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How Close Are Scientists To Creating "Digital Twins" Of Human Brains? If Technology Can Catch Up, The Uses Could Be Endless
A digital twin would recreate a single brain and retain the ability to learn, adapt, and respond like the original.
This Week in Sports Trivia: Sept. 3, 2026
How closely were you following the sports news this week? Find out and test your knowledge by taking The Athletic's weekly quiz.
Science Says Doing This 1 Thing Together Beats Traditional Date Nights
Skip the flowers and dinner out. If you want to feel closer to your partner, the latest science suggests seeking out awe together.
4 things to watch for ahead of Fiorentina vs Torino
The Viola have plenty to work on ahead of their first game after the window closes.
Chiefs to Host Ex-Broncos Wide Receiver to Workout: Report
The Kansas City Chiefs are going to take a closer look at a former Denver Broncos wide receiver and return man this week. The post Chiefs to Host Ex-Broncos Wide Receiver to Workout: Report appeared first on HEAVY.
Entertainment
Ross Gallabrese Faire May brought the sound of folk music to the lounge area at this month’s Wednesdays in Wintersville. Wednesday’s edition brought the monthly street festival to a close. It carried a fall festival theme and featured a display of pumpkins f all sizes and shapes. several food trucks were part of the evening, […]
Outdoors Retailer Goes Out of Business After 90-Plus Years: Business NH Magazine
Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, which had locations in Hadley, Mass., and Swanzey, closed its store in Swanzey on Saturday.
Entertainment
Ross Gallabrese Faire May brought the sound of folk music to the lounge area at this month’s Wednesdays in Wintersville. Wednesday’s edition brought the monthly street festival to a close. It carried a fall festival theme and featured a display of pumpkins f all sizes and shapes. several food trucks were part of the evening, […]
Family-owned Westwood business Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers closes after nearly 80 years
Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers, one of the oldest family-owned businesses in Westwood, closed Saturday. Sarah “Sunny” Friedman and Leonard “Lenny” Friedman opened the store, located at 1055 Westwood Blvd., in 1946 under the name Crescent Jewelers.
Opinion | Trump Ended My American Dream
America has closed its doors to too many students and entrepreneurs.
Philadelphia leaders work to preserve Academy of Natural Sciences as museum prepares to close
The effort is focused on preserving the academy's research, education and public engagement missions, according to David Cohen, an attorney and former U.S. ambassador to Canada who has joined the effort.
As Triangle businesses close, Madame B's Bakery expands 4 years after nearly shutting down
A Raleigh bakery that nearly closed four years ago is opening a second location after community support helped turn the business around.
Six Plano restaurants close over serious health violations, rodents and roaches
This inspection database compiled by the Star-Telegram contains results of 113 inspections from Aug. 16-22.
Cyclospora season winds down, even as Texas cases linked to outbreak
The diarrhea-inducing parasite’s summer season is coming to a close, even as health authorities link some Texas cases to outbreak stemming from lettuce.
Olive oil shop in Overland Park to close after 15 years. Owner shares next venture
“Thank you for believing in a dream that started with a simple idea and grew into something none of us could have imagined,” the owner said in a message to customers.
Jonathon Brooks Sidelinded Ahead Of Panthers Season Opener
The Carolina Panthers are keeping a close eye on running back Jonathon Brooks as the regular season approaches. Brooks missed practice Tuesday and was again working off to the side with trainers Wednesday because of general soreness. The Panthers have not indicated that he suffered a new major injury, and the exact location of the…
Discover exceptional live theater close to home
In a time when families can spend hundreds of dollars on a single concert or sporting event, one of the Sacramento region's best entertainment values may be right in its
Yankees' Aaron Boone Drops Major Update On Aaron Judge's Return
The New York Yankees have been without Aaron Judge for most of the season, but he is close to returning
Lacking Visitors, 200-Year-Old Science Landmark to Close
Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences museum will shut its doors Sept. 30
‘Balancing act’ helps keep colorectal cancer in check
Study finds that a balance of two closely related cell surface proteins may be critical to the health of the epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract.
Federal Judge Declines to Break Up Google’s Ad Technology Business
In a long awaited ruling, the judge said Google must make some changes to its ad tech business to handle antitrust issues, but did not disclose the measures publicly.
Penn State Dairy Barns made animal science student 'feel at home'
Three years of working in Penn State’s Dairy Barns have been impactful for Hannah Mansfield, a spring 2026 College of Agricultural Sciences graduate who is pursuing a master’s degree in animal science.
Energy technology company to close Tualatin facility, eliminate 87 jobs
The closure of the Schneider Electric facility is the second plant closure announced this week in the Portland area.
Middleton leads Johnson in race for Texas attorney general, but the contest is unusually close
State Sen. Mayes Middleton spent lavishly to capture the Republican nomination and build statewide name recognition. But the most recent polling shows him just five percentage points ahead of Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson -- with more than a fifth of voters still undecided.
“Broken heart syndrome” can look just like a heart attack. This test can tell them apart
“Broken heart syndrome” can mimic a heart attack so closely that patients often need invasive testing to tell the difference. Researchers have now developed the BioTAK score, which combines biological sex with blood biomarkers to identify the condition before cardiac catheterization. In a validation study of nearly 1,800 patients, it correctly classified almost 90% of participants.
