Elon Musk receives a golden key from Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on 30 May 2025. Elon Musk receives a golden key from Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on 30 May 2025. I myself have a cold. Today, we are looking back at the biggest stories in tech of 2025 - Elon Musk's political rise, burst, and fall; artificial intelligence's subsumption of the global economy, all other technology, and even the Earth's topography; Australia's remarkable social media ban; the tech industry's new Trumpian politics; and, as a treat, a glimpse of the apocalypse offered by one of Silicon Valley's savviest and strangest billionaires. Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a memorial service for slain far-right commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, on 21 September 2025.

Its permanent searchable database is accessed by more than 2,400 police agencies including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Clearview AI uses an algorithm to extract unique features in the human face to create a trackable "faceprint." The EU has stringent personal privacy standards, including the GDPR and the Right to Be Forgotten, which are in conflict with Clearview AI's methods. Facial recognition technology has received substantial backlash for its racial bias and inaccuracy, which have resulted in numerous false arrests. At least 14 US cities have banned facial recognition use, and Maine and Massachusetts passed statewide laws banning the tech from law enforcement.