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Current State Of Physical AI: Everything You Need To Know

Citi’s Robotics & Physical AI Leadership Conference wrapped up on Tuesday. The annual Citi Research event brings together robotics founders, investors, operators, and industry executives to assess the state of “physical AI.”

Analyst Heath Terry summarized the key takeaways Wednesday morning, painting a picture of the robotics industry moving from proof of concept to commercial deployment, while warning that scaling robots remains challenging.

“Labor shortages, reshoring, and favorable regulatory tailwinds are accelerating enterprise demand, while data scarcity, talent constraints, battery limitations, and high deployment costs remain key friction points,” Terry explained to clients. 

Citi said the winners in physical AI will likely be firms that own proprietary real-world data, solve specific labor bottlenecks and use Robotics-as-a-Service models to reduce upfront costs for customers.

Terry highlighted automation-exposed industrial names including Rockwell Automation, Emerson Electric, Honeywell, Symbotic, Ralliant and Belden as potential beneficiaries.

Humanoids are attracting significant investor interest. Last month, we detailed how readers can invest ahead of a major ramp in humanoid production expected in the coming quarters. Read the report. 

Over the last two years, about $20 billion has been invested in physical AI, with applications spanning warehouses, logistics, trucking, construction, aviation, and defense.

Last week, carmaker BMW revealed that a new upgraded humanoid is walking its factory floors at the Spartanburg plant in South Carolina. 

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Homeland Security Arrests Australian Permanent Resident For Illegally Voting In 2022 And 2024 Federal Elections After Falsely Claiming U.S. Citizenship

An Australian lawful permanent resident living in Louisiana has been busted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for ILLEGALLY VOTING in two federal elections after she falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen.

Denise Nataly Migliore, 51, of Franklinton, Louisiana, originally from Sydney, Australia, was arrested by HSI New Orleans on July 1, 2026, right at the federal courthouse in New Orleans.

She was indicted on June 11, 2026, in the Eastern District of Louisiana on a four-count indictment: two counts of illegal voting in an election and two counts of making false statements to register to vote.

According to the DOJ:

According to the indictment, on or about October 6, 2022, and on or about October 22, 2024, MIGLIORE,at the time a legal permanent resident, knowingly made false claims to U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in in a Federal election. On or about November 8, 2022, and November 5, 2024, MIGLIORE cast a ballot, which was obtained by falsely certifying that she was a U.S. citizen and eligible to vote, when, in fact, she was not eligible to vote because she was not a citizen of the United States.

If convicted, MIGLIORE faces a maximum penalty of five (5) years in prison, followed by three (3) years of supervised release. MIGLIORE also faces a fine of up to $250,000, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee.

“This alien from Australia now faces federal charges for falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and illegally casting ballots in two elections,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

“Her arrest and charges are the result of the hard work of the men and women of ICE law enforcement and our federal partners. Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: we will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences, including criminal charges and deportation. Only Americans should be electing American leaders.”

Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry credited the state’s proactive use of the federal SAVE database and her Election Integrity Division for helping flag this case in partnership with federal authorities.

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YouTube defends video that falsely claims Sydney massacre survivor is ‘crisis actor’

A Google executive told an inquiry on Tuesday that a YouTube video that falsely claimed a wounded survivor of an antisemitic massacre in Sydney was a crisis actor blooded with makeup had met the platform’s standards and would remain online.

Google Australia manager Rachel Lord was testifying at a government inquiry into the spread of antisemitism in Australia including an attack by two gunmen on a Sydney Hanukkah celebration in December that left 15 dead.

Lord was questioned about a complaint made by survivor Arsen Ostrovsky about a video posted on YouTube. Ostrovsky was attacked online after an image showing blood streaming from a wound in his head was posted on X two hours after he was shot.

Lord said the decision to allow the video to remain on YouTube had been reviewed at “quite senior levels.”

“We have spent a lot of time thinking about where we draw the line and we continue to re-evaluate where we are doing that,” Lord said.

Richard Lancaster, the lawyer leading the inquiry’s evidence, referred to a transcript of the video to avoid showing the images in public.

Four men appear on split screen saying Ostrovsky’s bleeding head appeared “very crisis actor-ish” and mentioned “makeup.” They also describe him as an “intelligence asset” who had a “degree in theater.”