EA SPORTS FC™ 27 Brings Fans Closer to The World’s Game With New Partners, Leagues, and Stadiums
Powered by the support of global football partners, EA SPORTS FC™ 27 captures The World’s Game with unrivalled authenticity. Today, Electronic Arts announced an expanded roster of leagues, clubs, partners and stadiums coming to EA SPORTS FC 27, bringing players closer to the football they love through one of the most authentic representations of The World’s Game. Additions include new and renewed partnerships with a number of major European clubs, the highly anticipated return of Liga MX, and the continuation of EA SPORTS FC’s long-term relationship with the Bundesliga, the ROSHN Saudi League and the A-League. FC 27 AUTHENTICITY “With EA SPORTS FC 27, we’re building on years of bringing our community closer to football,” said James Salmon, Senior Director Partnership Marketing, EA SPORTS FC . “New and renewed partnerships bring more of the clubs, leagues, players and stadiums fans care about into FC 27, with the authenticity they expect from us. Together, they make The World’s Game
ATLAS publishes first paper on Public Engagement with Science
You can’t exactly take the ATLAS experiment on tour. At 7,000 tonnes and buried 100 metres underground at CERN, it’s not easy to move. So, for more than a decade, the ATLAS Collaboration has found another way to bring the experiment to people around the world: live, interactive virtual visits with the scientists who work on it. In a recent paper published in the European Physical Journal Plus, the ATLAS Collaboration documents the evolution and impact of its flagship Virtual Visits programme. The paper is the Collaboration’s first publication focused specifically on science education, communication and outreach. It traces the programme from its beginnings as an experimental outreach effort in 2010 through its growth into a global programme – connecting classrooms in the Amazon, schools in the Himalayas and even a research station in Antarctica. Drawing on data collected between 2019 and 2025, the paper examines the programme’s reach and impact. Global reach, local connection Figure 1: World map showing the number of virtual visits across participating countries from 2019 to 2025. Cooler colours (purple and blue) are used for countries with fewer visits, and warmer colours (red and orange) for countries with more visits. (Image: ATLAS Collaboration/CERN) The core mission of the ATLAS Virtual Visit programme is to connect audiences worldwide with particle physicists and engage them in accessible discussions about cutting-edge research. While visiting CERN in person is an unforgettable experience, financial and logistical barriers can make such a trip difficult for many students and public groups. Video conferencing has allowed the Collaboration to break down these barriers: between 2019 and 2025, the Collaboration hosted 698 virtual visits, engaging tens of thousands of participants across nearly 70 countries (see Figure 1). Interactivity is central to the programme. Far from simple one-way broadcasts, Virtual Visit audience members are encouraged to engage in conversation with the scientist(s) hosting the visit. Most hosts are volunteers from the ATLAS Collaboration, who bring their diverse scientific expertise, language skills and cultural backgrounds to each visit. Where possible, audiences are paired with volunteer scientists who share their native language and cultural background, making it easier to engage, ask questions and connect with the hosts. Between 2019 and 2025, Virtual Visits were held in 19 different languages. The core mission of the ATLAS Virtual Visit programme is to connect audiences worldwide with particle physicists and engage them in accessible discussions about cutting-edge research. Constant evolution Figure 2: The number of ATLAS Virtual Visits organised annually since 2019. (Image: ATLAS Collaboration/CERN) The ATLAS Virtual Visit programme has continuously evolved to enhance the visitor experience. Early sessions were hosted directly from the ATLAS Control Room before transitioning in 2014 to a dedicated space in the ATLAS Visitor Centre, equipped with modern videoconferencing technology. In 2019, the ATLAS Collaboration expanded the programme’s reach, introducing live Virtual Visits from the experimental cavern during year-end maintenance stops and long LHC shutdowns. These exclusive sessions take participants beyond the ATLAS visitor platform, offering real-time, up-close views of the towering detector. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person gatherings worldwide, demand for virtual engagement surged. The ATLAS Collaboration adapted rapidly by introducing Open Virtual Visits streamed via Zoom and YouTube, allowing individual science enthusiasts and families to join live guided tours. Figure 2 shows that the programme reached a peak of 155 visits in 2021 and has since maintained around 100 visits per year, demonstrating sustained engagement beyond the pandemic-driven increase. More than just a tour Beyond participation numbers, the paper highlights the positive impact on participants and educators. Teachers report successfully integrating Virtual Visits into their physics curricula, sparking sustained curiosity and in many cases inspiring students to pursue STEM studies and careers. Feedback received also highlighted how the direct dialogue with ATLAS scientists has given students an authentic and personal perspective on particle physics, helping them connect what they learn in the classroom with the people behind ATLAS research. Looking ahead, the programme will continue to evolve with new technologies and communication platforms. The goal is simple: to give even more audiences the opportunity to engage directly with particle physics and make fundamental science open to all. Learn more Breaking barriers: the impact of ATLAS Virtual Visits in science communication (Eur. Phys. J. Plus 141, 874 (2026), arXiv:2601.22457, see figures) ATLAS Virtual Visit Dashboard Register for an ATLAS Virtual Visit
The Adriatic Sea's Hidden Shark And Ray Hotspot Is Changing What Scientists Know
The Adriatic Sea is one of the Mediterranean's most important regions for sharks and rays, yet many of its species are critically endangered. New research based on decades of monitoring and close partnerships with local fishers is revealing previously unknown habitats, rediscovering rare species, and reshaping what scientists thought they knew about these animals.
Santikos Far West expansion clears major hurdle
Santikos Entertainment closes on 22-acre acquisition in Far West San Antonio to build mixed-use development with entertainment center and retail.
