Of all the jarring things I’ve witnessed on the National Mall, nothing will beat the image of the first thing I saw after I cleared security at the Army festival: a child, sitting at the controls of an M119A3 Howitzer, being instructed by a soldier on how to aim it, as his red-hatted parents took […]
As President Donald Trump kicked off a birthday military parade on the streets of Washington, DC, what’s estimated as roughly 2,000 events were held across the US and beyond – protesting Trump and Elon Musk’s evisceration of government services, an unprecedented crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and countless other actions from the administration […]
The US Department of Transportation wants to make it easier for automakers and tech companies to deploy self-driving cars without traditional controls like steering wheels and pedals. In a letter sent to stakeholders, the department said it would streamline reviews of requests for exemptions from safety rules requiring vehicles to have steering wheels, pedals, and […]
Meta is paying $14.3 billion to acquire 49 percent of Scale AI and hire its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to revamp its troubled AI efforts. As part of the deal, Wang will report directly to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and remain on Scale’s board of directors, both companies announced on Thursday. Sources say Wang will lead […]
President Donald Trump’s warning that protesters of Saturday’s US military parade in Washington, DC, will be met with “very heavy force” threatens to chill speech and underscores the need for protesters to take precautions around digital surveillance, privacy advocates tell The Verge. In remarks from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump did not distinguish between […]
Every morning, Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez says she checks her email “to see if I’m going into work.” At a time when the federal workforce has been slashed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Gomez’s job appears to be one of the most precarious in the US government. She’s the last remaining […]
Disney and Universal sued Midjourney on Wednesday for generating Shrek, Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, and a host of other copyrighted characters in the first major legal showdown between Hollywood and generative AI. The complaint, filed in a US District Court in central California, calls Midjourney’s AI image generator a “virtual vending machine, generating endless unauthorized […]
Back in June 2020, when this article was first written, people were taking to the streets to organize for justice and protest against systemic racism and police brutality. There have been several other flashpoints for protests since then (for example, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade), but the recent activities of ICE, especially […]
“This is absurd.” That’s all Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, recalls thinking when she first heard about the proposed moratorium on state AI regulation tucked into President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” – the same funding bill that had Trump and Elon Musk recently trading barbs online. According to the bill’s […]
President Donald Trump says he has reached a deal with China that will ensure the US receives rare earth materials, keeps tariffs at a total of 55 percent, and allows American universities to keep accepting Chinese students. Trump announced the news of the agreement on Truth Social, which he says is still “subject to final […]