The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 DOGE has ‘god mode’ entry to authorities programs
The danger of hurt, abuse, or revenge is evident. But easy, brazen corruption can also be a priority. (The Atlantic $)
+ Elon Musk is trying to find social safety fraud. It’s not quite common. (Business Insider $)
+ DOGE claimed it had saved $8 billion in a single contract. It was, at most, $8 million. (NYT $)
+ Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The Trump administration is scrambling to rehire individuals engaged on chicken flu
This precise sample is being replicated throughout a number of businesses proper now, and it’s straight from Musk’s playbook. (Gizmodo)
+ Trump simply issued an government order giving the President energy over impartial businesses. (Ars Technica)
3 DeepSeek is contemplating its first exterior funding spherical
It badly wants extra chips and extra servers to satisfy exploding demand. (The Information $)
+ Meanwhile, Alibaba is opening up its first knowledge middle in Mexico. (South China Morning Post $)
+ How a prime Chinese AI mannequin overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Electric truck maker Nikola has filed for chapter safety
It was as soon as (on paper) price greater than Ford. But then a fraud scandal hit, and now it’s run out of cash. (Business Insider $)
+ The race to scrub up heavy-duty vans. (MIT Technology Review)
5 How a crypto scammer turned a small city in opposition to itself
Shan Hanes drained Elkhart in Kansas dry—and turned neighbor in opposition to neighbor within the course of. (NYT $)
6 Google’s has unveiled a brand new AI ‘co-scientist’ software
Researchers are excited, but it surely’s laborious to say what its true affect can be. (New Scientist $)
+ An information bottleneck is holding AI science again, says new Nobel winner. (MIT Technology Review)
7 People are logging off
Eight years in the past, social media grew to become a battleground. This time, many don’t see a lot level in preventing on-line. (New Yorker $)
8 What America’s first era chipmakers endured
They needed to work in unsafe situations—and by no means received solutions about why their youngsters have been born with beginning defects. (The Verge)
9 Can you employ ChatGPT to be taught a brand new language?
Kind of, a bit? But not actually. (Wired $)
+ Translators in Turkey are coaching the AI instruments that may change them. (Rest of World)
10 The newest TikTok development? Using AI to time journey
And not simply to disasters like Pompeii or the Titanic—you possibly can simply be an American teen in 1983. (Fast Company)
Quote of the day
“They destroyed everything here, and now we’re supposed to give up? How does that work?”
— Alla Kriuchkova, a resident of Bucha in Ukraine, the place Russian troopers slaughtered a whole lot of individuals in March 2022, tells the New York Times how indignant she is at President Trump for suggesting the struggle is Ukraine’s fault.