A dispatch from the ‘data center capital of the world.’ How China steals American AI—and gets away with it. And more.
After Michael White had been out of prison for a year, he was accepted into New Haven’s guaranteed income program. (Christopher Capozziello for The Free Press)
It’s Wednesday, September 9. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Audrey Fahlberg on the purity tests disrupting the DSA’s path to victory. Isabella Redjai interviews residents of the “data center capital of the world.” Matt Pottinger and Liza Tobin on the great Chinese AI heist. And much more.
But first: Does guaranteed basic income for ex-cons work?
Every month, a Florida man gives away $800 to ex-cons to help them regain their bearings. It’s part of an experiment being conducted in a number of places to see if a guaranteed income, for six months or a year, will help keep those newly released from prison from winding up back inside. The data so far is promising, though far from definitive, writes P.G. Sittenfeld. But anecdotally, their transformative effects are clear.
The Florida man is Kevin Scott, who heads a Gainesville-based nonprofit, and he was once behind bars himself. “The joy of being free was counterbalanced by the terror of, ‘How am I going to make these probation payments?’ ” Scott said.
Leaving prison on parole is one thing. Staying out is another matter entirely—many states charge parolees monthly fees when they leave, and of course someone with a felony on his record has a difficult time finding work. That’s where Scott, and other private philanthropists, come in.
Sittenfeld also knows what it’s like to serve time. As he wrote in a Free Press article last year, he was caught up in an FBI sting and wound up in jail for four and a half months before President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025. Read his latest report on the NGOs writing the checks, the ex-cons cashing them, and whether the solution to our high recidivism rates could be as simple as a little bit of money.
The DSA has gone mainstream. Now, the question is whether it can survive the inevitable infighting that’s come in the wake of its success. In one corner are those willing to do whatever it takes to win—including running candidates in Democratic primaries. In the other corner are the purists, who view a marriage of the socialist project to the Democratic Party as a betrayal of its revolutionary roots. Audrey Fahlberg explores the fault lines within the DSA, and what they reveal about its future. Will it carve out a durable political presence on the mainstream left? Or will it revert to what it’s long been: a fringe movement more interested in ideological purity than winning power?
Is China doing it again? After using underhanded methods to turn some important American industries to rubble, is Beijing using theft and other unfair tactics to undermine America’s AI industry? Matt Pottinger and Liza Tobin, both former members of the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, say the answer is yes. One Chinese AI model has stolen so much from Claude that it actually calls itself Claude. But this is no joke. According to Pottinger and Tobin, if China succeeds in marginalizing U.S. AI models, the consequences will be huge. Read their piece for an inside view of China’s “industrial-scale” campaign to steal American AI—and how the U.S. can stop it.
One of the wealthiest counties in the U.S. bet big on data centers early—and is already seeing the results: huge increases in tax revenue, lower property taxes, and a new $102 million recreation center. But not everyone in the pocket of Northern Virginia known as “data center alley” is pleased. Isabella Redjai went to Loudoun County to talk to the residents, politicians, and experts to get a sense of whether the region is a true data center success story—or a cautionary tale.
Live in New York City: Bari Weiss and Simon Sebag Montefiore on the Making of the Modern Middle East
On October 1, Bari Weiss returns to the stage for her first live event in nearly a year, joined by renowned historian Dr. Simon Sebag Montefiore to discuss his latest bookThe Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East. Paying subscribers get early access to tickets until Thursday, September 10, at 12 p.m. ET.
Twelve countries including Britain, Canada, and France announced on Tuesday that they would sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. (Zain Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)
Britain, Canada, and France issued sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Tuesday, citing concerns of escalating settler violence. In response, Israel threatened to close the British consulate in Jerusalem, which represents the UK in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie G. Bunch announced his resignation Tuesday following clashes with President Trump over how the American museum presents its history and values. “I have to be honest, it has been stressful,” Bunch, 73, told The New York Times. “And at a certain point, I’d like to wake up in the morning and not look at my cellphone.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh blocked a redrawn Missouri congressional map favoring Republicans on Tuesday, deferring to the state’s Supreme Court, which said voters must approve the map in a statewide referendum. The map had already been used in last month’s primary election, and the state court did not specify what map would be used in November’s general election.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods took effect Tuesday in an escalation of the trade war between the two neighboring countries. The tariffs span about $20 billion in American products—including milk, video game consoles, and fishing rods—which represent a small piece of the $700 billion in goods that flowed across the U.S.-Canada border last year.
Houthi terrorists attacked four Saudi cities on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and marking a major expansion of the war in Iran. The U.S. also resumed attacks on Iranian tankers after a two-day pause, responding to attempted Iranian strikes on a U.S. Navy warship, officials said.
Two art thieves stole four Renoir paintings Tuesday from a museum on the French Riviera, jettisoning two of the works as they fled. The heist took less than three minutes and targeted the most valuable paintings in the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, according to the office of the regional prosecutor.
A secret screening of a documentary featuring disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes stirred the Telluride film festival into a frenzy over the weekend. The three-hour documentary features exclusive, at-length interviews between comedian Nathan Fielder and Holmes that were conducted months before she began her 11-year prison sentence. The film will debut in theaters on October 16.
The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
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