Shoe company Allbirds, which sold last week for $39M after its valuation fell from $4B+ in 2021, says it aims to become an AI compute provider; BIRD jumps 800%+

extremely normal economy

@faizsays.bsky.social - "Pycha absolutna" (tłum. Piotr Grzegorzewski). Biografia amerykańskiego oligarchy, który zabił Twittera, pomógł w reelekcji Trumpa i od kilku lat przyczynia się do wrzenia świata. Samozwańczy zbawca ludzkości, który próbuje nas zniewolić technologicznie. #readlist2026pl

The problem with trying to sell the masses on this messaging is that it's the tech moguls pushing it who stand to benefit. And they can't articulate how or why the wealth they'll generate would filter down wapo.st/4uTiDIr

Musk has a plan to make human labor obsolete. Billionaires are joining in. Tech elites have seized on humanoid robots to transform manual labor and other fields left out of the AI boom, an area called “physical AI.”

The physical AI “boom” is all about an untapped market: replacing human jobs. Billionaires put an “abundance” spin on it but everyone agrees the replacement of human workers is what this leads to. As AI sweeps in, “There’s going to be continuous job loss.” wapo.st/4uTiDIr

Teens allege Musk’s Grok chatbot made sexual images of them as minors Three teenage plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday accuse xAI of distributing, possessing and producing with intent to distribute child pornography.

Grok turned yearbook and homecoming photos into child sexual abuse images, lawsuit alleges wapo.st/4uwe5aT

Teens allege Musk’s Grok chatbot made sexual images of them as minors Three teenaged plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday accuse xAI of distribution, possession and production with intent to distribute child pornography.

It's the first lawsuit from minors over the Grok "undressing" scandal, where xAI's tools came under fire for allowing sexualized images of real people. In this case, the teenagers say homecoming, yearbook and other memories were morphed into nude images and some were traded online wapo.st/4uwe5aT

Teens allege Musk’s Grok chatbot made sexual images of them as minors Three teenaged plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday accuse xAI of distribution, possession and production with intent to distribute child pornography.

STORY: Teens allege Musk’s Grok made sexual images of them as minors. Lawsuit alleges perpetrator compiled images of more than 18 girls and edited some of them using xAI/Grok, before distributing and bartering them over chat platforms for other child sexual abuse material.
wapo.st/4uwe5aT

Teens allege Musk’s Grok chatbot made sexual images of them as minors Three teenaged plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday accuse xAI of distribution, possession and production with intent to distribute child pornography.

NEW: Three teens allege xAI and Grok were used to generate nude underage images. Photos from homecoming, yearbook, beach outings were turned into CSAM and distributed on Discord and Telegram + some were bartered for other child abuse imagery, a lawsuit alleges. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Musk asked Epstein for ‘the wildest party.’ Now he claims to stand up for victims. The billionaire Tesla CEO has called for accountability for figures named in the Epstein files — despite appearing in them himself.

The emails provide context around Musk's statement that he "REFUSED" to go to Epstein's island and his later admission that, while he made plans with Epstein, he "came to my senses and declined to go." wapo.st/4b9kYWV

Musk asked Epstein for ‘the wildest party.’ Now he claims to stand up for victims. The billionaire Tesla CEO has called for accountability for figures named in the Epstein files — despite appearing in them himself.

Elon Musk emailed Jeffrey Epstein on consecutive Christmases

2012: "Do you have any parties planned? ... I really want to ... let loose."

2013: "When should we head to your island on the 2nd?"

My piece looking at his fraught effort to position himself as a voice for victims now wapo.st/4b9kYWV

A 2024 Elon Musk post predicting that "Governments will attempt to seize power over AGI"

not that we have AGI but this guy may have been onto something

An Elon Musk post reading: “The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?”

Elon Musk’s response to a post saying he complied after the Turkish government “asked Twitter to censor its opponents right before an election”

Apropos of nothing, remembering the time a government made direct demands of a powerful “free speech”-oriented Elon Musk company, which faced the risk of being shut down there, and he blinked

A 2024 Elon Musk X Post reading: "Forbes is desperate for attention as they are dying."