The video also describes Ostrovsky as a Zionist and claims the massacre was a “false flag operation.” Police allege father and son shooters Sajid and Naveed Akram were inspired by the Islamic State group.

Lancaster told Lord the video remaining online demonstrated a “really serious deficiency” in YouTube’s hate speech guidelines.

Lord replied that she appreciated Lancaster’s “feedback.”

YouTube told Australia’s online safety regulator three days after the massacre that the platform was “focused on ensuring Australians and all users around the world have access to high quality information about the tragic events,” Lord said.

Ostrovsky told the inquiry last month that he had been targeted by online hate, abuse, vilification and AI manipulation since he suffered the minor head wound on Dec. 14.

The inquiry was then shown an AI-generated image of Ostrovsky apparently laughing as someone applied fake blood to his head.

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Waymo Robotaxi “Snitches” On Two 15-Year-Olds Drinking & Shooting Orbeez Guns In Bay Area

Two 15-year-old boys were detained in San Mateo Monday afternoon after the Waymo robotaxi they were riding in reported them to police – for drinking alcohol and firing a gel-bead blaster out of the moving car – then pulled itself over so officers could collect them.

Waymo’s remote monitors spotted the behavior on the vehicle’s interior cameras and called the San Mateo Police Department around 2:10 p.m. with the car’s exact location. The company then disabled the vehicle near 20th Avenue and El Camino Real, telling the pair the car was having trouble – a ruse that bought officers time to get into position.

Because the initial report described what looked like a real firearm, police conducted a high-risk stop, approaching with guns drawn and a police dog deployed. No one was hurt. Inside, officers found an Orbeez-style gel blaster – painted over to pass for the real thing – and open alcohol.

The teens cooperated, were detained, and were released to their parents. The case has been forwarded to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office for review of possible charges, including underage drinking, and police say they plan to pull the Waymo’s interior video.

“Parents do you know where your teens are? @waymo does!” The department wrote on Facebook: “After calling us and stopping the car, we were able to safely remove both subjects and determined they were shooting Orbeez from the car as they sipped on afternoon libations while being chauffeured around town in the driverless vehicle.”

“While there was some ingenuity to this scheme, toy guns, water guns, and BB guns all pose real dangers, especially to an untrained eye… Shooting projectiles at speed can cause real damage. And lest not forget the underage drinking. All bad ideas today for these two. Well, the Waymo might have been the smartest idea yet, because driving impaired would’ve made this so much worse.”

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Madrid Requests European Army

Spain’s latest position perfectly illustrates what has become one of the great contradictions within NATO. Madrid wants Europe to build its own military capable of acting independently of Washington, yet Spain has consistently resisted NATO’s higher defense spending targets while expecting the alliance to continue providing collective security.

Spain is again championing the idea of a European army while insisting it can meet its NATO obligations without matching the spending commitments accepted by virtually every other member. Europe cannot demand strategic independence while simultaneously asking someone else to pay the bill.

I have said for years that Europe has always dreamed of becoming an independent military power. Long before the war in Ukraine, Brussels was discussing a unified European army, common procurement, centralized command, and eventually a foreign policy independent of Washington. Every crisis has been used to advance that objective. The migration crisis expanded Brussels’ authority. COVID centralized health policy. The Ukraine war accelerated fiscal integration through joint borrowing and massive defense spending. Now the argument is that Europe needs its own army because it can no longer rely entirely on the United States. That has been the destination all along.

Ironically, Spain is making the argument while remaining one of NATO’s weakest contributors. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rejected the alliance’s new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, insisting Spain can fulfill its obligations while spending only about 2.1% of GDP. That position has frustrated allies who argue collective defense cannot function if some members continually expect others to shoulder the burden. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has repeatedly argued that Europe’s security environment now requires substantially greater investment across the alliance.

Europe must ultimately decide what it wants. If it genuinely intends to build an independent military capable of defending the continent without American leadership, then it must also accept the enormous financial burden that comes with that decision. A modern European army would require hundreds of billions of euros in new spending, integrated command structures, common procurement, expanded ammunition production, satellite capabilities, cyber warfare, missile defense, logistics, and nuclear deterrence. None of that comes cheaply.

