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Can AI beat the house? Here's what top models are predicting for the 2026 World Cup

20 hours agoRight

Will artificial intelligence disrupt and revolutionize the betting industry moving forward?Some companies are looking to answer that question ahead of the 2026 World Cup, by compiling data and feeding it through AI agents.'Are soccer fans better off with AI rather than simply going with the odds?'One such company fed Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6 over 1,200 data points to predict every match in the World Cup and determine the outcome.The analysis from Action Network delivered 57 pages and more than 19,000 words on who would win which match, mapping out an entire bracket for soccer fans.AI predictionsUsing "international form, World Cup history, squad market value" and "coach profiles," the in-depth look from Claude had France as the winner over Argentina in the final.World Soccer Talk took a similar approach with Google Gemini and included analysis of style of play, performance under certain climates, squad depth, and manager performance. The AI spit out Spain as the most likely winner of the tournament. However, asking Gemini for a simple prediction straight up would have garnered the same outcome, with Spain winning 2-1 over France.RELATED: FIFA president reveals why World Cup tickets are so expensive — because they can be FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images Microsoft CoPilot figured the consistency, "elite depth," and pipeline of talent were reasons enough to predict France as the likely winner, according to AS.An "unusually strong blend of factors" such as prime-age talent and an "established possession-based system" were among the factors ChatGPT gave to place Spain as the likely winner for 2026, in a 2-1 win over France.The only AI to go slightly off-the-board was Grok, which cited "unmatched" squad depth coupled with elite attackers as the reason why Brazil will likely win the tournament, 2-1 over France.AI versus the houseBy using either complex analyses or even simply posing the question to chatbots, are soccer fans better off with AI rather than simply going with the odds?The short answer is no.Gamblers will steal lean with their intuition and real-life knowledge of the teams, and while these reports could assist in completing a bracket, casual or for-fun bettors are just as well off to go with the favorites.Most odds-setters have listed Spain and France as neck-and-neck favorites to win, typically around +450.RELATED: Computers are now depreciating slower than cars — the reason is enraging Luke Hales/Getty Images Grok going with Brazil to win it all — which is listed as the fourth or fifth favorite behind England and sometimes Argentina — is the only outlier of the popular chatbots that did not go with a favorite.What this likely means is that the information that is publicly available and provided to the chatbots is essentially the same; this is not the same as an NFL team using their own internal scouting data to find their next draft pick — this is chatbots farming the same data used by odds-makers and coming to similar conclusions.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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'It's coming': Top Trump official issues sinister warning to blue state governor

Raw Story

35 minutes ago

'It's coming': Top Trump official issues sinister warning to blue state governor

Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, revealed Monday that he had issued a threatening warning to New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul about an impending operation planned for her state.As reported by The Detroit News, Homan revealed on Fox News that the Trump administration had “drawn up a plan to surge” federal immigration enforcement agents to New York City in a continuation of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Homan claimed to have informed Hochul of the impending operation, albeit in a vague and threatening manner.“You’re going to see more [Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents] than you’ve ever seen in New York City, and it’s coming,” Homan said on Fox, the Detroit News reported. “I just reviewed an operational plan. I’m not going to tell you exactly when it’s going to happen, but it’s coming.”Homan’s remarks come shortly after Hochul signed a bill to “protect New Yorkers” against federal immigration enforcement agents. The bill-turned-law would prohibit local law enforcement from entering into specific agreements with federal immigration enforcement agencies, prohibit law enforcement officials from wearing face coverings, and establish an easier legal pathway for New Yorkers to sue immigration enforcement agents for unconstitutional activity.“With these measures, we are stepping up to protect our communities and the civil rights that generations have fought and died to establish,” Hochul said at the bill’s signing late last month. “New York's comprehensive plan will prevent local officials from carrying out federal immigration policy, protect schools and other sensitive locations, and give New Yorkers a meaningful remedy if government agents violate their rights.”

Far Left

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Dem rivals Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris locked in bitter feud ahead of 2028 White House race

New York Post

37 minutes ago

Dem rivals Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris locked in bitter feud ahead of 2028 White House race

Gavin Newsom was reportedly "very hurt" over a line in Kamala Harris' memoir as the longtime Dem rivals both eye 2028 White House bids.

