Graham Starr

Prince Andrew advisor pitched Jeffrey Epstein on investing in EV startups like Lucid Motors | TechCrunch The mysterious businessman pitched Jeffrey Epstein on numerous mobility startups in an era when the sector was white hot, according to TechCrunch's review of hundreds of documents released by the Depa...

Here's a story I tried to write for 6 years, and one that took a sharp turn due to the Epstein files.

It's about a man who, until these files, was a near-total ghost.

He was an investor in EV startup Canoo. But he was also, apparently, Epstein's business partner.

techcrunch.com/2026/02/06/p...

The Washington Post is retreating from Silicon Valley when it matters most | TechCrunch The Bezos-owned newspaper gutted its San Francisco bureau and coverage of tech — including journalists reporting on Amazon and Blue Origin

Two of the staffers cut from The Washington Post yesterday: the reporters who cover Amazon and Blue Origin. techcrunch.com/2026/02/05/t...

While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.

cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

Excellent chart in this Bloomberg story about the circular deals bailing out Musk's debt-ridden xAI (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund

The Washington Post laid off hundreds of the country's most dogged reporters today, who did indispensable work holding the powerful accountable at home & abroad. We are heartbroken.

Please share with anyone who cares about the future of journalism:

www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...

Most of the Washington Post’s tech reporters were laid off today, including me. I have loved my time at the paper, which is where I wanted to work from age 15. I take some consolation in not being among the survivors who will have to work harder with less for fewer readers. On to better things.

I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.

Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund

Whatever you think of the Washington Post at this moment, here's a chance to support the dedicated, hard-working journalists who were just laid off. If you have the means, your donation is most welcome. If you don't, a kind thought and maybe spreading the word to others is support enough 💙

Lenexa police investigated author of column criticizing the department. He's 'pissed off' A KCUR investigation discovered the department used the city’s license plate readers to track the writer’s movements and it issued a “be on the lookout” for him.

Police used the city’s license plate readers to track a local writer’s movements, then issued a BOLO on him.

No charge, and he was the wrong suspect.

www.kcur.org/politics-ele...

The Minnesota Star Tribune is hiring an investigative reporter — it's an incredibly important time for this kind of journalism (like, no doy). Apply here: recruiting2.ultipro.com/STA1013/JobB...

A particularly fiery excerpt from the judge's stay on ending temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

2 measles infections confirmed at Texas facility where 5-year-old detained in Minnesota was held DHS said state health officials reported the infections to federal immigration authorities Saturday.

jesus christ www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

We are squarely in the era of circular deals.

Elon Musk's SpaceX officially acquires Elon Musk's xAI, with plan to build data centers in space | TechCrunch The merger creates the world's most valuable private company, and paves the way for Musk to try and prove out the usefulness of space-based data centers.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is acquiring Elon Musk's xAI — just one week after Elon Musk's Tesla announced it had invested $2 billion in the AI startup techcrunch.com/2026/02/02/e...

Bye-bye corporate conglomerates. Hello personal conglomerates. | TechCrunch Elon Musk's reported merging of SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla harkens back to the heyday of General Electric — or maybe the robber barons of the Gilded Age.

Bye-bye corporate conglomerates. Hello personal conglomerates.

excellent column by @dechant.bsky.social techcrunch.com/2026/02/01/b...

EXCLUSIVE: X's Memelord Product Chief Has a Plan to Save the Platform—If Grok Doesn't Destroy It First X’s head of product Nikita Bier is releasing a suite of new tools to lure creators and advertisers back, even as Grok runs amok.

Excellent story from @kendrabarnett.bsky.social about the guy who's really steering X's business (edited by @tekendra-parmar.bsky.social) www.adweek.com/media/x-year...

UPDATE 🚨: ICE delayed Marrero's release by filing an intent to appeal the judge's decision to grant bond. ICE has 10 days to appeal the ruling, otherwise Marrero will be released.

“My husband is super strong… he knows that this is not going to break us," said Matthew Marrero on an Instagram post.

If I were a WH reporter I'd sure be asking WH sources what Trump has told Musk about Taiwan, given Musk's giggly paranoia about chips on this call

Alex Pretti's parents just issued a statement to local news KARE 11:

"Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world..." 1/4

Man shot in Minneapolis by federal agents identified as VA nurse: ‘He wanted to help people’ Alex Pretti, 37, worked in the ICU at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and had assisted on scientific research

The NYT clearly states in its reporting that the federal government's version of events is contradicted by videos of the shooting today. Here is @melodyschreiber.com piece on the victim, a VA nurse who worked in the ICU www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

He was an ICU nurse who helped veterans and Stephen Miller is calling him a domestic terrorist

Man acquitted of Bovino murder plot taken into ICE custody Juan Espinoza Martinez now faces deportation despite the courtroom victory Thursday by his attorneys.

A man acquitted by a jury of a plot threatening Bovino was captured by ICE anyway after his acquittal, with DHS saying, in part: “this verdict does not change the facts: Espinoza targeted federal law enforcement with violence via Snapchat.” chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Multiple ICE agents pushed a man onto his knees and shot at him from behind at close range, firing 10 shots in five seconds and killing him. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...

ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy as he came home, say school officials Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas

ICE detained a 5-year-old Minnesota boy coming home from school + took him and his dad to Texas, school officials say. The family has an active asylum case + entered the US at a port of entry.

"They’re taking children. They're not violent criminals. They're little kids," the superintendent told me.

What’s in Congress’ sweeping health care deal: PBM reform, telehealth, science funding The health department would get $116.8 billion in funding, a modest increase over 2025 but $33 billion more than Trump requested.

What’s in Congress’ sweeping health care deal

www.statnews.com/2026/01/20/c...

NEWS: The Social Security Administration has referred two DOGE employees for Hatch Act violations after discovering contacts with a political group seeking SSA data to overturn election results. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

SpaceX didn't properly inspect crane before collapse at Starbase, OSHA says | TechCrunch The federal safety agency has hit SpaceX with a $115,850 fine after finding seven "serious" violations during its investigation.

NEW and first on @techcrunch.com -- OSHA says SpaceX didn't properly inspect a crane before it collapsed last June while cleaning up Starship wreckage at the company's Starbase site in Texas.

The agency's probe into the accident turned up seven "serious" violations:

techcrunch.com/2026/01/20/s...

give Sean three hundred million dollars, cowards!!!!!

'We Thought Our Life Savings Were Gone': Immigrant Families Win Justice in Brooklyn Housing Fraud Case - Documented Immigrant families who were sold homes that never legally existed finally see justice in a $4.2 million court ruling.

Bay Ridge residents won $4.2 million in a housing fraud case after years of uncertainty. “We thought our life savings and our hope were all gone.” documentedny.com/2026/01/14/b...