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Capitalist Insider: Muse knocks ChatGPT off No. 1 at the App Store
Abbott put Texas data centers on ice until the power grid audit finishes
NJ crew cut a backup line. One cable. Five airports. 7,000 flights paid for it
75 million Social Security checks may rise 3.4% to 3.6% next year
After Mamdani, Florida trolled Pritzker on Chicago billboards
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Abbott put Texas data centers on ice until his power grid audit finishes
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered environmental permits for new data centers paused until ERCOT finishes an audit of the existing grid-connection waitlist, widening an August freeze.
August freeze expanded: Monday’s order extends the August moratorium on new data-center grid approvals to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permits. TCEQ is expected to update Abbott by Oct. 19.
Virginia lead at risk: A February JLL report said Texas was on track to surpass Virginia as the world’s largest data-center market by the end of the decade.
Voters punish builders: A recent NBC News poll found 64% of Americans would be less likely to vote for a candidate who “supports building local data centers.”
Incentives face repeal: In a tight fourth-term race against Rep. Gina Hinojosa, Abbott reversed his 2025 Stargate-era “epicenter of AI” claim and will seek to kill data-center incentives next session.
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$100 million, five years: Binance just bet on Circle’s USDC
Binance agreed to buy $100 million of Circle shares at $80.84 each as part of a five-year deal to promote USDC globally, even as U.S. prosecutors probe the exchange over Iran sanctions.
Lockup and incentive fee: The Circle shares carry a two-year lockup with some exceptions, and Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee tied to USDC balances.
Tether still much larger: CryptoQuant put Tether’s USDT at roughly $183 billion in circulation versus about $75 billion for USDC, which Circle is pushing beyond its U.S.-focused base.
Circle builds beyond issuance: Circle last week launched its Arc blockchain and is pushing into nanopayments and agentic commerce as it tries to compete with Tether abroad.
Prosecutors open Iran file: Yahoo reported Manhattan federal prosecutors and the Justice Department are investigating whether Binance allowed trading it knew violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. Binance denied it; a 2023 plea cost $4.3 billion.
Trump-Xi is Thursday. Dems want the China car ban locked
Twenty-seven House Democrats led by Rep. Debbie Dingell urged President Trump to keep U.S. restrictions on Chinese automakers and connected vehicle technology ahead of Thursday’s Washington meeting with Xi Jinping.
No circumvention path: Their letter said China must not gain U.S. market access through direct imports, local production, or other avenues of circumvention.
Export surge cited: Dingell said China has already exported more than 6.2 million passenger vehicles this year, exceeding its total passenger-vehicle exports for all of 2025.
Subsidy and security: She said Beijing subsidizes production by more than 50% of cost and warned connected cars collect phone and computer data while driving past military installations.
Trump opened door: Dingell said she reacted after Trump told Fox News earlier this month he would accept Chinese auto companies building cars in the United States.
$86k Bitcoin and Bitwise says the crypto winter is over
Bitcoin held near $86,000 on Tuesday after jumping more than 5% Friday and another 6% Monday, as falling oil prices fed a risk-on bid and analysts called the crypto winter over.
ETF inflow sets mark: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs drew nearly $1 billion in net inflows Monday, their biggest daily haul of 2026, ZeroHedge reported.
Winter call issued: Fundstrat digital-assets head Sean Farrell told Yahoo Finance the breakout is “credible” and “the crypto winter is over,” though the path higher may not be linear.
Squeeze meets ETFs: Compass Point’s Ed Engel called it early innings of a new bull market with few signs of overheating. Nansen’s Nicolai Søndergaard cited ETF demand and a large short squeeze.
Chart confirms breakout: The token has broken solidly above its 50-day moving average. Altcoins jumped after the SEC last week granted a five-year exemption for trading certain tokenized stocks.
NJ crew cut a backup line. One cable. Five airports. 7,000 flights paid for it
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday evening that repaired telecom lines were letting Northeast airport operations resume after a New Jersey fiber cut forced FAA ground stops.
Thousands of disruptions: Reuters, citing FlightAware, put the outage at roughly 7,000 delays and cancellations, including about 1,400 at New York City’s three major airports. The cut began around 9:45 a.m.
Hours-long evening delays: As of about 6:40 p.m. ET, FAA listed average delays of 306 minutes at Newark, 212 at Philadelphia, 159 at Teterboro, 72 at JFK and 67 at LaGuardia.
Crew blame disputed: Duffy said an Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut the line. Amtrak told Fox Business the work was on New Jersey Transit property and involved an NJ Transit contractor.
Backup fiber failed: FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Philadelphia TRACON lost its primary circuit; the backup revealed a broken fiber-optic cable. Duffy called the outage “not shocking.”
75 Social Security million checks may rise 3.4% to 3.6% next year
After August CPI-W rose 3.5% year over year, AARP, CRFB and the Senior Citizens League estimated the 2027 Social Security COLA at about 3.4% to 3.6%, above the 2.8% increase for 2026.
Formula still needs September: By law the COLA uses BLS CPI-W for July, August and September. The official 2027 figure follows the Oct. 14 CPI release.
Three shops, three prints: CRFB estimated 3.4%, AARP 3.6% using Cleveland Fed September projections, and the Senior Citizens League 3.5%, down from 3.6% a month earlier.
Average check math: TSCL said a 3.5% COLA would raise average benefits $67.90 a month, from $1,940.08 to $2,007.98.
Seniors’ basket differs: TSCL executive director Shannon Benton said CPI-W tracks urban wage earners and does not represent the average senior’s budget.
After Mamdani, Florida trolled Pritzker on Chicago billboards
The Florida Chamber of Commerce put Chicago I-55 billboards naming Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker runner-up “Florida Economic Developer of the Year,” citing more than $2 billion in taxable income shifting to Florida.
One week on I-55: Two billboards facing both directions on the Stevenson Expressway show Pritzker shrugging and thank him for jobs moving to Florida. They stay up for one week.
Migration numbers cited: Chamber CEO Mark Wilson said Florida has grown by about 1.9 million residents while Illinois lost 75,000 or 100,000 over the same period.
Mamdani campaign came first: The ads follow a Times Square push that named New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani Florida’s “Economic Developer of the Year” just over a month earlier.
Citadel exit is exhibit: Wilson pointed to Ken Griffin moving Citadel to Miami and said “bullet holes emerged in the Citadel building” in Chicago.
Apple’s $250 million Siri settlement just opened claims
Apple’s $250 million class-action settlement over delayed Siri and Apple Intelligence features may pay eligible U.S. buyers of certain iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models up to $95 per device.
Base payout can move: Valid claims start at $25 per device and may be adjusted up or down to a $95 maximum depending on how many valid claims are filed.
Who can collect: U.S. residents who bought an iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 from June 10, 2024, to March 29, 2025, and expected Siri Apple Intelligence features they did not receive.
Deadline is Dec. 21: Original purchasers, not resale buyers, must file by Dec. 21, 2026. Businesses may claim. A final approval hearing is set for Feb. 24, 2027, in San Jose.
What the lawsuit alleged: Plaintiffs said the September 2024 iPhone 16 launch created a “clear and reasonable consumer expectation” that AI features would arrive; ChatGPT-with-Siri and an emoji tool fell short.