Chinese EV maker BYD is absolutely crushing Tesla, leapfrogging the Elon Musk-led company by passing the $100 billion mark in revenue last year.
As <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-ev-giant-byd-surpasses-133522080.html">Agence France-Press reports</a>, the Shenzhen-based manufacturer has quickly emerged as the clear leader in China's burgeoning EV market — and increasingly looking like a global contender — by beating out Tesla's $97.7 billion in revenue last year.
It's a notable inflection point, showing that the embattled carmaker's days of being the EV industry's clear frontrunner are numbered, if not already over. Experts have long warned that Chinese competition could catch up with Tesla, which doesn't bode well given the company's already faltering financials, spurred by its mercurial CEO's increasingly erratic and alienating behavior.
BYD announced earlier this year that it had sold nearly 4.3 million vehicles in 2024, up over 40 percent compared to 2023.
Monthly sales also skyrocketed by a stunning 161 percent in February, according to AFP — at the same time that Tesla saw <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-bizarre-behavior-killing-tesla-sales">massive declines in sales</a> worldwide and a <a href="https://futurism.com/even-tesla-board-dumping-stock">plunging share price</a>.
BYD made headlines earlier this month when it <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-byd-electric-vehicle-charge-five-minutes">revealed new battery tech</a> allowing EVs to gain nearly 250 miles' worth of charge in just five minutes, leading to a surge in the company's share price. The system can reach peak speeds of 1,000 kilowatts, twice that of Tesla's latest Superchargers.
However, given the current animosities between China and the US, current rules that were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/biden-administration-finalizes-us-crackdown-chinese-vehicles-2025-01-14/">established during the Biden administration</a> that effectively ban nearly all Chinese cars and trucks in America will likely remain in place.
President Donald Trump has personally advertised Tesla's offerings during a <a href="https://futurism.com/trumps-attempt-help-tesla-backfire">baffling showroom event</a> in front of the White House earlier this year, suggesting the EV maker will continue enjoying regulatory protection from its Chinese competition in the US.
Trump's tariff war aimed at China will also likely further isolate Tesla from overseas competition. Trump <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-widens-trade-war-he-targets-venezuelas-energy-sector-eyes-sectoral-tariffs-2025-03-24/">announced on Monday</a> that automobile tariffs are coming soon.
But with sales in freefall in other parts of the world, Musk's carmaker could soon struggle to maintain its foothold outside of the US. According to the latest data, Tesla sales are dropping precipitously, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/24/tesla-sales-eu-slump-elon-musks-donald-trump-byd">tumbling 44 percent on average in Europe</a>.
While Tesla's shares rallied this week, in large part due to Musk's <a href="https://electrek.co/2025/03/24/tesla-tsla-surges-with-retail-investors-on-trump-and-musk-pumping-the-souffle/">efforts to pump the stock</a>, shares are still down over 26 percent year to date.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/trumps-attempt-help-tesla-backfire">Trump's Attempt to Help Tesla May Backfire Spectacularly</a>

Auto Breaker

The Chinese automaker is eating Musk's lunch.

BYD Is Suddenly Crushing Tesla

Astronomers suggest there's a giant "star grinder" lurking at the center of the Milky Way, churning up potentially tens of thousands of star systems that are unfortunate enough to get too close.
As detailed in a <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.15598">new paper</a> to be published in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics and first <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-star-grinder-a-cloud-of-black-holes-at-the-center-of-the-milky-way">spotted by Universe Today</a>, astronomers in the Czech Republic and Germany suggest that B-type stars, which are only a few times the mass of the Sun, as well as much heavier O-type stars, are being blended up with tens of thousands of smaller black holes near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
According to the theory, only the smaller and older B-type stars can survive this ordeal, with the much more massive O-type stars succumbing to their early demise less than five million years into their lifespan — and turning into more small black holes in the maelstrom instead.
The research could force us to reconsider what we know about the violent events happening at the center of our galaxy — a brutal cycle of life and death, right at the core of the Milky Way.
The research could also explain an observation that has puzzled astronomers for years. Within less than a tenth of a light-year from Sagittarius*, O-type stars are nowhere to be found. B-type stars, however, are the predominant type so close to the giant black hole, many of which have been observed to be ejected from the center at extremely fast speeds.
"The smaller B-stars can survive much longer, in fact for some 50 million years," said lead author and Charles University, Czechia, astronomy PhD Jaroslav Haas in a <a href="https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/public/news/a-star-grinder-in-the-centre-of-the-galaxy">statement</a>. "This explains why the heavy O-type stars are missing at distances smaller than about one-tenth of a light year from SgrA*, with only B-stars surviving there."
"These results give us an entirely new understanding of the immediate surroundings of the central super-massive black hole," explained coauthor and Charles University astrophysicist Pavel Kroupa.
Haas and his colleagues found that the density of black holes actually increases as you move away from the galactic center, before dropping again at a certain distance.
Such a density profile is a "result of the complicated dynamical processes near the central super-massive black hole and our results will allow us to perform new computer simulations to better understand these," explained coauthor and head of the Charles University Astronomical Institute Ladislav Šubr.
The researchers are now excited to better understand the "violent pack of thousands of black holes at the center of our Galaxy that is continuously destroying the stars down there," according to coauthor and Charles University astronomer Myank Singhal.
More on Sagittarius A*: <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-capture-amazing-image-black-hole-galaxy">Scientists Capture Amazing Image of Black Hole at Center of Our Galaxy</a>

