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Tom Simonite

@simonite

Tech companies editor @washingtonpost.com // tom.simonite@washpost.com

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21.10.2023
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Latest posts by Tom Simonite @simonite

Preview
Musk asked Epstein for ‘the wildest party.’ Now he claims to stand up for victims. The billionaire Tesla CEO has called for accountability for figures named in the Epstein files — despite appearing in them himself.

Elon Musk emailed Jeffrey Epstein on consecutive Christmases

2012: "Do you have any parties planned? ... I really want to ... let loose."

2013: "When should we head to your island on the 2nd?"

My piece looking at his fraught effort to position himself as a voice for victims now wapo.st/4b9kYWV

07.03.2026 00:53 👍 205 🔁 76 💬 5 📌 7
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The White House is transforming the Iran strikes into a meme war The White House is using memes that make light of violent combat in Iran, mixing footage of real missile strikes with clips from action films and video games.

New: The White House is transforming the Iran strikes into a meme war. An "aesthetic of bloodlust" that gives Americans the empathy-free, Hollywood, video-game version of deadly combat www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

07.03.2026 00:09 👍 129 🔁 52 💬 11 📌 12
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China lowers growth forecast, boosts military, citing ‘grave’ environment Beijing kicked off its top annual political gathering, pledging to further insulate its economy from Trump’s tariffs and accelerate efforts to supercharge its military.

No one told Xi Jinping about the AI productivity bump?

"Beijing set an economic growth target of 4.5 percent to 5 percent for 2026 — down from 5 percent last year and its lowest in almost 35 years"

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

06.03.2026 00:45 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Anthropic’s AI tool Claude central to U.S. campaign in Iran, amid a bitter feud Anthropic’s AI tool Claude is playing a key role in the U.S. military’s campaign in Iran, amid a bitter fight with the Pentagon over the terms of its use in war.

Less than 24 hours after the Pentagon declared Claude a threat to national security, Anthropic's chatbot was helping identify targets as the U.S. launched strikes on Iran www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

04.03.2026 23:56 👍 1 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Surprising to see OpenAI claim: "We don’t know why Anthropic could not reach this deal."

Dario Amodei said last week that surveillance law "has not yet caught up with the rapidly growing capabilities of AI."

OpenAI's deal says it will work on domestic surveillance as permitted under current law.

28.02.2026 23:15 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Trump allies claim victory as the Ellisons expand their media empire Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal is seen by many as a win for conservatives seeking greater sway over the media — and raises new scrutiny over President Trump’s role in it.

New: Trump allies claim “VICTORY” as the Ellisons expand their empire to include CNN, HBO and much more. Laura Loomer told me she’s taking credit after the president picked up on her campaign to paint Netflix as Obama-coded.

Our story today w/ fresh details on how it all went down: wapo.st/4qVDnMx

28.02.2026 15:58 👍 29 🔁 13 💬 2 📌 2
Preview
The Righteous EV Owners Who Won’t Let Their Broken Cars Die Fisker went out of business in 2024, but its biggest fans want to bring the “right to repair” to the masses.

On the plight of Fisker Ocean owners, who discovered when the EV manufacturer that made their software-stuffed cars went bankrupt that they maybe never owned them at all

Now a group of very dedicated owners are fighting to take their EVs back

www.wired.com/story/the-ri...

24.02.2026 16:54 👍 80 🔁 19 💬 4 📌 6
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7 in 10 Americans believe that “less than half” or “hardly any” of the immigrants deported since January 2025 were violent criminals
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

25.02.2026 03:07 👍 18 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 0

A national treasure of a journalist & especially fine human just posted some of his work for free ⬇️

25.02.2026 00:27 👍 15 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0
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A fake ICE tip line reveals neighbors reporting neighbors A Nashville comedian’s deportation hotline, set up as a joke, has gone viral among viewers who say it shows the “banality of evil personified” in the U.S. immigration crackdown.

New: A comedian set up a fake ICE tip line as a joke. Then 100 calls flooded in: neighbors ratting on neighbors, a teacher reporting a kindergartener. Fans say the viral TikToks revealed deportation's "banality of evil." Conservatives say he should be in prison wapo.st/4kM4qbF

20.02.2026 12:02 👍 8022 🔁 3000 💬 275 📌 618

Hey Bluesky! I'm a senior writer at WIRED and I'm shifting beats to cover the tech I'm most obsessed with right now—PREDICTION MARKETS.

Eager to hear tips on the industry at kate_knibbs@wired.com

10.02.2026 15:09 👍 342 🔁 82 💬 35 📌 3

After almost four years at The Washington Post, my role was eliminated this week along with hundreds of other talented journalists. It’s a cliche to say but this job was a dream come true. Thanks to my brilliant reporter friends and talented editors who made the stories stronger and banter funnier.

