A.M. ATL: I spy AI

Morning, y’all! Target has a new policy requiring employees to smile and offer greetings if they’re within 10 feet of a customer. We’ve all worked at a place like that and watched customers run personal zone defense to avoid triggering a round of Mandated Employee Friendliness. What do you think? More smiles from employees? I’m smiling at you right now. Hi.

Let’s get to it.

MIKE COLLINS CAMPAIGN AD USES AI JON OSSOFF FAKE

The video was reposted to U.S. Rep. Mike Collins' campaign account on X (left).

Have you seen U.S. Rep. Mike Collins’ Senate campaign ad where Sen. Jon Ossoff says he voted to keep the government shut down and has “only seen a farm on Instagram”?

Yeah, that’s AI.

• The video features a “deepfake,” or sophisticated AI animation, of Ossoff saying he doesn’t care about SNAP recipients or hurting farmers.
• Those who have stayed up on their media literacy can spot that it’s actually Ossoff’s Senate portrait. There are other tells in the way the animation’s mouth moves and, of course, what it’s saying.
• A small watermark on the video, only visible if you expand the video and collapse the caption, says the video is AI.
• Collins has not apologized. “The Collins campaign will be at the forefront embracing new tactics and strategies that pierce through lopsided legacy media coverage and deliver our message directly to voters,” a spokesperson said.

Stay vigilant, folks. It’s an AI jungle out there. Lawmakers from both sides have warned about the dangers of AI for years. Given the Trump administration’s habit of using AI videos in its messaging, it may only get worse without some sort of legislation, writes the AJC’s Patricia Murphy.

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A ‘LANDMARK’ IMMIGRATION DECISION

Barbed wire lines a recreation area at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.

A U.S. District Court judge in Georgia issued an interpretation of the Trump administration “mandatory detention” policy that could give a lifeline to certain immigrants facing long imprisonments in detention centers.

What the policy is: The Trump-era policy requires mandatory detention for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, meaning they are not eligible for bond.

The question at hand: Does that policy include people who have lived in the U.S. for years, even decades?

The challenge: An immigration lawyer filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, claiming Jesus Arizmendi Mora, a Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, has a right to a bond hearing. He was denied a hearing when he was arrested by ICE earlier this year.

The decision: U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land said the mandatory detention policy applies to immigrants apprehended while crossing illegally at U.S. borders or ports — not immigrants who have lived law-abiding lives in the U.S. for years. Land also said denying bond hearings in such cases violates due process.

Why it’s important: Under mandatory detention policies, people often face months upon months in detention centers as their deportation cases progress. These facilities have been criticized for safety and detainee treatment, and are chronically overcrowded.

• Earlier this month, the number of detainees in ICE custody reached a record high of 66,000. That’s a 70% increase since January.
• The case was decided in the Middle District of Georgia, which includes Stewart Detention Center, one of the country’s largest ICE detention facilities.

🔎 READ MORE: What the ruling could mean for future cases

MORE PLANT CLOSURES IN GA

Smurfit Westrock, a global packaging manufacturer, is shuttering a corrugated food service packaging plant in South Fulton. That continues a worrying trend in the region.

• Georgia is a big player in the packaging industry and has been deeply affected as makers of paper-based materials consolidate operations through closures and layoffs. New tariff policies and weakening consumer demand have also challenged the industry.
• Earlier this year, International Paper announced the closure of its Savannah-area plant, affecting 1,100 workers.
• The Smurfit Westrock closure will affect about 55 jobs.

🔎 READ MORE: Other packaging closures in the region

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

📧 House Democrats released a trio of emails from Jeffrey Epstein. In one, Epstein wrote President Donald Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a sex trafficking victim.

💻 The Georgia State Election Board settled a lawsuit from an election watchdog group that alleged the board obstructed access to public records. At one point, all the board members had used private Gmail accounts to conduct official business.

⚡ Electrical component maker Socomec Group announced plans for a new Atlanta-area factory they say will bring 300 jobs to the area.

🪙 RIP to the humble penny. The U.S. ended production of our most iconic coin yesterday, bringing a 230-year run to an end.

NEWS BITES

Hawks unveil latest City Edition jerseys

Very clean, with a touch of peach.

Like surprises? Local theaters try out discount ‘mystery movie nights’

So far, it’s been a hit among fearless moviegoers. “If it had been horror,” one attendee said, “we would have walked out and gotten sushi.” Preach.

Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey partner with ElevenLabs for AI voice cloning

“AI Matthew McConaughey voice” has a powerful dark energy to it.

Seagulls are more likely to leave you alone if you shout at them, research says

A widely applicable piece of wisdom, if you ask me.

ON THIS DATE

Nov. 13, 1925

Tut’s mummy is found to be that of boy-king: Crown jewels revealed after 3,273 years. The mummy of Tut-Ankh-Amen is that of a boy king, who died at an age of probably not more than 16. This information came at the end of a strenuous day’s work by the archeologists, during which jewels and treasures were revealed in such quantities that even Howard Carter and the other experts grew surfeited at the sight of them. … “No living man ever dreamed of such a find as this,” declared one of the spectators to me at the close of the day’s work. And there is more to come.

I’m a card-carrying member of the Leave Mummies and Other Human Stuff in the Ground Alone party. One day you’re dead, minding your own business, and the next you’re being gawked at in your grave skivvies? Rude.

ONE MORE THING

Did you know there used to be a half-cent coin? It was produced until 1857. Darn you, inflation.