August Monthly Review: ChatGPT In Epic
Death, taxes, another frontier lab healthcare launch inspiring truly insane LinkedIn takes. As much as I want to stay away, I repeatedly am the crewman unplugging his ears whenever we pass these sirens. So it’s not the first and probably not the last time we dial up the typewriter rather than tie ourselves to the mast. The full blow-by-blow timeline: Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe The End of the Standalone PHR (Jan 8): ChatGPT Health arrives for consumers, at the time powered by b.well. I was bullish on the approach in that the best way for the PHR to finally solve distribution was to meet consumers were they already are (i.e. When Horizontal Meets Healthcare (Jan 9): OpenAI for Healthcare puts out the shingle for enterprises, with SharePoint ingestion standing in for the EHR integration the product actually needed. Another One: Anthropic’s Healthcare Debut (Jan 16): Claude's version, on HealthEx rails instead of b.well, with Agent Skills for FHIR development as the one true vertical-specific investment. ChatGPT for Clinicians: The Trap Sprung (Apr 24): OpenAI filled in the missing GTM middle with a free product for verified clinicians, effectively peeling the enterprise wrapper off ChatGPT for Healthcare and taking the PLG fight directly to OpenEvidence. OpenAI’s Second Attempt at Health (Jul 31): a relaunch of their patient specific app, now branded Health in ChatGPT, where the privacy partition came out, the connectors thinned, and b.well disappeared in favor of first-party FHIR work against a smaller network Beyond a Shingle So what was announced now? Today, we’re introducing a new electronic health record integration that brings authorized patient context from Epic into ChatGPT for Healthcare, along with the Healthcare Public Data plugin for direct, structured access to official healthcare datasets like PubMed, DailyMed, and CMS Coverage. Together, these capabilities bring ChatGPT closer to the systems and sources healthcare teams trust, while supporting the controls and compliance healthcare work requires. The core portfolio is unchanged from prior announcements we delineated and discussed (aside from the relaunch of patient-facing). Since trade publications still seem to be confusing them by using the wrong names: Enterprise sales motion: ChatGPT for Healthcare Protecting their core product / PLG: ChatGPT for Clinicians Consumer/patient-facing product: Health in ChatGPT So really, this is a feature release (specifically for ChatGPT for Healthcare when it comes to EHR integration). What’s cool about it, though, is that we are moving beyond just putting out a shingle. Everything in the January enterprise launch was horizontalizable: Horizontal tech companies thus generally start verticalization with their “putting out a shingle phase”. Telling the world you’re open for business as a horizontal tech company reliably attracts early inbound interest from buyers who are already trying to force-fit horizontal tools into domain-specific workflows and are eager for any signal that the vendor intends to support their use case more directly. Nothing was really vertical specific, which is exactly what you'd expect from the ultimate hypergrowth horizontal company dipping their toes into specific industries. But eventually you have to stop changing the sign on the door and start changing the product. Can you guess where the horizontal product was going to run out of road? This is the core dilemma writ large: verticalization requires differentiation, while scale economics of consumer and horizontal push toward unification. I’ve buried the lede so deep here it will be painful to some readers, but what should be shocking to no one is that my perspective is that EHR integration is the only path that meaningfully resolves this tension for ChatGPT for Healthcare. Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint is fine, but it is categorically insufficient for any product that hopes to influence clinical decision-making. SMART Money Well here we are, eight months later! Real vertical investment has begun, which surprised a few people. One friend in the industry messaged me: “Absolutely no way Epic gave ChatGPT API access.” Looking forensically at the announcements, the integration is notably read-only across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation. So while I’m not a betting man, I'd wager the house this is a SMART on FHIR launch: That sounds a lot like USCDI! The recommended path for the workflow they outline would be SMART on FHIR Their Health AI lead’s post is evocative of both standalone and EHR launch SMART, which another termed “ChartGPT” and “EHR Plugin” The implementation burden for SMART on FHIR is the lowest of the available integrative paths This is the team who literally did patient-facing SMART on FHIR with Epic last month Most importantly, if you’re a horizontal company, you generally still haven’t taken the full plunge and thus (overly) value reusability. SMART on FHIR is the logical compromise: healthcare-specific enough to matter, but standardized enough to reuse. Nobody Asked Judy Another friend asked “I thought they had to go to each health system, or did they go direct to Epic and now health systems opt in?” Given the trust paradigms in healthcare, this functionally cannot be Epic hoovering up all the data for OpenAI and shoving ChatGPT in their customers’ faces (or they would revolt). However, I do believe the aforementioned terrible coverage by TechCrunch and other outlets is probably responsible for that question, given the 325 million reference. When using FHIR as a business associate to an Epic customer, there is no EHR gatekeeping to speak of, as that isn’t how fhir.epic.com works: You register an app You pick your APIs You test against the sandbox APIs You list as “Ready for Production” Hospitals pick your app You test and go live with them Bluntly, nobody had to say yes or no in Verona (nor were they given the chance). Vendor Services (their next developer tier up that I doubt OpenAI is using quite yet in this initial release) certainly has contractual paperwork that some resent, but even there, the twin pressures of mounting antitrust and information blocking make outright gatekeeping increasingly fraught. My friend’s sentiment is, to me, representative of a broader industry neurosis, perhaps a sort of scar tissue of prior eras: people assume the gate is still there and never actually try the door. There are certainly other ways Epic (and any EHR) can put its thumb on the scale, but they are not so dumb as to stand in front of a federally mandated API and play bouncer at this exact moment in time. So I think they can and probably should go deeper, as this release is at best parity and at worst behind vertical-specific competition. OpenEvidence did a basic SMART launch with Sutter Health in February, allowing for more convenient evidence search by providers. They then add patient-context (the equivalent SMART on FHIR flow to what we see here) when Cedars-Sinai went enterprise-wide in May. UpToDate has four distinct applications across deeper workflows like patient engagement listed in Epic Showroom and announced a partnership with Epic to power Art at UGM Abridge and other ambient scribes have invested deeply into the deepest bidirectional clinical copilot workflow with integrations well beyond SMART on FHIR. In that light, the “Who is OpenAI primarily targeting here?” is clear. This release brings them into striking distance of OpenEvidence, but not the others quite yet. They are the only one of the three you can reach without building something truly Epic-specific. When will they go further? Competition is a great motivator to overcome the horizontal demons and start building things that can’t be reused: not across industries, not across EHRs, maybe not past the customer you built them for. That’s the price of actually verticalizing. The question is if and when OpenAI will be willing to pay it. Month in Review Here