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How to measure the returns on R&D spending

Sure, it’s easy to argue for the importance of spending on science by pointing out that many of today’s most useful technologies had their origins in government-funded R&D. The internet, CRISPR, GPS—the list goes on and on. All true. But this argument ignores all the technologies that received millions in government funding and haven’t gone anywhere—at least not yet. We still don’t have DNA computers or molecular electronics. Never mind the favorite examples cited by contrarian politicians of se

Salesforce launches ‘Missionforce,’ a national security-focused business unit

Salesforce is increasing its focus on national security. The customer relationship management giant announced the creation of a new business unit called Missionforce on Tuesday. It will be focused on incorporating AI into defense workflows in three main areas: personnel, logistics, and decision making, according to a company press release. Missionforce will be helmed by Kendall Collins, who joined Salesforce in 2023 and is currently the chief business officer and chief of staff to Salesforce C

Youth Group in Nepal Overthrows Government, Elects New Leader via Discord Poll

Nepal's government collapsed this week following an ill-advised attempt to ban social media outright. The lifting of the social media ban on Monday was unable to quell a surge in anger. Youth-led groups of disaffected "Gen Z" activists clashed with police in the streets of the capital, Kathmandu, protesting growing wealth inequality and government corruption. Over 50 people were killed in the clashes as angry crowds set government buildings ablaze, forcing prime minister Sharma Oli to resign o

Salesforce launches ‘Missonforce,’ a national security-focused business unit

Salesforce is increasing its focus on national security. The customer relationship management giant announced the creation of a new business unit called Missionforce on Tuesday. It will be focused on incorporating AI into defense workflows in three main areas: personnel, logistics, and decision making, according to a company press release. Missionforce will be helmed by Kendall Collins, who joined Salesforce in 2023 and is currently the chief business officer and chief of staff to Salesforce C

Albania Appoints an AI as Government Official

Albania has appointed the world's first-ever AI government official in hopes of rooting out some of the Balkan state's long-running corruption. As Politico Europe reports, the new AI minister — which should not be confused with a minister of AI, which a few countries already have, including Canada and the United Arab Emirates — has been dubbed "Diella," meaning "sunshine" in Albanian. Announced this week by Edi Rama, Albania's prime minster, Diella — which also serves as the avatar for e-Alban

North Korea executing more people for watching foreign films and TV, UN finds

North Korea executing more people for watching foreign films and TV, UN finds 12 hours ago Share Save Jean Mackenzie Seoul correspondent Share Save KCNA via EPA Life under Kim Jong Un's rule has become tougher and people are more afraid, the report claims The North Korean government is increasingly implementing the death penalty, including for people caught watching and sharing foreign films and TV dramas, a major UN report has found. The dictatorship, which remains largely cut off from the w

How Palantir is mapping the nation’s data

When the U.S. government signs contracts with private technology companies, the fine print rarely reaches the public. Palantir Technologies, however, has attracted more and more attention over the past decade because of the size and scope of its contracts with the government. Palantir’s two main platforms are Foundry and Gotham. Each does different things. Foundry is used by corporations in the private sector to help with global operations. Gotham is marketed as an “operating system for global

How China’s Propaganda and Surveillance Systems Really Operate

A trove of internal documents leaked from a little-known Chinese company has pulled back the curtain on how digital censorship tools are being marketed and exported globally. Geedge Networks sells what amounts to a commercialized “Great Firewall” to at least four countries, including Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Myanmar. The groundbreaking leak shows in granular detail the capabilities this company has to monitor, intercept, and hack internet traffic. Researchers who examined the files de

Google Is Telling People DOGE Never Existed

Here’s a Mandela effect event that you probably thought was real: The Department of Government Efficiency, the pseudo-agency run by Elon Musk to cut “fraud, waste, and abuse” from federal operations, didn’t actually exist. At least, that is what Google’s AI Overview response will tell you if you search certain content related to DOGE’s operations. A Bluesky user who goes by iucounu first pointed out this mistake in Google’s comprehension skills, finding that querying the search engine for infor

Nepal reverses social media ban as protests turn deadly

Nepal has made a dramatic U-turn, reversing a social media ban imposed last week after the decision sparked nationwide “Gen Z” protests that reportedly left at least 19 people dead. The ban, which blocked access to 26 platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X, was imposed following an August 25 directive requiring foreign social media companies to register their operations in Nepal and appoint a local contact within seven days. When most platforms failed to comply by the deadline,

