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US government announces $200 million Grok contract a week after ‘MechaHitler’ incident

theverge.com Lauren Feiner 2026-01-19 09:58:16

A week after Elon Musk’s Grok dubbed itself “MechaHitler” and spewed antisemitic stereotypes, the US government has announced a new contract granting the chatbot’s creator, xAI, up to $200 million to modernize the Defense Department. xAI is one of several leading AI companies to receive the award, alongside Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. But the timing of the announcement is striking given Grok’s recent high-profile spiral, which drew congressional ire and public pushback. The use of technology

Topics: ai contract government musk xai

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xAI starts offering Grok to US government agencies

engadget.com Unknown 2026-01-19 14:29:53

Just days after apologizing for Grok's recent hard turn toward antisemitism, xAI has announced a suite of AI products for government use. Grok for Government brings together the company's latest commercial products, including Grok 4 and Deep Search, with special considerations given to the needs of federal, state and local agencies. To that end, xAI says it will design custom models for specific national security and research customers. It will also develop specialized AI applications for use i

Topics: government grok models products xai

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More Than 2,100 NASA Staff Are Getting Gutted

futurism.com Unknown 2026-01-25 04:10:14

Elon Musk might have been deposed from DOGE, but the government cuts are still coming. As reported by Politico, some 2,145 high-level NASA employees are about to be launched out of the agency as efforts to cut US government spending continues. The employees represent those with G-13, G-14, and G-15 status — typically specialized or managerial roles which start around the six-figure salary range. The workers are part of a group of nearly 2,700 civilian employees who've agreed to leave NASA volu

Topics: center government like nasa space

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This Is DOGE 2.0

wired.com Makena Kelly 2026-01-25 23:30:00

On Monday, June 23, Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, one of the first young, inexperienced technologists to join Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), disappeared from the internal directory of the General Services Administration (GSA). Less than a month before, centibillionaire Elon Musk and other DOGE leaders had announced their departure from government. After months of slashing through the federal government, it seemed like the end for DOGE was in sight. But later t

Topics: doge federal government musk says

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A Virginia public library is fighting off a takeover by private equity

news.ycombinator.com Unknown 2026-01-26 03:05:46

Photo from The Samuels Public Library After being targeted by anti-LGBTQ book banners and having their funding pulled, a local library in Virginia successfully stopped a threatened takeover by a private equity group. The local community rallied around The Samuels Public Library in Front Royal, Virginia, to push back against attacks and the private equity owned Library Systems & Services withdrew their bid to run operations. But with their funding cut for the fiscal year that began this July, th

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Elon Musk's X says Indian government ordered more than 2,000 accounts blocked, including Reuters

cnbc.com Chris Eudaily 2026-01-29 23:18:24

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the White House to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. Elon Musk's X said Tuesday that the Indian government ordered the company to block 2,355 accounts, including Reuters, in the country. "The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded immediate action- within one hour- without providing justification, and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice," X's global government af

Topics: account government indian reuters said

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Elon Musk's X says Indian government ordered over 2,000 accounts blocked, including Reuters

cnbc.com Chris Eudaily 2026-01-30 09:06:02

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the White House to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. Elon Musk's X said Tuesday that the Indian government ordered the company to block 2,355 accounts, including Reuters, in the country. "The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded immediate action- within one hour- without providing justification, and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice," X's global government af

Topics: account government indian reuters said

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X blocked Reuters accounts in India

techcrunch.com Anthony Ha 2026-02-03 00:34:56

The main Reuters news account, as well as the Reuters World account, became inaccessible to X users in India on Saturday evening. Access was subsequently restored on Sunday. Reuters reports that Indian users attempting to view the @Reuters account — which has 25 million followers — instead saw a message stating that the account “has been withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand.” However, an Indian government spokesperson told TechCrunch, “There is no requirement from the Governmen

Topics: government india indian reuters techcrunch

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The American system of democracy has crashed

theverge.com Elizabeth Lopatto 2026-02-05 04:00:00

Once upon a time in America, there was a tyrant. And Congress rejected him totally. The tyrant, of course, was King George III, the target of the Declaration of Independence. We take it for granted now, but the Declaration was an enormous political innovation — in it, the country that became the United States of America laid claim to certain “unalienable” rights, rights that took precedence over any king or crown. To protect those rights, our Founders declared that the People were allowed to “

