
Seattle will let residents pick spots for 200 curbside EV chargers
THE SO WHAT
Letting residents nominate locations for 200 curbside chargers—funded out of a $1.55B levy—shows EV infra is becoming a participatory planning problem, not just a utility capex line. If you operate fleets or real estate in cities, you now have a window to shape where the next decade of charging convenience lands.
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MORE FROM THE WIRE
Kevin O'Leary's data center company pushes back on the 'bragawatt' label
O’Leary Digital defending its AI data center roadmap against Bernstein’s skepticism shows how opaque these mega-campus plans still are — much of the work is under NDA, but the capital markets are already voting. If you’re raising for AI infra, assume you’ll need hard evidence on power, permits, and anchor tenants, not just multi-gigawatt slides.
Deep & Emerging TechUS Life Insurers’ Exposure to AI Jumped 24% from January to June
A 24% jump in US life insurers’ AI exposure in six months means long-duration capital is now materially tied to AI equity and credit risk. If you’re running an AI or infra company, recognize that your investor base increasingly includes regulated balance sheets — disclosure quality and downside scenarios matter more.
Deep & Emerging TechMicrosoft helped shut down an “App Store” for criminals linked to over a billion malicious messages
Cybercrime is now productized enough to warrant its own "app stores"—that lowers the skill floor for attackers and increases volume risk for everyone. Treat commodity phishing and fraud as a constant background hazard and put more budget into detection, identity, and user-hardening rather than assuming obscurity protects you.
Deep & Emerging TechAffirm CEO Levchin Sees Strong Demand Ahead of Sam’s Club Partnership
An exclusive BNPL deal with Sam’s Club, on top of no visible demand slowdown, shows installment financing is becoming embedded infrastructure in big-box retail. If you sell into consumer checkout flows, assume the BNPL provider is now a gatekeeper for data, offers, and customer ownership.