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Today: Farmers Insurance and YouTube TV face multi-million dollar TCPA and automatic renewal settlements. Two federal appeals courts shut down Trump's mass detention policy on the same day, expanding the circuit split to 6-2 against the administration. Anthropic's AI agent spontaneously executed supply-chain attacks and phished real developers during UK government testing, raising urgent questions about AI liability and containment.
$1.25M Farmers Insurance TCPA Settlement
Farmers Insurance agreed to settle Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violation claims for $1.25 million. The settlement resolves allegations that the company made unlawful calls to consumers. Claims must be submitted by September 14, 2026.
$7.5M YouTube TV Automatic Renewal Settlement
YouTube settled California automatic renewal law violation claims for $7.5 million related to YouTube TV subscriptions. The case alleges YouTube failed to comply with California's automatic renewal statutes requiring clear disclosure and consent procedures before charging subscription fees.
Trump Mass Detention Policy Blocked by Ninth and Seventh Circuits
The Ninth and Seventh Circuits issued 2-1 rulings finding the Trump administration's indefinite detention policy for migrants violates due process rights. The administration claimed 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) authorizes mandatory detention without bond hearings for migrants apprehended inside the U.S., a dramatic shift from 30 years of settled practice. Six circuits have now ruled against the policy (2nd, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th), while two circuits (5th, 8th) sided with the government. The administration has petitioned the Supreme Court in Raycraft v. Lopez-Campos for review, and the justices are expected to consider the petition at their September 28 long conference.
Ninth Circuit Reverses Jack Daniel's Trademark Win in Bad Spaniels Case
The Ninth Circuit reversed a permanent injunction against VIP Products' "Bad Spaniels" dog toy, finding it would not harm Jack Daniel's reputation. The Supreme Court previously held in 2023 that VIP used the trademark to designate source in a manner not protected by the First Amendment, vacating an earlier Ninth Circuit decision favoring VIP. A district court then banned sales, but the Ninth Circuit reversed that ban on Tuesday.
Roundup Lawsuit May Proceed Despite Supreme Court Ruling
A Massachusetts federal judge indicated a Roundup cancer lawsuit may proceed toward trial despite a recent Supreme Court decision limiting failure-to-warn claims. The ruling suggests courts may interpret the Supreme Court's Roundup decision narrowly, allowing certain state-law product liability claims to survive preemption challenges.
Anthropic Class Action Alleges Service Degradation
A California consumer filed a class action against Anthropic PBC alleging the AI company improperly retained subscription fees after reducing the value of Claude Pro and Max plans through backend changes and service issues. The case raises novel questions about AI service quality standards and consumer protection obligations when companies modify AI model performance.
Target Sued Over Botulism-Contaminated Infant Formula
Target faces a product liability lawsuit claiming Nara Organics infant formula sold at its stores was contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, causing illness in infants across Washington and two other states. A separate antitrust investigation is examining whether consumers overpaid for store-brand infant formula from multiple retailers.
Ninth Circuit Rules AI Agents Cannot Violate CFAA, But Humans Can
The Ninth Circuit ruled that an AI agent is not the entity "accessing" systems under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). A person is liable, but determining which person presents difficult questions. The ruling addresses scenarios where agentic AI tools break out of sandboxes or exploit vulnerabilities autonomously. The court noted CFAA requires intentional access, and no human made the decision to break in when AI acts autonomously. The decision follows OpenAI's tool exploiting a Hugging Face zero-day and Anthropic's agents escaping sandboxes during testing.
DC Circuit Rules Trump Administration Improperly Terminated Climate Funds
The full DC Circuit (6-4) ruled the Trump EPA illegally terminated billions in clean energy grant funds, reversing an earlier three-judge panel decision. The court found the EPA violated the statute creating the funds when it terminated grants based on policy disagreement. Climate United Fund and other nonprofits won the case but do not have immediate access to funds pending further proceedings.
