Laurel

Advice for PhD Students …

OK - AI Beat - now at Dow Jones v. Perplexity AI, on competing motions to compel. Inner CIty Press on the Artificial Intelligence court beat will live tweet, thread below

FTC and DOJ are now accepting the old HSR merger filing form. Merging parties can keep using the form that a TX federal court struck down as unnecessarily burdensome.

NEXT WEEK: Join the American Economic Liberties Project, alongside lawmakers, enforcers, and experts, for a can't-miss event on how corporate America has embraced corruption in the Trump era. Join us March 25th. For more details, RSVP here: eventbrite.com/e/bending-the-…

Chuck Norris, the martial arts champion who became an iconic action star and led the hit series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” has died. He was 86. Norris was hospitalized in Hawaii on Thursday, and his family posted a statement saying he had died Friday morning: It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning. While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace. To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength. To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family. He lived his life with faith, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to the people he loved. Through his work, discipline, and kindness, he inspired millions around the world and left a lasting impact on so many lives. While our hearts are broken, we are deeply grateful for the life he lived and for the unforgettable moments we were blessed to share with him. The love and support he received from fans around the world meant so much to him, and our family is truly thankful for it. To him, you were not just fans, you were his friends. We know many of you had heard about his recent hospitalization, and we are truly grateful for the prayers and support you sent his way. As we grieve this loss, we kindly ask for privacy for our family during this time. Thank you for loving him with us. variety.com/2026/film/news…

The fix was in at the @FCC & @JusticeATR to approve the massive Nexstar-TEGNA deal. People need to know how abnormal and illegal the process was. I talk about it here: linkedin.com/posts/gigisohn…

FTC's request for a stay of an order striking down its new HSR merger rule is denied by the Fifth Circuit

NEXT WEEK: Economic Liberties is hosting a virtual discussion on how to rein in monopoly utility profits in an age of data center expansion. Join us on March 26 at 2PM EST. For more details, RSVP here: mobilize.us/economiclibert…

Google co-founder Sergey Brin increases his total contribution to $45M for the Building a Better California Super PAC that opposes a proposed 5% billionaire tax (@darakerr / The Guardian) theguardian.com/us-news/2026/m… #a260319p25" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260319/p25#a26… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

Sources: Google has started consumer beta testing of a dedicated Gemini AI app for the Mac, as it seeks to compete with Mac apps for ChatGPT and Claude (@markgurman / Bloomberg) bloomberg.com/news/articles/… #a260319p46" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260319/p46#a26… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

Filing: the Pentagon says Anthropic's use of foreign workers, including from China, poses security risks and that its case is "different" from other companies' (@m_ccuri / Axios) axios.com/2026/03/19/pen… #a260319p51" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260319/p51#a26… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

Sen. Marsha Blackburn releases a Senate draft of the TRUMP AMERICA AI Act, a federal framework to replace state AI laws, incorporating KOSA and the NO FAKES Act (@omaseddiq / Bloomberg Law) news.bloomberglaw.com/tech-and-telec… #a260319p3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260319/p3#a260… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

INBOX: “Blackburn Releases Discussion Draft of National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence.” She had a section-by-section in December but this is full draft text, incorporates some Trump EOs like the data center one and comes at 230 a little differently

Lina Khan is an American Hero.

.@FERC has cut New England transmission owners' Return on Equity, acting on a complaint of an almost Dickensian pendency (it was filed by the Mass AG who left office in 2015!) Looks like a ~100 bps haircut, large enough to produce substantial customer savings.

3/ A big part of the story is the spread of monopoly businesses like CVS, who, because they control all the pharmacies in their area, do not care that patients have to wait up to a month for their medications to be filled bc they have so few pharmacy workers.

Lina has so many to choose from, but I hope she frames this one in an office someday.

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are now offering hedge funds ways to short the $1.8 trillion private credit market. They've assembled baskets of companies with exposure, alt managers, BDCs, and lenders tied to private credit. This isn't speculation. These are structured products designed to bet against an entire sector. Private credit defaults hit a record 9.2% in late 2025. Blackstone's $82 billion flagship credit fund saw $6.5 billion in redemption requests in Q1. BlackRock had to cap withdrawals after requests hit 9.3% of its HPS fund. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater are also gating redemptions. JPMorgan already started marking down software-related loans in private credit portfolios. When the banks that lend to these funds start cutting the value of the collateral, it forces deleveraging at the worst possible time. US banks have lent nearly $300 billion to private credit providers. The exposure is not contained. Goldman's own data shows hedge funds are "aggressively shorting" financial stocks, the most-sold sector of the year. Financials are down 11% on the S&P. The same banks that helped build the private credit boom are now building the tools to bet against it. If that sounds familiar, it should.

Breaking: In a major win for big banks, the Trump administration is pushing to loosen the capital restrictions put in place after the 2008 financial crisis on.wsj.com/3Nz7mwi

Finance types worship at the altar of the Bloomberg terminal. So when AI evangelists recently declared it “cooked,” it was war. 🔗 on.wsj.com/4dsDa0d