Daily dispatch

April 23, 2026

Issue filed Apr 23, 2026 · 24 headlines · By Oz Gultekin

Daily dispatch for April 23, 2026. 24 headlines from labour, tech, and policy feeds, rewritten by hand for the class war in progress.

№ 01 The Verge

SpaceX cuts a deal to maybe buy Cursor for $60 billion

SpaceX has proposed acquiring the AI coding platform Cursor for $60 billion or paying a $10 billion fee, a move intended to bolster xAI's competitive position ahead of a planned IPO.
№ 02 Financial Times

The AI digital divide

A Financial Times survey finds that highest-earning workers are adopting AI technology in their jobs significantly faster than lower-paid employees.
№ 03 TechCrunch

Google turns Chrome into an AI co-worker for the workplace

Google has added Gemini-powered automation capabilities to Chrome for enterprise users, enabling workers to automate research, data entry, and similar tasks.
№ 04 The New York Times

SpaceX Strikes Deal With Cursor for $60 Billion

SpaceX is pursuing a potential acquisition of Cursor as Elon Musk's company prepares for an initial public offering with emphasis on artificial intelligence.
№ 05 VentureBeat

Salesforce rolls out new Slackbot AI agent as it battles Microsoft and Google in workplace AI

Salesforce has rebuilt Slackbot into a fully powered AI agent capable of searching enterprise data, drafting documents, and taking autonomous action for employees.
№ 06 Financial Times

Private equity courts OpenAI and Anthropic

OpenAI and Anthropic are negotiating with private equity firms over joint ventures designed to accelerate AI deployment across businesses.
№ 07 TechCrunch

Google updates Workspace to make AI your new office intern

Google has introduced new automated functions into Workspace powered by Workspace Intelligence, its new AI system for office productivity.
№ 08 TechCrunch

Google Cloud launches two new AI chips to compete with Nvidia

Google has launched two new TPU chips that are faster and cheaper than previous versions, though the company continues to rely on Nvidia in its cloud services.
№ 09 The Verge

Google Meet will take AI notes for in-person meetings too

Google's Gemini AI can now generate summaries and transcripts of in-person meetings, expanding beyond Google Meet to include Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
№ 10 The New York Times

Leaked Code for Anthropic’s Claude Code Tests Copyright Challenges in A.I. Era

Leaked code for Anthropic's Claude Code has raised questions about copyright protections as AI tools make it faster than ever to reproduce creative work.
№ 11 The Guardian

Met police in talks to buy Palantir AI tech for use in criminal investigations

The Metropolitan Police has held talks with Palantir about acquiring the US firm's AI technology to automate intelligence analysis for criminal investigations.
№ 12 The Guardian

‘In two years, nobody will care’ if actors are AI or not, predicts La Haine director

The director of La Haine has called AI the last artistic tool cinema needs and dismissed concerns about the technology stealing from other artists.
№ 13 VentureBeat

Claude Code costs up to $200 a month. Goose does the same thing for free.

Anthropic's Claude Code costs up to $200 monthly, prompting backlash from developers who can access similar capabilities through free alternatives like Goose.
№ 14 Fast Company

How the government is ramping up mass surveillance with AI-driven tech

The federal government is accelerating investment in AI-driven surveillance technology while simultaneously reducing oversight requirements for such systems.
№ 15 Fast Company

The Age of AI means we need to throw out our old KPIs and replace them with new ones

Organizations adopting AI must replace traditional key performance indicators with new metrics better suited to measuring AI-driven work.
№ 16 The Guardian

To be human is to live with friction. That’s something AI boosters will never understand | Alexander Hurst

AI boosters promote a frictionless world that eliminates space for reflection and spontaneity, representing an advanced stage of capitalist control.
№ 17 Financial Times

Quant pioneer Martin Lueck warns against handing over trading to AI

A quantitative trading pioneer has cautioned against fully automating investment decisions to AI, following a billionaire hedge fund manager's recent surrender to machines.
№ 18 Financial Times

Top Republican pushes party to shun $300mn AI lobby

Senator Josh Hawley is urging Republicans to reject a $300 million AI industry lobbying campaign, warning of political costs if Washington fails to regulate Big Tech.
№ 19 Financial Times

Nvidia supplier SK Hynix hails ‘structural shift’ after another record quarter

SK Hynix, Nvidia's major supplier, reports record quarterly results as customers prioritize securing chip supplies over negotiating lower prices.
№ 20 Financial Times

Tesla boosts spending plans to $25bn as Musk doubles down on AI bet

Tesla is increasing capital spending to $25 billion as Elon Musk doubles down on AI investments in self-driving vehicles, robots, and chip manufacturing.
№ 21 The Verge

AI failure could trigger the next financial crisis, warns Elizabeth Warren

Senator Elizabeth Warren has warned that AI industry failures could trigger the next financial crisis, drawing parallels to the 2008 recession.
№ 22 The Verge

OpenAI now lets teams make custom bots that can do work on their own

OpenAI is allowing users to create custom AI agents that can autonomously perform business tasks like gathering product feedback and drafting sales emails.
№ 23 TechCrunch

How SpaceX preempted a $2B fundraise with a $60B buyout offer

Cursor halted a $2 billion funding round after SpaceX offered a $10 billion collaboration fee and a potential $60 billion acquisition path.
№ 24 The New York Times

Anthropic’s New Mythos A.I. Model Sets Off Global Alarms

Anthropic's new Mythos AI model has triggered emergency responses from central banks and intelligence agencies globally over access and control concerns.

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