TikTok bans Musk documentary account
TikTok bans Musk documentary account

Just ahead of the wider release of Alex Gibney’s Musk documentary, TikTok has banned the film’s social media account from its platform. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s distributor, Bleecker Street, was informed Friday afternoon that a “permanent suspension” was imminent. Bleecker Street has […]

Elon Musk settles lawsuits over $1 million voter giveaway
Elon Musk settles lawsuits over $1 million voter giveaway

In 2024, Elon Musk promised to give away $1 million a day to a randomly selected registered voter in a swing state. That prompted legal challenges, raised questions about its legality, and drew lawsuits from two Arizona residents claiming the lottery was a fraud. Musk has now agreed to settle the two lawsuits filed in […]

Meta’s new terms may allow it to train AI on news sites for free
Meta’s new terms may allow it to train AI on news sites for free

Meta’s new terms appear to give it permission to crawl and scrape websites “associated” with the businesses that use its platforms – including online publishers, according to a report from Nieman Lab. The new terms, which go into effect on October 30th, say Meta can use this outside content to “develop, improve, research,” and “train” […]

The first vibe-coded gun is here
The first vibe-coded gun is here

Since gun-rights activist and alt-right-friendly agitator Cody Wilson made the first 3D-printed firearm 13 years ago, he’s helped usher in a chaotic era of untraceable ghost guns. Now he’s claiming another first: “the first AI-made gun.” It’s called the WASP. I stood about 20 feet away as Wilson and his sidekick clamped the WASP to […]

Trump posts AI-edited photo to brag about White House restoration work
Trump posts AI-edited photo to brag about White House restoration work

President Donald Trump posted a series of photos on Truth Social showing off renovations to the White House – but one of them appears to be modified with AI. The picture, which compares an old White House column to a “restored” one, has several discrepancies and was flagged by Google’s AI detector as “made or […]

Nvidia, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta gave Trump a combined $92 million for his ballroom
Nvidia, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta gave Trump a combined $92 million for his ballroom

We knew that a number of big tech firms were helping to fund the construction of Trump’s ballroom, but we didn’t know just how much they were giving to the cause. Now the Washington Post published a list of all the major donors to the White House ballroom project, along with how much each contributed. […]

Trump calls off livestream of execution
Trump calls off livestream of execution

The execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will not be livestreamed as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had previously announced. Donald Trump announced the plan was off in a post on Truth Social: I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how […]

An Israeli firm is sending spyware through online ads, researchers say
An Israeli firm is sending spyware through online ads, researchers say

An Israeli ad tech firm worked with spyware companies to infect devices, including at Al Jazeera, by simply showing users an online ad, according to a joint investigation by security researchers at Citizen Lab and Confiant. It’s the first time researchers have found technical evidence of a zero-click attack – a form of hacking that […]

Benn Jordan on Flock, privacy, and the new surveillance backlash
Benn Jordan on Flock, privacy, and the new surveillance backlash

Today, I’m talking with Benn Jordan, musician, YouTuber, researcher, and investigative journalist. You might know Benn from those first two titles — he’s got a prolific discography of experimental music dating back decades. But in the last couple of years, he’s become a high-profile face in the creator and media spaces for his work investigating […]

Eight states sue OpenAI, saying ChatGPT isn’t safe for kids
Eight states sue OpenAI, saying ChatGPT isn’t safe for kids

OpenAI is facing a new wave of lawsuits from eight US states that accuse the company of harming children and misleading customers about the safety of ChatGPT, as reported earlier by Reuters. The lawsuits, filed separately by Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana, allege OpenAI unlawfully put profits over safety when […]