Topics: court government right rights trump

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Apple reverts China slump, sees first iPhone quarterly growth in two years [report]

9to5mac.com Marcus Mendes 2026-02-05 23:24:42

For the past two years, Apple has been having a tough time in China. Just recently, the U.S. trade war and local incentives from the Chinese government really got in the way of iPhone sales. However, Apple seems to be regaining control of the situation. A two-year long downturn in China As we covered recently, Apple’s extended rough patch in China may finally be easing. Since Q3 2022, the company has posted year-over-year revenue growth in just one quarter, with declines of up to 13% in the ot

Topics: apple china government iphone report

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Judge: You can’t ban DEI grants without bothering to define DEI

arstechnica.com Unknown 2026-02-07 04:41:15

In mid-June, a federal judge issued a stinging rebuke to the Trump administration, declaring that its decision to cancel the funding for many grants issued by the National Institutes of Health was illegal, and suggesting that the policy was likely animated by racism. But the detailed reasoning behind his decision wasn't released at the time. The written portion of the decision was finally issued on Wednesday, and it has a number of notable features. For starters, it's more limited in scope due

Topics: court decision discrimination government issued

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Tesla deliveries drop 14 percent amid Musk backlash

engadget.com Unknown 2026-02-10 14:16:39

Tesla says it delivered 384,122 electric vehicles in the April-June timeframe, which is a 14 percent drop compared with the same period in 2024. It's also the second quarter in a row that sales have fallen year-over-year (YoY). The company produced 410,244 vehicles in Q2, which is very close to the 410,831 it made during the equivalent period last year. However, the company delivered more vehicles (443,956) than it produced in Q2 2024. That's not the case this time. The number of vehicle delive

Topics: 2024 company government musk tesla

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Switzerland says government data stolen in ransomware attack

bleepingcomputer.com Unknown 2026-02-15 23:39:42

The government in Switzerland is informing that sensitive information from various federal offices has been impacted by a ransomware attack at the third-party organization Radix. The hackers have stolen data from Radix systems and later leaked it on the dark web, the Swiss government says. The exposed data is being analyzed with the help of the country’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to determine which government agencies are impacted and to what effect. “The foundation Radix has been

Topics: data government radix ransomware sarcoma

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Hikvision Canada ordered to cease operations over security risks

bleepingcomputer.com Unknown 2026-02-16 04:11:17

The Canadian government has ordered Hikvision’s subsidiary in the country to cease all operations following a review that determined them to pose a national security risk. The order was forwarded to Hikvision last Friday, and the matter was made public over the weekend by Mélanie Joly, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “Following a National Security Review under the Investment Canada Act, the Government of Canada has ordered Hikvision Canada Inc. to cease all operations in

Topics: canada decision government hikvision security

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‘Big Balls’ Is Now at the Social Security Administration

wired.com Makena Kelly 2026-02-19 06:05:02

Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, one of the first young technologists brought on to Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has returned to government shortly after resigning. “Edward Coristine joined the Social Security Administration this week as a special government employee,” Stephen McGraw, an SSA spokesperson, tells WIRED. “His work will be focused on improving the functionality of the Social Security website and advancing our mission of delivering more efficient se

Topics: coristine employee government ssa wired

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Homeland Security warns of Iran-backed cyberattacks targeting US networks

techcrunch.com Zack Whittaker 2026-02-20 23:20:00

In Brief A bulletin issued Sunday by U.S. Homeland Security said it expects to see Iranian government-backed hackers conduct attacks against U.S. networks, amid the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Israel, and Iran. The National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin said low-level cyberattacks by hacktivists are “likely,” adding that hacktivists and government-linked hackers “routinely target” poorly secured U.S. networks and internet-connected devices to cause disruption. The bulletin was

Topics: bulletin cyberattacks government hackers iran

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Is DOGE doomed to fail? Some experts are ready to call it.

arstechnica.com Unknown 2026-02-22 23:40:12

Critics are increasingly branding Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as a failure, including lawmakers fiercely debating how much funding to allot next year to the controversial agency. On Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats sparred over DOGE's future at a DOGE subcommittee hearing, according to NextGov, a news site for federal IT workers. On one side, Republicans sought to "lock in" and codify the "DOGE process" for supposedly reducing waste and fraud in government, and on t