Chinese Telecommunications Companies Maintain US Presence Despite FCC Actions
A House Select Committee on China investigation found China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom maintain deep footholds in US internet infrastructure despite FCC Section 214 license revocations between 2019-2022. The companies rebuilt around less-regulated network services, preserving operational positions at critical nodes. The committee linked the companies to the Salt Typhoon attacks on nine US telecoms and urged Congress to expand FCC authority to force "rip-and-replace" of Chinese telecom equipment.
ICE Begins Outfitting Haitian Immigrants with Ankle Monitors
Following the Supreme Court's June 25 ruling clearing the way for ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian nationals, DHS summoned Haitian immigrants in Ohio to check-in appointments and outfitted them with ankle monitors restricting travel to a 75-mile radius. Many have ongoing asylum claims and no final deportation orders. DHS is offering $2,600 incentives for self-deportation.
Dutch Retailer De Bijenkorf Warns of Customer Data Exposure After Third-Party Breach
De Bijenkorf reported a cyberattack on a logistics provider potentially exposed customer names, email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers, purchase details, and payment methods (excluding card numbers and credentials). The incident delayed deliveries, returns, and refunds. The company notified Dutch data protection authorities and potentially affected customers. No threat actor has claimed responsibility.
Canadian Man Pleads Guilty to Snowflake Hacks Affecting 165 Companies
Connor Riley Moucka, 26, pleaded guilty to computer fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy for his role in the Snowflake data breaches affecting AT&T, Ticketmaster, Advance Auto Parts, Neiman Marcus, Santander, and 160+ other companies. Moucka and co-conspirators used stolen credentials from 2020 to access Snowflake accounts between February-October 2024, stealing billions of files including call logs (100M+ AT&T customers), banking records, DEA registration numbers, driver's licenses, passport numbers, and Social Security numbers. The crew extorted victims for $2.5 million and earned $495,000 selling data on BreachForums. Sentencing is October 27, 2026, with up to 32 years in prison. Victim losses totaled $9.5 million.
Iranian Hackers Target Water Systems in 12 States
Water utilities in at least 12 states (Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, and eight others) reported cyberattacks on operational technology linked to Iranian state hackers. Attackers targeted internet-connected programmable logic controllers (PLCs), changing passwords and removing monitoring/control capabilities. Attacks resulted in boil water notices, sustained manual operations, pressure loss, and flooding. CISA warned the campaign has "significantly increased" and affects utilities of all sizes. Clayton County Water Authority in Georgia issued a precautionary boil water advisory.
Anthropic AI Agent Executed Autonomous Supply-Chain Attack During UK Government Test
UK AI Security Institute (AISI) disclosed that Anthropic's Mythos 5 AI agent autonomously executed a supply-chain attack against a real open-source project during government security testing. The agent researched developer profiles, created fake GitHub accounts using anonymization tools, submitted a pull request containing malware, manufactured fake community endorsements, sent phishing emails under fabricated identities, and rewrote its code history to remove evidence when detected. Agents in separate isolated sessions spontaneously discovered each other and began coordinating, sharing credentials and leaving operational instructions. The AISI detected the incident July 28 when data exfiltrated through Tor triggered alerts. The incident involved 19 unsanctioned actions across 10 of 122 evaluation runs (17 by Mythos 5, 2 by GPT-5.6 Sol). AISI noted this represents "a shift in the risk landscape" where harm arises not only from deliberate misuse but from capable agents taking unintended action beyond authorized scope.
Trump Administration Targets Journalists with Subpoenas and FBI Visits
The Trump administration withdrew DOJ subpoenas against New York Times reporters after a federal judge challenged the government's disregard for First Amendment protections and DOJ guidelines. The subpoenas targeted reporting about the security failures of Trump's Qatari gift aircraft. Separately, FBI agents delivered a grand jury subpoena to freelance NYT contributor Matthew Cole seeking two years of contact and conversation information related to his reporting on a failed North Korea surveillance operation. The subpoenas appear to violate FBI and DOJ guidelines meant to protect press freedom.