Galactic Beyblades

It's a violent place.

Scientists Intrigued by "Star Grinder" Pulverizing Entire Star Systems in Our Galaxy

If there's any doubt that the United States is rapidly descending into oligarchy, a new move by Donald Trump's FBI might clear the air.
After recording at least 80 separate incidents of vandalism or arson against Tesla vehicles and dealerships, the FBI has announced the creation of a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/24/fbi-tesla-elon-musk-task-force-threats-trump-doge.html">brand new task force</a> to investigate property damage inflicted on the EV company owned by top Trump operative Elon Musk.
It's not yet known how large the task force is or what actions it will be investigating, as non-destructive protests at Tesla dealerships are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/us/politics/tesla-protests-vandalism-musk.html">gaining traction</a>.
Though various news outlets have decried property damage against Teslas as "<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tesla-vandalism-musk-trump-domestic-extremism-7576c03393a733eaf34b793e86ad1a6f">violent attacks</a>," it should be noted that no humans have yet been injured as people take desperate action against Musk's pet brand. That hasn't stopped president Donald Trump from <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/19/politics/tesla-attacks-trump-musk-domestic-terrorism-what-matters/index.html">calling vandals "terrorists</a>" in part of his ongoing attempt to <a href="https://www.forever-wars.com/mahmoud-khalils-detention-is-a-war-on-terror-milestone/">expand the federal definition</a> of "domestic terrorism" — a common political move in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2018.1439021#d1e183">authoritarian states</a>.
"The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism," said <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-bondi-statement-violent-attacks-against-tesla-property">Attorney General Pam Bondi</a> last week. "We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes," she continued, painting a vivid picture of underground terrorist cells working in secret, rather than masses of <a href="https://youtu.be/G5a4-3CzOiw?feature=shared">ticked off retirees</a> lashing out over their next social security check.
Though the task force is presumably a move by Trump to keep Musk comfortable as he <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/mothers-children-dying-musk-cuts">rips through the federal government</a>, the FBI being used for political means isn't a rare exception under a rogue administration, but the rule. Today's vandalism task force follows a <a href="https://jacobin.com/2021/03/capitalism-violence-authoritarianism-uk-conservative-party-tories">long history</a> of the US government throwing its weight behind business interests over people in times of political turmoil.
Take for example, the <a href="https://www.leftvoice.org/the-national-guard-is-no-friend-of-workers-and-the-oppressed-a-lesson-from-ludlow/">1914 Ludlow Massacre</a>, when miners striking for better rights were gunned down alongside their families by National Guardsmen working together with corporate mercenaries.
The years following Ludlow would see hundreds of strikes erupt across the country, like the <a href="https://archive.iww.org/history/library/MotherJones/autobiography/24/">1919 Steel Strike</a>, when hundreds of thousands of steel and coal workers protested across the country after peaceful attempts at labor reform were <a href="https://pa-history.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/PHA_Pennsylvania-History_Czelen-Interview-Transcript.pdf">shut down</a>. The federal and state governments responded with <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2019/09/24/hammond-remembers-victims-of-1919-steel-strike/">brutal violence</a> that culminated in the <a href="https://jacobin.com/2019/01/john-reed-emma-goldman-big-bill-haywood-russian-revolution-1919-bolsheviks">Palmer Raids</a> — also known as the first red scare — when nearly 10,000 <a href="https://www.villagepreservation.org/2023/11/15/the-first-red-scare-comes-to-the-east-village-the-1919-raid-on-iww-headquarters/">workers</a>, <a href="https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/jane-addams-palmer-raids/">activists</a>, and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/11/when-america-tried-to-deport-its-radicals">immigrants</a> were detained, beaten, and deported for disrupting the massive steel and coal industries.
A more recent example was the <a href="https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/plains-treaties/dapl">Dakota Access Pipeline</a> protest of 2016, when Native American activists and their allies hoping to block a potentially disastrous oil project were attacked and arrested by North Dakota state police and corporate security guards, as FBI agents <a href="https://sourcenm.com/2024/03/19/fbi-sent-several-informants-to-standing-rock-protests-court-documents-show/">infiltrated protestors' camps</a> to carry out "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/05/27/leaked-documents-reveal-security-firms-counterterrorism-tactics-at-standing-rock-to-defeat-pipeline-insurgencies/">military-style counterterrorism measures</a>."
Nearly ten years later, the state's legal machinery continues to pay off for the oil corporation. A recent finding by a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/climate/greenpeace-energy-transfer-dakota-access-pipeline-lawsuit.html">potentially biased jury</a> has ordered nonprofit Greenpeace to pay Energy Transfer Corporation <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/greenpeace-lawsuit-energy-transfer-dakota-pipeline">$660 million</a> for defamation related to the protests — ensuring future protestors will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/oil-protest-activism-greenpeace-dakota-pipeline-verdict">think twice</a> before going up against big oil.
So while an FBI task force to protect car dealerships may seem absurd, it's really just another page in the long book of state-protected commerce — albeit the most desperate.
More on Tesla protests: <a href="https://futurism.com/crowd-cheers-tv-shows-cybertrucks-burning">Crowd Cheers as TV Shows Cybertrucks Burning After Being Hit by Molotov Cocktails</a>

