Anthony Lydgate

He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive A source trapped inside an industrial-scale scamming operation contacted me, determined to expose his captors’ crimes—and then escape. This is his story.

Last year, a human trafficking victim trapped in a crypto scam compound in the Golden Triangle region of Laos contacted me. He then proceeded to leak to me a huge collection of the compound's internal materials.

Then he had to get out alive. This is his story.

🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...

Meta Is Blocking Links To ICE List on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads Users of Meta's social platforms can no longer share links to ICE List, a website listing what it claims are the names of thousands of DHS employees.

"I think it's no surprise that a company run by a man who sat behind Trump at his inauguration, and donated to the destruction of the White House, has taken a stance that helps ICE agents retain anonymity."

Scoop from @davidgilbert.bsky.social

‘I’m Witnessing a Lot of Emptiness’: How ICE Uprooted Normal Life in Minneapolis WIRED talks to a postal worker, a teacher, two US citizens detained by federal agents, and six more Minnesota residents about life in an occupied American city.

A teacher starting the day with a whistle. Two people taken by ICE, one with the car door window smashed in even though the door was open. A postal worker's dark new work realities. An empty restaurant but booming delivery. Just some of what we heard from Minneapolis www.wired.com/story/how-ic...

How China’s ‘Crystal Capital’ Cornered the Market on a Western Obsession Decades ago, Donghai was a backwater county. Today, thanks to an army of 24/7 livestreamers, it orchestrates a multibillion-dollar global industry.

The POWER OF CRYSTALS (and an army of 24/7 livestreamers raised by a local Party secretary) turned a county in eastern China into a glittering hub of global trade, by @lmatsakis.bsky.social and Rachel Zheng

www.wired.com/story/china-...

Really proud to have played a small part in this incredible package. @wired.com is at the top of its game RN.

23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.

Beyond excited to have @wired.com's new magazine entirely dedicated to one of the biggest issues in our lives: how to understand China's rise and rise and rise.

Humanoid robots, EV batteries, cleansing crystals, AI boyfriends, gene-editing... Something made in China is already changing your life.

23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.

TONS more stories here: www.wired.com/china-issue/

He Went to Prison for Gene-Editing Babies. Now He’s Planning to Do It Again Chinese scientist He Jiankui wants to end Alzheimer’s and thinks Silicon Valley is conducting a “Nazi eugenic experiment.”

He Jiankui—the scientist who went to prison in China for making gene-edited babies—talked to @emilymullin.bsky.social about how he thinks some Silicon Valley billionaires are conducting a “Nazi eugenic experiment”

www.wired.com/story/china-...

Your First Humanoid Robot Coworker Will Probably Be Chinese Explosive acceleration, limited dexterity, eyes in the back of its head. What could possibly go wrong?

In the US, about 16 companies are trying to build humanoid robots. In China, the number is more than 200.

@willknight.bsky.social went to see some of them in action (and declined the offer to punch a robot)

www.wired.com/story/china-...

Thousands of Companies Are Driving China’s AI Boom. A Government Registry Tracks Them All How the Cyberspace Administration of China inadvertently made a guide to the country’s homegrown AI revolution.

DeepSeek was just the beginning. @yilingliu95.bsky.social took a look at what's going on with Chinese AI

www.wired.com/story/china-...

Chinese EV Batteries Are Eating the World China’s lithium batteries aren’t always “made in China.” Companies like BYD and CATL are building factories on nearly every continent.

The second-biggest manufacturer of "Made in China" EV batteries is… the United States. @zeyiyang.bsky.social mapped the industry's global footprint

www.wired.com/story/chines...

How China’s ‘Crystal Capital’ Cornered the Market on a Western Obsession Decades ago, Donghai was a backwater county. Today, thanks to an army of 24/7 livestreamers, it orchestrates a multibillion-dollar global industry.

The POWER OF CRYSTALS (and an army of 24/7 livestreamers raised by a local Party secretary) turned a county in eastern China into a glittering hub of global trade, by @lmatsakis.bsky.social and Rachel Zheng

www.wired.com/story/china-...

