The Download: Spotting crimes in prisoners' phone calls

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 New York is cracking down on personalized pricing algorithms
A new law forces retailers to declare if their pricing is informed by users’ data. (NYT $)
+ The US National Retail Federation tried to block it from passing. (TechCrunch)

2 The White House has launched a media bias tracker
Complete with a “media offender of the week” section and a Hall of Shame. (WP $)
+ The Washington Post is currently listed as the site’s top offender. (The Guardian)
+ Donald Trump has lashed out at several reporters in the past few weeks. (The Hill)

3 American startups are hooked on open-source Chinese AI models
They’re cheap and customizable—what’s not to like? (NBC News)
+ Americans also love China’s cheap goods, regardless of tariffs. (WP $)
+ The State of AI: Is China about to win the race? (MIT Technology Review)

4 How police body cam footage became viral YouTube content
Recent arrestees live in fear of ending up on popular channels. (Vox)
+ AI was supposed to make police bodycams better. What happened? (MIT Technology Review)

5 Construction workers are cashing in on the data center boom
Might as well enjoy it while it lasts. (WSJ $)
+ The data center boom in the desert. (MIT Technology Review)

6 China isn’t convinced by crypto
Even though bitcoin mining is quietly making a (banned) comeback. (Reuters)
+ The country’s central bank is no fan of stablecoins. (CoinDesk)

7 A startup is treating its AI companions like characters in a novel
Could that approach make for better AI companions? (Fast Company $)
+ Gemini is the most empathetic model, apparently. (Semafor)
+ The looming crackdown on AI companionship. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Ozempic is so yesterday 💉
New weight-loss drugs are tailored to individual patients. (The Atlantic $)
+ What we still don’t know about weight-loss drugs. (MIT Technology Review)

9 AI is upending how consultants work
For the third year in a row, big firms are freezing junior workers’ salaries. (FT $)

10 Behind the scenes of Disney’s AI animation accelerator
What took five months to create has been whittled down to under five weeks. (CNET)
+ Director supremo James Cameron appears to have changed his mind about AI. (TechCrunch)
+ Why are people scrolling through weirdly-formatted TV clips? (WP $)