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# The AI Bill Comes Due, Rules, Rulings, and Rollouts, Closures and Cautionary Tales
- URL: https://adjacent.media/scan/2026-10-23-am/
- Published: 2026-10-23T10:16:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T10:16:33.000Z
- Description: Meta is creating a new share class to pay for AI, Barclays is cutting 5,000 jobs because of it, and HSBC is telling retail investors the goalposts keep moving. The spending, the layoffs, and the skepticism all landed in the same news cycle.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #scan-am, #scan

Meta is creating a new share class to pay for AI, Barclays is cutting 5,000 jobs because of it, and HSBC is telling retail investors the goalposts keep moving. The spending, the layoffs, and the skepticism all landed in the same news cycle.

> **5,000** — Jobs Barclays is cutting (about 5% of its workforce) as AI takes over back-office work. *(MarketWatch)*

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### Machines & Minds

#### [Meta to create a new class of shares to fund its AI push](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1015799/meta-shares-class-ai-q3-2026-earnings?ref=adjacent.media)

A new share class lets Meta raise AI money without handing over control. *(The Verge)*

#### [Vendors asking forward deployed engineers to make good on trillion-dollar AI bet](https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/10/22/vendors-asking-forward-deployed-engineers-to-make-good-on-trillion-dollar-ai-bet/5304366?ref=adjacent.media)

After the capex, someone has to get the software working inside customers' buildings. *(The Register)*

### Connected World

#### [Fortnite returning to Australian App Store after court ruling](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/22/fortnite-returning-to-australian-app-store/?ref=adjacent.media)

A federal court ordered Apple to let eligible Epic apps back in, ending the Australian exile today. *(MacRumors)*

#### [South Korea's crypto bill nears completion while tax debate intensifies](https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-10-22-south-koreas-crypto-bill-nears-completion-421880?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Exchange licensing and stablecoin rules are close to done. Tax treatment is not. *(The Block)*

#### [Tesla says customers can add their own vehicles to the robotaxi fleet next year — will it happen?](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1016118/tesla-robotaxi-customer-owned-vehicle-fleet-network-q3-2026-earnings?ref=adjacent.media)

The promise has been on the calendar for years, so the "will it" in the headline is doing real work. *(The Verge)*

#### [Southwest Airlines slashes 2026 profit guidance on higher fuel bills](https://skift.com/2026/10/21/southwest-slashes-2026-profit-guidance-on-higher-fuel-bills/?ref=adjacent.media)

Record revenue, but fuel is eating the margin. *(Skift)*

### Connected World

#### [Electronic Arts closing BioWare, laying off hundreds](https://aftermath.site/electronic-arts-closing-bioware-laying-off-hundreds/?ref=adjacent.media)

Four hundred jobs and one of gaming's best-known RPG studios, gone in a Bloomberg scoop. *(Aftermath)*

### Connected World

#### [IT department and auditors at major pharmacy chain got into a rip-roaring fight about using 'password' on Cisco firewall](https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/10/22/it-department-and-auditors-at-major-pharmacy-chain-got-into-a-rip-roaring-fight-about-using-password-on-cisco-firewall/5304592?ref=adjacent.media)

The firewall password was "password," and the argument was about whether that was a problem. *(The Register)*