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Tech News
Fox has introduced a new interactive feature within its Fox One streaming app to help subscribers follow the 2026 midterm elections on Nov. 3. The update includes a home-screen command center with live polling and results widgets, a curated election news hub, and an 'Elections Mode' version of its AI chatbot, Ask Fox, which answers election-related questions in real time.
NASA is aiming to establish a small, self-sustaining city on the moon by the end of the century, as both the US and China pursue lunar base programs. Such a base would need to withstand asteroid impacts, constant radiation, abrasive dust and extreme temperature swings while relying on autonomous robots, nuclear power and local resource use to stay operational.
Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer at the ACLU, said business leaders should use their public influence to support democracy and free and fair elections ahead of the midterms. She framed executives as trusted community voices capable of shaping public confidence in the electoral process.
With US midterm elections approaching and early voting underway, CNET reports that some voters are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude to research candidates and ballot measures. The outlet warns these tools can suffer from bias, sycophancy and hallucinated facts, and advises voters to cross-check chatbot answers against official state and local election websites, especially for polling locations and ballot details.
A study by Convovo, a research studio led by Cornell professor Tapan Parikh, found that when queried via API and forced to name a candidate, Grok 4.7 backed the Republican in 92% of nearly 500 midterm races while GPT-6.1 Sol backed the Democrat in 97%. The two models agreed on a candidate less than 10% of the time. OpenAI said its consumer ChatGPT app refuses to make such recommendations and that the API test does not reflect typical user experience.
Researchers at Texas A&M found that employees' exposure to political news and social media content, even outside work hours, is associated with changes in their workplace engagement. The study arrives as political anxiety tends to rise ahead of midterm elections.
A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey finds 57% of Americans believe AI is harmful to society, while 66% oppose new data center construction nationally and 72% would oppose one in their own community. Political strategists tell CNET that opposition spans party lines and could influence midterm election outcomes, particularly for candidates who backed data center projects without community input.
Sources say Trump aides are privately identifying a fall guy for anticipated midterm losses, pointing to deputy chief of staff James Blair's redistricting strategy. Republican operatives reportedly blame Trump himself for the Iran war and rising prices, but say they cannot tell him so directly. Forecasters now say some redrawn districts, including Florida's 25th, have shifted toward Democrats instead of yielding the GOP pickups originally projected.
A new opinion piece argues that Donald Trump's once-vaunted media savvy has eroded, citing his incoherent public appearances, the five-day tenure of press secretary Katie Zacharia after a botched briefing, and a low-profile Small Business Administration broadcast modeled on a reality-TV pitch competition. The SBA special featured business owners pitching to judges including Grant Cardone, Nicki Minaj, and Joe Gebbia in an apparent bid to mimic Trump's old Apprentice format.
Ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, tech policy topics like AI regulation, data center construction, privacy and child online safety are becoming prominent campaign issues. Tech executives are making large political donations, including Elon Musk's roughly $366 million to conservative causes, Andreessen Horowitz's $91.3 million to Republican-aligned groups, and a $25 million gift from OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife to a pro-AI PAC. A Gallup poll found 70% of US adults, across party lines, oppose local data center construction due to concerns about electricity and water use.
The Instagram account for the 'No Kings' protest movement was suspended for about an hour during this past weekend's nationwide demonstrations, with admin access locked for several more hours. Some supporters suspected Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg deliberately silenced the account given his recent alignment with Trump, though commentators Will Robinson and Tim Chambers argue intent is beside the point.
Voters in Pennsylvania's competitive 7th Congressional District, including 2024 Trump voter Jenny Escolastico, say rising childcare expenses are influencing their midterm voting decisions. Escolastico, an Air Force veteran, says childcare for her two young children would cost more than she could earn working full-time, keeping her out of the workforce. The district is seen as pivotal to control of Congress in the upcoming midterms.