Driving Dissent

Citizen, you have disrespected Tesla.

FBI Launches Task Force to Protect Tesla

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used to think that sharing classified information in insecure channels was a fireable offense — until he <a href="https://futurism.com/trump-national-security-bombing-chat">got caught doing it himself</a>.
Following the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/">stunning revelation</a> from The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg that he'd been added to a national security adviser groupchat on Signal, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/25/politics/kfile-trump-national-security-officials-signal-chat-criticized-clinton-classified-documents/index.html?utm_source=cnn_Reliable+Sources+%E2%80%93+March+25%2C+2025&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;bt_ee=BWaCwMW1SOpQPjgNJo1iDj5ZaH257T%2F1BZINHYLrcbmKBdQ7QyK2FAhX%2F%2FurSxfb&amp;bt_ts=1742907188159">CNN has unearthed</a> instances when Hegseth went off on former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for using a private email server for official communications and deleting the evidence after the fact.
"People have gone to jail for 1/100th of what — even 1/1,000th of what Hillary Clinton did," Hegseth, then a regular fixture on Fox News, <a href="https://archive.org/details/FBC_20161106_220000_Risk_and_Reward_With_Deidre_Bolton/start/3420/end/3480">opined on the right-wing network</a> just ahead of the presidential election in November 2016.
This was around the time, if you recall, when "lock her up!" became a regular rallying cry at Donald Trump's campaign events. To Hegseth, Trump, and their ilk, Clinton discussing official matters on her own server — which was, we should add, an egregious breach that may well have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/upshot/did-comey-cost-clinton-the-election-why-well-never-know.html">cost her that election</a> — was enough to inspire bloodthirsty chants.
Less than a year later, the conservative talking head was still beating the drums of justice.
"She is a corrupt politician," <a href="https://archive.org/details/FBC_20170927_040000_Kennedy/start/240/end/300">Hegseth said on Fox</a> in September 2017, "who reinforced that narrative through her reckless actions."
The GOP isn't known for its <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-tears-into-trump-free-speech-hypocrisy-these-guys-dont-give-a-fck-about-free-speech/">sensitivity to hypocrisy</a>. As such, several others in the groupchat created by national security adviser Mike Waltz — and to which Goldberg was inadvertently added — seemed to have no issue with planning a Yemeni bombing campaign on a commercial app, despite it likely being a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx7l1q2qdko">violation of the Espionage Act</a>.
"Biden’s sitting National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sent Top Secret messages to Hillary Clinton’s private account," <a href="https://x.com/michaelgwaltz/status/1668278317177356291">Waltz tweeted in 2023</a>, around the time <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-the-full-trump-indictment-on-mishandling-of-classified-documents">Trump was indicted</a> for keeping classified documents in boxes at his residence. "And what did DOJ do about it? Not a damn thing."
Along with being oxymoronic, that statement is incorrect. Not only was Clinton investigated by the FBI for her alleged mishandling of official communications — she was called out by then-director Jim Comey over it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/28/us/politics/fbi-letter.html">just before the election</a>, which is <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-comey-letter-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/">probably why she lost</a>.
As Goldberg noted in his stunning piece about the groupchat that Waltz added him to, Hegseth and the other cabinet-level officials in that text chain could, technically, claim that they declassified the bombing plans and other intelligence matters they discussed. The legal experts The Atlantic spoke to noted, however, that that excuse doesn't hold much weight because those sensitive matters were still discussed on an unauthorized platform — and in front of a journalist, which could technically constitute a leak.
Clinton, meanwhile, responded in kind to the entire debacle <a href="https://x.com/HillaryClinton/status/1904263639605084512">in a post on X</a>.
"You've got to be kidding me," the former presidential candidate tweeted.
More on the GOP: <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-grok-economy-party">Elon Musk's Grok AI Determines Which Political Party Has Performed Better for the Economy</a>

