When your stock is actually a scam
I don’t mean to be a downer, but I need to warn you that tens of thousands of Americans, folks just like you, are getting duped into buying worthless Chinese stocks.
The Wall Street Journal (paywall link) found even seasoned investors are falling for this scam, losing big bucks in the blink of an eye.
🪴 I wet my plants: AI-generated houseplant scams, like fake glowing monstera, blue sunflowers and bogus care tips, are spreading online. Real plant nerds are mad. Between mislabeled seeds, floating pots and chatbot advice that could kill a fern in 10 seconds, AI’s turning a peaceful hobby into a digital funhouse of botanical lies.
Google’s Veo 3 is out
The new AI video generator creates lifelike eight-second clips from just a prompt. It’s amazing. You can try it free through Vertex AI on Google Cloud by signing up for a trial and using the $300 in credits. FYI: This thing was trained on millions of YouTube videos.
Over 35,000
People were paid by Stanford to quit Instagram or Facebook for six weeks. The goal? See what happens to emotional well-being. Turns out there was only a slight mood boost. The biggest gains came from people over 35 quitting Facebook and women under 25 leaving IG.
Tesla’s ghost delivery: This is something. Tesla just delivered a car from its factory to a customer with zero humans inside, not even a remote operator. The car just snuck home like a teenager after curfew. Elon says it’s the first true hands-off highway drive. I wonder: If you miss a few car payments, will it also drive itself back to the dealer?
🤖 Dirt = debt: Watch out the next time you rent a car. Hertz renters are getting slapped with $195 to $440 charges for microscopic car damage, like a wheel scuff or tiny dent, caught by new AI scanners at drop-off. PSA: Take a video of the entire car before you drive off the lot.
Another Anker recall: Five more power banks are being pulled over fire risks. Affected models include: Anker Power Bank A1257 and A1647, MagGo A1652, and Zolo A1681 and A1689. You’ll find the model number on the side or back. Fill out a recall form to get a free replacement or a gift card.
Crypto tax panic: Crypto traders are freaking out after a huge spike in official letters from the IRS, some warnings, some with fines already baked in. Even people who’ve played by the rules say they’re getting flagged. If you’ve been diligently reporting your Fartcoin profits like a responsible adult, congrats: You’re now on the audit express.
5 to 3
That’s the final score in a soccer match where no one broke a sweat, or had a pulse. Tsinghua’s robot squad took the W against China Agricultural University in the world’s first all-autonomous 3v3 match. Strategy, teamwork, AI, basically FIFA meets I, Robot. Coming soon: an algorithm for yellow cards.
👀 TikTok’s mystery buyers: President Trump claims “very wealthy people” are ready to buy TikTok, but he won’t say who. Only catch? The deal still needs China’s OK. The deadline’s now Sept. 17. This is the third delay while lawmakers try to kill the app. It feels like a group project we all forgot about that keeps getting deadline extensions.