Crossfiled
How Elon Musk and Big Tech Poured Millions Into the Midterms, and Lost
This week on “Uncanny Valley,” we discuss the historic blue wave that swept the midterms and delivered a rebuke to the Trump administration, Big Tech, and data centers.
Crossfiled / Outlets / Wired
Wired
A reporting desk with editors. Crossfiled is currently carrying 17 stories from Wired, each shown beside every other newsroom's version of the same event.
What Wired is covering
Ads in Chatbots Have Arrived. Here’s What’s Working—and What’s Not
As Anthropic maintains its vow to keep ads out of Claude, the rest of the AI chatbot industry is racing to win over advertisers without antagonizing users.
The Blue Tsunami Swept Doctors and Scientists Into Office
More than 80 percent of congressional candidates backed by the pro-science PAC 314 Action won, including Michigan senator-elect and epidemiologist Abdul El-Sayed.
Reddit Founder Says Building Social Media Apps Is ‘Not Cool Anymore’
Alexis Ohanian is trying to figure out what’s next for user-generated content now that so much of the internet is “compromised.”
Area Man Feels Joy Online for First Time in Years
A day after the US midterm elections gave Democrats control of Congress, Onion CEO Ben Collins and comedian Patti Harrison spoke to WIRED about the salve of satire during politically fraught times.
Exclusive: Aina’s Smart Ring Wants to Be a Remote Control for Your AI Agent
The startup Aina bets you won’t need to rely on your phone to control virtual assistants. It’s making a smart ring that lets you control the actions of your autonomous agents with one tap.
Apple MacBook Pro OLED (2026) Review: The Best Comes at a Cost
The new OLED MacBook Pro comes with an incredible-looking touchscreen display—and an equally eye-popping price.
Finding New Drugs Is Laborious. This AI Startup Is Skipping The Lab Work
Potential Sciences, a startup backed by the UK government, is betting that training AI models on computer-generated biochemical data can speed up the plodding process of developing new drugs.
Motorola Signature 27: Specs, Price, Features, Release Date
Equipped with the brightest display, an “Event-Based Vision Sensor,” and the next-generation Qualcomm processor, Motorola hopes you’ll want to spend big bucks on its ceramic and aluminum Signature 27.
AI’s Next Trick? Speaking Dolphin
Denise Herzing, the founder and director of the Wild Dolphin Project, is using AI to help understand audio and video footage of the marine mammals.
He Trolls AI Labs for a Living. Now They All Want to Work With Him
OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceXSI have all reached out to Husk, an influencer who regularly goes viral by exposing the shortcomings of chatbots.
The ‘Ocarina of Time’ Remake Is Finally Here, but Why Does Link Look so Yassified?
Nintendo has prepped its classic game for a rerelease with a slew of aesthetic upgrades—none more extreme than the protagonist’s curled-eyelash, glossed-lip glow-up.
Particle Physicists Are Getting a First Glimpse Into the ‘Zeptoverse’
An extremely rare matter-decay event opens up new possibilities for researching the physical world on scales 100 billion times smaller than an atom.
The Best Smart Ring for Discreet Fitness Tracking in 2026
Turns out, your finger is prime real estate for health tracking. Here are the smart rings that impressed me the most.
Israel Is Destroying the Machinery South Lebanon Needs to Rebuild
Israeli strikes on construction equipment and water infrastructure in South Lebanon have blocked recovery efforts, keeping displaced families away from their homes.
A New UK Porn Ban Sparks Fears of Unprecedented Sex Censorship
Adult content creators and free speech advocates are sounding the alarm over a new law about to take effect in the United Kingdom banning simulated incest and some depictions of oral sex.
The Blue Wave Has Tech Bros Scrambling for Data Centers in Space
After Democrats won big in Texas and other AI infrastructure hot spots on Tuesday, data center enthusiasts looked for comfort in low Earth orbit.
Widely covered, not filed by Wired
Each of these was covered by at least three other newsrooms.
Read it as an observation, not a verdict: an outlet may be working a different angle,
filing later, or simply not serving this beat.
Newsom Commutes the Sentences of California’s 548 Death Row Inmates
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is considering a run for president, called capital punishment morally objectionable. Though California hasn’t executed anyone for 20 years, that represents about a quarter of death sentences nationwide.
Melania Trump calls for ‘enduring’ Russia-Ukraine peace as she hosts top officials at the White House
First lady Melania Trump expressed hope that a humanitarian ceasefire around a city in Ukraine would inspire progress toward a “more enduring” peace, as she hosted representatives from Russia and Ukraine at the White House on Thursday.
Harmeet Dhillon, DOJ's controversial civil rights chief, resigns
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, resigned from the Justice Department on Thursday.
Democratic socialist Nithya Raman defeats Karen Bass in the L.A. mayor’s race
City Council member Nithya Raman has defeated incumbent Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race, NBC News projects, capping off a rapid political ascent for a progressive challenger who railed against the “broken status quo” in the country’s second-largest metropolis.
Vance says the Iran war cost Republicans the midterms
The Iran war was the reason for the Democrats' blue tsunami that stunned Washington, Vice President Vance said in an X post Wednesday morning. Why it matters: The VP offered a surprisingly blunt assessment of why the GOP got crushed Tuesday night — and started to put at least a little daylight betwe
Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assault
British comedian and actor Russell Brand was found guilty/not guilty of several charges of rape and sexual assault by a London court.
Paraguay President Santiago Peña resigns after bank collapse
The move follows a bank collapse and after the lower house of congress voted in favour of pursuing an impeachment trial against him.
Mississippi Senate race is toss-up, with razor-thin margin
The Senate race in deep-red Mississippi remains unresolved Thursday morning, as Democrat Scott Colom has mounted a surprisingly competitive challenge to incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Europe: Dozens of flights diverted following bomb threats
Hoax bomb threats hit at least 27 affected flights around Europe this week.
Google, Meta and TikTok Sue California Over Ban on Features for Kids
Separate lawsuits were filed by Google, Meta and TikTok, which have been battling a flood of claims that their services are addictive.
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