Author: Wired Magazine

Silicon Valley Billionaires Panic Over California’s Proposed Wealth Tax

Did California lose Larry Page? The Google and Alphabet cofounder, who left day-to-day operations in 2019, has seen his net worth soar in the years since—from around $50 billion at the time of his departure to somewhere approximating $260 billion today. (Leaving his job clearly didn’t hurt his wallet.) Last year, a proposed ballot initiative… Continue reading Silicon Valley Billionaires Panic Over California’s Proposed Wealth Tax

X Didn’t Fix Grok’s ‘Undressing’ Problem. It Just Makes People Pay for It

After creating thousands of “undressing” pictures of women and sexualized imagery of apparent minors, Elon Musk’s X has apparently limited who can generate images with Grok. However, despite the changes, the chatbot is still being used to create “undressing” sexualized images on the platform. On Friday morning, the Grok account on X started responding to… Continue reading X Didn’t Fix Grok’s ‘Undressing’ Problem. It Just Makes People Pay for It

Conservative Lawmakers Want Porn Taxes. Critics Say They’re Unconstitutional

As age-verification laws continue to dismantle the adult industry—and determine the future of free speech on the internet—a Utah lawmaker proposed a bill this week that would enforce a tax on porn sites that operate within the state. Introduced by state senator Calvin Musselman, a Republican, the bill would impose a 7 percent tax on… Continue reading Conservative Lawmakers Want Porn Taxes. Critics Say They’re Unconstitutional

ICE Agent Who Reportedly Shot Renee Good Was a Firearms Trainer, Per Testimony

Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer identified by multiple news outlets as the federal agent who shot 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday, is a veteran deportation officer in ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division, according to sworn testimony from the federal district court in Minnesota obtained by WIRED. A member of… Continue reading ICE Agent Who Reportedly Shot Renee Good Was a Firearms Trainer, Per Testimony

Why a Chinese Robot Vacuum Company Spun Off Not One but 2 EV Brands

For Chinese companies, the bet is that lower prices and more AI features will persuade people to wear smart glasses all day, recording their lives through constant video and audio. If you lower the price to around $200, “people will start to use them every day,” says Brian Chen, general manager of Appotronics’ innovation center.… Continue reading Why a Chinese Robot Vacuum Company Spun Off Not One but 2 EV Brands

People Are Using AI to Falsely Identify the Federal Agent Who Shot Renee Good

In the hours after a masked federal agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, social media users have been sharing AI-altered images they falsely claim “unmask” the officer, revealing their real identity. The agent was later identified by Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin as an Immigrations and Customs… Continue reading People Are Using AI to Falsely Identify the Federal Agent Who Shot Renee Good

Google Is Adding an ‘AI Inbox’ to Gmail That Summarizes Emails

Google is putting even more generative AI tools into Gmail as part of its goal to further personalize user inboxes and streamline searches. On Thursday, the company announced a new “AI Inbox” tab, currently in a beta testing phase, that reads every message in a user’s Gmail and suggests a list of to-dos and key… Continue reading Google Is Adding an ‘AI Inbox’ to Gmail That Summarizes Emails

Traces of Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA May Have Been Discovered on a Red Chalk Drawing Called ‘Holy Child’

Researchers from the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project (LDVP) report that by analyzing the drawing of Holy Child and other Renaissance artifacts, such as letters written by a da Vinci relative, they have recovered some Y chromosome DNA sequences that appear to belong to a genetic group of people with common ancestors in Tuscany, where… Continue reading Traces of Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA May Have Been Discovered on a Red Chalk Drawing Called ‘Holy Child’

Grok Is Generating Sexual Content Far More Graphic Than What’s on X

This story contains descriptions of explicit sexual content and sexual violence. Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot has drawn outrage and calls for investigation after being used to flood X with “undressed” images of women and sexualized images of what appear to be minors. However, that’s not the only way people have been using the AI to… Continue reading Grok Is Generating Sexual Content Far More Graphic Than What’s on X