Elon Musk isn't as publicly, obviously involved in Washington as he used to be, that much is clear. But celebrations of his political exile are premature.

Sure, it's true that Musk and Donald Trump's bombastic joint press conferences have faded. Trump is no longer shooting Tesla ads on the White House lawn. And Musk has said that he'll be stepping away from government and focusing on Tesla.

But Musk loves to lie. He's said he'll spend "a lot less" on politics in the future, but I am also old enough to remember "funding secured." The government is still infested with his lackeys, such as Steve Davis, Chris Young, and Jehn Balajadia. Even in an announcement that was widely reported as Musk stepping back from DC, Musk made it clear he'd spend "a day or two per week" on politics for the rest of Trump's term.

I tend to view the credulous political obituaries people have written as wishful thinking, but I do understand the impulse. So much of Musk's whole thing is spectacle that when he's no longer publicly performing, it's possible to believe nothing is happening. This is a mistake. We don't even know the extent of what DOGE has done so far, and in the absence of a serious GAO repo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

First launched earlier this year as a rare small, but powerful Android tablet, the Lenovo Legion Tab has now dropped to $450.

more…

In late 2024, the popular Chrome extension Honey was exposed for shady tactics including simply not doing what it was promised to do, with uninstalls following suit and Honey now dropping down to 15 million users from a peak of over 20 million.

more…

Besides the new Android and iOS app (which already picked up its first post-launch update) this week, NotebookLM Audio Overviews are rolling out a new Length customization.

more…

Anker's premium docking station is now available at a significant discount, but you need to move fast before it's gone.

Looking to upgrade your PC gaming experience? These are our favorite screens right now.

Expert advisors for the Food and Drug Administration met Thursday to discuss which virus strain this year's updated COVID-19 vaccines should target. The advisors have been meeting around this time each year for such a strain selection, a routine decision in the process of updating the life-saving vaccines.

But this year's meeting was awkward and even a little tense. Earlier this week, new FDA leaders under health secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a sweeping new framework that would restrict access to the shots, making them available only to people 65 and older and those with medical conditions that put them at risk of severe illness. For updated COVID-19 vaccines to be approved for healthy children and adults, vaccine makers would need to repeat large, randomized, placebo-controlled trials, which are expensive, ethically debatable at this point, and could easily take too much time to complete before the shots would need to be ready for fall vaccinations. The advisors weren't consulting on the new framework, and there is much uncertainty about its implementation.

Just thirty minutes into yesterday's nearly seven-hour meeting, one committee member broached one of the largest looming questions, saying, "If a different strain was selected for this season, would that require additional clinical trials, etc.?"

Read full article

Comments

© Getty | Marcos del Mazo

Donald Trump woke up Friday morning and threatened Apple with a 25 percent tariff on any iPhones sold in the US that are not manufactured in America.

In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that he had "long ago" told Apple CEO Tim Cook that Apple's plan to manufacture iPhones for the US market in India was unacceptable. Only US-made iPhones should be sold here, he said.

"If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25 percent must be paid by Apple to the US," Trump said.

Read full article

Comments

© Kira-Yan | iStock / Getty Images Plus

The think tank develops research and tech tools to support free expression, digital safety, and access to information for all.

Intuit shares popped on Friday, a day after the company reported strong quarterly results.

As its rollout continues, Samsung has just posted an updated One UI 7 schedule for Galaxy devices, with many more updates coming in June.

more…

AAWireless makes it easy to add wireless Android Auto to your car, and now AAWireless TWO+ is getting its first release with support for both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

more…

As generative AI becomes faster, cheaper, and more convincing, the ethical stakes are no longer theoretical. What happens when the tools to deceive become widely accessible? And how do we build systems that are powerful — but safe enough to trust? At TechCrunch Sessions: AI, taking place June 5 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, Artemis […]

Traces of ruthenium in volcanic rock point to a hidden geological highway.

These Soundcore earbuds are long-lasting, reliable earbuds that you'll love using.

He's re-ken-erated.

For now, most of Apple's most important products are exempt from tariffs after Trump gave phones and computers a tariff waiver — even from China — in April.

Sony announced a new version of its multi-function shooting grip and compact tripod that puts its wireless controls on a removable remote. Previous versions featured controls that could operate basic functions of an attached camera while holding onto the grip. The new GP-VPT3 makes them even more useful for solo content creators who can now operate a camera while standing in frame in front of it.

Sony still sells the older version for $139.99, but the added functionality of the new GP-VPT3 Multi-Function Shooting Grip comes with a small price bump to $159.99. The bundled remote, which Sony calls the RMT-VP2 Wireless Remote Commander, is sold separately for $89.99 for those who don’t need the grip or don’t want to replace their existing one.

The GP-VPT3 is compatible with Sony’s Alpha Series cameras and smaller vlogging cameras like last year’s ZV-E10 II. It can support up to 3.3 pounds, which means you can potentially use it with larger lenses too, as long as they don’t protrude too far off the camera and shift its center of balance.

The RMT-VP2 remote connects to Sony’s cameras over Bluetooth and has a range of about 33 feet. It includes a shutter button, a dedicated movie record button, a rocker that can be used to control zoom or focus, a button for turning autofocus on and off, and a C1 button that can be customized to control other functions.

As with previous versions of the grip, the new GP-VPT3 connects to a camera using its tripod mount and has a flexible head allowing an attached device to tilt forwards and back and swivel 360 degrees. It can function as an ergonomic handle, putting the most important camera controls at finger’s reach when shooting one-handed. It also unfolds and becomes a stubby tripod, making it easier to set the camera up at a specific angle for timelapses, or for filming yourself.

As if the Apple Intelligence fiasco hadn’t stirred up enough trouble, now the iPhone maker is getting hit from the other side: straight from the White House. On Friday morning, former President Donald Trump posted on social media that Apple […]

The post Apple faces 25% tariff threat on iPhones not made in the U.S., prices could jump to $3,500 first appeared on Tech Startups.

Abu Dhabi, UAE, 23rd May 2025, Chainwire

The post Venom Foundation Achieves 150k TPS in Closed-Network Stress Test, Paving the Way for 2025 Mainnet Upgrade first appeared on Tech Startups.