Right

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Federal lawsuit aims to stop UFC event on the White House South Lawn

NBC News Politics

44 minutes ago

Federal lawsuit aims to stop UFC event on the White House South Lawn

Plaintiffs allege the June 14 event violates National Park Service regulations and benefits Trump and his allies.

Center Left

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There’s no spinning California’s disgraceful, third-world vote-counting mess

Washington Examiner

1 hour ago

There’s no spinning California’s disgraceful, third-world vote-counting mess

Officials in California have been warning the public for days that counting the state’s primary election votes, and thus determining which candidates have qualified for general election runoffs, is a process that could drag on for weeks. This isn’t terribly new or unusual in the Golden State; in 2024, for instance, one congressional race wasn’t […]

Center Right

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Police arrest suspect in stabbing six people at train station set to have thousands for NBA Finals, World Cup

BizPac Review

1 hour ago

Police arrest suspect in stabbing six people at train station set to have thousands for NBA Finals, World Cup

Police arrested a suspect for stabbing six individuals at New York Penn Station on Sunday evening right before thousands of fans are expected to arrive for the […]

Far Right

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Trump taps into running GOP joke that he’s is the real House speaker

Alternet.org

1 hour ago

Trump taps into running GOP joke that he’s is the real House speaker

Reese Gorman's new report for NOTUS centers discusses Speaker Mike Johnson ceding his job to President Donald Trump. According to the piece, posted Monday, Johnson relies so much on Trump that the president is the one who actually runs the House. Trump is in on the joke, too. “I have two jobs: being president and being speaker,” Trump once teased Johnson in front of other members of Congress. Trump's mockery stems from Johnson's failure to control his caucus and his desperate search for help from the president. The House is narrowly divided between the two parties, but Johnson has also faced members who are further to the right than the president and those with a more libertarian slant. Instead of working with Democrats for legislation, Johnson has called on Trump to twist arms. It usually involves Trump berating them. Typically, the House whip is responsible for that job. The job is currently held by Tom Emmer (R-Minn.). Last year, Trump on one of his calls with Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), who was in the cloakroom. Spartz was crying on the phone and as she walked away, two sources told NOTUS. Trump was on speakerphone, evidently still talking to other Republicans. “I have no f—— idea what she just said," Trump said to the other members. Puck News reported on the incident in February 2025, saying that Trump was screaming that Spartz was a "fake Republican." But Spartz said that Trump had promised to "save healthcare." Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) also got a call from the president after indicating he was a "no" vote. In the end, legislation passed by the GOP in the past year hasn't garnered much public support, according to Pew Research. The report cited two sources who said they were told to check with the White House before proposing legislation. One House Republican blasted it when speaking to NOTUS as "a total shirking of responsibilities to the White House. Everything has to be preordained and pre-blessed, and there’s very little that we’re able to have our own will on. We should be empowered to pass our own priorities, not just follow what the mandate of the day is.”One GOP aide thinks it's fine to rely on Trump. “Given that the president has to sign the bills that Congress passes for them to become law, it stands to reason that the White House would have input into and help pass the legislative agenda that Republican House Members and the President ran on and that 77.3 million Americans voted for,” the aide said.The 119th Congress is coming close to setting a record for the most "do-nothing Congress" in over 150 years. While previous congresses have been mocked as "do-nothing Congress," under a unified GOP government, legislation has come to a crawl. In the 118th Congress, which had Republicans in Congress and Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the White House, they only passed 158 bills in two years. Typically, there are 300 to 600. To find less, one would have to go back 150 years, according to reports.The 119th Congress has enacted 95 public laws and two private laws. The White House told NOTUS that its overly-involved influence has ensured things stay on the right track. This as a record number of incumbents announced their retirement. “Speaker Johnson is proud to have a strong and productive working relationship with the President that has delivered countless positive legislative results for the American people, in spite of the razor-thin margin of the House majority — including lower taxes, secure borders, reduced crime, a return to American energy dominance, massive reductions in burdensome regulations, fraud, waste and abuse, and so much more,” Johnson's spokesperson said.When Johnson or the White House tried to block bills from the floor that were unflattering to the president, GOP members joined with Democrats to force a vote. “The speaker has felt like, since they’re from the same party, there’s not a need for checks and balances. I disagree,” complained Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon (R), who is leaving Congress at the end of the year. “I think we could have provided more feedback on tariffs, Ukraine and other things, like the ballroom.”Other members told NOTUS don't know of anyone else who could do much better than Johnson.

