Friday links: ads ruin everything

FinanceOn the high costs of gaining access to pre-IPO companies. (wsj.com)Why London serves as a global startup hub. (economist.com)How a loan goes from 100 cents on the dollar to default in weeks. (wsj.com)Kalshi is fighting legal battles on a number of fronts. (npr.org)CompaniesMagic the Gathering has become a bigger part of Hasbro's ($HAS) business. (ft.com)Walmart ($WMT) is paying up for pharmacy technicians. (axios.com)Once a high flyer, Allbirds ($BIRD) is now valued around $33 million. (techcrunch.com)AIMeta ($META) and Apple ($AAPL) are approaching AI from very different perspectives. (spyglass.org)How AI capital spending will reshape credit markets. (apolloacademy.com)AI crawlers are turning to back doors to paywalled content. (niemanlab.org)Generative engine optimization is the new SEO. (wsj.com)What if AI succeeds, and OpenAI fails? (noahpinion.blog)ICEThese companies are cleaning up on ICE spending. (ft.com)How ICE utilizes all manner of technologies. (washingtonpost.com)Th