X is facing an investigation from the European Commission over the sexualized deepfakes generated by its Grok AI chatbot. In its announcement, the Commission says it will evaluate whether X “properly assessed and mitigated risks” associated with Grok’s image-generating capabilities in the EU, as reported earlier by The New York Times. Advocacy groups and lawmakers […]
OpenAI’s cofounder and longtime president Greg Brockman didn’t just make a run-of-the-mill donation to the main pro-Trump super PAC – together, he and his wife Anna’s September 2025 donations equaled the largest of them all, totaling $25 million to “MAGA Inc.,” per a recent filing. The Brockmans’ donations made up nearly one-fourth of the six-month […]
“Fuck ICE first, second, third, and fourth. Then worry about fucking me,” a Reddit post reads. “Immigrants of any status are my friends, neighbors, and colleagues.” Across the internet – and in the streets – the sentiment is unavoidable, especially after a federal immigration agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, in Minneapolis […]
TikTok’s takeover in the US has prompted users to join an alternative social platform called UpScrolled. The app, which is available on Android and iOS, currently holds the 12th spot in Apple’s App Store, and it’s struggling to keep up with an influx of new traffic. “You showed up so fast our servers tapped out,” […]
Recently released documents show the big business opportunity that social media companies saw in recruiting teens to their platforms and how they discussed risks that heavy digital engagement could pose. The documents were released last week as part of a major set of trials brought by school districts, state attorneys general, and others against Meta, […]
TikTok says a power outage is causing ongoing issues and outages that started in the US early Sunday morning. In an email to The Verge, TikTok USDS spokesperson Jamie Favazza pointed to a statement posted to the joint venture’s newly-created X account, which says the company has been “working to restore our services following a […]
Over the next year, top social media executives are expected to take the witness stand to defend their companies from an avalanche of claims about their failure to protect kids. The first of many trials is set to begin this month in California, when Meta, TikTok, and YouTube face claims that tech addiction harmed a […]
This week’s Current Climate newsletter also looks at aiding the power crunch with more efficient buildings and using fuel cells to help curb data center pollution
It’s not surprising when the guy who’s been yelling about the horrors of late-stage capitalism on Instagram for the last five years turns his ire toward ICE. But something different has been happening over the past week or so, following the most recent shootings of civilians by federal agents – even accounts that stay laser […]
Shortly after federal agents killed Alex Pretti Saturday morning, the Department of Homeland Security began to run with the story that the dead man had been armed and dangerous. He had a gun, DHS said. (A Bellingcat analysis of the video concludes that Pretti was unarmed when he was shot.) He had approached the agents […]