I had not seen US cops recently charged a man for using Grok to make CSAM as recently as March, which seems relevant as the first state prepares to ban nudifying apps.

SBF's MAGA makeover didn't work to get him a new trial...

PREACH: “I don’t want to expedite the process. That ruins the point for me." www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I used to cover school shootings for Teen Vogue, so trust me when I say these cases are extremely hard to read. One mother whose daughter is still fighting for her life said she would do anything to go back, while Sam Altman says he's deeply sorry for OpenAI's actions arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

I went through Musk and Altman's depositions, if you're curious what they're saying ahead of this wild trial where the judge has already called out both sides for BS arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Here it is, over 4K words on what happened after the headline grabbing “$54 million in NFT sales” for Peter Molyneux’s game Legacy. Many players lost thousands chasing a “play to earn” hype train that evaporated almost immediately when the game launched. arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/...

an apparently necessary PSA against making fake AI sightings of lost animals...

Ahead of the next Mar-a-Lago gala, I talked to a researcher analyzing suspected insider trading on Trump's memecoin and an ethicist who (with a grain of salt) thinks a crackdown on Trump's crypto empires may be coming soon... arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

If any copyright experts wanna chat about Meta hoping that SCOTUS ruling that ISPs aren’t liable for piracy will help defeat AI training data torrenting claims, I am all ears. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Bill Orcutt’s Music in Continuous Motion is the evening wind-down music I needed.

I think it's hard for NCMEC to discuss platform failings outside of these big lawsuits. So it interested me that NCMEC joined law enforcement in testifying that Meta's CSAM reporting is "useless" due to an over-reliance on AI: arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

“At trial, Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified that ‘harms to children, such as sexual exploitation and detriments to mental health, were inevitable on the company’s platforms due to their vast user bases…’”

Nobody wants age gates, especially when they don't understand how the age gates work. I tried to get the next wave of age check tech makers to talk directly about what's coming and why it's no longer acceptable to just say "trust us": arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

New feature digs into the age check tech that Discord endorsed following widespread backlash. Bottom line: On-device checks—if they work as they claim—are more privacy-preserving, but privacy advocates still don't think age verification laws are effective enough to justify any of it:

As recently as January, Musk was insistent that he had seen "literally zero" examples of Grok CSAM, despite research flagging it. Girls suing hope this lawsuit will force Musk to finally confront that it exists and fix the problem, instead of allegedly profiting off kids' trauma.

Backlash may end up getting much bigger once “naughty chats” roll out and users get more curious about how age checks work…

Imagining chatbots trained to emote like Kristen Wiig’s Surprise Party Sue www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

I'm suing Grammarly over its paid AI feature that presented editing suggestions as if they came from me - and many other writers and journalists - without consent. State law requires consent before someone's name can be used for commercial purposes. www.wired.com/story/gramma...

I can tell I put too much brain energy into my latest feature because when I finished, I went to pick up dog food and I was unable to contain my geeked, star-struck expression each time I passed ::checks notes:: a dog that looked vaguely like Indy from Good Boy.

I wondered why Nintendo felt they had to sue over tariff refunds and the answer seems to be a suspicion that Trump might try to keep any tariffs that have already been finalized by arguing firms missed their window to challenge them. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Billions in tariff refunds could be automated, the Consumer Technology Association and Chamber of Commerce argued this week. But Trump instead is dragging out repayments that each month cost the US another $700M in interest, one conservative estimate says. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Residents complained about the noise so xAI built a basically useless wall. Residents complained the wall was lame so now they are building ANOTHER wall. A local group told me why they’re skeptical walls will do anything to reduce the loud incessant roaring. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

A coalition fighting to block xAI's permitting in Mississippi told me that nobody thinks Musk's second sound barrier is gonna help end torturous noise disturbances. The walls are one of the costliest ways to avoid engaging with a community that I've seen so far in data center fights.

Looks like this poster was inspired by our story www.wired.com/story/grok-i... and ongoing Grok reporting. Poster artist, if you’re reading this, please get in touch! You can email us at [email protected] or Signal one of our editors at timmarchman.01.

“My whole entire life is nothing but the land." The pleas from rural communities opposing data centers gobbling up countrysides are plainly heartbreaking, even if you want AI everywhere. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

The farm economy is especially fragile right now in the aftermath of the tariffs ruling. So it seems notable that farmers are rejecting "unimaginable riches" from data center developers to defend their land and way of life.

Finished updating this one. Some smaller bits that stuck out to me: -Kavanaugh claims the ruling could undo readings of another tariff statute Trump may rely more heavily on now -He also was maybe inadvertently the only justice pointing out that consumers are likely getting the biggest shaft here

Thanks to @cathaysmith.bsky.social for helping me navigate the minefield of potential copyright issues here…