Polymarket linked to Google insider‑trading case and AI safety bill betting

Polymarket insider trading Google employee AI safety bill US legislation

U.S. prosecutors charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland, with insider trading after he allegedly used confidential 2025 "Year in Search" data to profit more than $1.2 million on the Polymarket prediction‑market platform. Operating under the alias “AlphaRaccoon,” he placed and adjusted bets on which individuals would top Google’s search trends, prompting Google to place him on leave and Polymarket to cooperate with investigators.

Separately, the same Polymarket platform hosts a market pricing the likelihood that a federal AI safety bill will be enacted by the end of 2027 at roughly 13%, with about $99,000 in trading volume since its launch in November 2025. State‑level AI regulation is progressing, exemplified by Illinois' frontier AI safety bill SB 315, highlighting a contrast between expectations for comprehensive federal AI safety legislation and other AI‑related policy bets.

Sources

Google employee polymarket insider trading - Los Angeles Weekly Times [losangelesweeklytimes.com]

2 months ago

Google employee charged over $1. 2 million Polymarket scheme [cebudailynews.inquirer.net]

2 months ago

Polymarket assigns 13% chance for US AI safety bill by 2027 [cryptobriefing.com]

2 months ago

DOJ Charges Google Engineer Over $1. 2M In Alleged Polymarket Insider Gains Case [www.livebitcoinnews.com]

2 months ago