The Cybertruck, sycophantic AI, and humanoid robots all made this year's list of the biggest technology failures. Welcome to our annual list of the worst, least successful, and simply dumbest technologies of the year. This year, politics was a recurring theme. Donald Trump swept back into office and used his executive pen to reshape the fortunes of entire sectors, from renewables to cryptocurrency. The wrecking-ball act began even before his inauguration, when the president-elect marketed his own memecoin, $TRUMP, in a shameless act of merchandising that, of course, we honor on this year's worst tech list. We like to think there's a lesson in every technological misadventure.

WIRED spoke to seven Tesla Cybertruck owners about their most controversial purchase and why they're proud to drive it. Aside from a MAGA hat, there is likely no object that feels more emblematic of US President Donald Trump's return to the White House than the Tesla Cybertruck . The blunt angles and steel doors look futuristic, for sure, but only if the future looks a lot like . Cybertruck owners see things differently. "To me, it's just a vehicle that I love," says Andrew Castillo, a stock trader from Los Angeles. "It has no political affiliations at all to me." They've arrived for a meetup organized by Michael Goldman, who runs the 53,000-person Facebook group Cybertruck Owners Only. Though suspicious of the media, they're eager to set the record straight about the car that they love.

It was just before lunchtime on its third day of operation, and the line outside Elon Musk's new Tesla Diner in Hollywood already stretched to nearly 100 people. The restaurant has been billed as a "retro-futuristic" drive-in where you can grab a high-end burger and watch classic films on giant screens, all while charging your Tesla. After months of buildup and controversy, the diner had suddenly opened on Monday, at 4.20pm, the kind of stoner boy joke that Musk is well-known for. Hundreds of fans lined up to try burgers in Cybertruck-shaped boxes, or take photos of the Optimus robot serving popcorn on the roof deck of the gleaming circular diner. But that was for the grand opening.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Tesla's roughly 7,000-pound stainless steel Cybertruck may not have sold particularly well among the general public, but it does appear to have found a receptive audience in one particular cohort: law enforcement. Police departments across the US--and as far away as the Qatar--have been spotted driving the electric behemoth. Now, a jet-black, militarized Cybertruck is reportedly among the vehicles set to respond to potential incidents during 2026 World Cup matches taking place in Jalisco, Mexico. Officials from the central state of Jalisco said this week that several Cybertrucks will be among 300 new tactical, armored vehicles added to its fleet. The move, first reported by the Jalisco-based newspaper El Informador, is part of a broader effort to revamp the state's police force in preparation for the influx of tourists expected to visit the capitol, Guadalajara, for World Cup matches next year.

The Cybertruck answers a question no one in the auto industry even thought to ask: what if there was a truck that a Chechen warlord couldn't possibly pass up – a bulletproof, bioweapons-resistant, road rage-inducing street tank that's illegal to drive in most of the world? Few had seen anything quite like the Cybertruck when it was unveiled in 2019. Wrapped in an "ultra-hard, 30X, cold-rolled stainless steel exoskeleton", the Cybertruck was touted as the ultimate doomsday chariot – a virtually indestructible, obtuse-angled, electrically powered behemoth that can repel handgun fire and outrun a Porsche while towing a Porsche, with enough juice leftover to power your house in the event of a blackout. At the launch, Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, said the truck could tackle any terrain on Earth and possibly also on Mars – and all for the low, low base price of 40,000. "Sometimes you get these late-civilization vibes [that the] apocalypse could come along at any moment," Musk said.

One of the staggering things the latest Cybertruck recall has revealed--other than Tesla's use of the wrong glue--is that Elon Musk's company appears to have sold 46,096 of these 7,000-pound electric pickups since customer deliveries began a little over 14 months ago. This is far fewer sales than Musk predicted for the Cybertruck just weeks before the roll-out--he told investors that Tesla would soon sell 250,000 Cybertrucks per year. On an earnings call a month before the November 2023 launch of the production vehicle, Musk boasted that Tesla had bagged "over 1 million" Cybertruck reservations and that "demand is off the charts." "Reservationists" initially paid 100 to join the queue, a refundable deposit later raised to 250. Car companies often open wait lists for models expected to outstrip supply, but most auto executives don't expect that all of those who lodge deposits will follow through.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk told employees to hold on to their stock and stay optimistic amid a series of blows to his company's reputation that have sent shares plunging. Since Musk began his prominent role in the Trump administration in January, Tesla stock has taken a hit as protests against the electric vehicle brand have erupted across the country. Tesla shares rose 5% Friday to close at 248.71 but have dropped 34% this year. With Chief Executive Elon Musk playing a prominent role in the Trump administration, many Tesla drivers are no longer happy about supporting the car brand. Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations have become targets for vandalism as distaste grows for Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Donald Trump may be pleased enough with Elon Musk, but even as the Tesla CEO is exercising his newfound power to essentially undo whole functions of the federal government, he still has to reassure his investors. Lately, Musk has delivered for them in one way: The value of the company's shares has skyrocketed since Trump was reelected to the presidency of the United States. But Musk had much to answer for on his recent fourth-quarter earnings call--not least that in 2024, Tesla's car sales had sunk for the first time in a decade. Profits were down sharply too. Usually, when this happens at a car company, the CEO issues a mea culpa, vows to cut costs, and hypes vehicles coming to market soon.

Using a series of prompts six days before he died by suicide outside the main entrance of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Matthew Livelsberger, a highly decorated US Army Green Beret from Colorado, consulted with an artificial intelligence on the best ways to turn a rented Cybertruck into a four-ton vehicle-borne explosive. According to documents obtained exclusively by WIRED, US intelligence analysts have been issuing warnings about this precise scenario over the past year--and among their concerns are that AI tools could be used by racially or ideologically motivated extremists to target critical infrastructure, in particular the power grid. "We knew that AI was going to change the game at some point or another in, really, all of our lives," Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters on Tuesday. Copies of his exchanges with OpenAI's ChatGPT show that Livelsberger, 37, pursued information on how to amass as much explosive material as he legally could while en route to Las Vegas, as well as how best to set it off using the Desert Eagle gun discovered in the Cybertruck following his death. Screenshots shared by McMahill's office reveal Livelsberger prompting ChatGPT for information on Tannerite, a reactive compound typically used for target practice.

Federal officials are investigating how a Tesla Cybertruck crash killed three people in Northern California last month. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesperson confirmed that the agency is aware of the crash and is gathering information from law enforcement and the manufacturer. The NHTSA is the agency in charge of reviewing incidents involving automated driving technology. The Cybertruck comes with Tesla's Autopilot driving feature, which includes driver-assistance technology, and the Full Self-Driving system is optional. It is unclear if the driver was using the Autopilot feature at the time of the accident.