Anti-Weaponization Fund, OpenAI Wins, and Ratapalooza

 Need To Know 

'Anti-Weaponization Fund' 

The Justice Department yesterday announced a $1.776B taxpayer-funded program to compensate individuals who claim the DOJ politically targeted them. The figure appears to be a nod to America's founding year. Payments would come from the Treasury's Judgment Fund, an uncapped account used to settle federal cases. 

The "Anti-Weaponization Fund" is part of a settlement resolving President Donald Trump's $10B lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, along with civil claims tied to the Russia probe and the search of his Mar-a-Lago residence. Trump and his family will receive a formal apology but no monetary damages. The tax case stems from disclosures by a former IRS contractor who was sentenced to prison for leaking high-profile figures' tax data between 2018 and 2020.

A five-member commission, appointed by the attorney general and removable by Trump, will oversee claims through December 2028. The fund is modeled after an Obama-era program that compensated Native American farmers for discrimination in federal lending programs (see DOJ explanation).

Largest Utility Company

NextEra Energy announced plans yesterday to acquire Dominion Energy in a $66.8B all-stock deal, pending regulatory approval. The combined company would form the US’ largest regulated electric utility company and the world’s largest by market value.

NextEra provides electricity to roughly 12 million people in Florida. Dominion serves 3.6 million homes and businesses across Virginia and the Carolinas, including “Data Center Alley,” the world’s largest concentration of data centers. As AI companies rely on higher computing power, electricity demand is expected to grow. (Explore how data centers drive up neighbors’ electricity costs here.)

US power prices are up 40% over the past five years. One analyst found the NextEra-Dominion deal would further drive up costs by creating a larger company that is more difficult to regulate. The companies are offering $2.3B in credits to Dominion customers over two years, amounting to a roughly $562 payout per customer.

Buying a house? Watch a 30-minute documentary on data centers here.

Musk Missed Deadline

A federal court yesterday rejected Elon Musk's lawsuit over OpenAI's decision to become a for-profit company. The court did not rule on the merits of the case, instead finding that the statute of limitations had expired. Explore the juiciest evidence from the trial here.

Elon Musk filed the lawsuit in 2024, but the jury found he was aware of OpenAI's commercial ambitions as early as 2021. Musk cofounded the AI company in 2015 as a nonprofit with the stated goal of advancing digital intelligence for the benefit of humanity rather than profit. After investing roughly $38M in OpenAI's early years, he left the board in 2018 over strategic disagreements. Fellow cofounder Sam Altman became CEO in 2019 and began securing roughly $13B from Microsoft—a move Musk claims caused OpenAI to stray from its nonprofit mission. 

OpenAI converted to a for-profit structure in October and is reportedly preparing for one of the largest-ever initial public offerings at a $1T valuation. See how the company's mission statement changed over time here.

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Shakira is acquitted of tax fraud in Spain; Spain's high court orders government to repay her roughly $70M (More) | Mark Fuhrman, former Los Angeles police detective convicted of lying during the OJ Simpson murder trial, dies at age 74 (More)

> José Mourinho to leave Benfica for Real Madrid; he is one of the most decorated soccer coaches of all time, with 26 major trophies (More) | Pep Guardiola to leave Manchester City, ex-Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca favored to replace him (More)

> Ella Langley wins record seven awards at Academy of Country Music Awards; Cody Johnson takes home coveted entertainer of the year award (More) | Watch Langley's emotional female artist of the year acceptance speech (More)

Science & Technology

> Asteroid discovered last week passes within roughly 57,000 miles of Earth—about one-quarter the distance between Earth and the moon (More) | See the flyby of the blue whale-sized space rock (More)

> Australian Aboriginal community tended to a wild dog burial site for centuries after its death, offering insight into the depth of early human-dog relationships (More) | See what these wild dogs—called dingoes—look like (More)

> Poor sleep may be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's disease in older women with a genetic predisposition to the condition (More) | Visualize a brain with Alzheimer's versus a healthy one (More)

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow +0.3%, Nasdaq -0.5%) (More) | Why the stock market matters (More, w/video)  

> Bitcoin Depot Inc., once the largest operator of cryptocurrency ATMs in North America, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (More) | The difference between Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcies (More) 

> Chinese e-commerce giant Shein reportedly acquires US apparel brand Everlane; transaction values the San Francisco-based company at around $100M (More) 

Politics & World Affairs

> At least three men killed after two suspected teenage shooters opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego before apparently shooting themselves nearby; authorities are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime (More) 

> Kentucky voters head to the polls for the most expensive House primary race in history, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R, KY-4) defending his seat against Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL backed by pro-Israel groups and President Donald Trump (More) 

> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bans noncitizens from entering the US if they've been in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or South Sudan in the past three weeks amid Ebola outbreak (More) | At least one US citizen contracted Ebola in the DRC, is being evacuated to Germany for treatment (More)

In-Depth

> Words for Weather

LitHub | Ella Frances Sanders. We have become desensitized to the mystery of weather, the author argues. She reintroduces words for sun showers, morning mists, and the threat of powerful storms. (Read) 

> The World's Richest Cat

The Atlantic | Chris Heath. German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld once said his blue-cream Birman cat, Choupette, would want for nothing. Is she the world's richest cat today or one who must work to earn her keep? (Read) 

Former lab rats find forever homes at Ratapalooza.  

Do you know how to behave on a flight? Take this quiz.

Write your name in satellite images. 

Scientists discover 61 new beetle species hiding in plain sight.

Meet the first woman to represent the US in a world welding competition.

Watch entrepreneurs pitch their startups while standing in an ice hole.

Ranking college majors with the best return on investment.

Two arrested for breaking into enclosure of Punch the monkey.

In partnership: Thousands are ditching their hearing aids for this game-changer.*

Clickbait: Robots land on Southwest's no-fly list.

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Historybook: Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, is beheaded (1536); TE Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, dies (1935); André the Giant born (1946); Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies (1994); Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle (2018).

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