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Buc-ee’s dodges John Oliver to sue another small business

Terrence O’Brien • August 8, 2026 Buc-ee’s mega-convenience store and 120-pump gas station in Mount Crawford, Virginia. | Image: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Buc-ee’s became something of a viral sensation during the World Cup, but it has a troubling history of suing small gas stations and convenience stores. On a recent episode of Last

An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country

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Terrence O’Brien • August 8, 2026 To power its new West Texas data center, Amazon is investing in the construction of a new power plant that could be one of the largest single producers of greenhouse gases in the US, according to the New York Times. The new gas-burning plant in Pecos County, Texas has

X replaces its revenue-sharing program with ‘Original Content Rewards’

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Terrence O’Brien • August 8, 2026 X wants to make money on previously used handles. | Image: The Verge X is ending its controversial revenue-sharing program for content creators, which has seen numerous revisions under Elon Musk’s reign. In its place, it’s launching a new Original Content Rewards program on September 8th. To be eligible,

AI detectors are creating a new era of distrust

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Emma Roth • August 9, 2026 This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about how AI is changing our daily lives, follow Emma Roth. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started