Leah Feiger speaks with WIRED’s Dhruv Mehrotra about an exclusive WIRED investigation into how serious medical incidents are increasing at some of the country’s largest immigration detention centers. Articles mentioned in this episode:  ‘They're Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls How to Protect Yourself From Phone Searches at the US Border The WIRED Guide to Protecting Yourself From Government Surveillance Here’s What Mark Zuckerberg Is Offering Top AI Talent

Sam Altman is the king of generative artificial intelligence. But is he the person we should trust to guide our explorations into AI? This week, we do a deep dive on Sam Altman. From his Midwest roots, to his early startup days, to his time at Venture Capital, and his rise and fall and rise again at OpenAI.  Write to us at uncannyvalley@wired.com.

Zoë Schiffer is joined by WIRED’s Vittoria Elliott to discuss her conversation with Sahil Lavingia. Lavingia worked at Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, within the Department of Veteran Affairs, until he was fired for speaking out about his experience. Lavingia said his time at the VA was marked by a lack of transparency from DOGE leadership, and chaotic day-to-day operations– the ramifications of which are still being felt today. Just this week, Senators called for a federal investigation into the Trump administration’s killing of hundreds of contracts for the Department of Veterans Affairs

Disney and Universal recently filed suit against Midjourney, an AI image generation startup, alleging the company has become a “bottomless pit of plagiarism,” and that it freely reproduces the studio's copyrighted content, including their most iconic characters. The lawsuit has the potential to shape how intellectual property is treated in the AI era. So, we'll dive into the details of the case and others, and explain how this conflict gives us a window into the growing tensions between AI companies, publishers, and creators.

Meta just announced a major move in its AI efforts – investing in Scale AI and building a superintelligence AI research lab. While Meta has been trying to keep up with big names in the AI race, such as Open AI, Anthropic and Google, the company's new strategy includes dropping some serious cash to acquire talent and invest in Scale AI. Today on the show, we dive into the deal between Meta and Scale AI, including what Meta aims to get out of investment, and we ask the question we are all wondering: What is superhuman intelligence, anyway?  You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

In recent days, Los Angeles residents have taken to the streets to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies and the increasingly frequent ICE raids. WIRED’s Senior Politics Editor Leah Feiger joins Zoë Schiffer, Director of Business & Industry, to discuss the related flood of information on social media, and how AI chatbots like Grok and ChatGPT are delivering incorrect and at times, inflammatory answers. Articles mentioned in today’s episode: AI Chatbots Are Making LA Protest Disinformation Worse I Joined Every Class Action Lawsuit I Could Find, and So Can You Vibe Coding Is Coming for Engineering Jobs You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer and Leah Feiger @leahfeiger.

In the past six months, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others have released web-browsing agents that are designed to complete tasks independently, with only minimal input from humans. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has even called AI agents “the next giant breakthrough.”  On today’s episode, we'll dive into what makes these agents different from other forms of machine intelligence, and whether their capabilities can live up to the hype. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

WIRED's Senior Politics Editor Leah Feiger joins Zoë Schiffer, WIRED's Director of Business & Industry to discuss the ongoing fallout between President Trump and Elon Musk, and the future of DOGE. Articles mentioned in the episode:  Conspiracy World Thinks the Musk-Trump Breakup Is a 'Psyop' DOGE Is on a Recruiting Spree  Silicon Valley Is Starting to Pick Sides in Musk and Trump’s Breakup WIRED Talked to a Fired DOGE Staffer About Who Was Really in Charge Trumpworld Is Getting Tired of Laura Loomer. They Hope the President Is Too The Epic Rise and Fall of a Dark-Web Psychedelics Kingpin You can follow Zoë Schiffer and Leah Feiger on Bluesky: @zoeschiffer , @leahfeiger

Expanded deportations, a virtually shutdown asylum process, increased scrutiny of H1-B visa applicants—immigration policy has been overhauled under the latest Trump administration. And, just last week the Trump administration said it would begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students who are currently studying at U.S. schools. On today’s episode, we dive into the impacts that these changes could have on the tech industry from the talent pipeline to future innovations. Articles mentioned in this episode: The Trump Administration Wants to Create an ‘Office of Remigration’, US Tech Visa Applications Are Being Put Through the Wringer You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

There’s been a lot of talk about how AI tools like ChatGPT are changing education. Students are using AI to do research, write papers, and get better grades. So today on the show, we debate whether using AI in school is actually cheating. Plus, we dive into how students and teachers are using these tools, and we ask what place AI should have in the future of learning.  You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

