SBF Trial Starts In Manhattan
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial began this week in Manhattan with opening arguments from defense lawyers decrying media portrayals of their client as a “cartoon villain.” Former FTX CEO Gary Wang testified today SBF’s opposition to internal accounting controls, and how SBF’s personal hedge fund’s trading account had a secret “allow negative balance” feature.
Michael Lewis’ Argues SBF Is Not A Fraud
Acclaimed financial storyteller Michael Lewis, famous for books and movies like Moneyball and The Big Short, discussed his new book “Going Infinite” about SBF on 60 Minutes. Described by the author as a letter to SBF’s jury, Lewis credulously proclaims he does not believe SBF is a fraud.
Coffeezilla Responds to Michael Lewis: “WTF Are You Talking About?”
Anti-Scammer Coffeezilla, who has made a name for himself exposing crypto frauds on his YouTube channel, criticized Lewis’ objectivity by quoting directly from “Going Infinite” several instances of patently questionable behavior by SBF.
Pixel 8 Event Mostly About AI
Google officially launched the 8th generation of its Pixel smartphones this week, but most of the event was dedicated to (no surprise) AI. Google touted the ability of its latest Tensor chips to run AI models on device, and highlighted several upcoming integrations of Bard to Google services.
Google Follows Apple Into Healthcare with Pixel 8 and Pixel Watch 2
While most of the Pixel 8 details had been leaked over the summer, we learned that the Pixel 8 includes an infrared thermometer. But the big product reveal of the event was the second generation Pixel Watch. The first original device since Google’s acquisition of Fitbit, the Pixel watch 2 touts new heart and body sensors that will use AI to alert users to potential health risks.
Hyundai To Adopt Tesla Charging Standard
Another major automaker has surrendered to Tesla and will adopt the North American Charging Standard for all of its EV production starting next year. Hyundai joins the majority of automakers that have already adopted NACS, leaving Toyota and Volkswagen as the only holdouts.
US Government Issues First Ticket for Space Trash
Dish Network, operators of several geostationary satellites which broadcast TV signals, received the first ever space trash ticket from the Federal Communications Commission. The company’s EchoStar 7 satellite, in orbit since 2002, failed to properly position itself as part of a deorbiting maneuver and now poses a collision threat to other satellites.