ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood has backed White House AI adviser David Sacks in questioning how quickly recent "AI will kill humanity" headlines spread into mainstream discourse. On Sept. 12, Wood shared Sacks’ analysis and said he made a "very strong point" that the wave of apocalyptic coverage may have been deliberately amplified rather than emerging organically. The debate began after former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon announced his departure and warned that Anthropic and OpenAI were moving toward self-improving superintelligence, describing the effort as effectively "betting our lives." Sacks argued on the All-In Podcast that Coxon was widely framed as a whistleblower despite not presenting new internal documents, data, or previously unknown evidence, but instead offering his own view of AI’s direction. Podcast Alpha’s recap said groups including ENCODE AI, AI Policy Network, and AI Futures Project amplified the claims soon after they appeared, and also alleged overlapping funding ties that included Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, an early Anthropic investor. Sacks also questioned the timing of Wall Street Journal coverage. Wood later clarified that she was not dismissing AI safety concerns. She said all technologies can be used maliciously and singled out Elon Musk and others she sees as sincerely warning about AI’s risks.

Caroline Ellison, the former Alameda Research CEO and onetime collaborator and partner of Sam Bankman-Fried, has joined Manifund, a nonprofit that backs artificial intelligence safety and effective altruism work. Cofounder Austin Chen said Ellison started a trial on July 13, moved into a full-time role on Aug. 10, and had been working under the pseudonym Carol before the appointment was disclosed publicly. According to Chen, she helped build Manifund’s funding platform, supported users, and created a reconciliation tool that identified several misregistered transactions in the organization’s database involving five- and six-figure sums. Chen also apologized for what he described as a minor deception tied to the use of a pseudonym. The announcement drew a swift and largely negative response. Critics including Cate Hall argued the hiring reflected poor judgment and could damage not only Manifund’s standing but also that of other effective altruism organizations. Another commenter questioned whether the role had been publicly posted or whether other candidates were considered, saying Chen’s justifications appeared mostly personal rather than business-based. Ellison said she appreciated being judged on her present work rather than her past and would not respond to comments. Her legal history remains central to the reaction: she pleaded guilty in December 2022 to fraud and conspiracy charges, was sentenced in September 2024 to two years in prison, began serving that sentence in November, and was released in January after 440 days, with credit for cooperation and good conduct.

A wide set of crypto and policy developments emerged between Sept. 13 and Sept. 14, spanning cyber risks, regulation, markets and AI. NBC reported that North Korea has been recruiting remote IT workers from third countries including Iran and Lebanon to help infiltrate U.S. companies, paying interview assistants $500 a month in crypto before North Korean personnel allegedly take over the jobs. In the U.K., the Labour government is moving to curb large political donations from wealthy overseas donors after crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo gave a combined £72 million to Reform UK in two days. Elsewhere, Token Unlocks data showed major upcoming releases for ZRO, ARB, BR and several other tokens next week. Europe’s Eurosystem said its DLT settlement project Pontes is scheduled to go live on Sept. 21, while Brazil’s central bank capital rules could force roughly 290 crypto exchanges out of the market. Chainflip said it lost about 736,400 USDT in an attack on Tron. U.S. lawmakers are also preparing more discussions on AI and the CLARITY Act, as industry figures including Cathie Wood, Arthur Hayes, Vitalik Buterin and Nate Geraci weighed in on regulation, governance and market structure.

Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research, has taken a full-time role at Manifund, an AI safety and effective altruism charity, in her first disclosed job since leaving prison. Manifund co-founder Austin Chen said on Sept. 11 that Ellison joined to help build the group’s fundraising platform and strengthen its public-interest projects. According to the organization, she began working in July on a trial basis, switched to full-time in August, and initially published under the pseudonym "Carol" before her identity was made public this week. Ellison said she was grateful for a second chance and said she was being judged on her current work rather than her past. Chen said he believed she could seek redemption, pointing to her admission of wrongdoing, efforts to help creditors recover funds, and completion of her sentence. The hire revives debate tied to the FTX collapse: whether cooperation, testimony, and prison time should be enough to reopen a path back into public life, especially while victims have not been fully repaid. The report also contrasts Ellison’s situation with that of Sam Bankman-Fried, who received a 25-year sentence and remains in prison.

