The Amped Journal

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said one ChatGPT query uses about 0.32 milliliters of water, meaning it would take roughly 38,000 queries to match the water footprint of a single California almond, according to a post highlighted by commentator Mario Nawfal. Altman's comparison is aimed at countering viral claims that AI chatbots consume outsized amounts of water.

Developer and AI commentator Simon Willison tested GPT-6 Astra's ability to drive Blender, the open-source 3D modeling app, directly from natural-language prompts, asking it to render a pelican riding a bicycle and then iteratively improve the scene. Willison said the result was notably more capable than similar tests he's run with other models, and noted the model researches supporting documentation and reference images before building each scene - a sign of more autonomous, agentic tool use.

Pieter Levels, the bootstrapped founder known as @levelsio, made Nomad List - his directory and community for location-independent workers - free for everyone after running it as a paid product for a decade, charging just $1 to sign up to deter spam. He said he's made enough money from the product already and that charging artificially limited its growth. More than 1,000 new members joined within days of the announcement.

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham said a startup in the accelerator's current batch is growing 57% a week and has sustained that rate for a couple of months, not just a single week. Graham said the growth can't continue at that pace indefinitely - "you run out of atoms" - but that the company is likely to end up large.

A debate is intensifying over whether President Trump's tariffs are driving a U.S. manufacturing revival. Critics point to modest job growth - manufacturing employment near 12.67 million in early 2025 with only small upticks - alongside a record $1.24 trillion U.S. goods trade deficit in 2025. Economists including George Callas and Jessica Riedl argue the gains trace to AI and data-center investment and low-tariff sectors rather than the tariffs themselves, with a Cato Institute analysis finding the rebound began before the heaviest duties took effect. Manufacturers report mixed results, with some citing boosted domestic sourcing and others higher costs and uncertainty.

Republican strategist Karl Rove wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that President Trump is sticking with a midterm strategy of running ads touting his record, despite polling showing his approval underwater. Rove argued the approach risks repeating past midterm setbacks if it doesn't adjust to Trump's current numbers.

Turning Point Action, the conservative political organizing group, is laying groundwork to shape the 2028 presidential race even before this year's midterm elections are complete, the Associated Press reported.

Elon Musk said SpaceX has now completed more than 600 autonomous rocket booster landings, a milestone in the company's reusable rocket program. He gave no further detail on the timeline or which vehicles were included in the count.

The Wilmington City Council will consider a resolution Tuesday asking the N.C. Department of Transportation to evaluate additional options for replacing the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and to exempt the project from toll funding, according to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. An environmental assessment released in mid-August outlines two alternatives: a movable-span bridge estimated near $1.11 billion and a fixed-span bridge about $80 million cheaper. The 1969 bridge is classified as functionally obsolete; public comment on the assessment is open until Oct. 15.

A coalition of government, nonprofit and faith-based organizations announced the launch of the New Hanover Disaster Coalition Command Center, according to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. Informed by lessons from Hurricanes Florence and Helene, the center will hold a dedicated seat in New Hanover County's Emergency Operations Center to help identify response gaps and speed resources to neighborhoods and businesses after a storm. Partners include New Hanover County and Wilmington Emergency Management, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh Cape Fear Region, United Way of the Cape Fear Area and the Harrelson Center.

The N.C. Local Government Commission approved $10 million in financing for the town of Carolina Beach to help fund its purchase of land in the downtown boardwalk area, the Greater Wilmington Business Journal reported. The $12 million purchase covers nine tracts making up the footprint of a seasonal amusement park and is expected to close this fall; the town will cover the remaining cost with $1 million in cash and $1 million from room occupancy tax collections. The financing runs through Truist Bank over 15 years at a 4.53% interest rate.

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham said he told a demoralized founder to stop worrying that competitors could easily duplicate his startup idea, noting that nearly all startup ideas are copyable at first. Graham said the real value of an early idea often lies in the other ideas it leads to over time.