Today’s Big Story

AI-Assisted Rizz

People are using ChatGPT on dating apps, then showing up to dates completely tongue-tied

It’s kind of the new “catfishing”. At one time, people were duped by soft-focus filters and completely stolen pics, now they have to watch out for computer-generated charm. Of course, it’s one thing to use a witty phrase suggested by ChatGPT … it’s another thing entirely to build a whole fake persona.

But that’s what’s happening. As the Washington Post reports, a 31-year-old named Richard Wilson was startled when his date “had none of the conversational pizzazz she had shown over text.” Her messages had included “long, multi-paragraph messages” and acknowledgments of “each of his points.” But in person she lacked those conversational chops, and when she mentioned that she used ChatGPT “all the time” for work, the pieces started to fall into place.

Dating app companies such as Match Group—which owns Hinge, Tinder and a slew of other dating apps—say AI can help people who are too busy, shy or abrasive to win dates. But a growing number of singles like Wilson are finding that the influx of AI makes dating more complicated, raising questions about etiquette and ethics in a dating landscape that can already feel alienating.

Savvy modern daters are starting to recognize the signs: One woman explained to The Guardian how she picked up on it having drinks with a guy. Gone was the quickfire wit and playful rhythm she’d come to expect from their exchanges. Over pints he stumbled through small talk, checked his phone a little too often, and seemed to wilt under the pressure of her questions. She’d been “Chatfished” before, so when the gap between his real and digital selves failed to close on their second date, she called it off.

You can’t blame people for using AI as a tool. But some Chatfishers are going to greater extremes, outsourcing entire conversations to ChatGPT—leaving their match in a dystopian hall of mirrors: believing they’re building a genuine connection with another human being when in reality they’re opening up to an algorithm trained to reflect their desires back to them. Take this as a warning: Be careful out there.

Trump Cuts Off Trade Talks With Canada

He said Canada “fraudulently used” an ad using audio from a 1987 address by Reagan criticizing tariffs

President Trump said he’s ended trade talks with Canada over a TV ad that aired in the province of Ontario, which he claimed “fraudulently” featured the late President Reagan “speaking negatively” about tariffs. He accused Canadian officials of trying to interfere in a legal challenge to his tariffs that’s before the U.S. Supreme Court with the anti-tariffs ad that Reagan’s foundation said misrepresented an address on free trade back in 1987. The foundation said it’s reviewing its legal options.

According to the Associated Press, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that already have been building between the two neighboring countries for months. As you might recall, Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions, as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement—a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term, but has since soured on.

This is what some economists see as a key risk of the Trump 2.0 era: never-ending trade wars, fragile negotiations that Trump could blowing up at any moment—and the economic uncertainty that comes along with both.

NBA Gambling Scandal

The case involves insider bets on games and poker games rigged by Mafia families

An NBA Hall of Famer, a current star and former player are among dozens of people arrested Thursday in a sweeping FBI crackdown on alleged illegal gambling rings. Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones, each mainstays of professional basketball for years, were indicted alongside more than 30 other suspects who include alleged members of prominent organized crime families.

The NBA said in a statement that Rozier and Billups were being put on leave and that the league is cooperating with authorities. Jones is not currently employed by the league. The investigation involved two major operations: One centered on the use of insider information to place bets on various NBA games and another revolving around underground poker games, where “high-tech cheating technology” was used to steal millions from victims, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.

FBI Director Kash Patel called the “historic arrests,” spread across 11 states, an “insider-trading saga for the N.B.A.” One of the cases centers on bets that were allegedly placed using non-public information related to injury reports. Damon is accused of selling LeBron James and Anthony Davis injury secrets to sports gamblers. Investigators allege that former athletes such as Billups were also used to lure unsuspecting players to the table for games that were rigged using tampered shuffling machines, hidden cameras and even an “X-ray” table that could reveal cards. The basketball players were called “Face Cards” and “received a portion of the criminal proceeds in exchange for their participation in the Scheme,” according to an indictment.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Nobody Wants This’ + an Autumn Paloma Cocktail

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