Foresight News’ latest weekly Web3 roundup pulls together the stories that dominated crypto conversation over the past week, spanning meme coin speculation, U.S. regulatory debate, infrastructure shifts and fresh security incidents. On the speculative end, Hunter Biden-linked token LAPTOP launched on Base and quickly fell more than 99%, while the SLINK case on Robinhood Chain showed how a social-account compromise and celebrity association could drive a token from roughly $500,000 to $82 million before collapsing. The report also highlighted the rapid rise of trading tools built for FOMO-driven markets and a new "stock-meme" narrative on BNB Chain tied to tokenized equities. On the policy and business side, U.S. Senate Republicans released a 630-page revised CLARITY Act that would redraw oversight lines between the SEC and CFTC and bring certain "fake DeFi" projects under CFTC registration. MetaMask formally split from Consensys and repositioned itself as a broader consumer-facing financial platform, while Circle’s Chelsea sponsorship raised questions in Hong Kong over cross-border promotion of an unauthorized stablecoin. Foresight also noted the launch of Solana prediction market site world.xyz, which went offline temporarily on day one after traffic surged. Security stories remained central. Singaporean defendant Malone Lam pleaded guilty in a case tied to the theft of 4,100 BTC, Liquid halted operations after an attacker used abnormal L-BTC to redeem nearly 4,000 BTC, and WOO X faced scrutiny over multi-day withdrawal delays reported by users and highlighted by ZachXBT.

Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research, has joined nonprofit charity Manifund, according to ChainCatcher. Manifund co-founder Austin Chen said Ellison will work on the organization’s donation platform and help strengthen its charitable efforts. She began in a trial role in July, moved to full-time status in August, and posted work updates under the alias “Carol.” Ellison previously pleaded guilty in December 2022 to fraud and conspiracy charges tied to the 2022 collapse of FTX, a failure that led to billions of dollars in customer losses. She later cooperated with prosecutors and testified against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ellison began serving a two-year sentence in November 2024 and was released early in January 2026 after cooperating with investigators. Chen said he believes in redemption, adding that Ellison admitted her wrongdoing, worked to repay creditors, and served time in prison. Ellison said she is excited about the new role, apologized for her past conduct, and thanked Chen for giving her a second chance. Manifund’s website says the organization focuses on AI safety and effective altruism projects.

A 22-year-old man from Singapore pleaded guilty on Sept. 8 in federal court in Washington, D.C., to participating in a racketeering conspiracy tied to a large-scale crypto theft and laundering scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Prosecutors alleged that he organized and led an international cybercrime group between October 2023 and May 2025, using social engineering tactics to steal and launder more than $245 million in cryptocurrency. One incident cited by prosecutors took place in August 2024, when the group allegedly impersonated Google and Gemini exchange personnel and defrauded a Washington, D.C., victim of more than 4,100 BTC. Prosecutors said the stolen funds were spent on luxury items including high-end cars, watches, homes and private aircraft. The case involves 18 defendants in total, and the Singaporean man is the 11th to plead guilty. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and the court has scheduled a status hearing for Dec. 8.

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Miami resident from Singapore, has pleaded guilty to his role as the ringleader of an international group tied to one of the largest bitcoin thefts on record, according to Bitcoin Magazine. U.S. prosecutors said Lam and others stole 4,100 BTC worth more than $230 million at the time as part of a broader theft that involved $245 million in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Department of Justice said the scheme ran from October 2023 through at least May 2025. Prosecutors alleged the group hacked databases, stole crypto user information, and used deception to obtain login credentials and private keys. In one incident, a co-defendant allegedly entered a residence in New Mexico and took a hardware wallet while Lam monitored the victim’s movements by compromising the person’s iCloud account. Authorities said the defendants laundered stolen bitcoin and used the proceeds for luxury spending, including bottle-service parties, private jet rentals, security guards, luxury handbags, watches, and real estate in Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Miami. The report said Lam was arrested in 2024 at his rental home in Miami.