WIRED found that several employees from the America First Policy Institute, a think tank closely tied to the Trump administration, have been placed inside the Census Bureau with access to sensitive population data. Two of them co-authored an anonymous August report claiming thousands of noncitizens voted in 2020, a study WIRED says relies on flawed methodology. The same group appears to be a larger team almost entirely composed of AFPI-linked staff detailed to the bureau.
wired.com
· 2026-09-15
WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast examines a viral resignation from an Anthropic researcher who argued AI could plausibly cause human extinction within ten years. The episode also covers Apple's newly unveiled $2,000 foldable iPhone Duo, privacy concerns around 'always listening' Apple Watch features, and a WIRED investigation into flawed Census Bureau data cited by the Trump administration.
wired.com
· 2026-09-10
Payments firm Ramp's survey of 70,000 businesses found only 56% paid for AI tools in August, up just 0.4% from July, marking a sharp deceleration in adoption. Spending per employee among the top 1% of firms fell nearly 10% to $7,205, which Ramp economist Ara Kharazian attributes partly to seasonal vacation effects and partly to falling token prices, now averaging $0.68 per million tokens versus a March peak of $1.15.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-09
A Census Bureau report claiming to find 24,000 noncitizen voters in the 2020 election has been shown by a WIRED investigation to rely on faulty data and a rushed approval process. Several of the report's authors have ties to the Trump administration, including a former DOGE affiliate and researchers from the America First Policy Institute. Experts say the numbers likely stem from analytical errors rather than actual instances of illegal voting.
wired.com
· 2026-09-09
A new U.S. Census Bureau report finds that people aged 65 and older now outnumber young children worldwide for the first time. The bureau projects the share of people 65 and up will nearly double from 10.5% in 2025 to 19.6% by 2060, driven largely by falling birth rates and longer lifespans. Global population is expected to grow from about 8 billion to 10 billion by 2060, with over half that growth coming from the elderly population.
slashdot.org
· 2026-09-05