Katie Drummond

Pete Hegseth Is Pushing Defense Employees to Volunteer With DHS The defense secretary has made clear that Pentagon managers are to encourage workers, including civilians, to volunteer to assist in the administration's immigration crackdown.

NEW: DOD employees are being pressured to volunteer to help with DHS's immigration crackdown. The work includes things like: “developing concepts of operation and campaign plans to execute internal arrests and raids as well as patrols along the Southwest Border”

www.wired.com/story/pete-h...

Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X X’s Grok is failing to accurately verify video footage from the Iran conflict and is sharing its own AI-generated images about the war.

"I see the proliferation of AI-based fake news pushing us over the edge of a fact-based world unless we enact change now."

They Helped Plan the January 6 Rally. Now Their Events Company Is Raking in Millions in Government Contracts The Trump administration has awarded Event Strategies several contracts—including one that could be worth up to $100 million—with little competition, according to federal filings.

NEW: An events company whose associates helped plan the Jan. 6th insurrection have raked in millions in contracts with the U.S. government since Trump's election.

The firm had previously netted only $50,000 in government contracts over the past decade.

Yann LeCun Raises $1 Billion to Build AI That Understands the Physical World Meta’s former chief AI scientist has long argued that human-level AI will come from mastering the physical world, not language. His new startup, AMI, aims to prove it.

I've been following Yann LeCun's career for almost (!) 20 years, since I was a little @wired.com intern covering his research. He's the real deal, and uniquely unfiltered as tech leaders go.

Very curious to see what this company gets up to (even though, yes, $1B is insane):

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber Is Stepping Down Venture capitalist Toni Schneider will take over as interim CEO as Bluesky’s board of directors hunts for a permanent replacement.

EXCLUSIVE: Jay Graber stepping down as CEO of Bluesky www.wired.com/story/bluesk...

‘Flying Cars’ Will Take Off in American Skies This Summer The federal government announced a new pilot program designed to get new kinds of ultralight vehicles and “eVTOLs” up and running around the country—even if they’re not fully FAA-certified.

This is very cool and sci-fi and all, but Sean Duffy overseeing the deployment of "flying cars" in U.S. airspace is not exactly the most reassuring thing:

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber Is Stepping Down Venture capitalist Toni Schneider will take over as interim CEO as Bluesky’s board of directors hunts for a permanent replacement.

Exclusive: Jay Graber is stepping down as head of Bluesky. Venture capitalist Toni Schneider will be the interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber Is Stepping Down Venture capitalist Toni Schneider will take over as interim CEO as Bluesky’s board of directors hunts for a permanent replacement.

Jay Graber will no longer be the CEO of Bluesky. scoop from @knibbs.bsky.social

Anthropic Sues Department of Defense Over Supply-Chain Risk Designation The Claude chatbot developer says the Trump administration overstepped by escalating a contract dispute into a federal ban on the company’s technology.

its on: www.wired.com/story/anthro...

Can AI Kill the Venture Capitalist? VCs are betting that artificial intelligence will disrupt nearly every industry in the world. Are they prepared for it to disrupt their own?

VCs are betting that artificial intelligence will disrupt nearly every industry in the world. Are they prepared for it to disrupt their own? www.wired.com/story/ai-kil...

Jack Dorsey Is Ready to Explain the Block Layoffs In an exclusive interview with WIRED, Block’s cofounder and CEO says he axed 40 percent of his workforce so that he can rebuild the company “as an intelligence.”

In an exclusive interview with @stevenlevy.bsky.social, Jack Dorsey tries to explain Block’s massive layoffs, reacts to CEOs sucking up to Trump, and talks about why he’s so unhappy with @wired.com 😭

It’s a great conversation, read away:

‘Uncanny Valley’: Iran War in the AI Era, Prediction Market Ethics, and Paramount Beats Netflix In this episode, our hosts unpack the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly as the AI industry has been entrenching itself with the Department of Defense.

In this episode, our hosts unpack the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly as the AI industry has been entrenching itself with the Department of Defense. www.wired.com/story/uncann...

OpenAI Had Banned Military Use. The Pentagon Tested Its Models Through Microsoft Anyway Sources allege the Defense Department experimented with Microsoft’s version of OpenAI technology before the ChatGPT-maker lifted its prohibition on military applications.

Sources allege the Defense Department experimented with Microsoft’s version of OpenAI technology before the ChatGPT-maker lifted its prohibition on military applications. www.wired.com/story/openai...