06.02.2026 19:12 👍 45 🔁 7 💬 3 📌 2

Tatum is way ahead of the curve on internet culture and has been for years.

04.02.2026 23:07 👍 26 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 0
cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

04.02.2026 19:40 👍 6670 🔁 2136 💬 160 📌 111

I cannot count the number of insanely talented colleagues that were ousted today, but Heather is a brilliant writer on tech and absolutely hilarious as a bonus.

04.02.2026 23:00 👍 114 🔁 18 💬 2 📌 0

Most of the Washington Post’s tech reporters were laid off today, including me. I have loved my time at the paper, which is where I wanted to work from age 15. I take some consolation in not being among the survivors who will have to work harder with less for fewer readers. On to better things.

04.02.2026 16:47 👍 5516 🔁 757 💬 212 📌 58

For what it’s worth, @washingtonpost.com broke this story www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

04.02.2026 12:30 👍 70 🔁 40 💬 4 📌 1
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Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.

New territory. Must read story from a colleague. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

03.02.2026 17:14 👍 120 🔁 51 💬 7 📌 14
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some of my favorite snippets from newly released court docs in the Anthropic copyright book case. eye-opening stuff on Project Panama, their plan to "destructively scan all the books in the world" in order to train AI

27.01.2026 18:44 👍 71 🔁 41 💬 5 📌 12
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How Silicon Valley built AI: Buying, scanning and destroying millions of books Court filings reveal how AI companies raced to obtain more books to feed chatbots, including by buying, scanning and disposing of millions of titles.

New: Unsealed court docs detail Big Tech’s yearslong, secret race to ingest the collective works of humanity, including Anthropic’s project to “destructively scan all the books in the world.”

Gift link: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ

27.01.2026 15:20 👍 298 🔁 150 💬 8 📌 29
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"Sir, r/catbongos has fallen"

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

27.01.2026 13:41 👍 417 🔁 80 💬 4 📌 10
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Judge blocks government from searching data seized from Post reporter The Post demanded in a court filing Wednesday that federal law enforcement officials return electronic devices the government seized from a staff reporter’s home.

"I need my devices back to do my job." wapo.st/4jUxQEe

21.01.2026 20:46 👍 233 🔁 93 💬 9 📌 5

2015: "Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return."

2026: "We plan to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service"

16.01.2026 21:23 👍 16 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 1
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X says Grok account will stop undressing women. I just tested the standalone Grok app, which immediately complied with my request to undress a photo of me. This is illegal, according to the legal experts I spoke with.

15.01.2026 00:13 👍 3241 🔁 849 💬 62 📌 35
Preview
Apple taps Google to power a new Siri and future AI tools Google’s technology provides the “most capable foundation” for Apple’s future in AI, the companies said.

September: Judge in Google's antitrust trial says AI made search more competitive: "there is a genuine prospect that a product could emerge that will present a meaningful challenge to Google”

January: Google signs deal with Apple to power Siri
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

12.01.2026 22:03 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Stern-Bryan Fellowship | City St George's, University of London Every year, a British journalist gets the chance to spend three months at the Washington Post.

Early-career journalist in the UK? Interested in spending 3 months at The Washington Post? What if we drop in another month of travel across the US in this mid-term election year?
You can now apply to become our 45th Stern-Bryan Fellow! Details: lnkd.in/eXuhPH_Y
Trust us, you don't want to miss it!

12.01.2026 14:20 👍 4 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 1
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How (not) to recycle those old gadgets E-waste can be transformed into essentials if you’re willing to think outside the box.

E-waste can be transformed into essentials if you’re willing to think outside the box.

Here’s some unserious inspiration for how to give your abandoned electronics new life in 2026.

06.01.2026 22:30 👍 14 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 2
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74 suicide warnings and 243 mentions of hanging: What ChatGPT said to a suicidal teen Analysis of high-schooler Adam Raine’s ChatGPT account by attorneys for his parents shows how the chatbot became a confidant as he planned to end his life.

Adam Raine’s life hurtled toward tragedy soon after he began talking with ChatGPT about homework. Analysis of his ChatGPT account shows how the chatbot became a confidant as he planned to end his life.

28.12.2025 02:00 👍 637 🔁 293 💬 40 📌 126

for privacy 404 media is blurring videos shared to the story but there was a clip we had of a flock condor camera following a man so closely we could see exactly what he was looking at on his phone

a must read scoop:

22.12.2025 17:19 👍 146 🔁 71 💬 2 📌 2
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🚀 We tested 5 leading AI image generators @washingtonpost.com to see which tool is truly the best at editing & creating visuals. From adding bangs to The Rock to removing people from photos — the results might surprise you 🧵👇

16.12.2025 20:38 👍 13 🔁 8 💬 19 📌 5