The US military has long known that cheap fixes could stop location data from exposing its troops. It adopted almost none--and now says adversaries are using the data to target soldiers during a war. For nearly a decade, the Pentagon was warned--by its own contractors, analysts, and intelligence agencies--that anyone with a credit card could buy a map of where American troops sleep, work, and store nuclear weapons. Now the bill has come due in a war zone. A newly disclosed letter shows the warnings went unheeded: US Central Command now confirms it has received "multiple threat reports concerning adversary exploitation of commercial location data to target or surveil US personnel in theater"--the first official acknowledgment that the data-broker economy is being used to hunt American forces in the Middle East.

Illinois Lawmakers Just Passed America's Strongest AI Safety Bill The bill requires companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google to have third parties confirm they're following safety standards. The Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday requiring frontier AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind to have their safety practices audited by a third party. If signed into law, AI safety experts tell WIRED, it would be the nation's leading check on the power of major AI companies . The bill, SB 315, now heads to governor JB Pritzker's desk. In a post on social media on Wednesday, Pritzker said he plans to sign the bill, citing a need to hold Big Tech accountable.

Tragic way Kyle Busch was found unresponsive revealed after NASCAR great's sudden death at 41 This quiet announcement from Prince William was missed by most... but this is why royal insiders tell me it spells disaster for Harry and Meghan's future: RICHARD EDEN Dangerous truth about melatonin side effects... the astonishing dose you SHOULD be taking... and a new natural grocery store alternative hailed by doctors Dirty secret Hollywood's Cool Girls don't want you to know. Kyle Busch's eerie premonition on illness just days before NASCAR great's death at 41 - as devastated family reveal their'pain and shock' 'You never went to space': Watch the awkward moment a conspiracy theorist confronts NASA's Artemis II crew - telling them to'stop acting' CIA Nostradamus warned Trump about Iran... now he's calling the President's doctors. Police probe Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over'sex offences': Stunning update on investigation of former prince as officers appeal for potential'victim survivors' to come forward How Meryl Streep's husband really feels about her secret relationship with Martin Short: Their years of agony... his hard red line... and why she won't divorce him The Olympic gold medalist risking it all to smash sport's biggest taboo: 'It's super forbidden... but we're just openly doing it' Former CDC director Robert Redfield warns Ebola outbreak could spark a new'significant pandemic' Heartbreaking video shows trans student, 19, washing her clothes in college laundry room unaware that stranger who'd just walked in had selected her to be murdered Fears for Ariana Grande: Insiders lift the lid on Ethan Slater's costly sacrifice... her private nightmares... and what's really keeping them apart Aussie model turns heads with embarrassing Photoshop fail: 'OMG, this is insane!' Mom-of-two abandons home in Pennsylvania to live on board CRUISE SHIP year-round - and her kids have'zero concept' their life isn't normal White man charged after he was filmed screaming at black female neighbor and using the phrase'You people' Astonishing secret list of elite Hollywood liberals conspiring to elect Spencer Pratt revealed to KENNEDY by her LA moles. The Trump administration released another trove of UFO files today containing the 46 classified videos requested by lawmakers earlier this year. In one file, audio from a medical debrief can be heard after Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean described seeing mysterious flashes and streaks of light in the dark while trying to sleep.

US Lawmakers Move to Kill the FBI's Warrantless Wiretap Access A bipartisan bill would force the FBI to get a warrant to read Americans' messages and ban the federal purchase of commercial data on US residents ahead of a critical April deadline. A bipartisan privacy coalition in the United States Congress introduced legislation on Thursday that would impose a strict warrant requirement on the FBI's backdoor searches of Americans' communications, aligning federal law with a 2025 federal court ruling that found the warrantless practice unconstitutional. The bill, the Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2026, repeals controversial expansions of the government's warrantless wiretapping authority while overhauling key aspects of federal surveillance law--setting up a showdown with the US intelligence community and its congressional allies weeks before a sweeping global spy program sunsets on April 20. Senators Ron Wyden and Mike Lee are leading the legislative push alongside Representatives Warren Davidson and Zoe Lofgren. The measure carries endorsements from civil liberties organizations across the political spectrum.

House Democrats are demanding answers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and urging it to halt rumored changes they say could undermine its mission. One of the US government's top scientific research labs is taking steps that could drive away foreign scientists, a shift lawmakers and sources tell WIRED could cost the country valuable expertise and damage the agency's credibility. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) helps determine the frameworks underpinning everything from cybersecurity to semiconductor manufacturing. Some of NIST's recent work includes establishing guidelines for securing AI systems and identifying health concerns with air purifiers and firefighting gloves. Many of the agency's thousands of employees, postdoctoral scientists, contractors, and guest researchers are brought in from around the world for their specialized expertise.

Stuck in regulatory limbo, the self-driving-vehicle developer is encouraging residents of Washington, DC, to message public officials to help get its robotaxis onto roads. Waymo needs some help, according to an email message the self-driving developer sent to residents of Washington, DC, on Thursday. For more than a year, Waymo has been pushing city officials to pass new regulations allowing its robotaxis to operate in the district. So far, self-driving cars can test in the city with humans behind the wheel, but cannot operate in driver-free mode. The Alphabet subsidiary--and its lobbyists--have asked local lawmakers, including Mayor Muriel Bower and members of the city council, to create new rules allowing the tech to go truly driverless on its public roads.

The company's robotaxi service is supposed to launch in the US capital this year. But while service rollouts have been relatively smooth in other cities, DC's rules have made things tricky. Waymo, the Alphabet subsidiary that develops self-driving vehicle tech, has picked up speed. The company now operates robotaxis in six cities and has announced plans to launch in a dozen others this year. It j ust raised $16 billion in a new round of funding and says it has served over 20 million rides since the company launched its service in 2020, 14 million of them in 2025 alone.

Silicon Valley's battle against AI regulation is already shaping the next US election cycle. Silicon Valley is already pouring tens of millions of dollars into the midterm elections taking place across the US in 2026, as the tech industry's war over AI regulation moves decisively into American politics. Technology executives, investors, and companies tied to the AI boom are funding a new network of AI-focused super PACS, which is poised to make AI a major issue in this year's state and federal elections races. The election spending marks a sharp escalation of the AI regulation debate that has divided Silicon Valley for years. In the absence of federal action, state lawmakers in New York, California, and Colorado have passed laws in the past year requiring large AI developers to disclose safety practices and assess risks such as algorithmic discrimination.

Alabama passed a 10 percent porn tax last year, as Utah and Pennsylvania eye similar bills. Half the country has enacted age-verification laws to prevent minors from viewing porn. As age-verification laws continue to dismantle the adult industry--and determine the future of free speech on the internet --a Utah lawmaker proposed a bill this week that would enforce a tax on porn sites that operate within the state. Introduced by state senator Calvin Musselman, a Republican, the bill would impose a 7 percent tax on total receipts "from sales, distributions, memberships, subscriptions, performances, and content amounting to material harmful to minors that is produced, sold, filmed, generated, or otherwise based" in Utah. If passed, the bill would go into effect in May and would also require adult sites to pay a $500 annual fee to the State Tax Commission.

Users Elon Musk's Chatbot Is Making Child Sexual Abuse Images for Users. An app the U.S. and U.K. governments use has devolved into a source of A.I. porn. Lawmakers are keeping dangerously mum. Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.