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# AI's Reckoning Season, Deals, Charters, and Regulated Rails, The Lighter Side
- URL: https://adjacent.media/scan/2026-10-28-am/
- Published: 2026-10-28T10:16:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T10:16:07.000Z
- Description: Anthropic’s S-1 is out, China’s AI trade is down 40%, and crypto keeps picking up federal charters. Money is also going to hotels, surgery centers, and an 11-person startup with a large seed round.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #scan-am, #scan

Anthropic's S-1 is out, China's AI trade is down 40%, and crypto keeps picking up federal charters. Money is also going to hotels, surgery centers, and an 11-person startup with a large seed round.

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### Machines & Minds

#### [A good buy or 'the most ridiculous IPO of 2026': Anthropic's debut will be a referendum on AI](https://fortune.com/2026/10/27/anthropic-ipo-s1-referendum-good-buy-ridiculous/?ref=adjacent.media)

The S-1 is out, and the debate is whether it marks the AI trade's validation or its high-water mark. *(Fortune)*

#### [China's Star 50 index of AI and chip leaders is down by 40% in under four months](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-ai-bubble-has-already-burst-2026-10-26/?ref=adjacent.media)

Reuters reports the Chinese AI bubble has burst, with chipmaker CXMT off roughly 25% in the past month alone. *(Reuters)*

#### [Expanding our partnership with GSA to bring Claude to all levels of government](https://www.anthropic.com/news/expanding-partnership-gsa?ref=adjacent.media)

A deeper federal contract lands just ahead of the IPO. *(Anthropic News)*

#### [An 11-person startup raised $40 million to challenge robotics' data-hungry giants](https://www.businessinsider.com/this-11-person-startup-raised-40-million-train-robots-virtual-worlds-2026-10?ref=adjacent.media)

Machenta trains robots in virtual worlds instead of collecting real-world data. Creandum and Union Square wrote a $40M seed check. *(Business Insider)*

#### [IBM admits mainframes need to be modernized and will use AI to do the job](https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/10/27/ibm-admits-mainframes-need-to-be-modernized-and-will-use-ai-to-do-the-job/5305618?ref=adjacent.media)

IBM's pitch as the world's most reliable vendor now comes with a request to let it fix the problem. *(The Register)*

### Machines & Minds

#### [Ripple gains final OCC approval to launch national trust bank and bring RLUSD under federal oversight](https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-10-26-ripple-gains-final-occ-approval-rlusd-431810?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Reserves and custody go federal while issuance stays with the New York-regulated entity. Other stablecoin issuers will be studying the structure. *(The Block)*

#### [BlackRock joins SBI and Startale to link tokenized MMFs with Japanese yen stablecoins](https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-10-26-blackrock-sbi-startale-mou-431642?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

It's an MOU to "explore," but BlackRock exploring tokenized money market funds draws attention. *(The Block)*

#### [Nonprofit Bon Secours Mercy Health strikes $5.7 billion deal for surgery center chain](https://www.statnews.com/2026/10/26/bon-secours-mercy-health-surgery-partners-deal-ambulatory-surgery-centers-bain-capital/?utm%5Fcampaign=rss&ref=adjacent.media)

A nonprofit system is buying its way to the top of the ambulatory surgery center market, a consolidation play. *(STAT)*

#### [TKO's CEO Makes Case for $2 Billion Bid on Service Properties' Hotels](https://skift.com/2026/10/27/tkos-ceo-makes-case-for-2-billion-bid-on-service-properties-hotels/?ref=adjacent.media)

The wrestling-and-UFC owner wants a hotel portfolio roughly four times the size of its own. The target hasn't responded. *(Skift)*

#### [Stagwell buys Freestar, putting publisher ad sales inside a holdco](https://digiday.com/media-buying/stagwell-buys-freestar-putting-publisher-ad-sales-inside-a-holdco/?utm%5Fcampaign=digidaydis&utm%5Fmedium=rss&utm%5Fsource=general-rss)

Agencies are buying sell-side companies, a vertical play that carries conflict-of-interest risk. *(Digiday)*

### Connected World

#### [Uh-oh, it sounds like the iPhone Duo keeps cracking and users aren't happy about it](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/26/uh-oh-it-sounds-like-the-iphone-duo-keeps-cracking-and-users-arent-happy-about-it/?ref=adjacent.media)

A small number of early adopters report cracked screens on Apple's foldable. *(TechCrunch)*

#### [Japanese virtual desktop cloud hacked so hard it asks to be banned](https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/10/27/japanese-virtual-desktop-cloud-hacked-so-hard-it-asks-to-be-banned/5305610?ref=adjacent.media)

GMO Internet warned customers that its desktop service for forex trading was compromised badly enough that it is asking them to stop using it. *(The Register)*

#### [Duramobi's underwater speaker turns your pool into a sound system](https://www.yankodesign.com/2026/10/26/duramobis-underwater-speaker-turns-your-pool-into-a-sound-system/?utm%5Fsource=rss&utm%5Fmedium=rss&utm%5Fcampaign=duramobis-underwater-speaker-turns-your-pool-into-a-sound-system)

A Bluetooth speaker that follows swimmers underwater. *(Yanko Design)*