Elon Musk is once again leaving his fingerprints on official communications from the federal government. In an email to staff Saturday afternoon, the Office of Personnel Management, which is stacked with Musk loyalists, told employees to send five bullet points detailing what they accomplished last week and cc their manager. “Failure to respond will be… Continue reading Elon Musk Threatens FBI Agents and Air Traffic Controllers With Forced Resignation If They Don’t Respond to an Email
Author: Wired Magazine
DOGE Put Him in the Treasury Department. His Company Has Federal Contracts Worth Millions
Over the past couple of decades, a number of US government officials have left their roles for lucrative jobs at tech companies. Plenty of tech executives have also departed to take leadership positions inside federal agencies. But four experts who track the federal workforce tell WIRED they were stunned last week by a development unlike… Continue reading DOGE Put Him in the Treasury Department. His Company Has Federal Contracts Worth Millions
DOGE’s USDS Purge Included the Guy Who Keeps Veterans’ Data Safe Online
When the so-called Department of Government Efficiency recently fired dozens of people from the US Digital Service—the agency DOGE subsumed last month—it may not have realized the extent of the collateral damage. The USDS doesn’t operate in a vacuum; part of its longtime mandate is to consult with federal agencies to help improve their digital… Continue reading DOGE’s USDS Purge Included the Guy Who Keeps Veterans’ Data Safe Online
This New Drug Could Help End the HIV Epidemic—but US Funding Cuts Are Killing Its Rollout
After a lifetime on the frontiers of the fight against HIV, Linda-Gail Bekker could finally see the end of the epidemic in sight. For decades, HIV experts had dreamed of an elusive vaccine to block the ongoing chain of infections, which still sees more than 1 million people worldwide contract the virus annually. Bekker, a… Continue reading This New Drug Could Help End the HIV Epidemic—but US Funding Cuts Are Killing Its Rollout
The National Institute of Standards and Technology Braces for Mass Firings
Sweeping layoffs architected by the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency may be coming as soon as this week at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a nonregulatory agency responsible for establishing benchmarks that ensure everything from beauty products to quantum computers are safe and reliable. According to several current… Continue reading The National Institute of Standards and Technology Braces for Mass Firings
Netflix Plans to Spend $1 Billion Making Content in Mexico Over the Next 4 Years
Streaming juggernaut Netflix plans to spend $1 billion on film and TV production in Mexico over the next four years. CEO Ted Sarandos announced the plan Thursday during a press conference with Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum. The injection of capital could fund 20 productions per year, on average. During Thursday’s event, Netflix also announced a… Continue reading Netflix Plans to Spend $1 Billion Making Content in Mexico Over the Next 4 Years
DOGE Puts $1 Spending Limit on Government Employee Credit Cards
Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency put a $1 spending limit on most credit cards belonging to employees and contractors of the General Services Administration—a critical agency that manages IT and office buildings for the US government—along with at least three other federal agencies. Similar restrictions are expected to roll out to the entire… Continue reading DOGE Puts $1 Spending Limit on Government Employee Credit Cards
DOGE Now Has Access to the Top US Cybersecurity Agency
Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old engineer with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) known as “Big Balls,” is now on staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), WIRED has confirmed. He is joined by another member of the DOGE team, 38-year-old software engineer Kyle Schutt, who is now also on the CISA… Continue reading DOGE Now Has Access to the Top US Cybersecurity Agency
USDS Engineering Director Resigns: ‘This Is Not the Mission I Came to Serve’
The director of data science and engineering for the United States Digital Service—which Elon Musk rebranded as the US DOGE Service—has resigned from her position. Anne Marshall, the now former director, spent more than a decade as an engineer at Amazon before joining USDS in September 2023. In December, she was promoted to director of… Continue reading USDS Engineering Director Resigns: ‘This Is Not the Mission I Came to Serve’
There’s No Longer a Sub-$500 iPhone. Does It Matter?
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED Yesterday, the cheapest iPhone cost $429 if you wanted to buy directly from Apple. Today? It’s $599. The new iPhone 16e replaced the iPhone SE, giving the aging… Continue reading There’s No Longer a Sub-$500 iPhone. Does It Matter?