AI Is Driving Up the Price of Consumer Electronics
Driven by the AI boom, chip manufacturers are pivoting production lines toward megacorporate clients. The move will make consumer electronics even less affordable.
40 Article(s) by: Luke Goldstein
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Luke Goldstein is a reporter with the Lever. He is an investigative journalist based in Washington, DC, who was most recently a writing fellow at the American Prospect and was with the Open Markets Institute before that.
Google Paid to Fete Key Lawmakers at a Secret Summit
Google recently paid state lawmakers upward of $2,000 as “gifts” to cover their attendance at a secret all-inclusive summit with “educational” sessions discussing artificial intelligence and other issues that many of these officials will soon be voting on.
The US Government Is Letting Southwest Airlines Off Easy
After a Southwest Airlines software meltdown stranded two million customers over Christmas three years ago, the Department of Transportation imposed a $140 million fine. The Trump administration just let the airline off the hook for its remaining payments.
Trump Wants to Privatize Migrant Kids’ Legal Aid
The Trump administration is working to privatize a legal defense program for tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children, opening the door for a for-profit ICE technology contractor to take over in partnership with Angelina Jolie’s NGO.
Maine Governor Janet Mills Keeps Killing Worker Protections
Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, is Democratic Party leaders’ choice for the state’s key 2026 Senate race. She has spent her time in office vetoing protections for workers and tenants and taxes on the wealthy.
Private Equity’s New Venture: Youth Sports
Backed by Wall Street, the company Black Bear Sports Group is tightening its grip on youth sports. In a scheme only private equity could dream up, parents now can’t record their kids’ games — but they can pay a steep price to watch corporate recordings.
The Government Shutdown Deal Is Endangering Food Safety
After intense lobbying and major campaign donations, the emergency spending bill intended to end the federal government shutdown is including language abolishing rules designed to prevent food contamination and foodborne illnesses at farms and restaurants.
Donald Trump Wants to Kill Your Credit Score
The Trump administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued guidance yesterday prohibiting states from wiping medical debt from consumers’ credit ratings. The move could exacerbate the crippling effects of skyrocketing medical costs.
Shake Shack Is Restricting Its Customers’ Legal Rights
Following an industry trend, fast-food chain Shake Shack recently updated its terms of use agreement to include a binding arbitration agreement and class-action waiver denying customers their legal right to take the company to court.
Silicon Valley’s War Profiteers
After years of pushing sensationalized claims about foreign threats, Silicon Valley’s military start-ups are set to score billions in funding for drones and AI-powered weapons in the nearly $1 trillion defense budget.
Airlines Are Trying to Weaken a New Safety Inspection Rule
The airline industry is lobbying to weaken a new safety rule that would force airlines to address serious flaws in potentially thousands of Boeing planes. They have industry-connected allies in the Trump administration who could help them get their way.
Everything Is Becoming a Bank
Most major corporations — from airlines to social media platforms — now aspire to become unregulated banks. Bankification today accounts for the highest profit margins in the US economy, crippling productive capacity and setting the stage for the next crash.
Trump Is Promising Corporations a Deregulatory Bonanza
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is asking corporations to identify state laws that “burden industry.” Corporate lobbies are responding to the request with wish lists of consumer protection laws they want the administration to preempt.
A New Housing Marketplace That’s Keeping Homes Unaffordable
Homebuilding giant Lennar has a large stockpile of houses it can’t sell at current asking prices. Instead of lowering home prices for the public, the company has launched an e-marketplace catering to wealthy investors and corporate landlords.
This Health Records Giant Is Undermining Your Privacy Rights
Epic Systems, the largest electronic health records company in the US, is pushing users of its ubiquitous online health portal MyChart to sign away their rights to sue the company if it mishandles their sensitive information.
Ticketmaster Is Forcing Users Into Shady Arbitration Courts
Live entertainment giant Ticketmaster recently inserted language into its user agreements that steers customer lawsuits into a corporate-friendly private justice system, just months after a federal judge ruled its use of such processes was illegal.
Corporations Want to Prevent Workers From Leaving Their Jobs
As regulators crack down on noncompete agreements that bar workers from finding better jobs, employees across the country are increasingly bound by a new form of “stay-or-pay” contract that indebts them to their bosses.
Airline Price-Gouging Could Become the New Normal
Led by Delta, many airlines are now working with AI firms to expand the industry’s use of big data for price setting. Using new surveillance techniques, these firms exploit consumer privacy to set “personalized” prices to jack up fares.
The Big Tech Lobby Has the DOJ in a Stranglehold
A secret lobbying effort by Hewlett Packard Enterprise has pushed Donald Trump’s Justice Department to reverse course on the tech giant’s $14 billion megamerger and led to the ouster of top department prosecutors.
The Feds Keep Changing Their Story About the Epstein Files
The Department of Justice keeps changing its story about documents related to the politically connected sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, offering contradictory reasons for refusing to release the files.