administration
PBS Chief Paula Kerger on the Aftermath of Federal Funding Cuts--and What People Get Wrong About Public Media
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The Biggest Threat to the 2026 Economy Is Still Donald Trump
Many analysts are predicting an election-year upturn, but they aren't accounting for the President's ability to cause more chaos. In a primetime address from the Oval Office last week, Donald Trump said, "We are poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen." This was the sort of bloviating that has convinced many voters he's hopelessly out of touch, but it did raise the question of how the economy is likely to perform in 2026, a midterm-election year. Given the data fog that the government shutdown created, the old joke applies more than ever: it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. But some things seem reasonably clear.
Elon Musk launches encyclopedia 'fact-checked' by AI and aligning with rightwing views
Elon Musk launches encyclopedia'fact-checked' by AI and aligning with rightwing views Grokipedia's entries hew closely to conservative talking points, with some journalists already saying it contains inaccurate information Elon Musk has launched an online encyclopedia named Grokipedia that he said relied on artificial intelligence and would align more with his rightwing views than Wikipedia, though many of its articles say they are based on Wikipedia itself. 'People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit': is Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron? Calling an AI encyclopedia "super important for civilization", Musk had been planning the Wikipedia rival for at least a month. Grokipedia does not have human authors, unlike Wikipedia, which is written and edited by volunteers in a transparent process. Grokipedia said it is "fact-checked" by Grok, Musk's AI chatbot.
The Chatbot Disinfo Inflaming the LA Protests
In recent days, Los Angeles residents have taken to the streets to protest the Trump administration's immigration policies and the increasingly frequent ICE raids. WIRED's senior politics editor Leah Feiger joins Zoรซ Schiffer, director of business and industry, to discuss the related flood of information on social media, and how AI chatbots like Grok and ChatGPT are delivering incorrect and at times, inflammatory answers. Mentioned in today's episode: AI Chatbots Are Making LA Protest Disinformation Worse by David Gilbert I Joined Every Class Action Lawsuit I Could Find, and So Can You by Andy Vasoyan Vibe Coding Is Coming for Engineering Jobs by Will Knight Write to us at uncannyvalley@wired.com. You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
US attacks on science and research a 'great gift' to China on artificial intelligence, former OpenAI board member says
The US administration's targeting of academic research and international students is a "great gift" to China in the race to compete on artificial intelligence, former OpenAI board member Helen Toner has said. The director of strategy at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) joined the board of OpenAI in 2021 after a career studying AI and the relationship between the United States and China. Toner, a 33-year-old University of Melbourne graduate, was on the board for two years until a falling out with founder Sam Altman in 2023. Altman was fired by the board over claims that he was not "consistently candid" in his communications and the board did not have confidence in Altman's ability to lead. The chaotic months that followed saw Altman fired and then re-hired with three members of the board, including Toner, ousted instead.
Florida Man Enters the Encryption Wars
Just three months into the Trump administration's promised crackdown on immigration to the United States, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement now has a 30 million contract with Palantir to build a "near-real time" surveillance platform called ImmigrationOS that would track information about people self-deporting (electing to leave the US). Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has been sending aggressive emails telling people with temporary legal status to leave the US. It is unclear who has actually been sent the messages, though, given that a number of people who are US-born citizens have reported receiving them. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency briefly seemed poised this week to cancel funding for the critical software vulnerability tracking project known as the CVE Program. CISA eventually came through with the funding, but some members of the CVE Program's governing board are planning to make the project into an independent nonprofit.
VP Kamala Harris announces nationwide tour in support of abortion rights
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Vice President Kamala Harris is emphasizing abortion as a key issue in the run-up to the 2024 election, preparing numerous rallies around the administration's pro-choice message. Harris rolled out the Fight for Our Reproductive Freedoms Tour this week as President Biden's team ramps up efforts for the upcoming election year. "I will continue to fight for our fundamental freedoms while bringing together those throughout America who agree that every woman should have the right to make decisions about her own body -- not the government," Harris said in a statement.