Musk's response to being named America's greatest innovator by Forbes: "Cool." His brother added, "Congrats bro!"

Elon Musk on Forbes when it covered Tesla's plummeting stock: dying, desperate for attention
Elon Musk when Forbes named him America's greatest innovator: thank you Forbes, very cool

Elon 3.0 Does Elon have a plan for this?

It’s Elon 3.0 time. Robots, mergers and Epstein, oh my. With @faizsays.bsky.social slate.com/podcasts/wha...

This story, shared here four hours ago, was written with the inimitable and utterly irreplaceable @nitasha.bsky.social who was laid off yesterday, the same day our piece ran on the front page of the newspaper. Hard to fathom.

Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund

What happened at the Post today is simply devastating -- deep and hard-won trust and sourcing, mountains of expertise and a combined centuries' worth of institutional knowledge gone up in an instant. It's a collective loss but please consider donating to support those who've had their lives upended:

cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.

"Make it more 'based.'": How Elon Musk's bet turned Grok into a porn generator. Workers got waivers asking them to work w/ sexual content, Musk started sleeping at xAI, job candidates were screened for comfort w/ NSFW material, red flags went ignored. Grok surged — at a massive cost wapo.st/45DcMMI

Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.

Insane @washingtonpost.com reporting:

Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened its guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.

washingtonpost.com/technology/2... 2/3

Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.

EXCLUSIVE: Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator wapo.st/45DcMMI from @nitasha.bsky.social @lizzalichka.bsky.social and me

Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.

In one way, the push has worked. Grok, which once charted dozens of spots below ChatGPT in free App Store rankings, has surged to the top 10. But it was the "undressing" scandal that vaulted it to notoriety. Also Grok's guardrails fell + Musk would say, "Make it more ‘based.'" wapo.st/45DcMMI

Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.

NEW: Inside Elon Musk's push to hook Grok users by leaning into NSFW content. Workers were told they'd be working with sexual material, were advised to gauge job candidates' comfort with doing so. Soon they were training Grok on lewd conversations & depictions of sexual violence
wapo.st/45DcMMI

Elon Musk's full comment on the Epstein files release, just posted on X:

Elon Musk, September 2025: “Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED”

Tesla ending the Model S and Model X takes it away from its roots as a car company. Models 3 and Y revenues underpin so many of its autonomous and robotics bets, so of course those aren't going anywhere. Musk says it's "slightly sad" but time to shift
wapo.st/3LYTef1

Breaking: Tesla is ending production of the Model S, the vehicle that vaulted it to the mainstream and won Motor Trend "Car of the Year" honors, along with the Model X, Elon Musk announces. It is shifting those production lines to make Optimus robots, Musk says.

Barclays in an analyst report this week: Tesla's "Fundamentals remain challenged. ... Yet for now we expect Tesla stock to remain detached
from fundamentals."

Tesla bet big on Elon Musk. His politics continue to haunt it. Tesla struggles to regain its footing in the electric vehicle market, hindered by Elon Musk’s political activity, impacting its stock price and performance.

New: Tesla 4th quarter profit plunges 61% year-over-year; annual profit down 46%

the brand damage:
-1 million lost vehicle sales, per study
-Declining revenue, profits, deliveries in 1st half of '25
-Lower total production/deliveries than '24
-Lost crown as world's leading EV seller
wapo.st/3LYTef1

Tesla bet big on Elon Musk. His politics continue to haunt it. Tesla struggles to regain its footing in the electric vehicle market, hindered by Elon Musk’s political activity, impacting its stock price and performance.

wrote about how Tesla floated a cool $1 trillion Elon Musk's way in hopes he would focus, only for him to fan the flames in Minnesota, post about his fears of white genocide, seemingly claim South Africa was better off during apartheid and proclaim whites a "rapidly dying minority"

wapo.st/3LYTef1

Preschooler and three other students detained by ICE, school district leader says The detentions of Columbia Heights students come after weeks of heightened concern and enforcement presence near and on Twin Cities school property.

"Liam’s teacher, Ella Sullivan, teared up when thinking about Liam. 'He’s a bright young student,' she said, 'and he’s so kind and loving. His classmates miss him.'"

www.startribune.com/preschooler-...