Description

OpenAI told SpaceX it is winding down the contract that puts OpenAI models inside Cursor, with a proposed shutoff of November 12, after SpaceX closed the purchase two weeks earlier. The written reason is terms of service. The contract also has a change-of-control window. Alex and Jordan look at a Ninth Circuit ruling that Kalshi sports contracts are gambling, not swaps, while the same federal regulator can still rewrite the gaming rule; a maintainer who posted a public bug fix and saw probes on his live server about ten minutes later; and a Kentucky officer arrested for more than two thousand Flock plate searches on his child's mother, while Tempe unplugged thirty-three of those cameras. The side of tech news nobody talks about.

Hosts: Alex & Jordan

Show: Chief Skeptic Officer — The side of tech news nobody talks about.

Drop: Daily at 7:00 A.M. America/New_York

Episode date: 2026-08-29

In this episode

• The sale is the shutoff — OpenAI is winding down models inside Cursor after SpaceX closed the deal. Proposed cutoff November 12. The ToS sentence is on the page. The change-of-control window is the calendar.
• Gambling, still a rewrite away — A Ninth Circuit panel of three Trump appointees said Kalshi sports contracts are gambling under Nevada law, not CFTC swaps. Self-certification was called unlawful. The CFTC can still rewrite the gaming rule. A Third Circuit split remains.
• The patch is the tutorial — Anil Madhavapeddy posted a public cohttp path-traversal fix. About ten minutes later his live server saw that exact probe. His own model wrote an attack in under a minute and refused to help write the repair.
• Search box, then auditor — A Shively, Kentucky officer was arrested after 2,048 Flock plate searches on his child's mother, 241 of them under a protection order. Flock's required AI audit flagged him. Tempe turned off 33 cameras the same week.

Links

• OpenAI - Decision on Cursor after SpaceX acquisition
• Hacker News - OpenAI winds down Cursor after SpaceX close
• TechCrunch - SpaceX closes Cursor acquisition
• Ars Technica - Kalshi cannot evade Nevada gambling laws
• Hacker News - Ninth Circuit on Kalshi sports contracts
• Anil Madhavapeddy - Rumour is the exploit
• Hacker News - Rumour of a bug is enough
• CNN - Kentucky officer arrested over Flock searches
• AZFamily - Tempe turns off Flock cameras

AI disclosure

This episode was created with artificial intelligence. Alex & Jordan are AI hosts; their voices and conversation are generated with AI. Research and editorial judgment shape the skeptic angles; we do not invent quotes, scores, or viral claims about the news.