Lock Her Up

"People have gone to jail for 1/100th of what — even 1/1,000th of what Hillary Clinton did."

Before He Sent War Plans in a Non-Secure Groupchat, the Head of the Pentagon Said People Who Did That Should Be Fired

Despite a disastrous test launch that stranded two astronauts on board the International Space Station and caused it immense public embarrassment, Boeing hasn't given up on its Starliner spacecraft just yet.
As <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-examining-options-for-another-starliner-test-flight/">SpaceNews reports</a>, NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich revealed last week that the agency is expecting another test flight with the craft. Whether a crew will be on board this time around remains unclear.
"What we’d like to do is that one flight and then get into a crew rotation flight," he said. "So, the next flight up would really test all the changes we’re making to the vehicle, and then the next fight beyond that, we really need to get Boeing into a crew rotation. So, that’s the strategy."
Starliner was developed under the same commercial crew program as SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, which has completed a dozen successful crewed trips to the ISS over the last six years.
Boeing and NASA are hoping to address some of the technical issues that led to NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-starliner-empty-spacesuits">having to watch the capsule return</a> uncrewed last summer. Instead, the pair <a href="https://futurism.com/dolphins-appear-astronauts-splash-down-ocean">returned onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon</a> spacecraft earlier this month — a nine-month delay.
"The thing that we need to solidify and go test is the prop system in the service module," Stich said. "We need to make sure we can eliminate the helium leaks, eliminate the service module thruster issues that we had on docking."
Even if the Starliner were to be launched without a crew, Stich said that the agency still wanted to have "all the systems in place that we could fly a crew with."
It's a surprising development, given how much of a disaster Starliner has been for Boeing and NASA alike. The aerospace giant has lost <a href="https://futurism.com/boeing-lost-billions-money-starliner">over $2 billion</a> on the project since it began. Roughly a month after the capsule returned empty-handed last year, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-sell-off-starliner">rumors started swirling</a> that Boeing was looking to sell off its space business entire.
Boeing and NASA have remained strikingly tight-lipped since Starliner's return. But according to Stich, Boeing isn't ready to throw in the towel.
"Boeing, all the way up to their new CEO, Kelly [Ortberg], has been committed to Starliner," he said last week, as quoted by SpaceNews. "I see a commitment from Boeing to continue the program."
For now, NASA is buying itself some time until it has to decide what to do with Boeing's Starliner. The next scheduled crew rotation mission to the space station will be handled by SpaceX in July. It's still possible the agency may opt for Boeing's spacecraft for the mission after that.
But considering last year's performance, NASA and Boeing will have to tread carefully.
More on Starliner: <a href="https://futurism.com/stranded-astronauts-per-diem">You Will Never Guess What the Stranded Astronauts Got Paid for Their Trouble</a>

Not Dead Yet

"I see a commitment from Boeing to continue the program."

