearing from experts who raised concerns about energy demands, environmental impacts, school funding claims and long-term economic benefits.

The event, hosted by Duluth Indivisible and co-sponsored by the Stop the Hermantown Data Center group, featured a panel of specialists in technology, law, environmental policy, public health and school finance. Organizers said the forum was designed to provide independent information about the project and allow residents to ask questions not addressed during previous public presentations.

“They’re completely driven by antisemitism and socialism,” say a source in the New York Post about deal opponents. Plus, a merger boom, and someone let a squirrel loose in Meta's offices.

But today I want to go over the likely coming challenge to the attempted merger of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, a combination that would put much of Hollywood and media assets such as CNN in the hands of billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison. CNN’s Brian Stelter reported that state attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, are readying a complaint as soon as tomorrow to block the merger. David McCabe in the New York Times added more color, saying the complaint will focus on ‘tentpole movies,’ aka blockbuster films.

If this merger challenge is filed, it would kick off the biggest legal fight over corporate power in the Trump era. And I have to say, that a challenge might happen is shockingly good news, and a real testament to the anti-monopoly arguments that have been percolating for years, as well as the organizing savvy of groups like Block the Merger and the thousands of courageous artists who spoke out and risked their careers to do so.

Here’s why. 

Companies are backing off on their AI spending. Because investors have made such big bets on AI coming to fruition, that’s a big problem.

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2026 – Texas’ Democratic candidate for attorney general says, if elected, he would investigate whether SpaceX got preferential treatment in receiving $109 million in state broadband grants.

Nathan Johnson says the state’s subgrant selection process ‘sure looks like’ corruption.

The revised federal guidance, released June 2025, encouraged states to consider lower-cost technologies, including low Earth orbit satellite service, alongside fiber in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

Johnson alleged that Texas officials directed 99% of available grant funds toward SpaceX, in an interview Friday with the Dallas News, arguing the procurement process “sure looks like” corruption.

Thousands of new fossil-fuel power sources are quietly firing up across the state to power the AI boom, thanks to a regulatory loophole, leaving residents feeling blindsided.

Omaira Garcia didn’t realize life on her small ranch in Abilene, Texas, was about to change until clouds of dust—kicked up by a mysterious project next door—began to engulf her home.

The Air Force veteran says she found out about OpenAI’s plans to build its flagship Stargate data center directly beside her property only after construction began in the summer of 2024. Today, the site’s natural-gas-powered electrical plant sits roughly 500 yards from her house, the exhaust stacks clearly visible from her kitchen window.

“We weren’t given any time to understand what this impact was going to be on us,” the mother of two says through tears. “We’re trapped here.”