is the monthly review. As a reminder, this is a regular round-up of the month’s posts and other content to surface things you may have missed across regulation, litigation, interoperability, and beyond. AI assistance is used in these bullet summaries so I can focus on articles. Articles Published: None this month Video Content: The Information Exchange: Standards-based Thruple Edition (Aug 14): Back to school for us too, with Brad reporting in from the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem’s one year anniversary in DC. We get into the January CMS-0057 deadline, the fall rulemaking reading list, and why enrollment still keeps most apps off FHIR. The Information Exchange: Epic Dúnadan Edition (Aug 25): A UGM roundup with Ryan Brickner joining for the first time to check our takes against what the building actually thinks. Rangers, Ergo sitting on top of EHI, and a down-market lineup that needs some cuts. Regulatory: Stacked Deck, Bad Hand (Aug 05): ONC’s website refresh took the entire HIT Policy Committee record with it, so I rebuilt the archive and went looking for the regulatory capture story everyone assumes is buried in there. Stacking the deck and winning the hand turn out to be very different things. The Sixth Generation of Patient Access (Aug 19): A quick catalog of the five generations of patient access we’ve layered on since HIPAA, and the two candidates now competing to be the sixth. One is planned. The other is the market routing around the plan entirely. Court cases: Three Cases Walk Into a Docket (Aug 06): Two surprise settlements cleared the board in a single week, and then Judge Maddox dropped ninety-four pages on Vyne v. Henry Schein. The sleeper is a DMCA holding that makes direct-to-database a considerably riskier business model. Epic v. Health Gorilla: Into the MDL (Aug 10): Nine class actions are headed to Miami, and the Panel signaled it wants to bring the case that spawned them along too. That would leave Epic arguing the requests were obviously fraudulent in one courtroom and unknowable in the other. Amazon v. Perplexity: Agents Are Legalized! (Aug 11): The Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction against Comet, holding that the user is the one accessing the servers rather than the company that built the agent. A real win for agentic access, and a much narrower one than the headline suggests. Veeva v. Epic: Come At Me, Bro (Aug 26): Epic’s response brief wants the dismissal affirmed and, unusually, wants the opinion published as precedent. Buried in it is Epic’s own description of what its non-competes actually prohibit, which current and former employees should read closely. EHRs: The Contract Epic Would Never Sign Today (Aug 04): A 1999 SEC exhibit catches Epic licensing nearly its entire product line, Tapestry included, to the company that became TriZetto. The marketing services menu attached to it is the part that will make you blink. Forecast from Verona (Aug 07): The Epic Almanac makes one argument six different ways: the AI is only as good as the networks behind it. Emmie headlines, Art’s context stack is the most ambitious part, and Penny finally gets an autonomous coding date on the calendar. Works With Epic MyChart (Aug 17): Epic’s first new Showroom category since the death of Workshop certifies hardware instead of software, badge on the box and all. Made for iPhone, but for blood pressure cuffs, and rough news for anyone selling the RPM stack sitting in between. UGM Hot Takes 2026 (Aug 20): Everyone else covered the AI announcements, so I went after Savvy deleting the payment gateway, Rangers as Boost with the timer removed, and a down-market lineup with too many entries. Plus the Health Grid tidbits I cannot help myself on. MyChart Central Grows Up (Aug 24): Device data and Emmie turn Epic’s identity hub into a full consumer platform, which is both a logical answer to ChatGPT and a bit of a mistake. It also happens to be the best scraping target Epic has ever shipped. Industry Analysis: The Wrong Yardstick (Aug 12): Vertical software keeps getting judged against Superhuman and Notion, which is the wrong bar entirely. Your user is comparing your product to a whiteboard and forty phone calls before lunch. Primitives vs. Abstractions (Aug 27): Developers want building blocks, systems of record prefer to hand out business logic, and both sides have a real case. There’s no test from the outside that separates the engineering reason from the competitive one, which is why this keeps ending up in court. Cross-industry Comparisons: The Two Kinds of Platform Power (Aug 18): Attention power and record power are different problems that keep getting handed the same regulatory toolkit. Congress’s latest swing at Big Tech shows both what’s possible and where it falls apart. The Dogs of (Platform) War (Aug 21): A CourtListener alert turned up a property management fight with healthcare’s exact shape and none of the Cures Act. Shell prospects, ghost accounts, a notetaker bot that came back to haunt someone, and a lawyer arguing both sides of the same theory in two states. Fractals All the Way Down (Aug 31): Yardi dominates property management right up until you zoom into one segment, where AppFolio owns it outright and Yardi doesn’t appear at all. Where you draw the line around a B2B software market is about to decide an awful lot of cases. Other News: If Judy Had the Courage (Aug 13): A short eulogy for the era when software was allowed to look insane: WinAMP, bold colors, and everything the grey chatbot era has taken from us. External Media: Portland Monthly Health Tech Meetup: Erin O’Brien channeled my own feelings - maybe it’s just because it’s August and beautiful, but the monthly edition of the PDX Health community meetup was a ripper. Make sure to reach out if interested to join for the next one. STAT’s Coverage of Epic This Month: Brittany Trang of STAT did a fantastic job of breaking the FTC investigation that’s been lurking, as well as UGM related coverage, so I had to give her her wish of a meme. Fall Conferences: I’m pumped to be kicking off my fall conference season in NYC at Nabla Accelerate next month, which Chrissy provided the link to apply for. Here’s the rest of my schedule in case you want to meet up: Commonwell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 21-22 eHealthExchange (Austin, TX): Oct 27 Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 28-29 HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 RSNA (Chicago): Nov 29-Dec 3 Posts I Liked: HTI-6 Should Unbundle API Certification: Josh Mandel makes the case that HTI-6 should split (g)(10) into separate authorization and data certifications, so a PACS or a genomics platform can certify only the role it actually performs. Imaging is the urgent example, but the structure solves a much bigger problem. On implementing ePrior Auth with Epic: Scott Rossignol’s field notes from a live ePrior Auth build on Epic, including the two app registrations nobody warns you about and the CPT mapping problem waiting at the end. CMS-0057 implementations are going to be such a beast. Healthcare point solutions are starting to look a lot like streaming services: Spencer Dorn runs the cable-to-streaming arc against health IT and lands squarely on the bundling half of the cycle. Bundling can be good! It can also be bad! Life is nuanced. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Opposition Lowdown: Mansfield Town Starting Season Strong
Reading return home this Wednesday with an evening game under the lights of the SCL, facing Mansfield. Join us as we take a closer look at the opposition.
Senate races: Collins victorious, Brownsberger race too close to call
The contests drew attention for their potential to upset the status quo on Beacon Hill, and demonstrate just how far Mayor Michelle Wu’s influence extends in Boston politics.
5 USA Regulars Who Secured Summer Transfers To European Clubs
Five U.S. national team regulars found new clubs during Europe's just-closed summer transfer window.