NASA Planning Another Test Flight by Boeing's Starliner

NASA has deleted two comic books about women astronauts from all its websites, <a href="https://nasawatch.com/education/you-can-still-read-nasas-deleted-first-woman-graphic-novels/">NASA Watch reports</a>, in what appears to be the latest victim of the Trump's administration's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-websites-words-dei.html">purge of "DEI" content from federal agencies</a>.
The online comics, titled "First Woman: NASA's Promise for Humanity," and "First Woman: Expanding Our Universe," tell the stories of young women training to become astronauts, in anticipation of NASA's upcoming Artemis missions, which had been set to see the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26134730-100-meet-christina-koch-who-will-be-the-first-woman-to-go-to-the-moon/">first female astronaut to set foot on the lunar surface</a>. Oh, except that promise <a style="font-weight: 400;" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/nasa-drops-plan-first-woman-moon">has been dropped</a>, too.
The <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/The_first_woman_on_moon_novel.pdf">two</a> <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/First_Woman_issue_2_Expanding_Our_Universe.pdf">volumes</a> have been featured on NASA's website since being issued in 2021 and 2023, respectively. But as of March 2025, both have now been conspicuously wiped from the space agency's online presence.
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In Issue No. 1 of our First Woman graphic novel, you followed Commander Callie Rodriguez on her trailblazing journey to the Moon. What&#39;s next for our comic book hero? Find out in Issue No. 2 - coming soon! Stay tuned at <a href="https://t.co/how8YicJq2">https://t.co/how8YicJq2</a>! <a href="https://t.co/5FVFDtBJxQ">pic.twitter.com/5FVFDtBJxQ</a>
&mdash; NASA Technology (@NASA_Technology) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_Technology/status/1714728593526317323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Shortly after Trump took office in January, NASA leadership issued a directive ordering employees to <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-nasa-purge-mentions-women">scrub a whole host of terms</a> that the administration would deem "woke," including any content "specifically targeting" women. 
The space agency's acting administrator Janet Petro, who was hand-picked by Trump, also <a href="https://futurism.com/trump-begins-purge-dei-nasa-employees">threatened employees</a> with "adverse consequences" if they didn't speak up about any DEI efforts happening without official approval.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the sweepingly discriminatory policy is censoring content with messages as wholesome and harmless as "women can be astronauts, too." Even more grimly, NASA pages about the Artemis mission no longer boast the promise that it "will land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon."
This dragnet censorship approach is being used in other wings of government, producing blunders that expose the racist and misogynistic underpinnings of its raison d'etre. Last week, for example, the Pentagon sparked an uproar when it deleted a webpage about the baseball player and civil rights hero Jackie Robinson — a supposed error officials <a href="https://futurism.com/pentagon-ai-delete-woke">blamed on an AI tool</a>.
A little known comic like "First Woman" won't have quite as many rallying to its aid. But it has found itself at least one notable champion: the Iceland Space Agency. Daniel Leeb, the Executive Mission Director at the Iceland Space Agency, responded to the NASA Watch on LinkedIn, lambasting the censorship and vowing to platform the comics.
"The Iceland Space Agency will host and post First Woman issue one and two on our website come Monday morning," Leeb wrote, <a href="https://nasawatch.com/education/first-woman-is-now-available-in-iceland/">per </a><a href="https://nasawatch.com/education/first-woman-is-now-available-in-iceland/">NASA Watch</a>. "We will also start an initiative to have this translated into Icelandic... and to continue the story."
"I hope for my daughters and all the daughters on Earth, that we can all begin to use our voices to push back and say clearly Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not the boogyman some would have you believe," Leeb added. "In fact it is a foundational strength in geopolitics, economics, and in society as a whole."
More on NASA: <a href="https://futurism.com/trump-anti-dea-agenda-astronauts-danger">Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda Could Put Astronauts in Real Danger</a>

Retconned

Grim.

