The State Department announced on Wednesday its entering the late 20th century and immediately making its new online passport renewal system fully available to the public. The new offering replaces the former method — printing out a paper application and mailing it with a check. The State Department declares the …
Read More »Project 2025 Would Drastically Cut Support for Carbon Removal
Over the past few years, the United States has become the go-to location for companies seeking to suck carbon dioxide out of the sky. There are a handful of demonstration-scale direct air capture (DAC) plants dotted across the globe, but the facilities planned in Louisiana and Texas are of a …
Read More »This state is allowing AI to help rule on its unemployment claims
Nevada will become the first state to pilot a generative AI system designed to make unemployment claim decisions, marketed as a way to speed up appeals and tackle the nation’s overwhelming backlog of cases. It’s a risky, first-time experiment at integrating AI into higher-level decision making. Google is behind the …
Read More »Antony Blinken Dragged US Diplomacy Into the 21st Century. Even He’s Surprised by the Results
Here’s a flash of Antony J. Blinken’s turn as US secretary of state: In his first year, he navigated America’s messy exit from Afghanistan. In his second, he tried to rally the world to Ukraine’s side following Russia’s invasion in February 2022. His third and, now fourth, have been defined …
Read More »National Public Data breach: Do this to find out if your Social Security number has been leaked
In what may be the most bonkers news we’ve heard in 2024, billions of Americans had their most personal, sensitive info swiped by hackers earlier this year — and the breach didn’t get disclosed until August. The devastating data leak at the hands of National Public Data is a nightmare, …
Read More »To Lead in AI, the US Needs a Silicon Revolution
One thing that US politicians seem to agree on, despite a great many other differences, is that the country needs to lead technologically to maintain a position of economic and geopolitical preeminence. How to ensure such leadership will be a critical question for the next US president and his or …
Read More »New Jersey’s $500 Million Bid to Become an AI Epicenter
New Jersey has a new plan to become the US hub for AI innovation. The state’s governor signed a law on Thursday that will offer up to $500 million in tax credits for artificial intelligence companies to set up shop in the state. “We want New Jerseyans to stand at …
Read More »The Supreme Court Is Gutting Protections for Clean Water and Safe Air
This story originally appeared on Slate and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. US environmental law is a relatively young discipline. The Environmental Protection Agency is a little more than 50 years old, and the Clean Air and Clean Water acts—legislation we today see as bedrocks of public health …
Read More »How Keir Starmer Can Fix the UK’s Tech Industry
The UK’s new government already has big plans. In the first few weeks after the election, it will signal to the world that Britain is “back” as a leading global player and rekindle ties with old friends in Europe. Yet Britain’s calling card, when it comes to tech industry credentials, …
Read More »The US Is Being Flooded by Chinese Vapes
In late March, a smoke shop in Dyersburg, Tennessee, announced the arrival of a new product in its store: a disposable nicotine vape with an LCD display that can be connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth. Marketed under the brand name RAMA, the strawberry- and kiwi-flavored vape looks more like …
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