Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Defense Dept. ups the ante on Anthropic
The Defense Department is threatening to cut its ties to artificial intelligence company Anthropic over the company’s opposition to its tools being used to spy on Americans or to operate autonomous military weapons, according to a new report from Axios. Bloomberg also reported on the hold-up, citing a statement from a Pentagon spokesman who said, “The Department of War’s relationship with Anthropic is being reviewed.”
Read more at Axios here.
Homeland Security hunts anonymous critics
Speaking of government snooping, the Trump administration has been pressuring social media companies to reveal the identities of people who operate accounts that criticize Trump’s racist anti-immigrant crackdown. The story comes just days after the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied the administration is assembling a database of ICE critics.
Read more at TechCrunch here.
DOJ keeps its eyes on Epstein investigators
MS NOW legal analyst Kristy Greenberg explained what she called the “clearly improper” use of tracking software after last week’s revelation that Justice Department officials tracked lawmakers’ search history while they reviewed the Epstein files in order to assist Attorney General Pam Bondi in her performative attacks during her congressional testimony.
Trump’s EPA moves to stop auto-stop in cars
The Trump administration’s crusade against climate-friendly vehicles ramped up recently as the Environmental Protection Agency ended a tax credit for manufacturers of eco-friendly cars that automatically shut off their engines when they come to a stop.
Read more at The New York Times here.
FTC antagonizes Apple News
Andrew Ferguson, whom Donald Trump tapped to lead the Federal Trade Commission, is pressuring Apple CEO Tim Cook to promote more conservative news via Apple’s news app, opening a new front in the administration’s illiberal war on the free press.
Read my blog on the pressure campaign here.
Epstein files roil the gaming industry
Allegations of sexual assault against a prominent gaming executive, who served as a lead designer for several games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, recently came to light in a 2023 email released by the DOJ as part of the Epstein files. The executive, Leslie Benzies, denies claims made by Sarah Ransome, who alleges in the email that Benzies assaulted her. Benzies said the two previously had a consensual relationship and denied any association with Jeffrey Epstein.
Read more at The Hollywood Reporter here.
Ireland targets X over deepfake pornography
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, over the use of its AI tool, Grok, to produce and disseminate deepfake child pornography. Ireland’s probe joins several others initiated by European countries in recent weeks.
X did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Read the full press release from Ireland’s DPC here.
