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# Institutions Strike Back, Hardware Bets, Big and Small, Money Moves
- URL: https://adjacent.media/scan/2026-05-26-am/
- Published: 2026-05-26T10:09:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-26T10:09:51.000Z
- Description: The week after a long weekend opens with institutional authority asserting itself over technology it can’t quite control — a Pope issuing doctrine on AI, central bankers summoning lenders over model-discovered vulnerabilities, and a $2 trillion valuation that at least two analysts think is priced fo
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #scan-am, #scan

The week after a long weekend opens with institutional authority asserting itself over technology it can't quite control — a Pope issuing doctrine on AI, central bankers summoning lenders over model-discovered vulnerabilities, and a $2 trillion valuation that at least two analysts think is priced for a different planet. The hardware race has a new entrant trying to route around Moore's Law entirely.

> **$2T** — The SpaceX IPO valuation Scott Galloway and Ed Elson argue doesn't pencil out — and their math is worth a skim before the hype fully takes hold. *(Prof G Media)*

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### Connected World

#### [Pope Leo XIV Releases Magnifica Humanitas, an Encyclical on AI](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/world/europe/pope-leo-encyclical.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.lFA.ZO8g.ywQ-ffnOl1j9&smid=nytcore-ios-share&ref=adjacent.media)

When the Vatican issues binding doctrine on AI regulation and child protection in the same document, the "this is moving too fast" argument has officially reached its widest possible audience. *(New York Times)*

#### [The ECB Summons Eurozone Banks to Discuss AI Model Risks](https://www.ft.com/content/482c56aa-6d2b-4456-9d33-b42dc30788bd?ref=adjacent.media)

The European Central Bank wants to talk about Mythos — an AI model actively finding cybersecurity flaws in bank infrastructure — and it's hoping US banks with access will share what they know. *(Financial Times)*

#### [Monopoly Round-Up: Private Equity Blocked from Buying Homes. Mostly.](https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-private-equity?ref=adjacent.media)

The "mostly" is doing a lot of work in that headline, and Matt Stoller's breakdown of what the restrictions actually cover is the right corrective to the triumphant press releases. *(The Big Newsletter)*

### Connected World

#### [Huawei Says It Aims to Make 1.4nm Chips by 2031 Using "LogicFolding" Tech](https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/huawei-crackdown/huawei-says-new-kirin-chip-for-phones-overcomes-us-clampdown?ref=adjacent.media)

Huawei is betting its proprietary Tau Scaling Law can route around both Moore's Law limits and US export controls — ambitious even by Chinese tech standards, but worth watching if the timeline holds. *(Nikkei Asia)*

#### [Blue Origin Commits Another $600M to Its Florida Campus](https://thenextweb.com/news/blue-origin-commits-another-600m-to-its-florida-campus?ref=adjacent.media)

An 830,000-square-foot upper-stage factory at Cape Canaveral signals that Jeff Bezos is playing a longer game on launch infrastructure, timing be damned. *(The Next Web)*

#### [Xiaomi Committed \~$8.8B in AI Investments Over the Next Three Years](https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3354556/how-xiaomis-push-ai-chips-and-evs-future-proofing-its-hardware-empire?ref=adjacent.media)

Xiaomi is threading AI through chips, handsets, and EVs simultaneously — a hardware-native AI strategy that looks more coherent than most pure-software plays at this scale. *(South China Morning Post)*

### Connected World

#### [SpaceX IPO: Why the $2 Trillion Valuation Doesn't Add Up](https://open.substack.com/pub/profgmedia/p/spacex-ipo-why-the-2-trillion-valuation)

Galloway and Elson walk through the numbers and find a valuation priced on vibes and national narrative more than cashflow — useful skepticism before the roadshow noise drowns everything out. *(Prof G Media)*

#### [Uber Weighs a Higher Bid for Delivery Hero After €38/Share Offer Was Rebuffed](https://www.ft.com/content/04f5d191-f5d9-4221-bf62-c34c879ab81b?ref=adjacent.media)

At €11.5B+ and already rejected, Uber's delivery consolidation ambitions are getting expensive — and the other side hasn't blinked yet. *(Financial Times)*

#### [Tether Buys Out SoftBank's \~26% Stake in Bitcoin Treasury Firm Twenty One Capital](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-20/tether-buys-out-softbank-stake-in-bitcoin-treasury-firm?ref=adjacent.media)

SoftBank's exit — at a stake worth roughly $679M — concentrates ownership of one of the largest bitcoin treasury vehicles in Tether's hands, which is either reassuring or alarming depending on your priors. *(Bloomberg)*

### Connected World

#### [Mandalorian and Grogu Tops Box Office as Disney Bets on Star Wars Revival](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/business/media/mandalorian-and-grogu-box-office.html?ref=adjacent.media)

$102M domestic over the holiday weekend on a $300M spend — not a disaster, not a triumph, and Grogu remains the only IP that makes adults openly weep in a parking lot. *(New York Times)*