NASA Deletes Comic Book About How Women Can Be Astronauts

At a White House dinner, <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-son-trump-president">Trump megadonor and government hatchet man</a> Elon Musk displayed a baffling lack of gravitas when he showed off a structure he made of flatware to a disinterested employee.
In videos of the incident that appears to have <a href="https://x.com/DaoKwonDo/media">originated with X user @DaoKwoDo</a>, a blockchain bro who also goes by the name "Books," Musk appears both detached and childlike when holding up a seeming DIY sculpture he'd made with a fork and two spoons.
Seated next to him at the dinner was Neuralink executive and <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1414160/elon-musk-welcomes-baby-no-4-with-shivon-zilis-his-14th-child">four-time Musk babymama Shivon Zilis</a>. Like the <a href="https://x.com/ForgeGarrison/status/1903554416327741598">apparent Secret Service agent</a> behind the pair, <a href="https://x.com/DaoKwonDo/status/1903263515516739817">Zilis looked disinterested</a> in her boss-slash-father-of-her-children's antics. As some of the clips show, a person behind the camera can be heard saying "<a href="https://x.com/DaoKwonDo/status/1903540154519662670">Elon, what the hell are you doing?</a>" multiple <a href="https://x.com/DaoKwonDo/status/1903499877566296217">times</a> as he shows off his creation — all while president Donald Trump is <a href="https://x.com/DaoKwonDo/status/1903263515516739817">literally an arm's reach away</a>.
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Rizzius Maximus &gt; Kekius Maximus 🥄 <a href="https://t.co/8cq9iP4ftR">pic.twitter.com/8cq9iP4ftR</a>
&mdash; Books (@DaoKwonDo) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaoKwonDo/status/1903540154519662670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Between the vacant look on Musk's face and the seemingly languid duration of the spectacle, folks online have suggested that the multi-hyphenate businessman may have been under the influence of ketamine, his <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-ketamine-don-lemon">drug of choice</a> that's <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-drug-use-government-security-clearance">said to have stymied</a> his efforts to get a higher security clearance.
In one <a href="https://x.com/McDuB126/status/1903624860133105872">hilarious X post</a>, for instance, a user joked that Musk's weird performance is "showing how you can build a spaceship with cutlery if you take enough ketamine."
"I’m really excited that people are going to just have to keep doing the 'his brain is working at speeds we can’t comprehend' thing," <a href="https://x.com/DamnNoWay/status/1903464212698980737">another user quipped</a>, "as Elon continues to demonstrate that he is one of the stupidest men alive, who is also on ketamine."
While some suggest that Musk is "<a href="https://x.com/JamesTate121/status/1903987884354384199">high as a kite</a>," others said that overall, it's hard to tell if the cringey display was a result of the horse tranquilizer or simply "<a href="https://x.com/marlene4719/status/1903478095484497933">Elon being Elon</a>."
Regardless of any substances the billionaire may or may not be on, it's a bizarre thing to be caught on camera — and indicative of the kind of nonserious spectacles the world's richest man is indulging in while he claims to be <a href="https://futurism.com/musk-changes-tune-not-behind-government-firings">taking a chainsaw</a> to the <a href="https://futurism.com/danny-moses-warning-elon-musk">entire federal government</a>.
More on Musk: <a href="https://futurism.com/vivian-wilson-interview-elon-musk">Here's What Elon Musk's Daughter Really Thinks of Him</a>

OK Hole

"Elon, what the hell are you doing?"