WIRED’s Senior Writer, Andy Greenberg, has been reporting on ghost guns for years. He first used a 3D printer to assemble a gun more than a decade ago, and says that today’s process is not only faster, but cheaper. We talk to Andy about how he legally printed the same gun Luigi Mangione allegedly used in the alleged killing of the United Healthcare CEO last year, and whether US law is keeping up with the technology of 3D printed guns. Articles mentioned in this episode: We Made Luigi Mangione’s 3D-Printed Gun—and Fired It  Bluesky Is Plotting a Total Takeover of the Social Internet The Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the Zizians You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer

Elon Musk says he’s stepping back from his role with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to turn his attention to his businesses—most urgently to Tesla, which has faced global sales slumps in recent months. Today on the show, we discuss how our understanding of DOGE has evolved over the past five months and what we think will happen when Musk scales back.  You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

Pornhub is currently not available in more than a third of US States, due to new age verification laws. And just last week, two Republican senators introduced a bill which could ban pornography across the country. The looming threat on the industry was not lost on some of the biggest names in the adult film industry at this year’s Pornhub Awards. In fact, it was central to the event’s theme. WIRED’s Manisha Krishnan was there, and on this week’s episode tells us all about the event, and how Pornhub’s story is at the center of tech and politics today.  Articles mentioned in this episode: Your Favorite Porn Stars Are Sick of Being Censored. But They’re Not Going Away The Biggest Dating App Faux Pas for Gen Z? Being Cringe North Korea Stole Your Job

In the days before his inauguration, President Trump announced his own cryptocurrency, TRUMP coin, a move that could stand to make the Trump family significantly wealthier. And now, Trump has offered investors something else– access to him, when he recently announced he’ll hold a private dinner with the largest investors in TRUMP coin. In this week’s episode, we talk about Trump's venture into cryptocurrency and the giant web of ethical concerns it presents. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

When former national security advisor Mike Waltz had a picture taken of him last week, he didn’t expect for the whole world to see that he was using TeleMessage, a messaging app similar to Signal. Now the app has been hacked, with portions of data linked to government entities like Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and companies like Coinbase. Today on the show, we’re joined by WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman to discuss what this incident tells us about the growing vulnerabilities in government communications. Articles mentioned in this episode: Mike Waltz Has Somehow Gotten Even Worse at Using Signal The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked   The Signal Clone Mike Waltz Was Caught Using Has Direct Access to User Chats You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer, and Lily Hay Newman @lhn. 

In the year 2000, measles were declared eliminated from the United States. But thanks to declining vaccination rates, Americans may have to contend with a much scarier future for the deadly disease. Today on the show, we talk about the state of measles, and we explain the role Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of  Health and Human Services, has played in the shifting culture around vaccines in America. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

President Trump’s tariff standoff with China has caused chaos, confusion and major delays for companies of all shapes and sizes. As everyone waits to see what happens next, some businesses that depend on international trade are already feeling major impacts, saying that they might not meet their production deadlines. And one of those deadlines is pretty important: Christmas. Today on the show, we're joined by WIRED's Senior Business Editor Louise Matsakis to talk through the latest on tariffs. Articles mentioned in this episode  Donald Trump Is Already Ruining Christmas OpenAI Adds Shopping to ChatGPT in a Challenge to Google The Agonizing Task of Turning Europe’s Power Back On You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer. 

Under the new Trump administration, more and more visa holders and foreign visitors are being detained or denied entry at the border. It’s also becoming more common for people to be questioned or detained because of content on their phones, laptops and cameras. In today’s episode, we’ll tell you what you need to know about your carrying devices across the US border, and how to stay safe. Plus, we share some pretty spectacular recommendations for your downtime. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

China has long been a really important market for Tesla and for Elon Musk, but after the rising US tariffs and rising competition in the electric vehicle market – Tesla may be on the outs in China. Today on the show, we’re joined by Zeyi Yang, senior writer at WIRED, to talk about what it all means for Elon Musk’s company. Articles mentioned in this episode  DOGE Is Building a Master Database to Surveil and Track Immigrants Stumbling and Overheating, Most Humanoid Robots Fail to Finish Half-Marathon in Beijing You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer. 

There have been a number of protests in the past few months pushing back against President Trump’s most recent policy changes, and we're likely to see more. Today on the show, WIRED’s Senior Editor of Security and Investigations, Andrew Couts, talks us through the technology being used by law enforcement to surveil protests, how surveillance tech has evolved over the years, and what it means for anyone taking to the streets or posting to social media to voice their concerns. Plus, we share WIRED tips on how to stay safe, should you choose to protest. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky— Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.