The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has significantly increased its use of subpoenas to unmask social media users critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to multiple reports. This practice, previously used sparingly, has become increasingly common in recent months, with the department reportedly sending hundreds of subpoenas to tech companies like Google, as detailed by The New York Times.
This surge in subpoenas follows a pattern of heightened scrutiny of online critics of ICE. Bloomberg reported on five instances where DHS sought to identify the owners of anonymous Instagram accounts. In these cases, the department withdrew its subpoenas after the account owners filed lawsuits. The Washington Post also highlighted DHS's growing reliance on administrative subpoenas, which do not require judicial approval, to target Americans.
Meanwhile, in the tech world, Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, is experiencing significant internal upheaval. According to a former employee who spoke to The Verge, Musk is actively pushing to make the Grok chatbot more "unhinged." This comes amidst a wave of departures, with at least 11 engineers and two co-founders leaving the company following the announcement that SpaceX is acquiring xAI. Some departures are attributed to a desire to start new ventures, while others, as reported by The Verge, cite disillusionment with the company's safety protocols.
In other tech news, Stacy Brown-Philpot, the former TaskRabbit CEO and a veteran of Google, is focusing on overlooked founders through her venture capital firm, Cherryrock Capital. Brown-Philpot launched Cherryrock a year ago, identifying a gap in access to capital for underinvested entrepreneurs building software companies at the growth stage. "When I left TaskRabbit, I took some time off to figure out what was next and saw this gap in the market, which was access to capital, particularly for underinvested entrepreneurs," she told TechCrunch.
In the fashion tech space, Jenny Wang, the founder of Alta, is expanding her "Clueless"-inspired app. Alta, which allows users to create digital closets and virtually try on clothes, raised $11 million in a round led by Menlo Ventures last year. Wang spoke to TechCrunch during New York Fashion Week about the company's expansion since the funding round.
Finally, Hollywood organizations are expressing concerns about Seedance 2.0, a new AI video generator. According to the Wall Street Journal, the updated model, launched by ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, is currently available to Chinese users and will soon be available globally through its CapCut app. Critics are concerned about the potential for copyright infringement due to a perceived lack of guardrails.
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