Peter Saalfield

Peter Saalfield is a New York-based reporter with bylines in POLITICO, Fortune and the New York Times International Edition, among other publications. He was previously a senior vice president for research and investigations at Marathon Strategies and is a 2024 graduate of the Stabile Investigative Program at Columbia University School of Journalism. Disclosure: No significant crypto holdings.

Stories by Peter Saalfield

Personal Finance Advisors Caught Flat-Footed By Bitcoin Boom
Despite surging interest among retail investors, most financial advisors remain unwilling or unable to handle crypto-related requests from clients, several advisors and analysts told Decrypt. “I talk with other financial planners all the time—99.99% of them vehemently disagree with me,” said Jim Crider, a Texas-based certified financial planner who often recommends Bitcoin to his clients. “They think Bitcoin is tulips and Beanie Babies, and absolutely worthless.” This skepticism could present...
NewsCoins
5 min read
Peter SaalfieldNov 17, 2024
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AI Advocates See Trump Re-election as Industry Boost but Urge Caution on Policy
Supporters of artificial intelligence are welcoming Donald Trump's re-election as a potential boost for the industry, though careful consideration on policy direction is essential, they say. Trump’s win is “a positive thing” for the artificial intelligence business, said Ray Wu, managing partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Alumni Ventures, noting that promoting AI innovation requires a lenient regulatory approach. “This industry is still very young,” Wu said. “Having clear guidelines...
NewsArtificial Intelligence
3 min read
Peter SaalfieldNov 7, 2024
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Apple CEO Declares New Chapter in AI Play, Stock Dips 1.8%
On Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook heralded a new dawn at the Cupertino, California-based firm following this week’s launch of its suite of generative AI tools embedded in its flagship products. “This is just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do, and I couldn’t be more excited for what's to come,” Cook said during the call. Investors, however, were not convinced. Apple stock fell 1.8% to $225.91 by the closing bell. The stock has since slumped a further 1.8% to $221.90 in after-hou...
NewsBusiness
3 min read
Peter SaalfieldNov 1, 2024
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Can Brain-Machine Interfaces Turn the Tide on Addiction?
Recent technological advances have raised hopes addiction could one day be treatable using sophisticated mechanical devices. Dubbed “deep brain-machine interfaces,” the devices are implanted inside the brain, capable of decoding mental activity—and more surprisingly, altering it. The technique differs from conventional brain-machine interfaces, which focus on decoding signals from the multiple areas of the brain, including the hippocampus and the amygdala, according to a paper published in Tran...
NewsHealth
4 min read
Peter SaalfieldOct 27, 2024
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Character AI Imposes New Safety Rules After Teen User Commits Suicide
AI-powered chatbot platform Character AI is introducing “stringent” new safety features following a lawsuit filed by the mother of a teen user who died by suicide in February. The measures will include “improved detection, response and intervention related to user inputs that violate our Terms or Community Guidelines,” as well as a time-spent notification, a company spokesperson told Decrypt, noting that the company could not comment on pending litigation. However, Character AI did express sympa...
NewsArtificial Intelligence
4 min read
Peter SaalfieldOct 23, 2024
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AI Can Best Google’s Bot Detection System, Swiss Researchers Find
Researchers using artificial intelligence have cracked one of the most widely-used CAPTCHA security systems, which are designed to keep bots off of websites by determining whether a user is human. Using advanced machine learning methods, researchers from Switzerland-based university ETH Zurich solved 100% of captchas created by Google’s popular reCAPTCHAv2 product using a similar number of attempts as human users. The results, published on Sept. 13, indicate that “current AI technologies can ex...
NewsArtificial Intelligence
3 min read
Peter SaalfieldSep 25, 2024
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Unbound Launches a Bitcoin Avenue to EU Citizenship
A new private equity fund will let overseas investors earn Portuguese and European Union citizenship by indirectly investing in Bitcoin, the project’s co-founder and CEO said last week. Unbound Fund touts itself as the first “Web3 fund” to participate in Portugal’s golden visa program, which allows foreigners who invest a minimum of €500,000 (about $544,000 worth) in local companies or assets to gain residency status and EU citizenship without living in the country. Golden visa programs grew in...
NewsBusiness
4 min read
Peter SaalfieldJul 28, 2024
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Republicans Likely to Follow Through With Pro-Crypto Agenda, Experts Say
While the potential return of former crypto skeptic Donald Trump to the White House has raised hopes of a new crypto-friendly era in Washington, it remains unclear exactly how the Republican party would approach crypto issues should it take control of the government, experts said. “How campaign promises get translated into action is always a little hard to predict,” Cato Institute Director of Financial Regulation Studies Jennifer Schulp told Decrypt. “But the Biden administration has really bee...
NewsLaw and Order
4 min read
Peter SaalfieldJul 16, 2024
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