Video Shows Elon Musk Acting Very Strange at Trump Dinner

The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was accidentally added to a group text message between key national security advisers as they discussed an upcoming offensive strike in Yemen — and nobody seemed to know he was there until after the bombs went off.
In an <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/">editorial about the stunning breach</a>, The Atlantic's EIC Jeffrey Goldberg explained that he thought he was being pranked earlier in March when he was added to a Signal chat titled "Houthi PC small group" that seemed to contain users with handles corresponding to vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and defense secretary Pete Hegseth.
The debacle began on March 11 when Goldberg received a Signal message request from a "Michael Waltz," the name of <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/03/trump-administration-profile-mike-waltz">Trump's national security adviser</a>. The two had met before, but the Atlantic editor doubted the person who added him was the real Waltz because Trump has a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-attacks-atlantics-jeffrey-goldberg-over-hitler/680422/">personal beef with Goldberg</a>.
A few days later, the Houthi group chat was created. Along with Golberg, the Waltz account included users with handles related to Rubio, Vance, and Hegseth, as well as ones the editor took to be Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and other cabinet officials. The "PC" in the chat's name seemed to reference the "principals committee," which is fed-speak for the most senior national security officials.
In short, it seemed that the group chat Goldberg had been added to either was an unauthorized digital meeting place for the National Security Council — or a very good attempt at faking it.
Before his eyes, the nation's top national security advisers began discussing their various takes on whether the United States should bomb Houthi rebels in Yemen in retaliation for <a href="https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-01-13/the-suez-canal-crisis-how-houthi-attacks-are-crippling-egypts-revenue.html">their piracy in the Suez Canal</a>. Though Goldberg was still incredulous, he began to notice the messages in the spirited back-and-forth "sounded as if they were written by the people who purportedly sent them, or by a particularly adept AI text generator."
"If it was a hoax," the Atlantic EIC wrote, "the quality of mimicry and the level of foreign-policy insight were impressive."
The morning of the strikes, the Hegseth account sent a message that contained so much "operational detail" about the Yemen bombing campaign that Goldberg reckoned it "could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel" had it been viewed by an adversary instead of a perplexed journalist.
Later that day, after the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-rebels-us-strikes-iran-447f4abb39cc12c7f2f5596f0e33407b">strikes went off</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-yemen-houthis-rebels-attack-airstrike-11b0e080b3982542dd621338a7b18afd">unofficial death counts</a> began trickling in, Golberg was forced to admit to himself that the Signal group chat "was almost certainly real." He then was compelled to remove himself from it, which invariably triggered an announcement that his account, dubbed only "J G," had left the chat.
When Goldberg contacted the affected parties to see what was up, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes admitted, incredibly, that what he'd sent "appears to be an authentic message chain."
"We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain," Hughes said, before adding that the "thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials."
Legal experts that The Atlantic spoke to, meanwhile, suggested that such classified information being shared on Signal, a non-authorized chat app, was bad enough between officials — and that adding in a journalist made the entire thing tantamount to a leak.
The whole thing is made even more extrardinary by Trump's harping, during the 2016 election, on his opponent Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server — whereas his own top staff are now planning military operations on a private messaging app.
Incredibly, Hegseth and the other people in the seemingly unofficial and unauthorized National Security Council meeting seemed to be aware that privacy was paramount. At one point, Hegseth even claimed, while Goldberg watched silently on his phone, that the mission was "currently clean on [operations security]."
More on Trump breaches: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-email-system">Trump Broke the Federal Email System and Government Employees Got Blasted With Astonishingly Vulgar Messages</a>
<div class="flex justify-between space-x-1 pt-4"></div>

Big Breaches

Talk about bombing in the group chat. 

Trump National Security Adviser Accidentally Sent Plans for a Bombing Campaign to a Random Journalist

Genetics firm 23andMe, maker of the once-popular take-home DNA testing kits, has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/23andme-bankruptcy-1.7491505">filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy</a>, casting a looming shadow over the extremely sensitive user data it's still storing on its servers.
The company, which was founded almost two decades ago, has been in <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/23andme-crumbles-layoffs-therapeutics">severely dire financial traits for years now</a>, struggling to effectively monetize its service, which most customers will only buy once.
Now, its cofounder and CEO Anne Wojcicki — a die-hard for the company, who has made several takeover bids — has resigned, leaving behind a shell of its former self.
And that could spell a data privacy disaster of unprecedented proportions as 23andMe is more vulnerable than ever to being snatched up by another company — along with its treasure chest of DNA data.
In a "consumer alert" to California residents, the state's attorney general Rob Bonta implored them to invoke "their rights" and direct "23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company."
As the Washington Post columnist Geoffrey Fowler <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/24/23andme-dna-privacy-delete/">points out</a> in a helpful piece, it takes just a minute to delete your data from the website.
Besides the threat of a takeover, consumer data could already be vulnerable to hacking. Case in point, the personal data of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/15/23andme-hack-data-genetic-data-selling-response">nearly seven million customers</a> was exposed for a whopping five months in 2023, greatly undermining the company's reputation.
<a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/23andme-crumbles-layoffs-therapeutics">Mass layoffs</a>, including the <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/23andme-board-resigns">resignations of most of its governing board</a>, have left the company in tatters. Its share price has been turned into a penny stock, dropping well over 50 percent in value just today.
23andMe maintains that everything is fine, promising that there will be no changes to how it manages and protects people's data, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/23andme-data-bankrupt-privacy/">CBS News reports</a>.
But that shouldn't dissuade users from deleting their data before it lands in the wrong hands. Besides, it's not just their own DNA that's at stake.
"If you gave your data to 23andMe, you also gave the genetic data of your parents, your siblings, your children, and even distant kin who did not consent to that," privacy expert Carissa Veliz <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gm08nlxr3o">told the BBC</a> in November.
In the meantime, Wojcicki is still hoping to pick up the pieces.
"While I am disappointed that we have come to this conclusion and my bid was rejected, I am supportive of the company and I intend to be a bidder," she <a href="https://x.com/annewoj23/status/1904036140077969563">tweeted on Monday</a>. " I have resigned as CEO of the company so I can be in the best position to pursue the company as an independent bidder."
"Our foundation was the trust and respect of our customers, and they were always the guiding light on how we made decisions," she added. "If I am fortunate enough to secure the company’s assets through the restructuring process, I remain committed to our long-term vision of being a global leader in genetics and establishing genetics as a fundamental part of healthcare ecosystems worldwide."
More on 23andMe: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/23andme-crumbles-layoffs-therapeutics">As 23andMe Crumbles, It Ceases All Efforts to Develop Drugs Using DNA Data</a>

