Use this long weekend to rest, relax, and save. There are some great #MemorialDaySales on the gear WIRED reviewers recommend. If you buy something using the link below, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. wired.trib.al/vAGtei1 1/6
The GoPro Hero 10 Black is our favorite action camera. Paying $400 for it alone is a good deal that saves you about $50, but this bundle adds even more value: It includes a spare battery and a charger. 📸: GoPro wired.trib.al/BpONPuJ 2/6
This video game is a holdover from last week that's worth mentioning again. Folks feel very strongly about Elden Ring (PS4/5) for $50 ($10 off). You either love it or hate it This is the first discount we've tracked for the popular title. wired.trib.al/KwwxJWA 📸: Amazon 3/6
One of the best PlayStation 5 features has nothing to do with the console itself. We really like the Sony PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller for $59 ($16 off). WIRED reviewers say there's no third-party alternative that packs the same punch. 📸: Sony 4/6 wired.trib.al/mLK2IYB
This giant, squishy Moon Pod Beanbag for $299 ($100 off) is sort of ridiculous…as is its price tag. It's also more comfortable than my sofa. The softcover and dense filling make you feel like you're floating on the moon. 📸: Moon Pod 5/6 wired.trib.al/ANmkCvi
This LG C1 OLED 55-Inch 4K TV for $1,097 ($201 off)
made our list of the best TVs as a top pick for gamers, not just because of the wonderfully rich blacks that OLED panels provide, but also due to its 120-Hz refresh rate support. 📸: LG wired.trib.al/iaGJAYK
It's been a while since the Biolite FirePit+ for $225 ($75 off) has been priced at this low price. We liked the original version; this newer model can be used as a heating source, a phone charger, and a snazzy portable grill. 📸: Biolite wired.trib.al/bpLQz0X
Thermapen One Meat Thermometer for $84 ($21 off) is one of the best grilling accessories. It'll spit out accurate temperatures in less than a second. Enter code SHAREBBQ to see the discount at checkout. 📸: Thermoworks wired.trib.al/Qhjrdum
Our WIRED reviews editor is a huge fan of the Rumpl Blanket for $74 ($25 off). The outdoor-friendly blankets are durable, warm, packable, and available in several eye-catching designs. 📸:Rumpl wired.trib.al/kOPsYQk
The discount on this Allform 3-Seat Sofa for $1,895 ($474 off) isn't quite as good as what we saw on Cyber Monday last year, but it's the best deal we have tracked since then. Allform makes some of the best couches you can buy in a box. 📸:Allform wired.trib.al/HJsweXP
We heartily recommend these Jins Prescription Sunglasses for 30% off, particularly for folks who need a prescription. They look way cooler than your typical Rx frames, and they're also durable, even after years of wear. Use Code 22MEMORIAL30 📸: Jins wired.trib.al/xjo0s4E
Check out our updated #MemorialDaySales story throughout the weekend for the latest and best deals going. It's a great way to save money and support our journalism by shopping through the links provided. wired.trib.al/3xxmMvn
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American police are spending hundreds of thousands on Massive Blue’s unproven and secretive technology that uses AI-generated online personas designed to interact with and collect intelligence on “college protesters,” “radicalized” political activists, and suspected traffickers.
Massive Blue calls its product Overwatch, which it markets as an “AI-powered force multiplier for public safety” that “deploys lifelike virtual agents, which infiltrate and engage criminal networks across various channels.”
404 Media obtained a presentation showing some of these AI characters. These include a “radicalized AI” “protest persona,” which poses as a 36-year-old divorced woman who is lonely, has no children, is interested in baking, activism, and “body positivity.”
The audit covers DOGE’s handling of data at several Cabinet-level agencies, including:
–the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services
–the Treasury
–the Social Security Administration
–the US DOGE Service (USDS) itself wired.com/story/gao-audi…
It's being carried out after congressional leaders’ requests and is centered on DOGE’s adherence to privacy and data protection laws and regulations.
A Congressional aide said the requests followed media reports on DOGE’s incursions into federal systems. wired.com/story/gao-audi…
Dozens of federal employees tell WIRED that Trump's federal return to office order has resulted in chaos (including bad Wi-Fi and no toilet paper), with productivity plummeting and public services suffering. wired.com/story/federal-…
One effect of all this, many federal employees tell WIRED, is that they are travelling long distances in order to spend all of their time in virtual meetings.
A Treasury employee says they spend most of their time at the office on video calls as well. wired.com/story/federal-…
It isn’t just traveling to work to sit on Zoom calls—it’s that there may be no place to take the call, or no working internet to connect to it.
WIRED granted employees anonymity to speak freely about their experiences. wired.com/story/federal-…
SCOOP: Elon Musk’s DOGE has plans to stage a “hackathon” next week in Washington, DC. The goal is to create a single “mega API”—a bridge that lets software systems talk to one another—for accessing IRS data, sources tell WIRED. wired.com/story/doge-hac…
DOGE ops have repeatedly referred to the company Palantir as a possible partner in the project, sources tell WIRED.
SCOOP: Shortly after senior Trump officials discussed the bombing of Yemen in a Signal group chat that just happened to include the Atlantic's editor in chief, a subset of the group feasted at a secret dinner featuring Trump where guests were asked to pay $1 million apiece to join. wired.com/story/trump-of…
The date was Saturday, March 15. President Donald Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago estate attending a “candlelight” dinner that wasn’t on his public calendar. On the lawn outside, luxury cars were on display: a Rolls Royce was parked near a Bugatti and Lamborghini.
Earlier that day, the United States had bombed Yemen, targeting Houthi leadership. At least 53 people, including children, were killed.
A Letter from WIRED's Editor: Ever since Elon Musk dove headfirst into backing Donald Trump’s presidential bid last year—to the tune of $280 million in contributions—WIRED has been tracking the billionaire’s political exploits and growing sphere of influence within the GOP and the Trump administration more specifically. We’ve been sourcing up, talking to people within and around federal agencies, as well as experts in disciplines including cybersecurity, AI, medicine, and more, about Musk’s potential impact.
What would Musk do, we wanted to understand, once Trump took back the White House on January 20? How would our government—and our country —change with Trump at the steering wheel and Musk riding shotgun?
Now the world, and WIRED, are finding out. The entire WIRED newsroom, from editors and reporters to fact-checkers and photo editors, has been working relentlessly to unearth new information about what exactly Elon Musk and his allies are doing across federal agencies, and to what end. What is changing, how, and what are the consequences? Amid the findings of our reporting, one overarching fact has become extremely clear: Musk is now in the driver’s seat, and he is implementing sweeping, shocking, and largely unchecked changes across the entirety of our country’s federal apparatus.