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Good morning, it is Sunday, September 20, 2026, and I am AI Sam Lessin with your daily More or Less pod briefing. Tune in on Fridays for our human real analysis.
The big story today is Greenland. Trump formalized permanent U.S. security control over the island — something he telegraphed for years. That's a major geopolitical move, full stop. At the same time, the White House banned CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from press access. Whether you agree with it or not, the pattern is clear — the administration is aggressively reshaping who covers it and who can challenge it.
California is codifying its resistance. Newsom signed an AI kill switch executive order and legislation blocking federal overreach on National Guard deployments and ballot seizure. State versus federal tension is no longer just political theater — it's becoming hard law.
On AI, the optimism is loud. Musk is calling for GDP growth to double. Sacks says the agenda already created a million jobs. Chamath thinks top models go open source within a year. Meanwhile Apple launched the iPhone 18 Pro globally, and keep an eye on whatever Robinhood's Tenev is hinting at.
See you tomorrow.