The greatest long-term strategic challenge is no longer Europe. It is the Indo-Pacific. China is rapidly expanding its navy, modernizing its nuclear arsenal, increasing pressure on Taiwan, and competing directly with the United States across technology, manufacturing, shipping, and finance. America cannot simultaneously concentrate the majority of its military resources in Europe while preparing for a potential confrontation in Asia.

If Europe believes Russia represents its primary existential threat, then Europe should take primary responsibility for confronting Russia. That is neither anti-European nor isolationist. It is simply strategic reality. The United States should remain an ally, but not Europe’s permanent security guarantor. Washington has carried that burden since the end of the Second World War. Meanwhile, European governments repeatedly criticize American foreign policy while relying upon American aircraft carriers, intelligence, logistics, nuclear deterrence, and taxpayers whenever a genuine crisis emerges.

The post-1945 order is fragmenting. Nations are increasingly pursuing regional spheres of influence rather than a single American-led global system. Europe seeks strategic autonomy. China seeks dominance in Asia. Russia seeks influence over its near abroad. The United States must decide where its vital interests truly lie. If Europe wants its own army, then let Europe build it. America’s focus should increasingly shift toward maintaining stability in the Pacific, where the balance of power over the next several decades is far more likely to determine the future of the global economy than another generation of underwriting European defense.

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Southern Poverty Law Center Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on July 7 entered not guilty pleas again to 11 criminal counts alleging it defrauded donors by sending millions of dollars to informants who infiltrated white supremacist and so-called hate groups that it publicly opposed.

The fresh arraignment of the nonprofit organization under a new superseding indictment took place via videoconference before Montgomery, Alabama-based U.S. Magistrate Judge Kelly F. Pate.

The charges, announced on April 21 by FBI Director Kash Patel and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, sparked political backlash amid growing questions about the group, which the federal government had previously used to track extremist groups with its “Hate Map” and other online resources.

The original indictment by a federal grand jury charged the SPLC with wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The group was alleged to have surreptitiously transferred more than $3 million in donated funds to leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance, between 2014 and 2023.

The government said the SPLC sent donations to bank accounts of fake entities that had names such as “Rare Books Warehouse” and “Tech Writers Group.” The accounts were then used to funnel money to alleged informants in the racist groups that it claimed to strongly oppose.

One of the informants allegedly helped to organize the “Unite the Right” protest in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned deadly.

SPLC interim president and CEO Bryan Fair appeared in person on May 7 to plead not guilty to the same charges on behalf of the group.

On July 7, an attorney for the organization appeared by videoconference to enter 11 not guilty pleas to the superseding indictment issued last month that added more details and specifics. The new charging document did not add new charges.

The original indictment alleged $3 million in donor funds was funneled to individuals associated with extremist groups, but the new indictment increases the figure to $4.1 million.

The new indictment provides additional details such as a claim that funds were used by recipients for buying materials for cross burnings and Ku Klux Klan robes and hoods.

The SPLC has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for vindictive prosecution. The group claims it is being targeted by the Trump administration for political reasons. It is unclear when the court will rule on the motion.

The SPLC is known for its successful fundraising campaigns. According to its most recent publicly available IRS filing, it had gross receipts in tax year 2023 of $339.3 million and assets of $822.2 million.

The FBI severed its relationship with the SPLC in October 2025 after conservatives criticized the group for including slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s organization on its list of hate groups. The FBI had previously used SPLC intelligence on domestic extremist groups.

Patel said the organization has turned into a “partisan smear machine” instead of a civil rights advocate.

“Their so-called ‘hate map’ has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence,” he said at the time, without elaborating.

The SPLC’s Hate Map lists almost 1,400 groups, including Kirk’s Turning Point USA, categorizing it as an “antigovernment” group.

Critics have long said the Montgomery-based SPLC unfairly labels conservatives as racist as a matter of policy, treats opposition to illegal or legal immigration, open borders, and multiculturalism as hate, and political expression of those views as hate speech.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal organization that defends religious freedom and free speech, says the SPLC “did good work decades ago fighting segregation in the South,” but has since it has become a “far-left activist organization that attacks anyone who disagrees with its narrow political agenda.” Targets have included conservative, libertarian, anti-tax, immigration reductionist, and other groups.