OPELIKA REVOKES TOP SHELF’S BUSINESS LICENSE
Owner closes store ahead of decision BY MICHELLE KEYPUBLISHER OPELIKA — The Opelika City Council adopted the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget and revoked the business license of Top Shelf Alternatives during its Sept. 1 meeting. Top Shelf license revokedThe council held a public due process hearing on the revocation of Top Shelf Alternative’s business […]
Deadline day: Enzo Fernandez makes £125m Manchester City move
Manchester City have equalled the British transfer record by signing Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez for £125 million ($169 million) at the end of a dramatic deadline day in the Premier League. From title contenders to relegation candidates, teams across the division spent big to bolster their squads before summer window closed at 11 pm (2200 GMT) on Tuesday.
What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.
Graves Gilbert Clinic, T.J. Regional Health explore long-term partnership
The two organizations say the partnership is designed so people in South Central Kentucky can count on healthcare close to home for generations to come
Evers responds to DHS investigation into voter fraud in Wisconsin
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency’s investigators are rooting out election fraud wherever it can be found.
Rockstar Games unveils its official GTA Online RP server, mere months before GTA 6
GTA 6's online is still an unknown, but Rockstar Games is putting a closed beta out for its GTA Online RP server called nopixel 5, and it's coming soon.
The 21 seats Mike Johnson says will decide the House majority
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, is eyeing 21 seats that will determine the House majority in the November midterm elections, including Colorado’s Congressional District 8. Johnson pointed to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report’s 21 toss-up seats, before rattling off a list of the races he is watching particularly closely. “Those 21 or so seats that are […]
Academy of Natural Sciences museum to close after nearly 200 years
The board said the move to shutter the museum, which was founded in 1828, follows an extensive process aimed at strengthening the academy for the future.
Academy of Natural Sciences' museum is set to close this month
It's a massive and unexpected blow to Philadelphia's cultural scene, which will lose a major institution and tourist destination.
Nashville family-owned business will close after over 120 years of history
After 42 years in business, a family-owned business in East Nashville is closing. Cumberland Hardware owners announced their plans on Sept. 1.
LA Rams owner Kroenke reaches agreement to buy Angels
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment ("KSE") today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels Baseball Club from the Moreno family. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and approval
Arte Moreno to sell Los Angeles Angels to Rams owner Stan Kroenke
The deal, announced Tuesday, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, pending approval by MLB’s owners.
Brewery exits Newport on the Levee, the latest in a string of recent retail departures
Wooden Cask Brewing closes its Newport on the Levee location due to high rent and low traffic, joining other retailers departing the development.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announces agreement to buy Angels
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels. In a news release issued Tuesday, the ownership group said the deal with the Moreno family is expected to close early next year. The transaction would require approval from Major League Baseball. The Kroenke-affiliated group also owns…
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announces agreement to buy Angels
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels. In a news release issued Tuesday, the ownership group said the deal with the Moreno family is expected to close early next year. The transaction would require approval from Major League Baseball. The Kroenke-affiliated group also owns…
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University to close museum on Sept. 30
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will close its museum in Philadelphia on Sept. 30, 2026, NBC10 confirmed.
Academy of Natural Sciences to close September 30
Drexel University's Academy of Natural Sciences is set to close on Wednesday, Sept. 30, according to a university-wide message sent by President Antonio...
Sanford Health, North Memorial Health complete partnership
The combined health system will keep essential services at Robbinsdale Hospital while building stronger rural-urban care across Minnesota.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. to Report Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results on September 14, 2026
DALLAS, Sept. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc., (NASDAQ:PLAY), ("Dave & Buster's" or "the Company"), an owner, operator, and franchisor of entertainment and dining venues, today announced that it will report financial results for its second quarter ended August 4, 2026 after the market closes on Monday, September 14, 2026. Management will host a conference call to discuss these results on Monday, September 14, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Tim
Lowe's launches major effort to help close America's skilled trades gap
Lowe's Foundation launched a coalition with Nvidia, General Motors and over 75 partners to train and certify 1 million skilled tradespeople by 2035.
Preserving the Academy of Natural Sciences' Legacy and Collections for the Future
As part of this broader effort and following careful consideration, grounded in deep respect for the Academy’s extraordinary legacy, Academy and Drexel leadership have made the difficult decision to close the Academy’s museum as of September 30. While the museum will close, the Academy remains committed to public engagement and education, and work will continue to identify new and financially sustainable opportunities for the public display of elements from its collections and engagement with the natural sciences.
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) Could Be 3% Undervalued Following Leawood Films Launch
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) has launched Leawood Films, a new distribution arm aimed at putting more small and mid-budget movies into theatres worldwide by using AMC’s existing marketing reach and screen footprint. AMC Entertainment Holdings shares last closed at US$2.64, with a 90 day share price return of 27.54% and a year to date share price return of 63.98%. However, the 1 year total shareholder return declined 6.05%, and longer term total shareholder returns over three and five...
Grace Meat + Three closing September 13 in the Grove
Grace Meat + Three (4270 Manchester), the nine-year-old restaurant inspired by the Southern tradition of pairing a choice of meat with three side dishes, will close after service on September 13, owners Rick and Elisa Lewis announced. With its lease in The Grove coming up for renewal, the husband-and-wife team chose to consolidate operations at […]
Principal closes Beam deal, adding digital small business platform
The acquisition is less about premium volume and more about how carriers are competing for small employer relationships
A NY hospital tried to close its birthing center. This city united to fight back
Democrats and Republicans in Troy, New York, took on a national Catholic health system and kept the county's last birthing center open.
Can Dell’s AI Server Business Live Up to Wall Street’s Sky-High Expectations?
Dell is scheduled to report second-quarter financial results after the stock market closes on Tuesday.
