In mid-March, conspiracy theories swirled claiming Benjamin Netanyahu had been replaced by an AI clone. Though there was no actual proof that the Israeli Prime Minister had been injured or killed, on X this spurred a flurry of posts promoting prediction markets where people bet on whether he would be out of office by March […]
On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Trump v. Barbara, a case challenging President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order banning birthright citizenship. Justices seemed skeptical of the administration’s argument, but by taking up birthright citizenship at all, they showed how much ground nativists have gained since Trump’s first term. The 14th Amendment is […]
With NASA planning to launch four astronauts on Wednesday on its Artemis II mission, the race to return to the Moon is back on. The current mission will see astronauts aboard the Orion capsule travel around the Moon before returning to Earth in 10 days’ time. They’ll be testing out the hardware and systems that […]
“It’s not personal, Sonny, it’s strictly business.” That quote was first delivered by mob boss Michael Corleone in The Godfather, but last Monday, it became the title of a speech by the Justice Department’s acting antitrust chief Omeed Assefi. At a George Washington University event co-hosted with the publication MLex, Assefi described an agency firing […]
“I was hoping we were going to have a bigger crowd than this, especially with the nice weather and everything,” Michael Maria told me. “I’m a little disappointed because the last march, I think there were about 10 times as many people at this time of day.” At 11AM, the crowd at Portland’s downtown waterfront […]
Dating app OkCupid agreed to settle claims from the Federal Trade Commission that it deceived millions of users by sharing their photos with a third-party facial recognition company without their consent. OkCupid and parent company Match Group did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but instead promised not to make similar alleged misrepresentations […]
This week’s newsletter also looks at why the world may be on the verge of a bigger oil shock than in 1973 and investor Tom Steyer’s plan to cut California energy prices
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the legal travails of Big Tech, follow Adi Robertson. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started The year was 1998, and reigning personal computer […]
Is social media not just bad, but illegally bad? Should tech companies pay for making it that way? According to two US juries – and no shortage of outside commentary – the answer to both questions is “yes.” Earlier this week, two juries – one in New Mexico, one in Los Angeles – held Meta […]
A new official White House app on Android and iOS takes the content from the White House website and copies it into app format. A tweet announcing the app on Friday morning appeared alongside a video joking about missile launches that also appears to feature an iPhone, rather than the elusive Trump Phone. There’s no […]