As Dunne and Raby wrote in their 2001 book Design Noir, “Beneath the glossy surface of official design lurks a dark and strange world driven by real human needs.”
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/thinktank/dunne_02.html
WIRED Ghost Stories
Five hauntings from the other side of technology.
Inside the Exclusive Nathan Fielder Interview
This week on Uncanny Valley, we go behind the scenes of our Nathan Fielder cover story, unpack tech billionaires’ generous promises, and discuss the suspicious letters sent to US election offices.
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Inside Elon Musk’s Midterm Spending Spree
This week on Uncanny Valley, we discuss where Elon Musk’s PAC is spending millions, the latest ideology Trump claims is dangerous, and the backlash against the designer behind Muse’s logo.
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How a Contractor’s Claude Agent Got Into the Pentagon
This week on Uncanny Valley, we also discuss Anthropic’s IPO filing and the volunteers gearing up to counter ICE at the midterms.
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We Got Hot and Heavy With Meta’s Muse—and Baffled by Apple’s HomeView
This week on Uncanny Valley, we dive into an unexpected Muse feature, shadowy spending from the largest pro-AI super PAC, and men’s tendency to lie about how much they know about AI.
Brian Barrett
A Mysterious Nonprofit Run by SpaceXAI’s Top Lawyer Is Paying the Salaries of Government Workers
The National Design Studio has been something of a successor agency to DOGE. A WIRED investigation finds some of its members are on loan from a nonprofit run by SpaceXAI’s general counsel.
Vittoria Elliott
Demi Adejuyigbe Thinks You Should Only Post 3 Times a Day
The comedian sees being online as similar to visiting the zoo. “I don’t need to interact with that,” he says. “It’s just a thing that I enjoy, and then I walk away.”
Miles Klee
Men Can’t Stop Faking How Much They Know About AI
More than half of the men surveyed in a new Harvard study claimed to recognize AI leaders who were, in fact, totally fictional.
Kate Taylor
UK Politician Jess Asato Got Deepfaked. Now She’s Taking xAI to Court
Jess Asato’s public campaigning for victims of online abuse put her in the crosshairs of Grok’s deepfake scandal. Then the UK member of parliament became a victim of the abuse herself.
Rosie Swash
Livestream Replay: Watch Uncanny Valley on Women, Tech, and Power
Missed our latest WIRED@Night event? Enjoy an evening of podcasting in San Francisco right here.
WIRED Staff
How Elizabeth Holmes Tricked WIRED—and Everyone Else
WIRED was the first magazine to cover Theranos and its enticing billionaire founder. There were warning signs even then.
Adam Rogers