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It’s 1,031 days since we hit “send” on the first ever edition of Protocol Source Code. Today, we’ve hit that same button for the final time. ⁠
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We launched Protocol in February 2020 to cover the evolving power center of tech. It is with deep sadness that we are winding down the publication. We thank all of our readers and partners who joined us along the way⁠
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For our final edition, the Protocol team nominated our favorite stories from the past three years. We hope you enjoy them one last time. Link in bio.

The last few years have significantly transformed our mobility needs. When (and if) we go to work, how frequently we travel, our public transit health and safety needs, climate concerns, and what we want from our cities and communities have all changed.⁠
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For Protocol’s Special Report: The Future of Mobility, we’re taking a closer look at the technologies and innovations needed to safely and sustainably navigate this new world. Learn about how the real EV revolution is taking place in Asia and five big technologies that will shape how we get around.⁠
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Read all of the stories in Protocol’s Special Report: The Future of Mobility at the link in our bio.

The notion that the U.S. and China are in an “AI race” drives the AI industry PR, media coverage, and U.S. policy on AI and China. But the “AI race” narrative hinges on a slew of misconceptions and profit motives that could counteract the goals of the U.S. and deflect attention from federal AI and data privacy regulations. ⁠
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The misconceptions? Oh, the misconceptions:⁠
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👉️ Misconception 1: AI can be “won.” While reporters love asking who will “win” the AI race, many sources who are AI/ML engineers and practitioners said it’s a faulty construct.⁠
👉️ Misconception 2: AI is built within, and confined to, country borders.⁠
👉️ Misconception 3: The U.S. can attract AI technologists from China while attacking the technology they build.⁠
👉️ Misconception 4: AI from the U.S. embeds “democratic values” while AI from China is ethically flawed.⁠
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For more coverage — and debunked myths — tap the link in our bio for more from the series. 📸 Illustration: Mari Fouz; Photos: Getty Images⁠

The notion that the U.S. and China are in an “AI race” drives the AI industry PR, media coverage, and U.S. policy on AI and China. But the “AI race” narrative hinges on a slew of misconceptions and profit motives that could counteract the goals of the U.S. and deflect attention from federal AI and data privacy regulations. ⁠
⁠
The misconceptions? Oh, the misconceptions:⁠
⁠
👉️ Misconception 1: AI can be “won.” While reporters love asking who will “win” the AI race, many sources who are AI/ML engineers and practitioners said it’s a faulty construct.⁠
👉️ Misconception 2: AI is built within, and confined to, country borders.⁠
👉️ Misconception 3: The U.S. can attract AI technologists from China while attacking the technology they build.⁠
👉️ Misconception 4: AI from the U.S. embeds “democratic values” while AI from China is ethically flawed.⁠
⁠
For more coverage — and debunked myths — tap the link in our bio for more from the series. 📸 Illustration: Mari Fouz; Photos: Getty Images⁠

The notion that the U.S. and China are in an “AI race” drives the AI industry PR, media coverage, and U.S. policy on AI and China. But the “AI race” narrative hinges on a slew of misconceptions and profit motives that could counteract the goals of the U.S. and deflect attention from federal AI and data privacy regulations. ⁠
⁠
The misconceptions? Oh, the misconceptions:⁠
⁠
👉️ Misconception 1: AI can be “won.” While reporters love asking who will “win” the AI race, many sources who are AI/ML engineers and practitioners said it’s a faulty construct.⁠
👉️ Misconception 2: AI is built within, and confined to, country borders.⁠
👉️ Misconception 3: The U.S. can attract AI technologists from China while attacking the technology they build.⁠
👉️ Misconception 4: AI from the U.S. embeds “democratic values” while AI from China is ethically flawed.⁠
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For more coverage — and debunked myths — tap the link in our bio for more from the series. 📸 Illustration: Mari Fouz; Photos: Getty Images⁠

The Amazon HQ2 project in Arlington, Virginia was announced in November 2018. It’s envisioned as a white-collar 21st-century paradise. It sounds so utopian, and so…2019.⁠
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The first phase is scheduled to finish in 2023 and a second phase was greenlit in April. Basically, it’s being built as though the pandemic never happened. And it’s become a test case for what happens when your timing couldn’t be worse. ⁠
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And while Amazon’s timing might be the most painful, it’s not the only tech company caught in the midst of planning massive campuses meant for a different era.⁠
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Read the full story at the link in our bio. Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