3 burning Oilers questions entering 2026-27 NHL season
The Edmonton Oilers have one goal in mind this coming season. Connor McDavid and his teammates are looking to bring the Stanley Cup back north of the border to Edmonton. They have come oh-so-close in the past, but have fallen short each time. Last season’s defeat was the worst of them all, in some respects. The Oilers were eliminated in the first […] The post 3 burning Oilers questions entering 2026-27 NHL season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
What Dyson’s First Toothbrush Says About Oral Care’s Beauty Era
The CameraJet toothbrush marks Dyson’s first step into the oral care category, which is undergoing a broader makeover.
Las Vegas Strip to lose two major shows as Cirque’s "Mad Apple", Wynn’s "Awakening" close
First 'space elevator' — a 66,000-mile cable to the cosmos— closer than ever before as scientists make breakthrough
Dundalk's Eastpoint Mall set to close after 70 years in business
It's an end of an era after 70 years serving Baltimore County, as the Eastpoint Mall prepares to close.
Alcaraz wins US Open first-round match after injury layoff
Carlos Alcaraz opened his US Open title defense in solid fashion Monday, defeating Russia's Roman Safiullin in straight sets in his highly anticipated first singles match in more than four months.A powerful baseliner with a prior win over Alcaraz, Safiullin kept close in all three sets, but never looked likely to threaten the Spaniard.
Kelly Clarkson says goodbye to her talk show after a successful 7-year run
The singer closed out her morning show chapter with fan song requests, including a performance of “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters.”
After 45 years in business, this West Menlo Park institution is slated to shutter
Lutticken’s Deli and After 5 Restaurant, a sandwich shop and restaurant that has operated in unincorporated West Menlo Park since 1981, is set to close at the end of September.
Instagram puts new limits on undisclosed AI profiles
As frustration over AI influencers has been growing, Instagram is limiting the reach of undisclosed AI profiles.
🚨 Aston Villa - Arsenal: official line-ups for the match!
The big Premier League clash of the evening!This Monday night, the defending champions travel to Aston Villa for Matchday 2 of the Premier League.While the Gunners hope to close the gap on Manchester ...
Arrow Sports Club closed in Weston; seller’s permit invalid
By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review WESTON — Arrow Sports Club is closed, and Village of Weston officials say the business cannot operate
Massive KC entertainment center closes after 13 years. ‘So many memories’
“Celebrations, milestones, rainy-day adventures, and so many moments that we will carry with us long after the lights go out tonight,” the business wrote on social media.
Weiss Furniture to close after 107 years in business
Weiss Furniture, a business that has served Latrobe and the surrounding area for more than a century, is preparing to close its doors.
Kalshi bans ex-Rep. Santos after concluding he likely was insider trading
On the eve of Trump’s speech, Kalshi put the odds of Santos attending at close to 75%.
‘Come shop, say goodbye:’ Ohio City business to close at end of month
An Ohio City business announced on social media Monday they will close its doors at the end of September.
Maine lawmakers call on MaineHealth to keep Lincoln County labor unit open
Another labor and delivery unit in Maine is slated to close before the end of the year. A Maine Legislature committee is trying to take action to keep services open.
A pediatrician is running for Senate. Can doctors change the political debate over health and science?
After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seat
A pediatrician is running for Senate. Can doctors change the political debate over health and science?
After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seat
A pediatrician is running for Senate. Can doctors change the political debate over health and science?
After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seat
Nocterra Brewing closes its Powell, Columbus taprooms
One of Central Ohio’s largest craft breweries has permanently closed both of its locations.
Black businesses invest in community
As National Black Business Month closes, Cincinnati leaders say supporting black-led businesses goes beyond where consumers spend their money.
Scientists discover two superconducting states hiding as one
Scientists have uncovered hidden complexity inside two ultrathin superconductors that seemed much simpler than they really are. Niobium diselenide and tantalum disulfide appeared to have a single superconducting state, but highly sensitive measurements revealed that each actually contains two strongly interacting states working so closely together that they masquerade as one.
SB Nation Launches App Home for Its 200 Fan Communities
SB Nation and Sportico are both part of Penske Media Corporation’s PMX Global division. SB Nation is launching an app to pull together content and chats from its network of close to 200 team- and league-focused sports communities. The launch comes as artificial intelligence impacts the amount of web search traffic media publishers receive and …
Western training for Ukraine's troops is purposefully close to the war
Norway is leading training for Ukrainian troops in eastern Poland to preserve training time and keep lessons tied to the battlefield.
New England Patriots Trade Profile: A Closer Look at Offensive Tackle Walter Rouse
The New England Patriots traded for offensive tackle depth ahead of Sunday’s deadline to finalize the 53-man roster. We examine what Walter Rouse brings to the room in Foxboro.
Two months until the midterm elections
Lone Star Politics sits down with former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitely to talk about the closely watched race for U.S. Senate.
'Ruled himself out' - Another Long-Expected Celtic Move Close
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Staff editorial: GW students’ passion for politics must also apply to local DC government
At first glance, it may seem that the GW student body has earned its reputation as inordinately passionate about politics. Most of the student body spends their summers working for their senators and representatives and spends their school semesters at Capitol Hill. But while our student body focuses on national politics and issues, they are forgetting about something closer to home — our local government.
Opionion: Generational health is generational wealth
To close Connecticut's racial wealth gap, we must start treating health equity as an economic development strategy.
How the Beef Industry Captures Climate Science
By pairing scientists with “mentors” from the industry, beef producers distort the field of climate research and foreclose any possibility of limiting their growth.
Nearly 53% of Iceland's voters reject EU membership
In a close vote, voters in Iceland have rejected resuming talks on joining the European Union. EU membership talks were previously halted 13 years ago by a government that opposed closer ties with the bloc.
Aon closes in on another blockbuster insurance deal
The insurance giant, whose North American operations are headquartered in Chicago, could announce the acquisition as soon as Monday, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Apple Caught Off Guard by AI Demand for Mac Mini and Mac Studio
Apple's unusually timed announcement of new Mac mini and Mac Studio models this week was driven by unexpectedly strong enterprise appetite for AI hardware, according to The Information. Apple normally releases new Mac models in the autumn, closer to October or November, making this week's announcement unusually early, falling just before the anticipated arrival of new iPhone models. The Information says that the AI-driven boom in Mac Studio and Mac mini sales is behind the early launch.
