Trump Gold Card, AI - Privacy & Productivity, How to Build a Cult

Stories in todays newsletter:

🛂 Trump's $100,000 H-1B fee sparks tech industry chaos

🕵️‍♂️Enter VaultGemma, Google’s first privacy-preserving LLM

💻Microsoft Copilot: How much productivity can AI really achieve?

🎧Podcast: Lulu Cheng Meservey's "How to Build a Cult"

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Global News Rundown for Sept 17–23, 2025 - a mix of serious developments, bright spots, and head shaking stuff to … do something with the mood.

The Federal Reserve bravely bravely lowered interest rates by a thrilling quarter percent—because when the economy whispers, “Uh-oh,” the Fed replies, “How about a tiny discount?”

Nature kept everyone humble as glaciers melt faster than an ice cream cone on a hot day, and typhoons reminded the Philippines who’s boss when it comes to weather drama.

Europe’s busiest airports after their automated check-in systems were hit by hackers with ransomware—proving that even flight delays can be upgraded to ‘premium digital chaos’. Passengers at London Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin were treated to a vintage travel experience involving handwritten boarding passes, staff furiously refreshing laptops, and, for a limited time only, marathon-length check-in lines.

Canada surprised everyone by getting to the Women’s Rugby World Cup finals—because who says Canadians can’t tackle both maple syrup and rugby? Don’t miss the final this Saturday!

In a bold and entirely unrequested public service announcement, President Trump unveiled a groundbreaking health plan: if you want to avoid autism, just live like the Amish. Because nothing says “cutting-edge medical advice” like trading smartphones for horse-drawn carriages and WiFi for candlelight. According to this narrative, the secret to flawless health lies in a combination of Tylenol bans and Amish-style simplicity.

👉 In short: politics, weather, music gatekeepers, and a little rugby drama kept the world spinning—with some comedic plot twists worthy of a late-night monologue.

Our Money, Our Risk, Real Investment, No Advice

Because nothing says “America First” like charging foreign tech workers more than a Tesla Model S per year for the privilege of sitting in open-plan offices, eating cold Chipotle, and debugging code at midnight.

President Trump's decision to impose a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas has triggered immediate chaos across the tech industry, forcing major companies to issue emergency travel warnings to their foreign workers. The proclamation, signed on Friday, September 19, became effective at 12:01 AM EDT on Sunday, September 21, giving visa holders less than 48 hours to return to the United States.

Major technology companies scrambled to advise their H-1B and H-4 visa employees after Trump's announcement. Amazon issued internal guidance stating, "If you have H-1B status and are in the US, stay in the country for now", while Microsoft warned employees to remain in the country "for the foreseeable future" to avoid re-entry complications.

The fee represents a dramatic increase from the current range of $2,000 to $5,000 that employers typically pay. Under the new system, companies must pay $100,000 annually for each visa, potentially totaling $300,000 for a standard three-year H-1B term.

On this day in 1936, Jim Henson was born — a visionary who didn’t just create puppets, but whole worlds of imagination.

From a humble green frog to the entire cast of The Muppets, Henson’s work redefined storytelling. He showed us that humor, heart, and even felt and foam could spark joy across generations.

Jim Henson’s motto?

✨ “My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here.”

AI companies are desperately hunting for new, juicy data to feed their ever-growing robot brains, but the internet’s only got so much content left. Scraping everything else risks accidentally teaching these models someone’s credit card number or grandma’s Netflix password. Engineers at Google, not wanting AI to blurt out “Bob’s Super-Secret Bank PIN,” are getting crafty: they toss a bit of mathematical ‘confetti’ (a.k.a. differential privacy noise) into the training mix. This makes the models forgetful—like a goldfish with a doctorate.

Now, researchers are finally trying to measure just how loopy those AI “scaling laws” get when you keep tossing more and more privacy sprinkles into the training pot.

The key lesson: sometimes, the only thing trickier than teaching an AI is making absolutely sure it doesn’t remember anything it’s not supposed to—kind of like training an intern with a selective memory and a tendency to copy-paste.

There are mixed reports on Microsoft 365 Copilot's impact on productivity. According to a recent Forrester study commissioned by Microsoft, Copilot in Teams helped users save 25 hours per year on meeting preparation, participation, and follow-up, and reduced time spent in meetings by 38 to 63 hours annually. This resulted in reported productivity benefits such as more efficient meeting recaps, less time in unnecessary meetings, and better multitasking across overlapping meetings. These efficiencies could translate into millions of dollars in productivity gains for large organizations.

However, contrasting this, an article titled "Small Business Technology Roundup: Microsoft CoPilot Does Not Improve Productivity And ChatGPT Projects Are Free" from September 2025 indicates some skepticism about Copilot's productivity benefits, especially for small businesses. The article suggests that CoPilot does not significantly enhance productivity in those contexts.

Productivity gains through AI still need to be fully understood and as with every activity that can be supported through “automation”, the benefits will always depend on how “much” it can be used.

Lulu Cheng Meservey's "How to Build a Cult" is relevant because it addresses the critical challenge of cutting through the overwhelming noise of modern communication to build trust, conviction, and lasting influence.

In an age where misinformation spreads fast and attention spans shrink, her insights on crafting a compelling "hook," connecting authentically with audiences, and fostering deep trust are essential for leaders, corporations, and individuals alike.

She draws on lessons from cults, insurgents, and physics to explain how human conviction and authenticity can create a powerful, loyal following—an especially timely approach given today's turbulent information landscape and growing skepticism toward traditional institutions.

When it rains on Neptune, it rains diamonds 💎!

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