Fed Judge Rules DOGE Illegally and “Blatantly” Used DEI Terms to Cut Grants

A federal judge ruled last week that millions of dollars in cuts made by the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), a quasi-government entity led by billionaire Elon Musk, improperly targeted grants distributed by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) by targeting terminology relating to protected statuses. The NEH cuts by DOGE staffers “blatantly used” race, gender…
Source

Original

Musk and Silicon Valley Aren’t Libertarian. They Want to Fuse With the State.

In the new book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, authors Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff look at the worldview that shaped Elon Musk and the ideology that has coalesced around him. They call Muskism “an operating system for the 21st century.” Musk runs rocket company SpaceX, AI startup xAI, electric car maker Tesla and the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Source

Original

In Memphis, Investors Benefit From AI Boom While the Public Bears Its Cos

In Memphis, Tennessee, questions about AI data centers are rising nearly as quickly as their price tags. Recent reporting shows that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI now has properties in Memphis appraised at roughly $3.4 billion, a staggering valuation that will shape how much the company contributes in property taxes and how local officials frame its economic impact.
Source

Original

Oil and Gas Experts in State Department Fired in DOGE Efforts Prior to Iran War

The Trump administration purged the State Department of its oil and gas experts last year, prior to launching its war on Iran, including people who would be responsible for examining scenarios related to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a new report says as the gas prices spike. NOTUS reports that the administration laid off a wide swath of oil and gas analysts in the State Department’s…
Source

Original

French Police Raid X’s Offices in Investigation of Grok’s Deepfake Porn Problem

French police have raided X’s offices in Paris and summoned its chairman, Elon Musk, to testify, in an escalation of a multifaceted investigation into the social media platform’s data use, deepfake porn generation, and other allegations of wrongdoing. Cybercrime investigators in France have been probing the company for over a year, with authorities looking into the company for allegations of…
Source

Original

Trump Sues the IRS and Treasury for $10 Billion Over Tax Return Leak

President Donald Trump has sued the US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns during his first term in the White House, when the president broke with decades of tradition by refusing to voluntarily divulge the records. The lawsuit — joined by Trump’s two eldest sons and his family business, the Trump Organization — was revealed…
Source

Original