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Modeling agent scrambles to explain his 'potty mouth' emails to Epstein

Raw Story

1 hour ago

Modeling agent scrambles to explain his 'potty mouth' emails to Epstein

For years, Ramsey Elkholy had a simple business proposition.The New York City modeling agent had a roster of young women and an eye for opportunity. Jeffrey Epstein was a well-connected financier with ties to Victoria's Secret, Vera Wang and the upper reaches of the fashion world. Elkholy would bring Epstein women, Epstein would help those women — and by extension, Elkholy — get work. Everyone, in theory, would benefit."Everybody wanted to be in the room with Epstein," Elkholy told The Washington Post in a recent interview. "It's just the kind of thing where everyone's trying to get something out of it."The Justice Department's release of Epstein's files has already claimed high-profile casualties, triggering resignations and public shaming among the financier's most prominent associates. But a review of those files by the Post reveals a parallel story — one populated not by celebrities and heads of state, but by lesser-known operators like Elkholy who quietly built Epstein's access to young women in the years after his 2009 release from jail.Elkholy described potential introductions in explicitly sexual terms, sending photos of women and assessing their physical attributes using crude language, and while he is now "ashamed" of what he wrote, the former agent insists he’s “1,000 percent sure” he did nothing illegal and claims that Epstein never paid him.“The reason why all of this bodes so terribly for me is because of my potty mouth,” Elkholy told the Post. “I was just being stupid, actually, because all of that language was not based on anything that was happening.”Elkholy's emails with Epstein span more than a decade and discuss potential meetings with at least two dozen women, including one as young as 18. In one message sent shortly after Epstein's release from jail, Elkholy described a potential introduction as a "coming out gift," calling the woman's body "amazing." In another, he noted that a 23-year-old might be "on the old side" for Epstein — a comment he has not directly addressed.He has, however, addressed nearly everything else. In an hour-long interview with the Post, Elkholy insisted he never facilitated abuse, always chaperoned the women he introduced to Epstein, and was motivated entirely by professional ambition. He said two models he represented secured Victoria's Secret deals after meeting Epstein — deals from which he would have earned a 10 percent commission."If a model gets Victoria's Secret," he said, "her career is made."What Elkholy cannot as easily explain away is the gap between his emails and his explanations. He acknowledged fabricating a claim that a Russian supermodel had agreed to meet Epstein, and he said a scouting trip to Europe he offered to take on Epstein's behalf "never happened." He claims his crude language was intended to impress Epstein rather than reflect reality."Agents lie," he said. "All modeling agents will say what they need to say."A Polish model told the Wall Street Journal in 2023 that Elkholy had introduced her to Epstein and that Epstein subsequently sexually exploited her. Elkholy said he could not identify the model and suggested that if she had chosen to enter a "relationship" with Epstein, that was not his responsibility.Since the release of the Epstein files, Elkholy has moved to California, where he works as a musician. He told the Post that the resulting media coverage has, unexpectedly, increased his band Monotronic's streaming numbers."I just wish all this would go away," he said.For at least one woman, it already has. Ruslana Korshunova, a 20-year-old model from Kazakhstan whom Elkholy represented, died in 2008 in what authorities ruled a suicide. Flight logs show she had flown on Epstein's private plane at age 18 — months before Elkholy signed her. Two years after her death, Epstein noted the anniversary in an email, and Elkholy replied that she was "still so very young."That same day, he emailed Epstein about an 18-year-old he had met at an Apple store.“Only about 5′8 but beautiful, thin and curvy,” Elkholy wrote, adding that she was a summer worker at Six Flags who was looking for opportunities. “I think you will like her."

Far Left

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Lawsuit Aims to Stop U.F.C. Fights at White House on Trump’s Birthday

NYT > U.S. > Politics

2 hours ago

Lawsuit Aims to Stop U.F.C. Fights at White House on Trump’s Birthday

A federal lawsuit said the event, set for June 14, was unlawfully planned and designed to benefit Mr. Trump and his allies.

Center Left

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