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# Access Denied, AI Governance, Choose Your Own Adventure, Chips, Cars, and Catching Up
- URL: https://adjacent.media/scan/2026-09-21-am/
- Published: 2026-09-21T10:10:40.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-21T10:10:40.000Z
- Description: The press-freedom fight has moved from a concerning trend to a full institutional standoff, with the White House, courts, and state AGs all drawing lines this week.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #scan-am, #scan

The press-freedom fight has moved from a concerning trend to a full institutional standoff, with the White House, courts, and state AGs all drawing lines this week. AI governance, meanwhile, keeps splitting into two tracks: lawmakers debating kill switches and loophole-riddled bills, Washington pushing to build faster and sort consequences out later.

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### Connected World

#### [CNN, MS NOW and Politico Barred From White House After Trump's Ban](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/business/media/trump-white-house-press-ban.html?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

A press-credential fight headed for court, with First Amendment lawyers already engaged. *(NYT)*

#### [Trump treads further on free speech with new journalist bans](https://www.theverge.com/policy/997805/trump-cnn-msnow-politico-ban?ref=adjacent.media)

The pattern matters more than any single ban — this is a sustained campaign. *(The Verge)*

#### [AGs Must Not Cave to Paramount's Empty Threat to Leave California](https://open.substack.com/pub/contrarian/p/ags-must-not-cave-to-paramounts-empty)

David Ellison is using a relocation threat to pressure California's AG into dropping his challenge to the $111B Warner Bros deal — a naked test of whether state regulators fold under corporate pressure. *(The Contrarian)*

#### [California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a law that will penalize influencers who do not properly disclose paid political content](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/business/media/california-political-ads-influencers-law.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.CVE.Deu4.e3uZQO5XHVDZ&smid=bs-share&ref=adjacent.media)

$5K per undisclosed post — small money for the creators California is actually worried about, but a real deterrent for micro-influencers running ad campaigns on the side. *(NYT)*

### Machines & Minds

#### [Trump says he will appoint an AI czar and form an "AI Force"](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-19/trump-to-name-ai-czar-while-rejecting-safety-risks-as-a-hoax?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Calling safety concerns a "hoax" while standing up a military-flavored AI unit is a striking two-step. *(Bloomberg)*

#### [Experts say AI kill-switch legislation is far harder to implement than lawmakers assume](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/science/creating-a-kill-switch-to-shut-down-a-rogue-ai-is-harder-than-it-sounds.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.CVE.rpX7.JmRRyyhR-A%5F2&smid=nytcore-ios-share&ref=adjacent.media)

Turns out "just unplug it" was never a real policy. *(NYT)*

#### [US state-level AI chatbot safety bills included language that could provide loopholes for tech companies](https://www.npr.org/2026/09/18/nx-s1-5968878/ai-chatbots-safety-regulation-google?ref=adjacent.media)

The regulation-is-coming narrative keeps colliding with the regulation-has-holes reality. *(NPR)*

#### [The AI regulation smackdown isn't over](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/997706/the-ai-regulation-smackdown-isnt-over?ref=adjacent.media)

Industry's brief truce on regulation lasted about a week — read this for the timeline. *(The Verge)*

> “Rejects AI safety concerns as a 'hoax.'” — *Bloomberg, on Trump's Truth Social post announcing the AI czar*

### Connected World

#### [Sources: the USPTO and US Copyright Office were surprised by the DOJ's brief supporting OpenAI and Microsoft](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/19/justice-department-openai-new-york-times?ref=adjacent.media)

When the administration's own IP agencies didn't see the filing coming, that's a tell about how it's picking AI winners. *(Axios)*

#### [In China, A.I. Is Moving Forward While the Economy Lags Behind](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/business/china-ai-economy.html?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Xi's state visit arrives with a split-screen story: AI breakthroughs stacked on top of a wobbly broader economy. *(NYT)*

#### [Rivian C.E.O. RJ Scaringe Has Some Ideas for How to Make More Cars in America](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/business/rivian-rj-scaringe.html?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

His answer is robots, tariffs, and diplomacy — the entire industrial-policy debate in one CEO's to-do list. *(NYT)*

#### [Chinese DRAM chipmaker CXMT says its new fifth-gen memory platform enters mass production](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinas-cxmt-says-new-memory-chip-platform-enters-mass-production-2026-09-20/?ref=adjacent.media)

Another data point in China's push to stop needing anyone else's memory chips. *(Reuters)*