The Controversies Finally Caught Up to Kristi Noem Donald Trump said he would replace the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Noem's tenure was marked by aggressive anti-immigration tactics and ICE's killing of two US protestors.

Bye, babe:

Interview Magazine on Instagram: "@bryanjohnson_ makes his runway debut at @matieresfecales 🖤" 2,503 likes, 221 comments - interviewmag on March 3, 2026: "@bryanjohnson_ makes his runway debut at @matieresfecales 🖤".

Okay are we *sure* Bryan Johnson is in fact still alive? Is he sure?

<3 Appreciate this, thank you both

How Federal Agencies Got Caught Up in Trump's Anti-Immigration Crusade WIRED spoke with workers across seven government agencies—from the IRS to HUD—about how their work has been contorted to support ICE and other immigration efforts.

The gravitational pull of Trump's immigration focus is sucking in basically every major federal agency, all of whom are being told to change policies and practices to enable ICE and related enforcement efforts.

From the @wired.com Inner Loop newsletter this week:

Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world’s fertilizer. Conflict in the region has sent prices soaring ahead of the critical spring planting season.

One surprising side effect of the US war in Iran: American farmers are staring down soaring fertilizer prices at the worst possible time.

From @mollytaft.com

How Is Kalshi Not Gambling? Kalshi lets you place bets on everything from football games to foreign invasions. The prediction market’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, says this doesn’t count as gambling—and is actually good for society.

How Kalshi sees itself (as not gambling) (somehow). From @stevenlevy.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/big-in...

There Are Few Things Harry Styles Has to Himself. Running Is One of Them. The global pop superstar chats with legendary author and fellow marathoner Haruki Murakami on the sublime simplicity of running—and how it nourishes the creative life.

I give so much credit to the @runnersworld.bsky.social editorial team for getting Harry Styles to do their cover -- in conversation with Murakami, no less! -- impressive.

@carolinehaskins.bsky.social did some really really thorough reporting here, highly recommend a read:

Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei’s Death Sparks Revolt Among Kalshi Customers How Kalshi decided to settle a market tied to Iran’s Supreme Leader prompted anger among traders who felt the rules weren’t clear.

Maybe we shouldn't be doing this:

How Journalists Are Reporting From Iran With No Internet After strikes killed senior Iranian officials, Iran cut off internet access. Journalists are relying on satellite links, encrypted apps and smuggled footage to report from inside the country.

"The right of information is always the first casualty when the government [prioritises] its security objectives."

When the Internet Goes Dark, the Truth Goes With It Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad on bearing witness, the fragile power of social media, and why documenting lived reality matters more than ever.

Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad on bearing witness, the fragile power of social media, and why documenting lived reality matters more than ever. www.wired.com/story/plesti...

The 5 Big ‘Known Unknowns’ of Donald Trump’s New War With Iran The all-out air assault on the Islamic Republic might be the biggest gamble of the president’s career.

What history teaches us about Trump's new war, and what could be next— @vermontgmg.bsky.social explores the known unknowns www.wired.com/story/5-big-...

X Is Drowning in Disinformation Following US and Israel’s Attack on Iran WIRED has reviewed hundreds of posts on X that promote misleading claims about the locations and scale of the attack.

“Almost all of the most viral posts reviewed by WIRED on Saturday came from accounts with blue check marks, meaning they…could be eligible to earn money based on how much engagement their posts generate, even if the content is false.”

From @davidgilbert.bsky.social

Hacked Prayer App Sends ‘Surrender’ Messages to Iranians Amid Israeli Strikes As Israeli airstrikes hit Tehran this morning, Iranians received mysterious push notifications saying that “help is on the way,” promising amnesty if they surrender.

NEW: Iranians received a message saying "help is on the way" and promising amnesty if they surrender via a hacked prayer-timer app called "BadeSaba Calendar." Reporting by @wired.com Middle East: www.wired.com/story/hacked...

WIRED’s team in the Middle East, based in Dubai, are working with freelancers across the region to cover this story as it develops. Follow their incredible work. >>>

United States and Israeli forces have launched military strikes against Iran, with President Donald Trump calling the attacks a “major combat operation” against the Iranian regime.

🔗 www.wired.com/story/us-ira...

OpenAI Fires an Employee for Prediction Market Insider Trading Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi are big business, and some Big Tech employees are testing boundaries by making trades based on insider knowledge.

SCOOP: OpenAI fired an employee for their prediction market activity www.wired.com/story/openai...