Brian Barrett

Brian Barrett

@brbarrett.bsky.social

Executive Editor, WIRED

21.9K followers647 following478 posts

Brian Barrett reposted

Katie Drummond
@katie-drummond.bsky.social

Nathan Fielder is on the cover of @wired.com this month. I interviewed him about Elizabeth Holmes, his extraordinary new film, and whether anyone can ever know what the hell is going on with another person. An exclusive! And quite an experience. Read the full interview here:

wired.comNathan Fielder Tells Us EverythingIncluding what Elizabeth Holmes said to him last week. A WIRED exclusive interview with the comic auteur, as his first feature film hits theaters.

Brian Barrett reposted

dell cameron
@dell.bsky.social

NEW: I made some embeds to track Elon Musk's super PAC using FEC data. Our candidate tracker is polling daily so you can jump on this page any time before the election to see where those millions are going (mostly Texas, Ohio, and Michigan so far). Next report is Oct 22.

WIRED@wired.com

Elon Musk has assembled a presidential-level field operation this midterm cycle, underscoring the extent to which he has taken over the get-out-the-vote effort for the Republican party.

buff.lyElon Musk Is Almost Single-Handedly Funding the Republican Midterms PushElon Musk has assembled a presidential-level field operation this midterm cycle, underscoring the extent to which he has taken over the get-out-the-vote effort for the Republican party.

Brian Barrett reposted

Reece
@thiccreese.bsky.social

had a wonderful time chatting with @brbarrett.bsky.social and @leahfeiger.bsky.social ✨ check it out! 👇🏻

WIRED@wired.com

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.

buff.lyWe Got Hot and Heavy with Meta’s Muse—And Underwhelmed by Apple’s HomeViewThis 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 reposted

Tess Owen
@tessowen.bsky.social

Scoop from @timmarchman.bsky.social & I: New WH press secretary Katie Zacharia never passed the bar, despite calling herself an attorney. She was, however, once part of a multi-level-marketing fitness program that she described to us as "sort of a pyramid scheme" www.wired.com/story/white-...

wired.comWhite House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia Was an Affiliate Marketer for a Fitness MLMTrump's newly installed press secretary tells WIRED that in the early 2010s, she promoted a product for a company then called Beachbody, which she described as “sort of a pyramid scheme.”

Brian Barrett reposted

Dhruv Mehrotra
@dmehro.bsky.social

NEW: Footage from Thursdays shooting shows an ICE agent in a construction vest brandishing a rifle. His name is Brenden Cuni. Federal judges have found multiple arrests involving Cuni unlawful. He has been accused of repeatedly Tasing a handcuffed man and tackling a pregnant woman in Minneapolis.

wired.comICE Agent at NYC Shooting Has History of Alleged Violence and Illegal ArrestsBrenden Cuni, an ICE supervisor, has been accused of excessive force and tackling a pregnant woman to the ground. Several of his arrests were later found to be unlawful in federal court.

Brian Barrett reposted

Hugo Lowell
@hugolowell.bsky.social

NEW @wired.com: Elon Musk's America PAC is focusing its war chest on key Senate races this cycle -- overall spending 3 times as much on digital ads and mailers hitting Dems as defending GOP candidates amid cratering support for Trump's record www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

wired.comElon Musk’s America PAC Is Quietly Funding November’s Most Consequential ElectionsAmerica PAC’s approach has been unusual: for every dollar it has spent supporting GOP Senate candidates, it has spent almost three dollars attacking Democrats.
Brian Barrett
@brbarrett.bsky.social

We’re tracking where and how much Elon Musk is spending on the midterms, updating daily. So far? His America PAC is all in on Texas, and spending way more to tear down Democrats than to boost Republicans. from @dell.bsky.social and @hugolowell.bsky.social

wired.comElon Musk’s America PAC Is Spending Big on the Midterms. We’re Tracking It DailyTo follow Elon Musk’s America PAC money, WIRED created a live-updating tracker that highlights the trillionaire’s overall influence on November’s elections.

Brian Barrett reposted

maddy varner
@regret.bsky.social

NEW: A recently unsealed court filing that heavily cites government-produced documents + DHS agent depositions alleges that yes, there *is* a DHS database that's filled with protesters, called ICM. It's built by Palantir. www.wired.com/story/ice-ha...

wired.comICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir DatabaseDHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say.
Brian Barrett
@brbarrett.bsky.social

For what it’s worth WBHM is a local institution with great journalists. Because they’re licensed through the University of Alabama at Birmingham they’re all state employees, and there’s a state law that requires state employees to use “Gulf of America.” It’s still bad! But it’s also complicated.

