Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we’re diving into Google quietly removing its pledge to not build AI weapons for surveillance; how Elon Musk and DOGE are facilitating the biggest breach of U.S. government data; researchers who were able to re-create a premium “reasoning” model for $50; and more! Let’s get into it.
Representatives of Elon Musk and DOGE were granted “full access” to the U.S. Treasury payments system, which is used to disperse trillions of dollars to Americans each year. Senator Ron Wyden warned that Musk’s access to the system poses a “national security risk.” It’s the latest reported effort by Musk to infiltrate the inner workings of the federal government. In response, U.S. Democratic Representative Mark Pocan proposed a bill called the Elon Musk Act, which stands for Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy.
One of Meta’s earliest employees is suing the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation. Kelly Stonelake, who spent 15 years at the company, alleges that Meta failed to take action after she reported sexual harassment and assault; retaliated against her after she flagged a video game product as racist and potentially harmful to minors; and was routinely passed over for promotions in favor of men on her team.
Google removed a pledge to not build AI for weapons or surveillance from its website this week. In an update to its public AI principles page, the company erased a section titled “applications we will not pursue.” The company pointed TechCrunch to a blog post on “responsible AI,” which notes that Google should work together with governments and organizations “to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.”
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News
TikTok meets Wall Street: Dub is a trading app focused on picking people over stocks. The app allows users to follow the strategies of traders, hedge funds, and even those mimicking high-profile politicians. Read more
The war on 🥄: According to a New York Times report, the U.S. government’s General Services Administration removed the spoon emoji from its videoconferencing work platform after workers embraced the emoji to protest the Trump administration’s “Fork in the Road” resignation offer. Read more
ChatGPT for “deep research”: OpenAI is announcing a new AI “agent” designed to help people conduct in-depth, complex research using ChatGPT. Instead of getting a quick answer or summary, the function pulls information from multiple sources. Read more
The EU bans risky AI: Regulators in the EU can ban the use of AI systems they deem to pose “unacceptable risk” or harm. Companies could be on the hook for up to $36 million, or 7% of their annual revenue from the prior fiscal year, whichever is greater. Read more
Major cuts at Workday: The enterprise HR platform laid off 1,750 employees this week, affecting roughly 8.5% of its total head count. Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach told employees that the company needs a new approach and plans to hire AI talent. Read more
A new AI productivity app: What if your apps for notes, schedule management, and to-dos were all in one place? Hero, an all-in-one productivity app with an AI assistant, aims to do just that — and take on the competition. Read more
A $50 “reasoning” model: Researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington trained an AI “reasoning” model for under $50 in cloud compute credits. The model, known as s1, performs similarly to models like OpenAI’s o1 and DeepSeek’s R1 on math and coding tests. Read more
An adult app for EU iOS users: A native pornography app for iOS is coming to the EU via the approved alternative app store AltStore PAL, thanks to the Digital Markets Act. Hot Tub offers iOS users a way to search and play videos from a variety of adult websites. Read more
Cuts at Cruise: Cruise is laying off nearly 50% of its workforce, including top executives like CEO Marc Whitten, as it prepares to shut down operations. What remains of the autonomous vehicle company will move under General Motors. Read more
X is suing more advertisers: This comes after the alleged “boycott” on the platform. The amended complaint includes Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate, Lego, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell. Read more
Analysis
We’re experiencing the biggest breach of U.S. government data: Elon Musk’s DOGE has taken control of large swathes of Americans’ private information held by the U.S. government despite questions about their security clearances, their cybersecurity practices, and the legality of Musk’s activities. As Zack Whittaker writes, whether DOGE staffers are bad actors misses part of the point. Acts of subterfuge, espionage, or ignorance could produce the same outcome: exposure or loss of the nation’s sensitive datasets. Read more