14 Killed in protests in Nepal over social media ban

At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured on Monday as violent protests by youths rocked the Nepalese capital and certain other areas over the government's decision to ban social media sites, prompting authorities to deploy the army in Kathmandu to control the situation. Advertisement Thousands of youths, including school students, under the banner of Gen Z, converged in front of Parliament in the heart of Kathmandu and shouted anti-government slogans demanding immediate revocation of

Nepal blocks most social media sites for failing to register with the government

The government of Nepal is blocking commonly used social platforms including Facebook, X, Instagram, WeChat, Reddit and YouTube due to noncompliance with a new law requiring them to register with the government, The Associated Press reported. Five platforms including TikTok and Viber that did register in the country were exempted from the ban. Social media companies were asked to provide a local contact, grievance handler and person responsible for self-regulation to avoid a shutdown and many a

Nepal moves to block Facebook, X, YouTube and others

The restrictions come after the social media giants failed to meet state registration requirements, says government. Nepal’s government has said it will shut off access to major social media platforms, including Facebook and X, after they failed to comply with authorities’ registration requirements. The move, announced on Thursday, is part of what the government says is an effort to curb online hate, rumours and cybercrime. Companies were given a deadline of Wednesday to register with the Min

Nepal blocks Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X over rule breach, amid censorship concerns

Nepal has ordered internet service providers to block access to major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X, after the companies failed to comply with local registration rules — drawing criticism from media rights groups and raising concerns over censorship and free expression. On Thursday, Nepal’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology directed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to instruct internet service providers to restrict access to 26 so

Canada Raids Compound of QAnon-Inspired Cult Leader, ‘Queen of Canada’

The cultural curse of QAnon may have largely dissipated in the U.S., but an alleged offshoot of the cult has been festering in a remote region of Canada. This week, police say they busted the group in a raid on a compound in a small village in southwest Saskatchewan. Authorities in Canada say they arrested 17 people in the village of Richmound on Wednesday. The arrests took place at a building where the group—which calls itself “The Kingdom of Canada”—had been living for approximately two years

Sen. Rand Paul blasts Trump's stake in Intel as 'a step towards socialism'

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday criticized the Trump administration's decision to take a 10% stake in embattled chipmaker Intel , calling the investment "a step towards socialism." Intel announced last month that the U.S. government made an $8.9 billion investment in Intel common stock, purchasing 433.3 million shares at a price of $20.47 per share, giving it a 10% stake in the company. Intel noted that the price the government paid was a discount to the current market price. Rand said gov

Microsoft rewarded for security failures with another US Government contract

Microsoft, the latest tech firm to agree to big software discounts for the US government, is digging even deeper into its bargain bin than the competition by offering a year of free Copilot access to government agencies willing to put up with its other problem products. The General Services Administration (GSA) announced its new deal with Microsoft on Tuesday, describing it as a "strategic partnership" that could save the federal government as much as $3.1 billion over the next year. The GSA di

ICE obtains access to Israeli-made spyware that hack phones and encrypted apps

US immigration agents will have access to one of the world’s most sophisticated hacking tools after a decision by the Trump administration to move ahead with a contract with Paragon Solutions, a company founded in Israel which makes spyware that can be used to hack into any mobile phone – including encrypted applications. The Department of Homeland Security first entered into a contract with Paragon, now owned by a US firm, in late 2024, under the Biden administration. But the $2m contract was

Is AI Running the Government? Here’s What We Know

The Trump administration is letting the generative AI chatbots loose. Federal agencies such as the General Services Administration and the Social Security Administration have rolled out ChatGPT-esque tech for their workers. The Department of Veterans Affairs is using generative AI to write code. The U.S. Army has deployed CamoGPT, a generative AI tool, to review documents to eliminate references to diversity, equity, and inclusion. More tools are coming down the line. The Department of Educati

The US government drops its CHIPS Act requirements for Intel

Intel no longer has to fulfill certain requirements or meet milestones that it was originally supposed to under the CHIPS Act, now that the government is taking a stake in the company. According to the Wall Street Journal, Intel said in a filing that it can now receive funding from the government, as long as it can show that it has already spent $7.9 billion on projects that it agreed to take on under a deal with the Commerce Department last year. Reuters notes that Intel has already spent $7.87

