DOGE staffer resigns after reporters uncover racist posts
Marko Elez â the 25-year-old Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer who has reportedly been combing through the Treasury Departmentâs payment systems â resigned from his position after the Wall Street Journal uncovered an old social media account linked to him with numerous posts promoting racism and eugenics. â99% of
Read MoreEarly Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination
One of Meta’s earliest employees is suing the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed this week in the state of Washington. Kelly Stonelake, who spent 15 years at the company and rose to the rank of director, alleges in the lawsuit she faced
Read MoreOpenAI now reveals more of its o3-mini model’s thought process
In response to pressure from rivals including Chinese AI company DeepSeek, OpenAI is changing the way its newest AI model, o3-mini, communicates its step-by-step “thought” process. On Thursday, OpenAI announced that free and paid users of ChatGPT, the company’s AI-powered chatbot platform, will see an updated “chain of thought” that
Read MoreDOGE staffer steps down after racist posts emerge
A 25-year-old Doge staffer resigned over racist posts on X. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read MorePour one out for Cruise and why autonomous vehicle test miles dropped 50%
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! We knew this day was coming: Cruise is dead — at least as a robotaxi company. General Motors completed its acquisition of
Read MoreDeadline for government’s ‘Fork in the road’ mass resignation program delayed by court
A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” program, meant to push out career government workers as part of the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency’s alleged effort to cut federal spending, several outlets report. The program gave employees a deadline just before midnight on Thursday
Read MoreTrump has California’s high-speed rail in his crosshairs again
President Donald Trump has set his sights on Californiaâs high-speed rail plan, calling it âthe worst-managed projectâ with massive cost overruns that deserve to be investigated. âThey have hundreds of billions of dollars of cost overruns,â Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles
Read MoreGoogle is adding digital watermarks to images edited with Magic Editor AI
Google on Thursday announced that effective this week, it will begin adding a digital watermark to images in Photos that are edited with generative AI. The watermark applies specifically to images that are altered using the Reimagine feature found in Magic Editor on Pixel 9 devices. Announced in 2024, Reimagine
Read MoreSnapchat+ subscribers can now create custom AI-generated stickers
In a bid to boost its subscription service and attract more paying users, Snapchat is rolling out additional features for Snapchat+ subscribers, including allowing Snapchat+ subscribers to create AI-generated stickers in chats. The social media company and is also adding the option to send self-destructing Snaps. Snapchat+ subscribers in the
Read MoreFord goes protectionist as EV losses top $5B
Ford CEO Jim Farley has a question about President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China: Why stop there? Farley said in a conference call Wednesday that Trump’s selective approach “doesn’t make sense.” “Why are we having this conversation while Hyundai-Kia is importing 600,000 units in
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