Natasha Bernal

Chatbots Play With Your Emotions to Avoid Saying Goodbye A Harvard Business School study shows that several AI companions use various tricks to keep a conversation from ending.

Have you been emotionally manipulated by an AI chatbot?
Some chatbots created as companions are guilt-tripping people to stop them from saying goodbye, @willknight.bsky.social explores why www.wired.com/story/chatbo...

A Journey Into the Heart of Labubu I made an epic trek across four countries to answer one question: Why is the world going mad for a plushie monster?

In college, I'd always walk past an unremarkable store in Beijing that sold a variety of trendy, but tacky, toys. That store has turned into Pop Mart, the $45-billion Chinese toy empire behind Labubu, the biggest global fad of 2025.

This is my big story/pilgrimage trip to explain how they got here

Oh Andrew my heart
goes out to you. What a difficult decision to make. RIP little fella ❤️

Environmentalists joined pro-Palestine and pro-Ukraine groups and those defending human rights to march. They all told me that what unites them is opposition to Trump's politics.
Clive from Extinction Rebellion said: "If we weren’t here, he’d be coming down the Mall. We are here to stop him.”

Anti-Trump Protesters Take Aim at ‘Naive’ US-UK AI Deal Thousands marched in London to protest President Donald Trump’s second state visit. Among them were many environmental activists unhappy with Britain’s new AI deal with the US.

I covered the protests in London against Trump for @wired.com. Protesters aren't convinced by the AI deal from US tech giants: They want to know what the UK is giving them in exchange for up to $45bn in investment and where the power for data centers will come from www.wired.com/story/climat...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Is Bananas for Google Gemini’s AI Image Generator The Nvidia CEO reveals his consuming love for Google’s image generator, the artsy side of Grok, and what exactly he uses Perplexity, Gemini, and ChatGPT for right now.

Spent some time with Jensen Huang this morning and let's just say some stuff came up a lot
www.wired.com/story/jensen...

I'm his editor and can confirm, he is an absolute legend

OpenAI Ramps Up Robotics Work in Race Toward AGI The company behind ChatGPT is putting together a team capable of developing algorithms to control robots and appears to be hiring roboticists who work specifically on humanoids.

NEW: OpenAI is putting together a team capable of developing algorithms to control robots and appears to be hiring roboticists who work specifically on humanoids. Great piece from @willknight.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/openai...

Sign up for WIRED's premium newsletters WIRED's premium newsletters will showcase top-quality reporting and analysis, written by correspondents who are deeply sourced experts in their field.

If you haven't subscribed already, join us! It's going to be a wild ride www.wired.com/newsletter/e...

This Robot Only Needs a Single AI Model to Master Humanlike Movements Atlas, Boston Dynamics’ dancing humanoid, can now use a single model for walking and grasping—a significant step toward general-purpose robot algorithms.

NEW AI Lab this week: an AI-powered version of Atlas (Boston Dynamic's biped dancing robot) is demonstrating some surprising new improvisational skills to complete task—a significant step toward general-purpose robot algorithms. www.wired.com/story/this-h...

hmmmmmmm www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

**THREAD**

Yesterday, WIRED launched a shiny new subscription package!

On top of all of our journalism, subscribers now get five premium newsletters, access to AMAs with reporters, and narrated articles.

I cover crypto for WIRED. Here are some of my favourite stories from the past twelve months:

The Great Crypto Re-Banking Has Begun For years, crypto firms complained about being “debanked” in the US. Under the Trump administration, a group of fintechs is rolling out the red carpet.

New from @joelkhalili.bsky.social: There was a time when crypto firms claimed to be out in the cold... now, under Trump's crypto regime, they're being courted by traditional banks willing to do business www.wired.com/story/the-gr...

Silicon Valley AI Startups Are Embracing China’s Controversial ‘996’ Work Schedule In an industry once known for cushy perks, some founders are now asking staff to commit to a 72-hour weekly schedule. You’re either in or you’re out.

New from @knibbs.bsky.social today: people are being asked in interviews whether they're willing to work from 9am to 9pm, six days a week FOREVER if they want to get a job in some US AI startups. This is just wild
www.wired.com/story/silico...

Trump’s AI Action Plan Is a Crusade Against ‘Bias’—and Regulation The Trump administration’s new AI policy blueprint calls for limited regulation and lots of leeway for Big Tech to grow even bigger.

New: Trump's AI Action Plan continues the crusade against “woke” AI, recommending that federal procurement guidelines are updated so that only AI companies that “ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias” are given contracts. www.wired.com/story/trumps...