Topics: doge government kamarck process workers

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What 'OpenAI for Government' means for US AI policy

zdnet.com Radhika Rajkumar 2026-02-23 09:15:54

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET OpenAI maintains several government-facing initiatives, including testing partnerships with the National Labs and ChatGPT Gov. Last week, the company announced it is rolling them all under a single umbrella initiative: OpenAI for Government. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Pilot program with the DOD The initiative's f

Topics: ai dod government openai trump

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Brit politicians question Fujitsu's continued role in public sector contracts

news.ycombinator.com Lindsay Clark 2026-02-24 03:12:46

British MPs and peers are questioning the government's decision to continue accepting bids for large-scale IT contracts from Fujitsu, despite the Japanese supplier's previous pledge to stop bidding. Following the widespread publicity around the Post Office Horizon scandal in January 2024, Fujitsu, which supplied the faulty computer system, volunteered to stop bidding for UK public sector contracts until the public inquiry had completed. At the time, the Japanese computer giant was in the proce

Topics: contract fujitsu government horizon public

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Stephen Miller Owns Stock in Notorious ICE Collaborator Palantir

gizmodo.com Matt Novak 2026-02-26 03:00:35

Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, is well known as one of the most extreme anti-immigrant voices in the administration. But he’s not just a ghoul driven by far-right ideology to rid the U.S. of anyone who’s not white. Miller also appears to be making some money in the process, thanks to his stock ownership in a company that’s helping the U.S. government rip apart immigrant families through deportation. Miller owns anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000 in Palantir stock, a

Topics: barranco government miller palantir stock

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The rise of the surveillance state in three book reviews

technologyreview.com Bryan Gardiner 2026-02-24 20:00:00

Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State Byron Tau CROWN, 2024 Midway through his book, Tau, an investigative journalist, recalls meeting with a disgruntled former employee of a data broker—a shady company that collects, bundles, and sells your personal data to other (often shadier) third parties, including the government. This ex-employee had managed to make off with several gigabytes of location data representing the preci

Topics: control data government means tau

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US warns of Iranian cyberattacks and propaganda in wake of airstrikes

techspot.com Rob Thubron 2026-02-27 04:22:00

TL;DR: The Iranian government has been behind several cyberattacks on US organizations over the years. Now, the Department of Homeland Security has warned of an increased threat of both cyberattacks and physical attacks from the nation following US strikes on its nuclear facilities over the weekend. Homeland Security has warned that low-level cyberattacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government are likely. The advisory adds that th

Topics: cyberattacks government iran iranian water

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Amazon to invest £40 billion in the UK over next three years

cnbc.com Ryan Browne 2026-02-27 17:19:10

LONDON — Amazon will invest £40 billion ($54 billion) in the U.K. over the next three years, the e-commerce titan announced Tuesday. The company said it plans to spend the money on building four new fulfillment centers — large warehouses where it prepares orders for delivery — as well as upgrades and expansions to its existing operations buildings across the country. The announcement was cheered by the British government, which has been courting investments from major tech players of late as i

Topics: billion domestic government growth said

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Namibia wants to build the world’s first hydrogen economy

technologyreview.com Jonathan W. Rosen 2026-02-27 17:00:00

But environmentalists are not the only ones who’ve criticized the choice of location. An expanded port, built to facilitate ammonia exports, will sit immediately adjacent to a site that housed a labor and extermination camp during Namibia’s 1904–1908 genocide, in which tens of thousands of Nama and Herero people were killed by German soldiers during a period of resistance to colonial rule. A 2024 report commissioned by Nama and Herero leaders argues that the extension of port infrastructure woul

Topics: government green hydrogen namibia projects

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Book review: Surveillance & privacy

technologyreview.com Bryan Gardiner 2026-03-02 14:00:00

Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State Byron Tau CROWN, 2024 Midway through his book, Tau, an investigative journalist, recalls meeting with a disgruntled former employee of a data broker—a shady company that collects, bundles, and sells your personal data to other (often shadier) third parties, including the government. This ex-employee had managed to make off with several gigabytes of location data representing the preci

Topics: control data government means tau

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The bad boy of bar charts: William Playfair (2023)

news.ycombinator.com Mike Woodward 2026-02-25 23:29:31

A spy, a scoundrel, and a scholar William Playfair was all three. He led an extraordinary life at the heart of many of the great events of the 18th and 19th centuries, mostly in morally dubious roles. Among all the intrigue, scandal, and indebtedness, he found time to invent the bar and pie charts, and make pioneering use of line charts. As we'll see, he was quite a character. Playfair the scoundrel Playfair's lifetime (1759-1823) contained some momentous events: The development of the steam