China President Xi Jinping delivered a speech last month for the Communist Party’s National Congress, which convenes every five years. Over the course of two hours, Xi laid out his grand vision for the future of China.⁠
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Protocol analyzed the text of that speech and compared it against National Congress reports going back as far as 1992. The data points to new trends in the 20th Congress, such as a renewed focus on the environment, a shift in emphasis from poverty alleviation to national security, and a push for economic self-sufficiency.⁠
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Read the full story and check out the data at the link in our bio. Photo: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images.

As the midterm election nears, TikTok has faced scrutiny about its role in spreading misinformation and the way influencers and political operatives skirt its advertising rules. ⁠
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But according to former employees from TikTok's trust and safety team, the company may have an even more basic problem inhibiting its efforts: High turnover among the employees who are supposed to carry out that work.⁠
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Read the full story at the link in our bio. Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi via Getty Images.⁠

Electric school bus adoption is beginning to take off, and the Biden administration just gave it a nearly $1 billion bump.⁠
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The first wave of grants, administered by the EPA, will provide buses for roughly 2,500 buses nationwide. However, whether the U.S. ultimately crosses a tipping point in electrifying its nearly half-million school buses will depend in part upon incentives. ⁠
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Check out the full story at the link in our bio. Photo: Megan Lee/Unsplash.

After getting countless promo emails to his work address, Protocol’s Ben Brody reached out to the sellers to figure out what was going on. ⁠
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He discovered that the parent company of Square, the ubiquitous point-of-sale company, was selling access to customers’ inboxes, even if all they do is elect to receive a receipt from a single transaction. And while this practice doesn’t appear to violate data protection laws, it’s walking a fine line. ⁠
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Read the full story at the link in our bio. Illustration: Christopher T. Fong/Protocol.

Cybersecurity is notorious for its cryptic terms and overhyped trends. “Zero trust” might be one of the most cryptic and hyped of them all, but it also might be the best hope we have of stopping the onslaught of cyberattacks. ⁠
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Zero trust is an architecture, a strategy, a goal — or probably, all of the above. However you prefer to define zero trust, the potential is huge for organizations to improve their security by adopting the principles associated with it. ⁠
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But with all of the misappropriation of the idea, practitioners are pretty burned out on the term. Read the full story at the link in our bio. Illustration: Christopher T. Fong/Protocol.⁠

Part of the Inflation Reduction Act's $7,500 EV tax credit is tied to manufacturing battery components in the U.S. and sourcing critical minerals from there. Initially, that riled up some automakers.⁠
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Fast forward a few months, and companies are moving almost in lockstep to bring large-scale operations to the U.S. in anticipation of car buyers looking to take advantage of these EV incentives. “This is just the beginning of a long-term shift that’s going to take place,” said Rachel Patterson, a policy lead at Evergreen Action.⁠
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Check out the link in our bio for a running list of all the companies investing in the American EV market. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images.

Despite a downturn in crypto markets, more large institutional investors are seeking to invest in crypto. But one factor holding them back is a lack of infrastructure for large institutions compared to what exists in the traditional, regulated capital markets.⁠
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That’s changing, as technology infrastructure for crypto starts to mature. And one area that’s being built out is crypto trading as a service.⁠
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The latest sign of this maturation is EDX Markets, a new exchange for digital assets that’s being developed by Wall Street players like Citadel Securities and Charles Schwab, as well as venture capital firms Sequoia Capital. ⁠
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Check out the full story at the link in our bio.

There’s no let-up in the surge of cyberattacks against businesses. But shutting down the hackers will require many enterprises to evolve their strategy.⁠
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For Protocol’s Special Report: Securing the Enterprise, we looked at the investments businesses can make for their cybersecurity programs and highlighted 10 of the people you should know at data breach prevention startups. We also spoke with Microsoft's Vasu Jakkal about why she "fell in love" with security.⁠
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Read all of the stories in Protocol’s Special Report: Securing the Enterprise at the link in our bio.