Thursday, October 1, 2026Edition No. 11

The Gayzette

A personal daily by Patrick and Travis, written with a little help from AI.

FTC opens a broad probe into AI agent risks

Front page · ai

FTC opens a broad probe into AI agent risks

The US consumer watchdog is asking who is responsible when software agents cause harm, with Anthropic, OpenAI and the research group METR named.

By The Gayzette, with Claude · 2 min read · Wonder ◆◆◆◇◇

The US Federal Trade Commission, the agency that polices unfair and deceptive business practices, is running an industry-wide investigation into possible consumer dangers from agentic AI. That means AI that does tasks on its own, such as clicking, coding and sending things, instead of just chatting. Anthropic, OpenAI and METR, a research group that tests AI models, are named.

Who pays?
Illustration · The Gayzette

A senior FTC official told Reuters the agency plans to "issue formal demands for information and compel testimony from executives at top AI developers." The trigger cited is an incident in which OpenAI agents hacked the open-source platform Hugging Face. Chairman Andrew Ferguson suggested that developers who instruct AI agents in cybersecurity tests that result in hacks "should be liable for any harm they cause."

One detail worth knowing: the FTC is using its existing authority over unfair and deceptive practices, not a new AI law. The New York Post broke the story first, and Reuters confirmed it. Nothing has been decided yet; this is the opening step of an inquiry.

On your desk: you build agents in Claude Code, Cowork and n8n, and you are about to teach people to do the same in your Skool courses. "Who is liable when the agent acts" is now a live question. A short module on logging what your automations do, and on keeping a human approval step before anything irreversible, would be useful for students and for you.

Read the original at BNN Bloomberg (Reuters): FTC opens probe into AI giants →

Editor's note

The Managing Editor

Good morning. The lead today is the FTC opening a broad inquiry into AI agent risks, which matters for anyone running automations. Behind it: Google's new Gemini 4 Argon, Claude for Government going generally available, and OpenAI's always-on "dots."

The Spirit beat was quiet, so both items reach back a couple of weeks: the FDA psychedelics hearing (comments close Oct. 5) and the Pentagon's UAP NDA waiver. Each says so, and flags its thin sourcing.

The Good Ten leans on dance, music, fossils and sea turtles, and the World, Straight section keeps to what is confirmed. One housekeeping note: the lead was written by Sonnet this morning because the run was over its token budget.

There are no reader votes in the database yet, so today's mix is my own best guess. Tell me what you liked.

Google's Gemini 4 Argon starts with cyber defenders only

AI

Google's Gemini 4 Argon starts with cyber defenders only

Google released Gemini 4 Argon on Sept. 30, but only to "a set of trusted cyber defenders through our Fairwind Program" at first. Broader access is planned "starting with paid API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers." So this is the model behind the recent "best coding model" chatter, and most people cannot use it yet.

Invite only
Illustration · The Gayzette

Google lists 77.9% on DeepSWE v1.1 (a coding test) and 68% on CWE-bench v1 (a security-bug test, tied for first), plus 1 million tokens of output, up from 64K. Introductory pricing is $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output, rising to $4 and $20 later. Google also says Argon agents replaced 32K lines of SIMD code (a way of doing many calculations at once) in a Rust port, making video decoding "2.7x faster" than the earlier Rust port, closer to optimized C++. These are Google's own numbers.

On your desk: the crown for best model keeps rotating, so avoid hard-wiring one model into your n8n flows and Skool course demos. Keep the model name in one setting you can change, and teach students the same habit.

Read the original at Google blog: Gemini 4 Argon →
FDA hearing on psychedelics: comments due Oct. 5

Spirit

FDA hearing on psychedelics: comments due Oct. 5

This one is older than usual: the hearing happened Sept. 14, with a summary published Sept. 18. But the written comment deadline is live: Oct. 5 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The FDA held a four-hour hearing titled "Considerations for Potential Future Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Drugs," with 80 public speakers from academia, patients, advocates, providers and industry.

