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…

Discord users had questions about how age checks will work to secure their data. I spoke to companies and dug into the policies and partnerships to better understand why their concerns were warranted. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Neocities sites are slowwwwwly popping back up in Bing results, I'm told, but this remains one of the weirdest exchanges I've had with a tech company, where Microsoft admitted there was an issue but wouldn't connect directly to resolve it. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

SCTV is on Internet Archive if you'd like to enjoy the early work of Catherine O'Hara and her fellow sketch comedy gods. S1: archive.org/details/sctv... S2: archive.org/details/sctv... S3: archive.org/details/19-m... S4-5: archive.org/details/66-s... S6 + Cinemax: archive.org/details/sctv... #TVSky

I keep reading that some people in leadership roles insist on using ChatGPT bc it's the chatbot they know, without seeming to understand why it may not be the best tool for the job...

Experts told me that TikTok users freaked out by "bugs" censoring anti-Trump content are not paranoid, they're just used to platforms manipulating what they see. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

TikTok settled at the last minute, but Meta and YouTube are still facing down a jury over alleged social media addiction for the first time, if you're wondering what the stakes are:

In case you're wondering, TikTok US just now directly addressed the whole "0 views" thing and claims it's a temporary glitch and creators won't lose money, as actual data and engagement is supposedly being logged. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

DHS withdrew its request for subscriber info after the owner of Facebook and Instagram community watch groups sued to block the summons as unconstitutional. It's a playbook community watch groups may increasingly use to block unmasking as ICE tensions escalate:

Still thinking about this gross catch-22 where the quickest way to remove images is to ask Grok but if you ask Grok and the images don’t come down, the act of asking Grok to remove them may make it harder to sue.

It seems xAI wants to turn victims begging Grok to remove images into a legal shield forcing lawsuits into Musk’s favorite Texas court…

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

Hey! @wired.com is doing a bunch of hiring. Here we go with a thread of five great jobs, with a few more coming shortly: 1) We are hiring a senior editor for our science desk, which means you get to work with geniuses like @timmarchman.bsky.social @mollytaft.com and @emilymullin.bsky.social

looks like California's AG may have broken Musk's resolve to refuse to block Grok's gross outputs. X Safety says it blocked everyone including paid X users and Grok app users from nudifying images: arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

It wasn’t a total win for plaintiffs, who did not prevail on First Amendment claims, and there are many hundreds of awardees whose grant terminations have not yet been impacted by the narrow ruling.

echoing The Verge here and adding that X declined to say if it's going to close those loopholes or not, as Senators urge app stores to drop Grok and X:

I was trying to figure out how a paywall solved anything when the safety guidelines on Github remain the same. I think it maybe only stops Grok spouting the images on X from a company feed? arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

This story is making the rounds again, although nothing new is happening in this case yet. I remain struck by the difference between OpenAI's response that "full" chat histories were necessary in one suicide suit, but supposedly not necessary in this one. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

I can’t hear Bjork’s Army of Me without thinking of Michel Gondry’s shiny mechanical teeth. youtu.be/jPeheoBa2_Y?...

One of my favorite stories of 2025 came after seeing a debate on Hacker News questioning if so-called "AI tarpits" were effective. I wanted to know 1) if they actually were disrupting AI crawlers (they were) and 2) how quickly new traps could be built (within days) arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Without a massive undertaking to undo moves that critics have said undermined both US science and trust in it, Trump’s dreams of launching AI models that would propel a million moonshots could go down in history as merely hype.

Made this holiday season about homemade gifts for my family, stitching my fingers off making patches and dolls.

In letters to seven AI firms, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Richard Blumenthal cited a study estimating that “electricity prices have increased by as much as 267 percent in the past five years” in “areas located near significant data center activity.”