These San Antonio businesses are closed after Friday's storm
The Friday night storm left thousands without power.
Colorado Sues EarnIn For “Immoral, Unethical, Oppressive and Unscrupulous” Business Practices
Hey all, Jason here. When this hits your inbox, I should be en route to the airport — not to go anywhere myself, just to pick up my better half. I must admit, it’s been strange to be home alone (well, with two dogs) for two weeks! Really lets me “optimize” to spending more time on reading/writing/working, whether that’s healthy or not! Looking forward to getting back into a (somewhat) more balance routine. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading Compare Notes With the People Who Built Modern Fintech Partner content: Remitly CEO Sebastian Gunningham. Increase founder Darragh Buckley. Linda Du, Co-founder & President at Valon. They’ll unpack the decisions behind building and scaling major financial products: what they got right, what broke, what they would do differently, and how AI and new infrastructure are changing the operator playbook. Most events tell you where fintech is going. NerdCon puts the people who built the present in the room and asks them what comes next. Expect an operator-led conversation grounded in real products, real trade-offs and lessons earned the hard way. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% on Regular tickets with code FBW20 before standard pricing ends September 11. Meet the Builders Things To Know & Other Good Reads Advent and Stripe Abandon $50 Billion Pursuit of PayPal (Bloomberg) Trump Family’s New Crypto Bank Is Backed by Abu Dhabi Sheikh (Wall Street Journal) The multiplying risks of financing data centres (FT) Let the Bond Market Speak (Wall Street Journal) Did we waste a crisis? Modest proposals to reform deposit insurance. (Fintech Takes Banking) Untangling Guggenheim: How Private Credit Built Its Own Universe (Net Interest) The Hater’s Guide To Circular Financing — Part One (Ed Zitron) Fiat Ventures Rebrands to FGV Capital, Announces $35M Oversubscribed Fund II (BusinessWire) Socure Announces Strategic Growth Investment at $5.2B Valuation and Acquires Agentic Operations Platform Fravity (Socure) Listen: When Consumer Protection Disclosures Work Too Well (Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast) Colorado Sues EarnIn For “Immoral, Unethical, Oppressive and Unscrupulous” Business Practices When Andreessen Horowitz led EarnIn’s $39 million Series B in 2017, Alex Rampell, a partner at the storied venture capital firm, described EarnIn’s small-dollar advance product as “free,” relying on “entirely on voluntary contributions instead of fees.” Rampell favorably compared EarnIn’s approach to typical payday loans, writing, “Payday loans historically have had the potential to be a slippery slope for consumers into financial distress: opaque systems and steep fees that are hard to repay and set individuals back further than where they started. For many Americans living paycheck to paycheck, that kind of slide into debt can be extremely difficult to recover from.” But EarnIn’s product — which, the company says, isn’t a “loan,” legally speaking — ends up being anything but free for most users. While it is technically possible to take a no-fee advance from the company, most users incur “Lightning Speed” (instant funding) fees and/or ostensibly optional tips that combined can equate to annualized percent rates that can reach over 1,000%. With an average term of 9.77 days, even fees and tips that are small on an absolute dollar basis are equivalent to high APRs on an annualized basis. A lawsuit filed last week by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser against EarnIn describes the company and its product and business practices quite differently than Andreessen’s Rampell; “EarnIn’s business practices are unfair because they are immoral, unethical, oppressive and unscrupulous,” the complaint, filed in District Court in Denver, Colorado, says. EarnIn’s marquee product, Cash Out, isn’t a loan, the company says, as Cash Out is not “[f]orward [l]ooking” because “[t]he money is transferred based on earnings to date,” does not carry a mandatory fee to access funds, and is “non-recourse,” meaning EarnIn cannot pursue recovery from users who don’t repay advanced funds. EarnIn is sometimes referred to as an “Earned Wage Advance” service. Though, unlike some others in the broader category, EarnIn does not integrate with employers’ payroll or time and attendance systems. Rather, EarnIn attempts to verify a user’s income and employment, by examining direct deposit transaction data in their linked external bank account, by using GPS location and Bluetooth data to estimate a user’s time spent at work, if they work in a fixed location, and/or by having a user provided a work email address. While repayment is theoretically optional, as EarnIn would have no recourse, such as reporting non-payment to the credit bureaus or a collections agency, this is anything but clear to users of the EarnIn app, Colorado’s complaint argues. During the process of taking a Cash Out, users must agree to a preauthorized debit of the amount advanced, plus any expedited funding fee and/or tips. Though users technically can revoke this ACH authorization, the fact that they have this right isn’t presented to users during the Cash Out process, but rather is included in linked terms and conditions few users are likely to actually read. And users who do wish to revoke their ACH authorization must do so three or more days before the scheduled transaction date by emailing EarnIn’s customer support. Similarly, EarnIn’s marketing claims that it carries “no interest” and “no mandatory fees” is technically true, but is not the reality for many of the app’s users, the Colorado complaint argues. Further, EarnIn has extensively marketed to users the ability to “access your pay today,” to get “instant” funds, and to get funds “the same day you work” — when, in reality, this speed of access was only possible by paying the additional, undisclosed Lightning Speed fee. The Colorado complaint highlights this contradiction specifically, noting: EarnIn tells consumers that they can ‘Make any day payday with EarnIn’ and that there no ‘hidden’ or ‘mandatory fees.’ For a consumer to access their pay on the same day requested, they would have to pay the Lightning Speed fee. In the fine print of the advertisement EarnIn discloses that ‘[f]ees apply to use Lightning Speed,’ a direct contradiction to the larger text of the advertisement, and a fact that would not be immediately understood by a consumer as ‘Lightning Speed’ is not defined nor explained. Like other small-dollar lending services, rather than explicitly charge interest, EarnIn collects a markup on the optional Lighting Speed fee, which, given the nature of the transactions, many users opt for, as well as offering users the option to leave “tips.” EarnIn leverages either Real-Time Payments (RTP) rails or push-to-card via debit rails if a user opts for the optional Lightning Speed. But while these capabilities cost EarnIn, on average, $0.075 or $0.20 per transaction, respectively, EarnIn charges users significantly more. Initially, EarnIn charged as little as $1.99 for Cash Outs up to $24. But EarnIn has hiked these fees multiple times, and now charges $4.99 for Cash Outs up to $75 and $6.99 for those over $75. According to the Colorado complaint, EarnIn leverages “dark patterns” to manipulate users and to make it more difficult to avoid tipping. Examples of these “road blocks” highlighted in the complaint include: As of 2023, in the EarnIn app, a consumer attempting to get a loan under the default settings had to make at least eighteen separate taps to complete the transaction and reduce the tip to $0. There is an alternative method to leave a $0 tip, via the “Custom tip” feature, but EarnIn made this option difficult to access by visually deemphasizing it and positioning it near devices’ “home” button. Using language and imagery such as “Tip to pay it forward,” “Your generosity supports the service + helps,” “Your tips make a difference,” and “[t]he APR for this cash out is 0%. Your tips help support us.” While Lightning Speed and tipping are, in theory, both optional, in practice, users nearly always ended up paying something. According to the Colorado suit, users were charged either a tip or an expedite fee for more than 92% of transactions, with an average APR of nearly 388%. And, although the advances are “non-recourse,” EarnIn successfully collects on nearly all transactions — 99.18%, according to the complaint, which, Colorado argues, “demonstrat[es] that EarnIn’s advances function as high cost loans, not voluntary payments.” The share of EarnIn users incurring fees — despite the product being marketed as 0% APR — is hard to reconcile with Andreessen investor Rampell’s favorable description of EarnIn vs. “opaque systems and steep fees” associated with payday loans, which, Rampell says, can be “extremely difficult” for borrowers to extricate themselves from. According to Colorado’s suit, EarnIn’s Cash Out product “trapped many consumers in extreme cycles of high-cost reborrowing.” The suit gives an example of one consumer in the state, who took out a whopping 1,151 loans, paying a total of $4,038.50 in Lightning Speed expedited funding fees on loans that averaged the equivalent of 1,421% APR. Another Colorado user, the suit says, took out 1,033 loans, paying $8,561.22 in tips and fees at an average APR of 1,539% . These types of usage patterns demonstrate “the severe and repeated financial harm caused by EarnIn’s illegal lending model,” the Colorado complaint argues. In aggregate, from January 2023 through July 2025, EarnIn extended 3.1 million loans to 56,778 users in Colorado — an average of nearly 55 transactions per person during the time period. EarnIn lent more than $300 million and collected more than $16 million from Colorado users in Lightning Speed fees and in tips. Ultimately, the Colorado complaint argues that “EarnIn’s Cash Outs are loans under Colorado law, and EarnIn’s contention that its product is not a loan based on its disclaimer of any legal repayment obligation lacks any real-world significance given how the Cash Out transactions actually operate in practice.” Colorado further argues that “EarnIn was not working with companies here in providing consumers with funds but acted as a third-party lender and charged illegally high rates, used deceptive design strategies to extract some charges, and trapped consumers in repeat borrowing. Colorado will continue to stand up for consumers and hold companies accountable when they violate our credit laws or attempt to evade them through misleading practices.” Colorado’s suit alleges EarnIn assesses finance charge in excess of that permitted by Colorado law, that EarnIn failed to make legally required disclosures to Colorado borrowers, that EarnIn made supervised loans to consumers without obtaining the requisite license, that EarnIn violated the state’s Deferred Deposit Loan Act, that EarnIn engage in unfair and deceptive trade practices, and that EarnIn made false or misleading statements concerning price. The suit seeks a court order enjoining EarnIn from violating relevant Colorado laws, for EarnIn to refund amounts charged in excess of state law, fees, costs, and penalties, and other relief the court deems to be just. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Q2 Quarterly Banking Profile: Five Quick Takeaways The FDIC released its quarterly banking profile, which is always worth a read, for the second quarter. The profile provides an aggregate snapshot about the overall health of the 4,238 institutions whose deposits are insured by the FDIC, who, collectively, hold more than $26 trillion in assets and saw a total net income of more than $90 billion in the second quarter. Net income was up 12% vs. Q1 2026, with lower provisions and realized gains on securities helping to drive the improvement, somewhat offset by increases in non-interest expense and applicable income taxes. Overall net interest margin was basically flat quarter over quarter (up 1 basis point vs. Q1 2026), though community banks saw NIM grow by 10 basis points, to 3.81%. Unsurprisingly, given that interest rates haven’t changed, unrealized losses on securities changed little, edging up slightly to $326.7 billion vs. $325.1 billion in Q1 2026. Aggregate credit quality has remained benign, with asset quality actually improving slightly in Q2. Overall, institutions reported a 9 basis point decline in their past-due and non-accrual rate, to 1.44%. Net charge off rate also declined by 2 basis points, to 0.57%. And finally, the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund stands at $161.1 billion, making the DIF reserve ratio 1.48% — above the statutory minimum of 1.35%, but still below the designated target reserve ratio of 2%. [Paid Subscriber Exclusive] Nissan Withdraws ILC App, State Associations Plan BankChain Alliance, FDIC Defines “Unsafe or Unsound Practice” For First Time Automaker Nissan withdrew its application to charter a Utah industrial loan company and its corresponding application to the FDIC for deposit insurance last week, on August 19th. Nissan’s application had been outstanding for more than a year, as it originally applied in June 2025. Recent applications to the OCC to form national banks have been decisioned, one way or the other, substantially more quickly than has historically been the case.
Notes: Bears close out preseason with strong win
The Bears closed out the preseason with a nice win on Saturday. @jacobinfante24 shares his notes from the game.
Progressive candidate is gaining on top two rivals in N.H. congressional race
While the establishment-backed top contenders, Stefany Shaheen and Maura Sullivan, are locked in a close contest, a progressive push by Carleigh Beriont may be gaining momentum.
Midday transfer round-up 💰
With two days to go before the summer transfer window closes in the major leagues, several major moves are in the works or close to being finalized. Here’s a roundup of the first official announceme...