MSNBC: Whistleblower accuses DOGE team of endangering Social Security data

Whistleblower accuses DOGE team of endangering critical Social Security data This article features Government Accountability Project whistleblower client Charles Borges and was originally published here. Within weeks of Donald Trump’s second inaugural, members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team showed up at the Social Security Administration and started demanding access to files. The efforts were not well received: Michelle King, in her capacity as the acting Social Securi

Court documents shed new light on UK-Apple row over user data

Court documents shed new light on UK-Apple row over user data 1 hour ago Share Save Graham Fraser Technology Reporter Share Save Getty Images The UK government may have wanted to force Apple to provide it with access to more customer data than previously thought, a court document has indicated. A row erupted between the two after it emerged the Home Office asked the tech giant for the right access to highly encrypted user data stored via a service called Advanced Data Protection (ADP). Now a

The White House reportedly ordered xAI's Grok to be approved for government use

Despite some fallout between President Trump and Elon Musk, the White House appears to still be in Musk’s corner. Wired is reporting , based on documents obtained by the outlet, that the White House allegedly directed leadership at the General Services Administration (GSA) to include xAI's Grok on its list of approved AI vendors. xAI is owned by Elon Musk and was not included in the slew of approvals the GSA issued in August that saw the agency add OpenAI, Google and Anthropic to its list of ve

The White House Apparently Ordered Federal Workers to Roll Out Grok ‘ASAP’

The White House appears to have instructed leaders at the General Services Administration (GSA) to add xAI’s Grok chatbot to a list of approved vendors “ASAP,” according to an email sent by agency leadership earlier this week, which WIRED obtained. “Team: Grok/xAI needs to go back on the schedule ASAP per the WH,” states the email, sent by Josh Gruenbaum, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service. “Can someone get with Carahsoft on this immediately and please confirm?” Carahsoft is a

DOGE Operatives Are Joining Donald Trump’s New National Design Studio

Some operatives from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are joining Airbnb cofounder and DOGE member Joe Gebbia’s new National Design Studio, sources tell WIRED. Gebbia’s NDS is a federal project tasked with redesigning government web pages and digital services. Like DOGE and the US DOGE Service (formerly US Digital Service), it’s also an office located within the executive office of the president. “My directive is to update today’s government services to be as satisfying to use as

White House Suggests It’s Coming for Defense Companies Next

The U.S. government took a 10% stake in Intel last week, through a deal that will convert funding from the CHIPS Act into partial ownership of the tech company. But President Donald Trump has much larger plans for his government’s takeover of private industry. At least that’s what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested Tuesday during an interview on CNBC. CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Lutnick about whether he thought it was “fair for America” that government was now taking control of

Saudi AI Firm Launches Halal Chatbot

Companies with AI chatbots love to highlight their capability as translators, but they still default to English, both in function and in the information they are trained on. With that in mind, Humain, an AI company in Saudi Arabia, has now launched an Arabic-native chatbot. The bot, called Humain Chat, runs on the Allam large language model, according to Bloomberg, which the company claims was trained on “one of the largest Arabic datasets ever assembled” and is the “world’s most advanced Arabi

The White House Wants to Beautify US Websites. This Airbnb Co-Founder Is in Charge

The Trump administration is putting Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia in charge of a newly created National Design Studio tasked with reimagining federal websites. Gebbia, who will serve as the Chief Design Officer of the US, posted on X on Saturday that he'll be working to update government services "to be as satisfying to use as the Apple Store: beautifully designed, great user experience, run on modern software." In the X post, Gebbia said that his work will support the new America by Design ini

The US government is taking an $8.9 billion stake in Intel

President Donald Trump says the US government is taking a 10 percent stake in chip maker Intel. Trump shared the news during a press conference on Friday, though an official announcement is still forthcoming, Reuters reports. News of a plan to convert Intel's previously promised CHIPS Act funding into equity in the company was first reported earlier in August. A meeting between Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Trump following the President's call for Tan to resign seems to be the source of the deal. "H

U.S. government takes 10% stake in Intel, as Trump expands control over private sector

Lip-Bu Tan, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., departs following a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday that the U.S. government has taken a 10% stake in embattle chipmaker Intel, the Trump administration's latest effort to exert control over corporate America. Intel shares rose about 6% during trading on Friday. They were flat in extended trading. Intel, the only American company capable of making ad