In a statement issued in May, the SPLC called the charges against them “provably wrong” and “based on inaccurate facts and a misapplication of law.” The nonprofit said its informant program has been successful at preventing threats and attacks, stopping criminal activity, and gathering information used to dismantle hate groups.

“There is no question that the information the SPLC shared with law enforcement saved lives,” the statement reads.

It also stated that it was no stranger to legal threats and would continue its mission “no matter what.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the SPLC for comment. No reply was received by publication time.

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Arizona Supreme Court Delivers Crushing Blow to Maricopa Board of Supervisors

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a crushing blow to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors when it ended a Court of Appeals stay and reinstated a superior court’s injunctions, with modifications, that returned election-administration responsibilities of the county’s elections back to the County Recorder, Justin Heap.

The Arizona Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals stay from June and reinstated with modifications the “superior court injunctions governing the allocation of election-administration responsibilities between the Maricopa County Recorder and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.”

According to the Supreme Court’s News Release:

The dispute concerns which county office has the authority to perform election duties that Arizona statutes assign to “the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections.” Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap argued that those duties belong to the Recorder or to an officer designated by the Recorder.

The Board of Supervisors argued that its budgetary and administrative authority permitted it to assign those functions to a Board-appointed elections director.

The Court concluded that the Recorder is likely to prevail on the statutory interpretation issue. Relying on Arizona precedent, the Court explained that a county board of supervisors may not use its funding authority to assume or reassign statutory responsibilities entrusted to an independently elected county officer.

The Court reaffirmed that the Board has a nondiscretionary duty to fund the Recorder’s necessary expenses and may not use budgetary control to displace duties assigned by law to the Recorder or to an officer acting under the Recorder’s authority.

The Court also addressed election timing concerns. It recognized that courts should exercise caution before altering election procedures close to an election, particularly while early voting for the 2026 Primary Election is underway. However, it concluded that those concerns do not replace Arizona’s stay analysis or determine which official has legal authority under Arizona law.

To minimize disruption, the Court reinstated the superior court’s injunctions, as modified by the Recorder’s 12-point interim operational protocol.

Those temporary procedures are intended to preserve continuity during the ongoing Primary Election while the appeal proceeds. The Court also stated that either party may seek further interim modifications from the Court of Appeals.

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“We’re Gonna Win Someday”: Graham Platner Suspends His Senate Campaign

Graham Platner, the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, announced Wednesday that he’s suspending his campaign. The move comes two days after Politico reported allegations of rape against him by a former girlfriend. He posted an emotional video explaining his decision.

“And I just want to make it clear this is all false,” Platner said.

“The things that have been claimed did not happen; it’s not real.”

He described the past few days as an ordeal no regular person should have to survive, a normal guy suddenly thrust into a spotlight he says he never wanted. He accused the media and the political establishment of skipping the investigation entirely and jumping straight to a verdict.

“I learned about this through press inquiries with no time to truly respond, no time for investigations before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury and executioner,” he said.

“Accusations are supposed to be the beginning of things, not the end.”

Platner claimed the allegations surfaced now for a specific reason. His official nomination locks in on July 13, and he says this was the last window anyone had to knock him off the ballot before that happened.

“I only have until July 13th until I am officially the nominee. This was the last week to try to get me off of the ballot, and that’s why this is occurring,” he said.

He argued the real threat was never the allegations themselves, but what the political establishment plans to do with them. Cut off his fundraising. Cut off his voter data. Starve the campaign of everything it needs simply to function. He made his read on their real preference painfully clear.

“They would rather see Susan Collins win than have me be the next senator from Maine,” he said.

He leaned heavily on his June 9 primary win, in which he pulled in more votes than any primary candidate in Maine’s history, to argue that whatever happens next should be decided by voters, not party insiders in Washington.

“It needs to be open, transparent, and Democratic,” he said.

“Party apparatchiks are not the ones to make these decisions.”

Then, the announcement itself.

“We are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said, adding that he intends to file paperwork to formally withdraw from the race.

He framed the decision as anything but an admission of guilt; instead, he blamed outside forces for making it impossible for the campaign to continue functioning, even after beating what he called one of the most entrenched political systems in the world just weeks earlier.

“We went toe-to-toe with one of the most entrenched political systems in the history of the world, and we won,” Platner said.

“We beat them on June 9th in overwhelming numbers.”

