Can We Please Stop Romanticizing Pre-Smartphone Life?
A lot of anti-tech—or anti-Gen Z—screeds only work by romanticizing the past while pathologizing the present and projecting damage on strangers.
Science & Technology
Trump's 100 Percent Chip Tariff Could Make It More Expensive To Build More Semiconductors in the U.S.
Trump exempted imported chips from his reciprocal tariffs in April. Now he's threatening them with 100 percent rates.
First the U.K., Next the U.S.? Britain's Digital ID Plan Should Scare Americans.
Once created, a digital ID system will prove catnip to politicians who want to track where we go, online and off.
DHS Collected DNA from 2,000 U.S. Citizens Without Due Process. It's Now in a Law Enforcement Database.
By expanding federal agents' authority to collect the DNA of immigrant detainees, the government has risked violating Americans’ rights.
TikTok's (Sorta) American Owners
Plus: James Comey indicted, some New York schools stripped of funding, NATO being tested, and more...
Review: In Defense of Spotify
Liz Pelly's Mood Machine book bemoans the music giant but overlooks how useful it is for listeners.
Google Says Biden Admin Pressured Company To Remove Content
Plus: ICE helps arrest sex workers, the SIM farm "security threat," Waymo car crashes caused by human error, and more...
These 2 Terrible Tech Bills Are on Gavin Newsom's Desk
One limits children’s access to mental health services, the other mandates a black box warning, and both undermine users’ digital privacy.
Michigan Anti-Porn Bill Would Criminalize ASMR, Written Erotica, and Even Nonsexual Depictions of Trans People
Under the law, transgender people writing about their gender identity online could face 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Photo: Artificial Intelligence Tattoos Are Here
The makers of this AI-powered robot promise greater precision and less pain.
Trump's Harmful and Illegal Plan to Gut H-1B Visas by Imposing $100,000 Fees
The plan violates the relevant visa law. If allowed to stand, it would significantly harm productivity and innovation.
The History of Minox Cameras, James Bond's Real-Life Spy Tool Used by the CIA
You can still get a secondhand Minox subminiature camera. Finding someone to process the film might be more difficult.
The Trump Administration Misses Key Deadlines for Imposing Restrictions on Gain-of-Function Research
Biosafety advocates worry the administration is backtracking on its promise to implement meaningful restrictions on the type of research that likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jonathan Haidt: Kids Should Put Down the Phones and Take More Risks
"We're too afraid they'll get abducted," says the author of The Anxious Generation. "That sets kids up to be weaker."
TikTok Isolationism
Plus: New Yorkers favor decriminalizing prostitution. An academic inquiry into "body counts." AI chatbots everywhere. And more...
Brendan Carr and Ted Cruz Don't Think Charlie Kirk's Murder Justifies Speech Restrictions
Rand Paul, who called for "a crackdown on people" who celebrated the assassination, was less careful in distinguishing between private and government action.
A Replacement for the Nation-State?
Two technologists argue that Web3 will allow new forms of organization to supplant traditional governments.
California's Tech Regulations Could Strangle AI Innovation for the Whole Country
Federalism works best when state-level policy experiments stay contained.
To Honor Charlie Kirk, Reject Cancel Culture
Plus: Trump and governors threaten social media regulations, activists push blacklists and firings, and how to resist apocalyptic politics.
Charlie Kirk Would Not Have Wanted This
A vast cancel culture campaign is a poor way to honor his legacy.
Social Media Didn't Kill Charlie Kirk
Plus: Trump says he "may let [TikTok] die," the SoHo Forum debates paying for sex, the administration calls birth control "abortifacients," and more...
AI Chatbots Might Already Be Better Than Humans at Debating
In a recent study, participants were paired with either a human or an AI debate opponent. The results confirm AI's power of persuasion.
This Protein Powder Is Made Out of Air and Uses 600 Times Less Water Than Beef
The Finnish startup Solar Foods has received a "Generally Recognized as Safe" designation from the FDA.
Lawmakers Want To Shield Kids From AI Chatbots. But Restricting Them Could Cut Off a Mental Health Lifeline.
Crackdowns on AI chatbots over perceived risks to children's safety could ultimately put more children at risk.
What the Messages on the Bullets of Charlie Kirk's Assassin Mean
The phrases are a mix of anti-fascist sentiments and irony-poisoned internet memes.
TikTok's Revolutionaries
Plus: Poland invokes Article 4, zoning code has a problem with orgies, and more...
Donald Trump Is Not the Bitcoin President
He’s the stablecoin president, seeking to expand the monetary power and borrowing capacity of the U.S. government.
GOP Rep Proposes Canceling People Over Mean Posts About Charlie Kirk
Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins, who once opposed government jawboning, now says people should be banned from both social media and public life over their posts.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley Are Borrowing Joe Biden's Playbook To Regulate AI
Republican AI opponents sound an awful lot like Democrats.
Israeli Strike on U.S. Ally
Plus: Lisa Cook firing blocked, friend's bad reviews, jobs numbers revisions, and more...
The GAIN AI Act Looks More Like Protectionism Than National Security
Tucked into the defense bill, the GAIN AI Act would force Nvidia and other firms to prioritize domestic sales at the cost of global competitiveness.
MAGA Is Wrong About AI. Trump Is Right.
Plus: a weak jobs report and Trump’s economic record, New College of Florida weighing privatization after its clash with DeSantis, and the DOJ pushes to block transgender Americans from gun ownership
Advocates of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Complain that 'the FDA Moved the Goalposts'
The agency's puzzling concerns about the Lykos Therapeutics drug application
The U.S. Can't Afford AI Copyright Lawsuits
It's time for President Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act and resolve the crisis.
Richard Dawkins on New Threats to Science—From Religion to Relativism
The legendary atheist and evolutionary biologist argues that truth shouldn't bend to faith or fashionable politics.
I'm a Gamer. The NO FAKES Act Could Get Me in Trouble.
A bill meant to fight AI deepfakes could devastate creativity in games like Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim, and Minecraft, where mods keep old titles alive.
Josh Hawley's Anti–Driverless Cars Policy Would Kill a Lot of People
Tens of thousands of people die each year in crashes where human error was the cause or a contributing factor.
Donald Trump's Antitrust Enforcers Continue Their Harassment Campaign Against Google
There is no hard evidence of Gmail discriminating against Republican campaign emails, but that’s no matter to the FTC Chairman.
Google's Industry Dominance Isn't Unprecedented—and It Isn't Forever
Failure of imagination drives the bipartisan energy around busting so-called Big Tech monopolies.
Trump and Biden Tried To Break Up Google. Now, They've Both Failed.
A federal judge rejected the proposed structural remedies in the Google search engine monopoly case.
FDA Official Pressures YouTube Into Removing a Channel For Posting His Own Vaccine Comments
Not long ago, conservatives were rightly concerned about jawboning. Now they're apparently happy to take part in it themselves.
More Age Verification Fallout: Artist Blogs Blocked, Porn Data Leaked, Traffic Boosts for Noncompliant Sites
Unintended—but entirely predictable—consequences abound!
We're Moving Too Slow on AI
Technologist Pablos Holman warns that slowing AI progress cedes the future to gatekeepers and explains how open competition can unlock breakthroughs in energy, health, and innovation on a massive scale.
Don't Fear 'Frankenfood.' We're Already Living in the Lab-Grown Future.
Many people prefer naturally produced over man-made. But isn't there something just as compelling about the stuff that thousands of people collaborated to make?