Mark Zuckerberg Is Expanding His Secretive Hawaii Compound. Part of It Sits Atop a Burial Ground Meta’s CEO has become one of the biggest landowners in Hawaii, growing his property’s footprint and erecting new mysterious buildings.

Remember Mark Zuckerberg's plan to raise cattle on macadamia nuts and beer? Well...
www.wired.com/story/mark-z...

The Enhanced Games Has A Date, A Host City and a Drug-Fuelled World Record The Enhanced Games, where athletes are allowed to take performance-enhancing drugs, will host its first event in May. One "enhanced" former Olympic swimmer has already broken the 50m freestyle record.

New from me: The Enhanced Games, a version of the Olympics where you're allowed to take drugs, has announced a host city (Las Vegas), a date (next May) and a that an 'enhanced' athlete has set a world record in the 50m freestyle!

www.wired.com/story/the-en...

I Went Undercover in Crypto’s Answer to ‘Squid Game.’ It Nearly Broke Me I spent 10 days competing in Crypto: The Game, a winner-takes-all contest where hundreds of players try to finesse and backstab their way to claiming a $140,000 cryptocurrency prize.

Backstabbing! Sabotage! Spreadsheets! This story about how @joelkhalili.bsky.social went undercover to try to win a huge pot of crypto in a winner-takes-all game is so nerdy and fabulous pls read thanks www.wired.com/story/crypto...

Trump Admin Plans to Cut Team Responsible for Critical Atomic Measurement Data The team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes measurement data crucial for advanced research in areas like astrophysics, nuclear fusion, and semiconductors.

As the Trump administration continues its efforts to slash the US federal workforce, the team responsible for publishing data used in advanced research in astrophysics, nuclear fusion, and other fields appears to be on the chopping block.

Exclusive | U.S. Likely to Ban Chinese App DeepSeek From Government Devices The White House is weighing measures to restrict the artificial-intelligence upstart, including banning its chatbot from government devices.

Exclusive: The White House is weighing measures to restrict Chinese artificial-intelligence upstart DeepSeek, including banning its chatbot from government devices

Social Security Workers Aren't Allowed to Read This Story New internet restrictions at the embattled SSA have cut off access to WIRED, along with other “general news” websites like The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The Social Security Administration banned its workers from reading WIRED (and other news pubs) on government devices.

from @davidgilbert.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/social...

Some DOGE Staffers Are Drawing Six-Figure Government Salaries Engineers and executives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are drawing healthy taxpayer-funded salaries—sometimes from the very agencies they are cutting.

SCOOP: Some of the DOGE staffers are drawing salaries from the agencies they are cutting. We got some new details: www.wired.com/story/doge-g...

Judge Overturns Trump Order Blocking Refugee Admissions A lawsuit had argued the president overstepped his authority in shutting down the resettlement program.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restart the refugee admissions program that legally resettles people from across the globe, which the president had ordered shut down on his first day in office

This Refinery Wants to Make Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mainstream. Trump’s Cuts Could Kill It A sprawling Minnesota refinery wants to make low-carbon aviation fuel mainstream—but without government support experts believe the project could be "dead in the water."

A sprawling Minnesota refinery wants to make low-carbon aviation fuel mainstream—but without government support experts believe the project could be "dead in the water."

Last week, a handful of Jeep owners reported that they had advert popping up on their dashboard every time they braked. This was a glitch, but the idea of using this type of messaging in the future very much isn't. Great story by @aarianmarshall.bsky.social

After a Violent Kidnapping, Crypto Elites Hire Bodyguards A spate of abductions has sent crypto executives and wealthy investors in search of ways to protect themselves.

A spate of abductions has sent crypto executives and wealthy investors in search of ways to protect themselves.

More tiny books hidden in large book content please, algorithm!

Donald Trump calls Volodymyr Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ as US rift with Ukraine deepens US president warns Ukrainian leader he ‘better move fast or he is not going to have a country left’

Reading between the lines, the amazing deal he wants to strike with Russia... is just to hand it Ukraine? "Speaking aboard Air Force One later on Wednesday, Trump said Russia had “taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards” in any peace deal with Ukraine." www.ft.com/content/dc98...

US and Russia agree to ‘lay the groundwork’ for ending Ukraine war Negotiations were first high-level talks on the conflict since early months of Vladimir Putin’s invasion

US and Russia are working out a peace deal for Ukraine. They talk about "practical reality of "some discussion of territory." They say “No one is being sidelined here.” Except Ukraine. Whose future they are deciding. Whose president described these talks as a "surprise."
www.ft.com/content/b427...