Topics: book charts french government playfair

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Why You Should Care About OpenAI's New $200 Million Defense Department Deal

cnet.com See Full Bio 2026-03-02 00:00:06

The US Department of Defense has awarded ChatGPT maker OpenAI a $200 million contract to develop "prototype frontier AI capabilities," the government and company announced on Monday. The deal is through the Defense Department's chief digital and artificial intelligence office and is expected to be completed in one year. OpenAI said in its statement that its AI could help the department perform tasks ranging from "transform[ing] its administrative operations ... to streamlining how they look at

Topics: ai defense government new openai

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Palantir’s CEO Throws Money Behind Andrew Cuomo in NYC Mayoral Race

gizmodo.com Lucas Ropek 2026-03-08 13:50:53

Alex Karp, the billionaire CEO of creepy defense contractor Palantir, has taken a side in New York’s closely watched mayoral race. Karp, who once bragged that his company kills people, recently gave a large sum of money to a Super PAC that is supporting the campaign of former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo is currently running against Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old assemblyman for the city’s 36th district in Queens. The race between the two candidates has become a referendum on New York’s

Topics: city cuomo government karp new

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Iran restricts internet access to ward off Israeli cyberattacks

engadget.com Unknown 2026-03-09 20:00:25

People in Iran have been having difficulties accessing internet services, mostly foreign websites and messaging apps like WhatsApp. According to The New York Times and NBC News, it was the government's decision to restrict internet in the country to ward off cyberattacks by Israel as the conflict between the countries escalate. Fatemeh Mohajerani, Iran's spokesperson, said the government was forced to throttle internet speeds in the country to maintain network stability "given the enemy's cyber

Topics: country government internet iran people

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OpenAI Signed a $200M Deal With the Defense Department: Why You Should Pay Attention

cnet.com See Full Bio 2026-03-11 01:04:55

The US Department of Defense has awarded ChatGPT maker OpenAI a $200 million contract to develop "prototype frontier AI capabilities," the government and company announced on Monday. The deal is through the Defense Department's chief digital and artificial intelligence office and is expected to be completed in one year. OpenAI said in its statement that its AI could help the department perform tasks ranging from "transform[ing] its administrative operations ... to streamlining how they look at

Topics: ai defense government new openai

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Latest Tech News

US government announces $200 million Grok contract a week after ‘MechaHitler’ incident

xAI starts offering Grok to US government agencies

More Than 2,100 NASA Staff Are Getting Gutted

This Is DOGE 2.0

A Virginia public library is fighting off a takeover by private equity

Elon Musk's X says Indian government ordered more than 2,000 accounts blocked, including Reuters

Elon Musk's X says Indian government ordered over 2,000 accounts blocked, including Reuters

X blocked Reuters accounts in India

The American system of democracy has crashed

Apple reverts China slump, sees first iPhone quarterly growth in two years [report]

Judge: You can’t ban DEI grants without bothering to define DEI

Tesla deliveries drop 14 percent amid Musk backlash

Switzerland says government data stolen in ransomware attack

Hikvision Canada ordered to cease operations over security risks

‘Big Balls’ Is Now at the Social Security Administration

Homeland Security warns of Iran-backed cyberattacks targeting US networks

Is DOGE doomed to fail? Some experts are ready to call it.

What 'OpenAI for Government' means for US AI policy

Brit politicians question Fujitsu's continued role in public sector contracts

Stephen Miller Owns Stock in Notorious ICE Collaborator Palantir

The rise of the surveillance state in three book reviews

US warns of Iranian cyberattacks and propaganda in wake of airstrikes

Amazon to invest £40 billion in the UK over next three years

Namibia wants to build the world’s first hydrogen economy

Book review: Surveillance & privacy

The bad boy of bar charts: William Playfair (2023)

Why You Should Care About OpenAI's New $200 Million Defense Department Deal

Palantir’s CEO Throws Money Behind Andrew Cuomo in NYC Mayoral Race

Iran restricts internet access to ward off Israeli cyberattacks

OpenAI Signed a $200M Deal With the Defense Department: Why You Should Pay Attention

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