23 And Not Me

Genetics

It's time to delete your data.

23andMe Is Crumbling, and That Means Your Genetic Data Is Blowing in the Breeze

Clever engineers at a Chinese video company called HTX Studio built a tiny, swiveling robot that can shoot <a href="https://futurism.com/chewing-gum-ingredients-pollution">pieces of gum</a> right into your mouth.
In a <a href="https://x.com/HTX_Studio/status/1902374507299357066">video</a> that <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1jh4t1i/gum_launching_robot/">made the rounds on social media</a> over the past week, one of the company's engineers can be seen triggering the robot's ability just by opening his mouth wide.
"This is our gum-launching robot, Gummy," a voiceover says. "It tracks your mouth and shoots gum when you open your mouth."
"Place him on a table and colleagues passing by can take a gum by opening their mouths," the voiceover adds. "He even does long-distance shots for fun."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We built a gum launching robot <a href="https://t.co/xmOlRQH1Xh">pic.twitter.com/xmOlRQH1Xh</a>
&mdash; HTX Studio (@HTX_Studio) <a href="https://twitter.com/HTX_Studio/status/1902374507299357066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It's a deceptively clever piece of engineering that fires off pieces of gum at a surprising degree of accuracy and speed. Even flicking some candy across a sizable room into a small cup is a breeze.
As demonstrated in the video, it can even strike one piece of gum in mid-air with a second piece.
The little invention had users on social media salivating.
"I want one — I would probably choke on gum within a week — but let's go!" one Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1jh4t1i/comment/mj4eh1m/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">joked</a>.
Another user pointed out the potential risk of having a robot react to you simply opening your mouth.
"Then you open your mouth gasping for air, and this thing just keeps shooting pieces of gum into it," another user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1jh4t1i/comment/mj52rfr/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">ruminated</a>.
Other than Gummy, HTX has also built an entire <a href="https://x.com/HTX_Studio/status/1899838766015193299">robotized assembly line</a> for origami birds, as well as a <a href="https://x.com/HTX_Studio/status/1897923309339337184">gun that can shoot small hoops</a> for a high-stakes game of ring ross.
Sure, the company's latest invention isn't about to pull off some <a href="https://futurism.com/robot-learned-kung-fu">gnarly kung fu moves</a> or <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/robot-vacuums-arms">pick up dirty socks</a> — but it's a delightful robot companion nonetheless.
"I'm afraid I would buy this immediately," one Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1jh4t1i/comment/mj4mv70/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">admitted</a>.
Others were far more concerned about similar tech being used to shoot deadly projectiles instead of pieces of gum.
If they can apply this to gum launching, they can apply it to [close-in weapon systems] or anti-drone technology," one user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1jh4t1i/comment/mj4ko49/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">wrote</a>.
And if the <a class="underline hover:text-the-byte hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/openai-powered-sentry-rifle">grim robot</a> that can <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-cuts-off-chatgpt-robot-rifle">respond to ChatGPT queries</a> to aim and fire a rifle at terrifying speeds and accuracy is anything to go by, that fear may be warranted.
More on robots: <a href="https://futurism.com/boston-dynamics-humanoid-robot-breakdancing-cartwheels">Bonkers Video Shows Boston Dynamics Robot Breakdancing</a>