23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.

"While the president of this country is promising to make America great again as he strips it for parts, Chinese business and political leaders have quietly seized the moment."

@wired.com's 23 ways you're already living in the Chinese century

www.wired.com/china-issue/

23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.

🇨🇳 new issue is here! Behold: The China Issue. It hasn't escaped @wired.com's attention that one superpower is surging forward while the other one is trying to annex Greenland. Here are 23 ways that China has become the future www.wired.com/china-issue/

23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.

The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China. www.wired.com/china-issue/

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

The 3 Keys to Understanding Trump’s Retro Coup in Venezuela This weekend’s invasion was both a throwback to the last century and a new, uniquely Trumpian nightmare—one that’s just beginning.

I always understand the big picture on US politics and national security much better after reading @vermontgmg.bsky.social.

Trump's weekend invasion of Venezuela is no different. Very glad to have this story on WIRED:

A $100 Billion Chip Project Forced a 91-Year-Old Woman From Her Home Azalia King was the last holdout preventing the construction of a Micron "megafab." Onondaga County authorities threatened to use eminent domain to take her home away by force.

A 91-year-old woman refused to sell her home of 60 years to make room for a $100 billion Micron superfab. She finally gave up when authorities threatened to take it through eminent domain. from @peard33.bsky.social

Jeffrey Epstein Claimed Intimate Knowledge of Donald Trump’s Views in Texts With Bill Gates Adviser In text messages from 2017, Jeffrey Epstein seemingly represented himself as positioned to pass information from the Trump White House to Bill Gates through an intermediary.

Donald Trump claims he broke off contact with Jeffrey Epstein in 2004. But recently released text messages show Epstein presenting himself—to a Bill Gates associate—as plugged into the Trump White House as recently as 2017. from @timmarchman.bsky.social and @leahfeiger.bsky.social

“I’ll see you in court,” New York Attorney General Tish James says to Condé Nast at a rally over, well, my own firing. Reinstate the Fired Four ✊

python3 sing_muse.py

There I’m basically Homer now

James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫

StraightFromThe Hut | Jake Lahut | Substack A campaign and communications strategy newsletter, plus a home for Jake Lahut's freelance feature reporting and other notebook items (no paywalls, but pay to support). Click to read StraightFromThe Hu...

But if you have some spare income, give what you can here or sign up for one of the paid tiers. I think the founding member thing lets you put in whatever you want straightfromthehut.substack.com

As my general two cents: don't cancel your WIRED subscriptions.

Best culture, best newsroom of anywhere I've worked. I love the living shit out of these folks, and they don't deserve to be negatively impacted by a decision that was made by the parent company, not them. And it's only $2 a month.

This is a really hard day and I want to just add as WIRED's politics editor -- WIRED's politics reporting isn't going anywhere. We are very much here and won't stop.

Please continue to read and support us - canceling your subscription to WIRED is not standing in solidarity with our journalists.

Jake is one of the best and I’ll really miss working with him — whoever gets to work with him next is very lucky!

Zohran Mamdani, the Internet’s Mayor Mere months ago, New York’s mayoral front-runner was polling right next to “Someone Else.” He spoke to WIRED about building a social media machine, Big Tech capitulation, and learning from Eric Adams.

If you haven't already, you should read this great interview of now New York Mayor @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social by @katie-drummond.bsky.social

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

Divorced? With Kids? And an Impossible Ex? There’s AI for That They didn’t want to put their children in the middle—so they put a machine there instead.

How do you give a chatbot “spine”? Train it to stand up to “high-conflict” people.

I spoke with Dr. Ramani Durvasula, one of the internet's most popular authorities on narcissism, about an AI-powered app for co-parents that she’s advising on www.wired.com/story/ai-emo...

The Inside Story of How Gen Z Toppled Nepal’s Leader and Chose a New One on Discord The revolution started on social media. It ended with protests, violence, and an online poll to pick the new prime minister.

“Maybe we didn’t change everything. But we changed how people imagine what’s possible.”

must read, on the inside story of Nepal's Discord revolution

www.wired.com/story/nepal-...