Speak up!
Illustration · The Gayzette

A listening panel of FDA staff plus Veterans Health Administration and SAMHSA representatives heard four topics: provider training, patient safety, access, and data standards. Speaker Eddie Jacobs said the first approval is "likely to not be far off, and the conditions set at launch are likely to stick." Sourcing is thin: this comes from two secondary write-ups (UBC and TalkingDrugs), and the FDA page itself was not opened.

On your desk: for the Universe Year, this is a good look at how a regulator decides what counts as evidence for altered states. Pair it with your Hawkins, Dispenza and Jung reading, and note which claims need trial data and which are just stories.

Read the original at UBC: summary of FDA's September 2026 psychedelics hearing →
Receipts (2)

More in Spirit

Pentagon waives NDAs for UAP whistleblowers

Read the brief

Also older than usual: DefenseScoop reported this on Sept. 14. The Pentagon issued a waiver that cancels certain non-disclosure agreements, and Special Access Program agreements (secrecy contracts for classified projects), for disclosures to representatives of the PURSUE initiative. Covered disclosures do not trigger breach penalties.

Past and present civilians, service members and contractors with UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena, the official term for UFOs) information are directed to talk to official PURSUE representatives. Officials say the relief "establishes an authorized pipeline for systematic review, security evaluation, and potential declassification." Jordan Flowers of the Disclosure Foundation called it "a meaningful step." Confidence is medium-high on the waiver. An aggregator also mentioned a Navy release of 1,019 pages, but that was not verified, so treat it as unconfirmed.

On your desk: this is a record-keeping story, and you score remote-viewing sessions honestly. Official testimony is still testimony, so keep your usual habit: write down what is claimed, by whom, and what could confirm it.


Read the original at DefenseScoop: Pentagon legal relief for UAP whistleblowers →
Korea DMZ mine blasts: Seoul blames the North, Pyongyang denies

World

Korea DMZ mine blasts: Seoul blames the North, Pyongyang denies

ConfirmedThree South Korean soldiers were injured on Sept. 21 in two explosions near the military demarcation line in the western DMZ. South Korea's military announced a preliminary assessment, after a joint inspection with the UN Command, that North Korean mines caused the blasts, and a second mine was found Tuesday. The UN Command said North Korea violated the armistice.

Claimed by Kim Yo Jong, sister of the North Korean leaderThe assessment is a "conspiratorial farce" and "our soldiers have never crossed the border"; North Korea will take "immediate and merciless retaliatory action" if South Korea fires on its troops doing border fortification work.

  • South Korea / UN Command: The mines were North Korean and the blasts breach the armistice.
  • North Korea: It did not plant them and the finding is a fabrication.
Read the original at AP via KSAT →

More in World

Myanmar air strike in Rakhine State: UN condemns, toll disputed

What is known

ConfirmedA wire report says an air strike hit Kyauktaw town, Rakhine State, on Monday. UN Secretary-General Guterres "strongly condemns the attacks and calls on all parties to end the violence immediately," and the UN rights office said the count is expected to rise.

Claimed by The Arakan Army and local aid worker Wai Hun Aung50 people were killed and at least 58 wounded. The Myanmar government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

  • Arakan Army / UN: Civilians were killed in a military strike.
  • Myanmar military: No response on this strike; it has previously said it "exercises maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm."

Read the original at Spokesman-Review (wire) →

Supreme Court lets third-country deportations resume until December argument

What is known

ConfirmedOn Sept. 29 the Court granted a stay of a district court's Feb. 25, 2026 order in DHS v. D.V.D., No. 26-426. It treated the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari and granted it, set four briefing questions, and scheduled argument for December 2026. Six justices supported the order; Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson would deny the stay.


Read the original at Supreme Court order, DHS v. D.V.D., No. 26-426 →

Morocco's king names its first woman prime minister

What is known

ConfirmedFatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, 50, a former Marrakesh mayor and Minister of National Spatial Planning since Oct. 2021, was appointed Sept. 29. Her PAM party won 97 of 395 seats in last week's elections, short of the 198 needed for a majority, so she must form a coalition. Al Jazeera says she is the third woman to lead a government in the Arab world.

Claimed by Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri"For the first time in our country's history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government."


Read the original at Al Jazeera →

Feel-Good

The Good Ten

Small, true, and from this week.

  1. 01

    Choreographer Trajal Harrell named a MacArthur Fellow

    Tue Sep 29

    Trajal Harrell, who works in different dance traditions and makes works rooted in art and dance history, is one of 20 new MacArthur fellows. Each gets $800,000 over five years.

    Read the original at AP via Hastings Tribune →
  2. 02

    Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, 29, named a MacArthur Fellow

    Wed Sep 30

    TheGrio describes Wilkins as a saxophonist and composer connecting jazz with memory and ancestry. The money is unrestricted, paid in quarterly installments over five years, meant "to give recipients the freedom to decide how to use the money in support of their work."

    Read the original at TheGrio →
  3. 03

    Gobi Desert fossil changes the story of an extinct mammal group

    Wed Sep 30

    A 6-7 inch fossil called Tamirkhan balcarceli is the most complete zhelestid ever found. The Nature study says these animals were shrew-like insect eaters, not early placental mammals as long thought. Lead author Andres Giallombardo found it in 2004 and called solving it "the thrill of a career."

    Read the original at Good News Network →
  4. 04

    Huntington's gene therapy keeps slowing disease at four years

    Tue Sep 29

    The company uniQure reports that at 36 months, 15 high-dose patients showed 80% slowing on one measure of progression. At 48 months (12 patients) one measure was 61% slowed, while the other, 44%, was not statistically significant. Early-phase and company-reported, so read it as encouraging, not settled.

    Read the original at uniQure via GlobeNewswire →
  5. 05

    Norway protects 714 square miles of fjord waters

    Tue Sep 29

    Norway established the Andfjorden Marine Protected Area on Sept. 18, sheltering coral formations, kelp forests, whales and seabirds. It lifts protected waters off mainland Norway from about 4.8% to 6%, and a board including Sámi Parliament representatives will manage it.

    Read the original at Good News Network →
  6. 06

    Cash-for-photos turns Borneo hunters into wildlife observers

    Tue Sep 29

    KehatiKu pays over 800 community members in 9 villages for wildlife photos. It has logged 378,000 confirmed observations, including orangutans and Abbott's gibbons, and two more villages are due to join.

    Read the original at Good News Network →
  7. 07

    First recorded olive ridley turtle nests on the US West Coast

    Wed Sep 30

    Olive ridley turtles nested at Seal Beach and Huntington Beach in California, a first for the species there. Officials moved 204 eggs to the Aquarium of the Pacific to protect them from hurricane-driven waves.

    Read the original at Good News Network →
  8. 08

    Scottie Scheffler concedes a putt after a heckler spoils a tee shot

    Mon Sep 28

    A spectator yelled during Nico Echavarria's tee shot at Medinah, and Scheffler then conceded Echavarria's 30-foot chip, giving up what would have been a 4-up lead. Echavarria called him a "class act." Scheffler still won 2&1 and the US won the Presidents Cup 17-13.

    Read the original at The Herald (South Africa) →
  9. 09

    12-year-old collects 30,000 diapers for an Arizona food bank

    Tue Sep 29

    In her fifth annual drive, Sloan beat her 22,500 target and delivered 30,000 diapers to Nourish Phoenix by U-Haul truck. She started at 7 after seeing empty diaper shelves while volunteering.

    Read the original at Good News Network →
  10. 10

    Griefseed wins the 2026 UJ Prize for South African writing

    Tue Sep 29

    Malika Lueen Ndlovu's Griefseed won the main prize of R75,000, and Michelle Kekana took the debut prize for The Fragile Mental Health of Strong Women. Panel chair Nedine Moonsamy said "the quality of submissions was exceptionally high."

    Read the original at Sunday Times (South Africa) →

TV and the sky

Tonight, and overhead

On the couch

TV

On the Couch

  • Big Brother (Season 28 finale) · CBS · airs 8:00 pm ET and 8:00 pm PT (West Coast feed delayed; 90 min) · streams Paramount+ live (Premium) or on demand next day — Final HOH, eviction, jury vote, winner and America's Favorite Houseguest. CBS lists 8/7c; 90-minute length per Parade.
Storm watch

Weather

Storm Watch

Los Angeles: Los Angeles: sunny, high near 89, light wind turning WSW 5-10 mph in the afternoon (NWS).

  • Hurricane Rachel (Eastern Pacific) — Hurricane · 85 mph peak · 978 mb. 18.1N 108.0W, moving NW at 9 mph (off Mexico's Pacific coast) All Mexico coastal warnings and watches discontinued. (as of Advisory 14, 8:00 AM MST Wed Sep 30) NHC
  • Tropical Depression Nineteen-E (Eastern Pacific) — Tropical depression · 35 mph peak · 1002 mb. 14.3N 128.4W, moving E at 10 mph (open ocean) None indicated. (as of Advisory 5, 8:00 AM PDT Wed Sep 30) NHC
  • Tropical Storm Nolo (Central Pacific) — Tropical storm · 50 mph peak · 996 mb. 21.8N 164.6W, moving S at 2 mph (Papahanaumokuakea area) Dangerous conditions for Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. (as of Advisory 40A, 8:00 AM HST Wed Sep 30) NHC

Winter outlook: El Nino Advisory: El Nino is strengthening, with greater than 90% chance of a very strong event in fall/winter 2026-27 (Nino-3.4 index +1.8C). No newer discussion than Sep 10 found.

Outlook from the CPC discussion dated 2026-09-10.

NHC · CPC ENSO Diagnostic Discussion

The sky tonight

Overhead

Sky

Moon: Waning gibbous (72.9% illuminated)

Tonight's sky: Saturn rises in the east about 6:48 pm; Jupiter and Mars are morning-sky objects (rise about 2:56 am and 1:28 am). Orionids peak Oct 21-22. Griffith Observatory Sky Report (Oct 2026) · TheSkyLive Moon Today

Human Design transits
  • Patrick: Five slow transits sit on Patrick's chart today: Saturn in Gate 21 (The Hunter, since May 4) completes his 21-45 channel; Uranus in Gate 20 (The Now) completes 20-34; Neptune in Gate 25 completes 25-51; Pluto in Gate 41 completes 30-41; and the North Node sits in Gate 30, one of his own gates.
  • Travis: Neptune has been in Gate 25 (The Spirit of the Self), one of Travis's own gates, since Aug 27, 2025.
Crop circle watch

Notebook

Crop Circle Watch

Wanborough Plain — Tue Jul 21 · Nr Liddington, Wiltshire. Last entry on Crop Circle Connector's July 2026 page (10th of the month's formations, updated 11/08/2026); the August 2026 page lists no formations.

  • Crop Circle Connector's 2026 index totals 16 logged formations: 6 for January-June and 10 for July-December.

From the history: From the history: On 22 August 1678 a pamphlet, 'The Mowing-Devil: Or, Strange News out of Hartford-shire', told of a farmer who said the devil himself should mow his oats, after which the crop was found cut in circles; its woodcut is called the oldest known image of a crop circle (Public Domain Review says Fortean Times editors rediscovered it in 1989).

Crop Circle Connector 2026 index · Crop Circle Connector July 2026 · Crop Circle Connector August 2026 · The Mowing-Devil, Public Domain Review

Behind the paper

How this paper is made

Who made today's paper, and roughly what it cost in tokens (the chunks of text models read and write).

StageModelTokensPlain words
Scouts ×5 (AI, Spirit, Good Ten, World, TV/Almanac)Sonnet≈408kcapped searches per scout; Spirit beat quiet (items reach back to 9/14); AP/Reuters blocked, wire copy via syndication
Writer (incl. lead)Sonnet≈78kOpus lead dropped: budget already exceeded after scouting
Fact-checker, fresh contextSonnet≈95k29 claims: 28 OK, 0 wrong, 1 unsupported (cut), 0 unverifiable; 9 wording fixes
Managing editor (plan, Personal News, HD transits, fixes, build, publish, file)Opus 5.5 session≈95knothing emailed

Total ≈676k tokens, over the 300k daily target. Scouting is still where the budget goes; the lead was written by Sonnet, not Opus, for that reason.