John Solly Is the DOGE Operative Accused of Planning to Take Social Security Data to His New Job

A whistleblower complaint alleges John Solly claimed to have stored highly sensitive Social Security data on a thumb drive. Solly and Leidos, his current employer, strongly deny the allegations.

‘Uncanny Valley’: Anthropic’s DOD Lawsuit, War Memes, and AI Coming for VC Jobs

In today’s episode, we discuss how the saga between Anthropic and the Department of Defense is far from over.

Anthropic doesn’t trust the Pentagon, and neither should you
Anthropic doesn’t trust the Pentagon, and neither should you

Today we’re talking about the messy, fast-moving situation at Anthropic, the maker of Claude that now finds itself in a very ugly legal battle with the Pentagon.  The back-and-forth is complicated, but as of a few days ago, the Pentagon had deemed Anthropic a supply chain risk, and Anthropic has filed a lawsuit challenging that […]

This Is the Next Wave of Political Fundraising

In Discord servers and Instagram DMs, content creators are organizing, turning followings in the millions into millions of dollars in political giving.

The mysterious case of the DHS white supremacist memelord
The mysterious case of the DHS white supremacist memelord

Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter that takes Verge subscribers into the smoke-filled back rooms of Washington as they become the Zyn-filled back rooms of Washington. (Although Tucker Carlson’s ALP is more popular among a certain set.) Not a Verge subscriber yet? Sign up here today! I’m not exposing myself to all these carcinogens […]

Pete Hegseth Is Pushing Defense Employees to Volunteer With DHS

The defense secretary has made clear that Pentagon managers are to encourage workers, including civilians, to volunteer to assist in the administration’s immigration crackdown.

Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X

X’s Grok is failing to accurately verify video footage from the Iran conflict and is sharing its own AI-generated images about the war.

They Helped Plan the January 6 Rally. Now Their Events Company Is Raking in Millions in Government Contracts

The Trump administration has awarded Event Strategies several contracts—including one that could be worth up to $100 million—with little competition, according to federal filings.

Every influencer eventually becomes a merch store
Every influencer eventually becomes a merch store

Tucker Carlson’s online store sells right-wing apparel and home goods, like hoodies in the Supreme streetwear style mocking Somali people or mugs with The Godfather puppetmaster iconography edited to feature AIPAC. But last week, a handful of other products caught the attention of those outside Carlson’s typical audience: one is a red and yellow “NY […]

YouTube is expanding its AI deepfake detection tool to politicians and journalists
YouTube is expanding its AI deepfake detection tool to politicians and journalists

Public officials and journalists will soon be able to keep track of AI-generated deepfakes of themselves on YouTube through the platform’s likeness detection feature. The tool is already available to millions of content creators on YouTube, but beginning Tuesday, it will expand to a pilot group of journalists, government officials, and political candidates. (At a […]