Steve Herman@newsguy.bsky.social

The general manager of WBHM in Birmingham announces the public radio station is compelled to begin referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America." view.reach.uab.edu/?vawpToken...

view.reach.uab.eduview.reach.uab.edu

Brian Barrett reposted

Lauren Goode
@laurengoode.bsky.social

My latest feature for @wired.com is out, and it’s part of our epic issue on the state of women in Silicon Valley, and I can’t wait for you to read it and enjoy this art 🙌💗 bsky.app/profile/wire...

WIRED@wired.com

For our WIRED Women cover, Patti Harrison plays five (well, actually six) of the current masters of the universe—Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos (with Lauren Sánchez Bezos by his side). 🔗 www.wired.com/tag/wired-wo...

Brian Barrett reposted

WIRED
@wired.com

For our WIRED Women cover, Patti Harrison plays five (well, actually six) of the current masters of the universe—Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos (with Lauren Sánchez Bezos by his side). 🔗 www.wired.com/tag/wired-wo...

Brian Barrett
@brbarrett.bsky.social

Chipotle is now working with Palantir to track food safety. This comes after America’s turbo diarrhea summer, and a long history of ICE—maybe the most high-profile Palantir partner—targeting Chipotle’s workforce.

wired.comChipotle Is Working With Palantir to Track Food Safety RisksThe burrito chain has enlisted Palantir for a platform that monitors pest incidents, employee illnesses, and other factors. The partnership comes after a nightmare summer for food safety across the US...
Brian Barrett
@brbarrett.bsky.social

This is all very good news except for the part where Kavanaugh says actually this is probably fine but the timing’s not great.

David Gilbert@davidgilbert.bsky.social

Trump's plans to upend mail in voting for the midterms have been shut down by the Supreme Court www.wired.com/story/the-su...

wired.comThe Supreme Court Just Blocked Trump’s Efforts to Control Mail-In Voting for the MidtermsThe ruling bars the United States Postal Service from implementing restrictions that experts and election officials say would upend voting in November.

Brian Barrett reposted

Ej Dickson
@ejdickson.bsky.social

There is a corner of the internet I had never heard of before I started reporting this story. It’s called the “burnerverse”: a network of anon burner accounts ostensibly discussing college sports. But they have another goal: destroying young girls’ lives.🧵: www.wired.com/story/burner...

wired.comA College Girl Was Exploited on Camera. A Network of Anonymous Men Got to WorkMaddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back.

Brian Barrett reposted

Andrew Couts
@couts.bsky.social

NEW: ICE agents demanded that REI turn over the names of "all persons" who bought a green beanie from the outdoor retailer over the past two years as part of their probe of protesters who entered a St. Paul church in March. @regret.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ice-wa...

wired.comICE Wants to Know Everyone Who Bought a Certain Green Beanie From REI in the Last 2 YearsHomeland Security Investigations agents hit the outdoor retailer with a controversial subpoena as part of a dragnet search for the identities of protesters who entered a Minnesota church in March.

Brian Barrett reposted

Caroline Haskins
@carolinehaskins.bsky.social

You've probably heard about the horrifying phenomenon of students making AI-generated nudes + sexual content of their underage peers. Unfortunately, there's a whole other set of victims of this harassment: Teachers. Several of them told me their stories: www.wired.com/story/teache...

wired.comThey Dedicated Their Lives to Teaching. Then the Deepfakes StartedThe deepfake epidemic in schools is affecting more than students. Four teachers tell WIRED about becoming targets of sexualized, AI-generated content—and how difficult it was to find accountability.
Brian Barrett
@brbarrett.bsky.social

Flock has a new AI system that lets cops search basically for anyone, anywhere with a prompt. @dmehro.bsky.social and @dell.bsky.social got hands on the code, and reconstructed how it works so you can see it for yourself.

wired.comFlock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its CodeFlock’s surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police, to confirm it goes much further than tracking license plate...
Brian Barrett
@brbarrett.bsky.social

It might interest folks to know, for instance, that OpenAI’s head of safety is in a long-term relationship with OpenAI’s head of product. And that OpenAI has had four different heads of preparedness in the three years the role has existed.

Brian Barrett@brbarrett.bsky.social

A big look inside the OpenAI safety culture that may have contributed to the recent rogue AI hacking and what changes the company may make in response. Lots of previously unreported details in here from @mzeff.bsky.social

wired.comThe Safety Reckoning Inside OpenAIOpenAI’s rogue agent hack was a watershed moment for AI safety and cybersecurity. It also sparked internal questions about the culture that led to it.