Before signing off, he insisted the movement, and the ballot line his name currently occupies, still belongs to the voters who built it, not to party leadership in Washington.

“But now the ball is in the court of the democratic establishment,” Platner said.

“My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine.”

Platner closed by thanking his supporters.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” Platner said. “Thank all of you and keep fighting. We’re gonna win someday.”

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Florida Gov. DeSantis Designates Terrorist Groups After Judge Pushes Back

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state’s intent to implement its new statutory authority to identify, designate, and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida, marking the first use of powers established by HB 1471. DeSantis signed the bill into law during a ceremony on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa on April 6, 2026, and the law took effect Wednesday, July 1.

Under HB 1471, Florida’s chief of domestic security within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement may designate qualifying organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations. The governor and Cabinet then approve or reject each designation by majority vote before publication in the Florida Administrative Register.

“Today, we are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law. In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we are adding Antifa to the list, along with more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including cartels,” DeSantis said in a statement. Among the named foreign designations are the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and cartels, including Cartel de Sinaloa, Tren de Aragua, Cartel del Noreste, and Cartel del Golfo.

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NATO Member Claims Ukraine Won the War

The politicians are now trying to redefine what victory means because they cannot admit the obvious. CNBC reported that Finnish President Alexander Stubb declared that Ukraine has already “won the war” against Russia because it preserved its independence and sovereignty. He said, “I say Ukraine has won,” while arguing that Russia advanced only 60 kilometers in four years. Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson joined the same fantasy, saying, “Russia is certainly not winning,” and claiming Ukraine is having “spectacular successes.” These people are playing word games while young men are still dying every day in trenches, cities are still being bombed, and Ukraine survives only because the West continues financing the war.

This is the propaganda that has kept this war going. Ukraine did not win. Ukraine was used. There is a very big difference. A country does not “win” when millions have fled, its economy has been destroyed, its population has been shattered, and its government must beg NATO for air defense, ammunition, budget support, and money to keep the state functioning. CNBC itself noted that Stubb still warned Kyiv urgently needs more NATO air defense. That alone exposes the contradiction. If Ukraine has won, why must it still plead for Patriot missiles, NATO membership, and endless Western financing?

Russia has not won either. NO ONE WINS DURING WARFARE! CSIS estimated Russia suffered roughly 1.4 million battlefield casualties through June 2026, including 400,000 to 450,000 deaths. That is a meat grinder. But the fact that Russia has suffered enormous losses does not magically mean Ukraine has won. War is not a football match where one side loses badly and the other is declared victorious by default. Ukraine has suffered staggering losses as well, with CSIS estimating 525,000 to 625,000 Ukrainian military casualties, including 125,000 to 150,000 dead. That is a generation destroyed.

The UN reported that since the 2022 full-scale invasion, at least 15,172 civilians were killed and 41,378 injured by February 2026, and the real figures are likely higher. Civilian casualties continued rising in 2026, with April marking the highest monthly toll since July 2025 and May becoming the deadliest month for civilians since April 2022. This is not victory. This is the complete failure of diplomacy, the failure of NATO expansion policy, the failure of European leadership, and the failure of anyone who believed war could be managed like a public relations campaign.

Ukraine has only held off Russia because the West turned it into a proxy war. The Council on Foreign Relations reported that the United States made available $195 billion in Ukraine-war-related spending by March 31, 2026. The EU Council states total EU support has reached €215.2 billion, including €77 billion in military support. Ukraine is now seeking another €6.6 billion from the EU’s peace fund while its own officials say total defense needs for the year are about €136 billion, with the domestic budget covering only about €53 billion. That is a state kept alive by foreign taxpayers.

Stubb is wrong because he is measuring survival as victory. Kristersson is wrong because “spectacular successes” do not change the strategic reality. Ukraine has launched impressive drone strikes and disrupted Russian energy infrastructure, but Russia is still fighting, still advancing in places, still bombing Ukrainian cities, and still forcing Kyiv to rely on NATO for survival. Ukraine may have prevented Russia from taking the whole country, but preventing total defeat is not the same as winning a war.

The neocons never cared how many Ukrainians died. If Ukraine were winning, there would be peace. If Russia were defeated, the war would be over. Instead, we have a devastated country, a shattered generation, an endless funding pipeline, and NATO leaders pretending that attrition is victory.

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