I knew Alysa Liu and her father was surveilled by the Chinese government, but the whole story behind it was so much wilder than I could imagine

And somehow Eric Adams got involved too lol

The Online Fiction Boom Reimagining China’s History Chinese fantasy novels reimagine the past with modern tech and ideology. A new book argues they also help reinforce authoritarian politics.

This week's newsletter: Contrary to MAGA, who dream of reviving the old America, there's an online boom of time travel sci-fi in China trying to rewrite the country's unglorious past. Rongbin Han's (professor at UGA) new book call them the "Make China Great Again" fiction.

New from me: No increase in global coal power generation after Hormuz closure - solar and wind growth covered the fall in gas-fired generation. The record buildout of clean energy in 2025 helped mitigate the impact of the Hormuz closure.

Quick Eye: XChat, Orbán, and a Very Questionable Tripe-Strawberry Hotpot A 2-minute overview of trending topics on Chinese social media, including XChat, Orbán’s defeat, and that tripe-strawberry hotpot.

Musk is launching his XChat app in China. Huh.

'Zhihu discussions note...the app will likely remain inaccessible. Beyond China’s stringent platform regulations, XChat requires an X account to log in, meaning users cannot get past registration.'

PRC Regulations on Countering Improper Extraterritorial Jurisdiction by Foreign States 【颁布时间】2026-4-7 【标题】中华人民共和国反外国不当域外管辖条例 【发文号】国令第835号 【失效时间】 【颁布单位】国务院 【法规来源】https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/202604/content_7065398.htm

The next lawfare volley: China releases regulations on countering improper foreign long-arm jurisdiction.

Continuing tit-for-tat measures as done in the Law on Countering Foreign Sanctions and the Foreign Trade Law. www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/PRC-Regul...

So glad this story is gaining traction & wanted to highlight that @andrewdeck.bsky.social at @niemanlab.org broke the news that NYT/Guardian/USA Today were blocking IA earlier this year. Encourage all to read: www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/news...

Trying to track down this alleged letter from Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun to the White House. Doesn't appear in any Chinese official sources, and it seems to be fake. No clarification yet from Chinese authorities. First mention I can find is this post on X:

My takes are free. They might be bad, but free.

Now We Know Their Names | WIRED YouTube video by WIRED

WIRED analyzed Border Patrol use-of-force reports alongside body cam footage and public records to identify masked agents involved in incidents with US citizens.

We found hundreds of names.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d73...

We were stoked to have some face time with the Japanese-American actor, but his schedule prevented it. So, we opted for e-mail correspondence. A list of queries was sent his way, and we waited. The silence continued until it was quickly replaced by a ticking clock as deadlines loomed. We had the photospread, but nothing directly uttered by the 29-year-old. With a driving need for a feature, we had to be inventive. Harnessing our creative license, we pulled his verbatim from previous interviews and fed them through an AI programme to formulate new responses. Are these the words we expect from Mackenyu? Or are they just replies from an echo chamber of celebrity-hood that we want to believe is from him? With the absence of information, can new insights be gained? Nature abhors a vacuum, and in its place, a story fills the hollow. The following interview was produced with Claude, Copilot, and edited by humans.

cover of esquire singapore featuring a photo of the guy they didn't interview

Esquire Singapore posted a cover story interview that

***did not interview the subject***

***but instead***

***generated the entire interview using AI***

jfc wtaf gtfo

Norman Wong, retired carpenter, great grandson of Wong Kim Ark, and now activist to protect #birthrightcitizenship.

That’s one hell of a cover…..

7 minutes ago Helene Cooper, Pentagon reporter Trump has concluded speaking after 19 minutes. Nothing new was said tonight. This was a rehash of his Truth Social posts over the past month.

most helpful summary
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04...

NEW: Dozens of robotaxis by Baidu stopped on the road in Wuhan, China, causing crashes on highways and trapping passengers in the cars—some for more than an hour. One passenger told me it took her 30 minutes to even connect to a customer representative.

Here’s a dash cam video of one crash.

And apparently one way for Baidu to compensate passengers who were stuck in the car for over one hour was to give them a 50% coupon for the next ride. You can’t make this up.

A suspected system failure caused a number of Baidu robotaxis to stop across Wuhan, trapping passengers and reportedly causing traffic disruptions and crashes (Zeyi Yang/Wired)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Basically this but worse

Robotaxi Outage in China Leaves Passengers Stranded on Highways A suspected system failure froze Baidu’s robotaxis across Wuhan, trapping passengers and reportedly causing traffic disruptions and crashes.

Wuhan's traffic police authority says it's “likely caused by a system malfunction” but still under investigation. More in our breaking story: www.wired.com/story/robota...

NEW: Dozens of robotaxis by Baidu stopped on the road in Wuhan, China, causing crashes on highways and trapping passengers in the cars—some for more than an hour. One passenger told me it took her 30 minutes to even connect to a customer representative.

Here’s a dash cam video of one crash.

Thank you!

It’s on my list now thank you!

In San Francisco till Wednesday. DM if you want to get coffee 👋

Anduril’s Real War Is With Itself From drones to missiles to submarines, the $30.5 billion defense startup wants to transform how the tools of war are made. It’s not all going as planned.

From drones to missiles to submarines, Anduril wants to transform how the tools of war are made. It’s not all going as planned. www.wired.com/story/anduri...

ICE Invades Airports Across the US Agents from ICE are being deployed to over a dozen airports around the country, including New York, Atlanta, and Chicago.

NEW from me and @leahfeiger.bsky.social: ICE is in the airports as funding for TSA remains frozen. And like I said in an earlier post: if you're at the airport and seeing ICE, @wired.com wants to know. DM me here or on Signal at Vittoria 89.82

www.wired.com/story/ice-in...

ICE Invades Airports Across the US Agents from ICE are being deployed to over a dozen airports around the country, including New York, Atlanta, and Chicago.

One eyewitness tells @wired.com she began filming after hearing a “horrible” scream while walking to her gate. The woman said it appeared that “two unidentified men” were grabbing “a woman trying to hold onto her child.”

ICE is invading US airports. new from me and @telliotter.bsky.social:

Yup re Dominic Lee.

A New Game Turns the H-1B Visa System Into a Surreal Simulation Inspired by real immigrant stories, H1B.Life captures the uncertainty, trade-offs, and pure luck that shape the lives of people trying to build a future in the US.

New: Inspired by real immigrant stories, this upcoming game tries to simulate the emotional toll of immigration and teach people what it's like to go through the H-1B visa lottery.

Plus, a Chick-fil-A buddha may bless your visa. Why? It's a modern urban legend concocted by Chinese immigrants.

Must be a slow news day for them to pick up such a pr pitch lol

Back in the fall, we wrote about biotech entrepreneur/former Thiel fellow Cathy Tie's new company to edit human embryos: www.wired.com/story/startu...

Now she's apparently shut down that company due to a "cofounder conflict" and created a new one: www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...

Wired’s New Editor Doesn’t Care if the Tech Bros Are Mad

The New York Times is right. I don’t care!

(And huge credit to the @wired.com team, whose intrepid, fearless, always fair reporting gives the tech bros plenty to be mad about.)