It's been nearly one year since Trump issued an order to dismantle USAGM and Kari Lake placed employees on leave and fired contractors.
Today, a judge found she's been running the agency illegally and found her decisions, including a RIF, null and void.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
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
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...
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...
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...
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.
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
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...
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/...
A national treasure of a journalist & especially fine human just posted some of his work for free ⬇️
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
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
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.
Tatum is way ahead of the curve on internet culture and has been for years.
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
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.
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.
For what it’s worth, @washingtonpost.com broke this story www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
New territory. Must read story from a colleague. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
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
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
"Sir, r/catbongos has fallen"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
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"
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.
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...
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!
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.
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.
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:
