Lauren Goode

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.

Huge scoop from @mzeff.bsky.social: Sources say the DoD used Microsoft’s version of OpenAI technology before the ChatGPT-maker lifted its prohibition on military applications www.wired.com/story/openai...

Code Metal Raises $125 Million to Rewrite the Defense Industry’s Code With AI The Boston startup uses AI to translate and verify legacy software for defense contractors, arguing modernization can’t come at the cost of new bugs.

NEW: AI code translation startup Code Metal, which closed its series A funding round in November, has just raised another $125 million. The company makes a code translation and code validation platform for defense tech, among other industries www.wired.com/story/vibe-c...

Nvidia’s Deal With Meta Signals a New Era in Computing Power The days of tech giants buying up discrete chips are over. AI companies now need GPUs, CPUs, and everything in between.

Yesterday Nvidia and Meta announced a multi-billion dollar deal for chips in Meta's AI datacenters—both GPUs and CPUs. I wrote about why CPUs are back, and how Nvidia is adapting in an era when AI labs and tech co's are looking at every possible compute resource www.wired.com/story/nvidia...

Salesforce Workers Circulate Open Letter Urging CEO Marc Benioff to Denounce ICE The letter comes after Benioff joked at a company event on Monday that ICE was monitoring international employees in attendance, sparking immediate backlash.

NEW from @laurengoode.bsky.social

www.wired.com/story/letter...

Salesforce Workers Circulate Open Letter Urging CEO Marc Benioff to Denounce ICE The letter comes after Benioff joked at a company event on Monday that ICE was monitoring international employees in attendance, sparking immediate backlash.

NEW: Salesforce employees are circulating a letter urging CEO Marc Benioff to denounce ICE www.wired.com/story/letter...

Meta Goes to Trial in a New Mexico Child Safety Case. Here's What's at Stake Attorney General Raúl Torrez is accusing the tech giant of failing to protect minors on Facebook and Instagram.

meta's on trial in new mexico and @laurengoode.bsky.social has the details: www.wired.com/story/meta-c...

FYI subscribe as @wired.com under @katie-drummond.bsky.social is killing it

To be totally clear: This shift is also happening when *employers* aren't being super "loyal" to workers, i.e. laying them off in the thousands with vague gestures towards AI

But the talent musical chairs are especially notable now at the AI frontier labs and buzziest AI startups

This newsletter is specifically about founders and first-in employees of fast-growing AI companies; compared to the 2000's and 2010's, when the earliest ppl at companies like Google, Facebook, AirBnB, Stripe, Slack, Notion, and more stuck it out

*drops newsletter, dips out of bluesky again*

Loyalty Is Dead in Silicon Valley Founders used to be wedded to their companies. Now, anyone can be lured away for the right price.

Loyalty is dead www.wired.com/story/model-...

Big news that I'm delighted to no longer be keeping a secret: Next week I join @wired.com as a senior writer!

As everyone knows, this is a top-tier publication and indispensable record of digital life today. I'll be covering internet culture in all forms, as I have for almost 15 years now.

Over the past few days we've heard from ppl at Palantir, Google, and elsewhere who are sharing company leaders' responses to, or lack of response to, ICE actions in MN and around the US (see: @makenakelly.bsky.social @mzeff.bsky.social's excellent reporting). We're curious to hear more. Signal us.

The whole interview is worth it

Are you a tech worker or tech company leader who sees what's happening in Minnesota—and across the US—as the tipping point for no longer being silent about your personal politics? My DMs are open; Signal handle is in my bio.

Meta Seeks to Bar Mentions of Mental Health—and Zuckerberg’s Harvard Past—From Child Safety Trial The trial starts soon in New Mexico’s case against Meta—and the company is pulling out all the stops to protect its reputation.

This is excellent reporting by @laurengoode.bsky.social.

The article doesn't name the attorneys representing Meta. It's not illegal, it's not even unethical to defend bad people.

It is, however, immoral to help evil continue unabated. That matters. www.wired.com/story/meta-c...

Thank you Christine 🙏

Meta Seeks to Bar Mentions of Mental Health—and Zuckerberg’s Harvard Past—From Child Safety Trial The trial starts soon in New Mexico’s case against Meta—and the company is pulling out all the stops to protect its reputation.

Good morning and happy hump day! 🐪

This piece by
@laurengoode.bsky.social
pointing out the depths Zuckerberg / meta will go to hide the damage done to children is excellent investigative journalism.
The @wired.com has proven to be a trusted source of information!

www.wired.com/story/meta-c...

This is gonna be good bsky.app/profile/wire...

Join Our Livestream Today: Welcome to the Chinese Century Join our livestream on China’s dominance, influence, and how it is rewriting the future.

Livestream alert! 🎥 Join WIRED today at 12 pm ET/9 am PT for Welcome to the Chinese Century—a deep look at China’s global rise in tech, energy, industry, and more.

Guild member detained by ICE in Minnesota January 16, 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dylan Manshack, Comms | dmanshack@cwa-union.org | 202-445-4033 Member remains in ICE custody in Texas MINNEAPOLIS — On Friday, January 9, ICE arrested a member of our union, the Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild, TNG-CWA Local 37002, as part of Operation Metro Surge. While the circumstances of his arrest are not clear, we know he has been transferred to an ICE detention facility in El Paso, Texas, where he is awaiting action on his petition for habeas corpus. The Guild is not publicly identifying the member out of concern for his family’s safety, but he is a father, a husband, and a staff member at a Minneapolis non-profit organization. He is a steward in our union and an advocate for all workers. And he is one of dozens of Minnesota union members who have been detained in recent weeks. The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests since the surge began in December, according to an MPR News report. But the agency has not provided details about the people arrested, such as how many were charged with a crime, how many face deportation, and how many were subsequently released. “The Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild stands with our member and his family as they face an uncertainty that is all too common in our state right now,” local president Nick Woltman said. “Like all Minnesota workers, our members deserve to feel safe in their communities both on and off the job.” “The detention of a Guild member in Minnesota amidst the chaos created by DHS is heartbreaking and infuriating,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “My heart goes out to his family, who are now without their father and husband. As a union, we commit to fight for each other as stewards of our communities—especially in times as dark as this, while federal agents continue to target working families.” ALT TEXT CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

ICE has kidnapped one of my MN News Guild siblings

"Some leaders may want to believe that ICE arrests and the icy streets of Minnesota are far enough away from their own boardrooms not to have any impact, but that belief might not hold much longer."

Tech Workers Are Condemning ICE Even as Their CEOs Stay Quiet The killing of George Floyd in 2020 prompted a wave of statements from tech companies and CEOs. Today, pushback against ICE is largely coming from employees, not executives.

“The most wealthy and powerful tech CEOs are still staying silent as ICE floods America’s streets, but now some researchers and engineers working for them have chosen to break rank.”

Great @laurengoode.bsky.social story:

hard same. and you will be in the same office as me so you can't escape it

Tech Workers Are Condemning ICE Even as Their CEOs Stay Quiet The killing of George Floyd in 2020 prompted a wave of statements from tech companies and CEOs. Today, pushback against ICE is largely coming from employees, not executives.

I wrote about ICE, Silicon Valley's response (or lack of) to ICE flooding US streets, and why "business as usual" for CEOs doesn't really apply in a politically unstable climate www.wired.com/story/backla...

sure

Come work with us. Edit me. Will message you at odd hours, unload my crippling anxieties as a writer on you, share snacks with you, send you weird Etsy gifts, and make your work life a whole lot more fun/interesting....promise bsky.app/profile/kati...

Senior Editor, Science WIRED is where a better future is imagined. For three decades, we have been the indispensable guide to a world in constant transformation. We cover humanity’s biggest challenges, from climate change t...

Hey! @wired.com is doing a bunch of hiring. Here we go with a thread of five great jobs, with a few more coming shortly:

1) We are hiring a senior editor for our science desk, which means you get to work with geniuses like @timmarchman.bsky.social @mollytaft.com and @emilymullin.bsky.social

MacKenzie Scott Donates $45 Million to the Trevor Project Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group that the organization calls “transformational.”

BREAKING: Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a “transformational” donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. This large gift comes just months after the Trump administration shut down counseling services for queer youth.

My latest for @wired.com: