As Tesla slowly rotted from the inside over the past year or so, big name investors and higher-ups <a href="https://futurism.com/even-tesla-board-dumping-stock">publicly signaled</a> their frustration with their absentee CEO, leaving many wondering when — or if — he was coming back.
The electric vehicle giant has been slumping hard lately, thanks to <a href="https://futurism.com/wave-vandalism-protest-tesla">worldwide disgust</a> with Elon Musk's extreme behavior, Donald Trump's<a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-disemboweled-tariffs"> wide-ranging tariffs</a>, massive <a href="https://san.com/cc/tesla-ends-tumultuous-week-of-sell-offs-arson-recall-and-record-trade-ins/">Tesla recalls</a>, and the rising star of <a href="https://futurism.com/byd-tesla-rivalry">Chinese EV giant BYD</a>.
Though Tesla stock once made up the majority of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-tesla-stock-stakes-value-net-worth-2025-3">Musk's fortune</a>, the world's richest man has watch as his Tesla shares plummet in value, erasing $130 billion from his total net worth.
As such, it's no surprise that Tesla has shot to the top of Musk's <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/video/tesla-regained-biggest-asset-musk-201926865.html">priority list</a> following his "retirement" from DOGE, after an <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-scott-bessent-physical-confrontation-2079285">alleged altercation</a> with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent led Donald Trump to send him packing. (Though that unconfirmed reporting comes from the <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/bannon-musk-parasitic-illegal-alien">notoriously jealous</a> Steve Bannon, who held Musk's seat as Buddy in Chief during Trump's first term.)
But in the shadow of Musk's bizarre <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/musk-rages-zuckerberg-called-out-weasel-out-of-fight">antisocial behavior</a> and <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-ketamine">ketamine use</a>, some Tesla employees are concerned about their CEO's state of mind as he makes his uninspiring return.
The worries began ahead of Tesla's first quarter earnings call in late April, when Musk made an unusual appearance at the EV firm's office in Palo Alto, California — one of only a handful of personal visits to a company site since DOGE kicked off in January.
During the visit, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/business/elon-musk-tesla-spacex-x.html">according to the New York Times</a>, the tech baron asked for a briefing on the impacts of Trump's tariffs on Tesla production  — a wild question to ask two months after Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/">announced the tariffs</a>. Given the odd timing and Musk's proximity to Trump, this raised red flags around his competence, two people involved in the call told the NYT.
Just a few days later, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/business/tesla-earnings-elon-musk.html">Tesla reported</a> its profits had dipped 71 percent to their lowest point in four years, prompting Musk to declare he would begin splitting time between his <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-gaming-government-doge">DC digs</a> and his other ventures.
Musk also promised executives — <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/17/musk-someday-driving-a-car-will-be-illegal.html">as he has before</a> — that Tesla's <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-earnings-cybercab/">robotaxi service</a> would save the company, blazing a trail for future revenue. "There will be millions of Teslas operating fully autonomously in the second half of next year," he said.
But Tesla faces some lofty competition in that arena, and Musk is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/03/tesla-robotaxi-launch-in-austin-has-musk-playing-catch-up-in-hometown.html">playing catchup</a> as the company nears its self-imposed deadline for live-service robotaxis in Austin later this month. That rollout is <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-analysis-robotaxi-musk">primed for disaster</a> according to insiders — a fact Musk conveniently overlooked while he was holed up in his DOGE office.
The billionaire's previous behavior within his companies is well documented. He's been <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/musk-spacex-lawsuit-former-employees-sexual-harassment-fired-rcna156854">sued by SpaceX employees</a> for sexual harassment, caught <a href="https://www.hrdive.com/news/elon-musk-workplace-culture/703298/">lambasting a wheelchair-bound employee</a> at X for his disability, and found to be <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/elon-musk-once-used-to-sleep-on-tesla-factory-floor-heres-why-5143046">performatively sleeping</a> under his desk so Tesla employees would see.
Fresh off an ego-crushing defeat and a heightened appetite for mind-altering drugs, what workplace debauchery he gets into next is anyone's guess.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/former-tesla-robotics-boss-elon-musk-optimus">Former Tesla Robotics Boss Casually Torches Elon Musk's Vision for Saving the Company</a>

Unlimited PTO

Welcome back.

Tesla Employees Startled by Elon Musk's Confusion When He Returned to Tesla

In a <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1929954109689606359">scorching tweet</a> today, billionaire Elon Musk took aim at president Donald Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill," excorciating it as a "disgusting abomination" that will massively increase the federal budget deficit.
It was a startling escalation in tone following Musk's <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-giving-up-politics">high-profile departure</a> from his position as a "special government employee" in Washington, DC, a six-month stint that has left swathes of the federal government in <a href="https://futurism.com/government-undo-elon-musk-doge-damage">utter chaos</a>.
"I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore," Musk, who has had an extremely turbulent on-and-off-again bromance with the president, wrote. "Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Musk first voiced his displeasure with the bill, which is expected to <a class="underline hover:text-futurism hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/economy/trump-tax-bill-debt-deficit">add a whopping $3.8 trillion</a> to an already enormous $36 trillion of debt, last week during an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-disappointed-by-trump-big-beautiful-bill-doge/">interview with CBS News</a>.
"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said.
The outburst marks an escalation in Musk's once-cozy relationship with Trump. A clear rift has opened up between the two as Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-mistake-tesla-tax-credits">hobbles back to rule over his ailing businesses</a> once again, with a <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-black-eye-drug-claims">literal black eye</a> on his face.
The world's most powerful man and its richest one had already been exchanging blow after blow, in a duel marked by passive-aggressive remarks, proxy battles, and possibly even physical altercations within the White House's walls.
In an early warning sign in April, Musk <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-rages-against-donald-trump-tariffs">lashed out</a> at the architect of Trump's catastrophic tariff policy, which was expected to <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-disemboweled-tariffs">hurt Tesla's bottom line</a> by throwing international supply lines into chaos.
Then late last month, he carefully set up his purported <a href="https://futurism.com/sense-elon-musk-desperation">departure from the world of politics</a>, proclaiming that he had "<a class="underline hover:text-futurism hover:no-underline transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out" href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-giving-up-politics">done enough</a>" — a <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-doge-dismal-failure">notable lack of evidence</a> notwithstanding. Many Trump officials, who had to <a href="https://futurism.com/trump-officials-calling-musk-crazy-uncle-elon">endure painful dad jokes</a> and shouting matches, were delighted by the news.
Doubling down, Musk went on a media blitz last week to attempt to <a href="https://futurism.com/sense-elon-musk-desperation">regain the appearance</a> of a tech founder who cares about the firm's day-to-day, while <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-starship-improvements-failure">making characteristically overzealous predictions</a> about SpaceX's imminent Starship test launch immediately before yet another failure.
Musk's almost year-long stint by the side of the president has proven nothing short of devastating for his businesses. Tesla, in particular, has been put through the wringer, with sales and earnings <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-earnings-brutal-elon-musk">falling off a cliff</a> as the company reckons with a tarnished brand brought on by its CEO's tremendously unpopular embrace of far-right ideologies.
Trump doesn't seem pleased with Musk's insubordination. Despite <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/30/trump-presidency-news/">telling reporters</a> that Musk is "really not leaving," his administration <a href="https://futurism.com/trump-elon-musk-jared-isaacman-nomination-nasa">kicked Musk's hand-picked candidate</a> for NASA's administrator role, SpaceX space tourist Jared Isaacman, to the curb in the wake of the latest drama.
It was an extremely surprising move, ignoring the tremendous amount of goodwill and support Isaacman had amassed in Washington and strongly suggesting an act of retribution.
Whether Musk will indeed be going "back and forth" to the White House is uncertain at best. As the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-elon-musk-relationship-64773ad1?mod=hp_lead_pos4">Wall Street Journal reported</a> last week, Musk has <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-owes-donald-trump-money">yet to make good</a> on a third of the $300 million he committed to get Trump elected.
And even a broken clock is right twice a day. A furious Musk is now railing against a spending bill that's bound to force Congress to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/03/trump-rand-paul-tax-bill-debt.html">raise the debt ceiling</a>, negating all the largely senseless cost-cutting the billionaire's DOGE orchestrated for months.
In short, it's no wonder Musk has had enough and is walking. The emerging tensions between him and the president are bound to continue escalating as the billionaire <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-mistake-tesla-tax-credits">slowly wakes from his MAGA stupor</a> and realizes that his efforts in DC have not only been a colossal waste of time, but that they've dealt irreparable harm to his business interests as well.
More on Musk and Trump: <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-mistake-tesla-tax-credits">Elon Musk Is Realizing He Made a Huge Mistake</a>

Burning Bridges

"I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore."

"Disgusting Abomination": Cold War Between Musk and Trump Explodes Into Public

Using mushrooms, scientists have created a living, plastic-like compound that uses the fungi's unique properties to mold it into almost any form.
Researchers out of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, better known as Empa, have used the common split-gill mushroom to create what they're calling "living fiber dispersions" or LFD, a gel-like material that can be used as a plastic alternative in all manner of applications.
The new material's unique strength and versatility come courtesy of fibers from the split gill mushroom's mycelia, or root-like structures — a popular subcomponent used in everything from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/stories/2020/12/mycelium-mushroom-sustainable-packaging-fashion-meat">eco-friendly packaging and textiles</a> to <a href="https://www.certifiedenergy.com.au/emerging-materials/emerging-materials-mycelium-brick">green building materials</a> and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10853969">nutrient-dense food</a>.
In <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91572-x">most modern applications</a>, mycelial fibers are chemically treated and cleaned, which the <a href="https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/living-mycelial-materials">team says in a press release</a> results in a "trade-off between performance and sustainability."
Instead of treating the mycelial fibers, the Swiss researchers kept them whole and allowed them to grow an extracellular matrix, the "network of various fiber-like macromolecules, proteins and other biological substances" that gives fungi their structures and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27271680/">helps protect them from the outside world</a>.
"The fungus uses this extracellular matrix to give itself structure and other functional properties," explained Empa researcher Ashutosh Sinha in the release. "Why shouldn't we do the same?"
After selecting a particularly sturdy and flexible strain of split-gill mushroom, the scientists whipped up their concoction in the lab and began experimenting with ways it could be used.
Along with drying it into thin, tear-resistant strips that can be used for sustainable shopping bags, the researchers also demonstrated that their new material could be used as an emulsifier, or mixer, for food or cosmetic products. Because the split-gill mushroom is edible, that means any products made with it would be safe to eat and apply to the skin.
Because this "living fiber dispersion" is still alive, the fungus at its base continues to emit the molecules that stabilize it, making it different from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0141391017300915">most emulsions that degrade pretty rapidly</a>.
"This is probably the only type of emulsion," Sinha said in the press release, "that becomes more stable over time."
As plastic waste continues to <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/ocean-cleanup-eliminate-great-pacific-garbage-patch">pollute the planet</a> — <a href="https://futurism.com/microplastics-food-supply-plants-photosynthesis">and our bodies</a> — developing biodegradable alternatives like this one has never been more important. And heck, the idea of buying products made from a living mushroom is pretty cool, too.
More on plastic: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/superbug-hospital-plastic">Superbug That Can Feed on Plastic Is Spreading in Hospitals</a>

It's A Living Thing

And it's edible, too!

Scientists Create Living Plastic Alternative

Facing rising temperatures, a spike in acidity driven by an influx of carbon, mass habitat destruction, and inescapable pollution, the world's oceans <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/study-happening-to-oceans">haven't had it easy</a>. But in an ominously literal sense, the situation may be even darker than we realized.
New research indicates that more than a fifth of the global ocean has darkened over the past two decades, with the depths that sunlight can penetrate significantly retreating.
The findings, published in a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70227">new study</a> in the journal Global Change Biology, describe a worrying shrinking in the ocean's crucial photic zones — the uppermost layer where 90 percent of all marine life, from fish to photosynthesizing plankton, reside.
This "reduces the amount of ocean available for animals that rely on the Sun and the Moon for their survival and reproduction," said study author Thomas Davies, associate professor of marine conservation at the University of Plymouth, in a <a href="https://phys.org/news/2025-05-global-ocean-darker-vital-photic.html">statement</a> about the work.
Davies and his colleague Tim Smyth, a marine biogeochemist from the University of Exeter, used two decades of NASA satellite data to model how the depth of the photic zone has shrunk between 2003 and 2022.
In all, they found that 21 percent of the deep blue had fallen into gloom, with some regions more hard hit than others. For ten percent of the world's oceans — an area equal to the continent of Africa — the depth of the photic zone decreased by over 164 feet (50 meters). In 2.6 percent of the ocean, the dusking was even more extreme, with the photic zone depth receding by more than 328 feet (100 meters). Conversely, it's worth noting, about ten percent of the ocean became lighter.
Scientists have long warned about this phenomenon. But according to the researchers, the extent of it wasn't well known until now.
"There has been research showing how the surface of the ocean has changed color over the last twenty years, potentially as a result of changes in plankton communities," Davies said in the statement.
So far, a clear culprit for the dimming hasn't emerged. The causes in this case appear more involute and disparate — but humans, from what we can tell, do share a significant part of the blame.
Sediments and other materials dumped into the water near coasts can contribute to blocking sunlight, the authors note. But this doesn't explain why we're seeing darkening in the open ocean, most prominently in regions around the Arctic and Antarctic, where climate change is <a href="https://futurism.com/worlds-largest-iceberg-antarctic-crashes-island">dramatically reshaping the environment</a>.
The authors conclude that a "combination of nutrient, organic material and sediment loading near the coasts and changes in global ocean circulation are probable causes" of the ocean darkening, they wrote in the paper.
We're only just beginning to grapple with this tenebrous trend, but the impact it could have could be catastrophic.
We rely on the photic zones for the "air we breathe, the fish we eat, our ability to fight climate change, and for the general health and well-being of the planet," Davies added. "Taking all of that into account, our findings represent genuine cause for concern." 

More on oceans: <a href="https://futurism.com/heartbreaking-video-fish-fleeing-nets">Heartbreaking Video Shows Fish Fleeing Huge Nets</a>

Sick Strange Darkness

The light goes out in the ocean's eyes.

A Strange Darkness Is Spreading Throughout the Oceans

We could be severely undercounting the number of humans living on Earth, researchers suggest.
While the United Nations has <a href="https://desapublications.un.org/publications/world-population-prospects-2024-summary-results">determined</a> that as of last summer, there were about 8.2 billion humans sharing the limited resources of our planet, a new estimate finds that figure could be off by anywhere from hundreds of millions to an astonishing several billion people.
That might sound like an alarming revelation. But as Queen Mary University of London professor Jonathan Kennedy argues in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/31/earth-population-billions-decline-birthrate-west">recent opinion piece for The Guardian</a>, overpopulation is "rarely just about the numbers."
"They reflect power struggles over which lives matter, who is a burden or a threat and ultimately what the future should look like," he wrote.
The UN's figures are based on census data and population density across a global grid. But employing a different methodology, as Aalto University postdoctoral researcher Josias Láng-Ritter and his colleagues outlined in a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56906-7">paper</a> published in the journal Nature earlier this year, the real number of people on Earth could be vastly higher.
That's because datasets in rural areas are often incomplete and can be unreliable. The researchers found "large discrepancies between the examined datasets," implying that "rural population is, even in the most accurate dataset, underestimated by half compared to reported figures."
At the same time, concerns about "overpopulation" have historically been blown out of proportion, Kennedy argued. The world's population, per the UN, will stabilize and peak around the mid-2080s, at which point, it's expected to start falling.
"That many people will put considerable stress on the Earth’s resources," Kennedy wrote, "but if consumption is managed responsibly and sustainable technologies are developed, the world will avoid an apocalyptic catastrophe."
Others, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-population-risk-civilization">most notably billionaire Elon Musk</a>, see population collapse as a far bigger threat.
"Population collapse is potentially the greatest risk to the future of civilization," Musk argued in a <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1419825607622500352">2021 tweet</a>.
Of course, there are plenty of other enormous existential threats facing humanity, from <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-wealthy-global-warming">climate change</a> to <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/professors-self-destruction-civilization">dwindling resources</a> to a devastating <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/wildlife-populations-shrunk-shocking-amount">loss of biodiversity</a>.
But overpopulation concerns often perpetuate ethnonationalism and a perceived threat of immigrants bringing the end of the "western civilization," Kennedy warned.
"They worry about their countries being indelibly changed by mass migration," he wrote. "But the cold hard truth is that in a few decades our shrinking, ageing societies will desperately need these newcomers to pay taxes and work in healthcare and social care."
"This vision of the future may be unsettling for some, but the alternative is much worse," Kennedy added.
More on overpopulation: <a href="https://futurism.com/hordes-of-tourists-are-trashing-antarctica">Hordes of Tourists Are Trashing Antarctica</a>

Severe Undercount

Is this planet feeling crowded all of a sudden?

There May Be Several More Billion Humans on Earth Than We Thought

In front of hundreds of Georgetown students back in 2019, a clean-cut Mark Zuckerberg delivered an <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2019/10/mark-zuckerberg-stands-for-voice-and-free-expression/">impassioned sermon</a> on the importance of empowerment and free speech. The Meta CEO called civil rights advocate Elijah Cummings a "powerful voice for equality," credited Facebook as ground zero for #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, and even cited radical abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
"More people being able to share their perspectives has always been necessary to build a more inclusive society," Zuckerberg said at the time. "But this view is increasingly being challenged."
Just a few short years, one <a href="https://jacobin.com/2025/01/mark-zuckerberg-meta-trump-tech">right-wing turn</a> and a <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-rally-nazis-holocaust">bizarre makeover</a> later, it's become clear that Zuckerberg had a very specific brand of free speech absolutism in mind.
A <a href="https://glaad.org/smsi/social-media-safety-index-2025/">recent report</a> by the prominent LGBTQ advocacy organization Gay &amp; Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) found definitive evidence that six major social media platforms consistently refuse to develop and enforce policies protecting LGBTQ users, while simultaneously subjecting them to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-024-00695-4">disproportionate moderation</a>.
While this issue is found across the biggest social media sites, GLAAD notes that <a href="https://www.techpolicy.press/this-is-not-normal-metas-anti-lgbtq-makeover/">major shifts</a> in Meta's ideological stance under the New Zuckerberg were "particularly extreme."
Assembled every year since 2021, the GLAAD report assigns each major social media site a "Platform Scorecard," which <a href="https://assets.glaad.org/m/6bbcf9dabe75ecb/original/GLAAD-2025-SMSI-Platform-Scorecard-Indicators-Elements.pdf">grades platforms</a> on a 1-to-100 scale based on 14 LGBTQ-specific standards ranging from policies preventing targeted misgendering to LGBTQ-safety content moderator training to data gathering based on sexual orientation.
Meta's Threads scored a paltry 40 on the platform scorecard, while both Facebook and Instagram managed 45.
One major concern was Meta's recent revision to its <a href="https://transparency.meta.com/policies/community-standards/hateful-conduct/">Hateful Conduct policy</a>, which affects all three platforms. Under Meta's new terms, content "encouraging hate, harassment, and discrimination against LGBTQ people" is completely acceptable.
For example, Meta's new guidelines allow "allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism [sic] and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like 'weird.'"
That goes hand in hand with the tech giant's vague <a href="https://assets.glaad.org/m/346d7b38bb818f6d/original/2025-Social-Media-Safety-Index.pdf">Bullying and Harassment policy</a>.
Though Meta users are theoretically protected from "claims about romantic involvement, sexual orientation, or gender identity," the company doesn't bother to clarify whether targeted misgendering is included under those rules. That's a strange omission, considering the way Meta stresses that it's cool with calling LGBTQ people "mentally ill."
Thanks to the new policy, ominous groups are thriving on Meta platforms. Shining examples include "Transvestigation Disclosure NOW," a public Facebook group pedaling anti-trans conspiracy theories with over 32,000 members, and "Alliance Defending Freedom," a right-wing anti-LGBTQ Instagram page boasting 74,000 followers.
Yet as hate speech grows under Zuckerberg's watch, GLAAD Social Media Safety Director Jenni Olson notes that Meta's policy erosion has been years in the making. One particularly effective yardstick for measuring this is the rise of <a href="https://glaad.org/meta-and-twitter-refuse-action-libs-tiktok-posts-doctors-and-staff-boston-childrens/">LibsOfTikTok</a>, a far-right anti-LGBTQ conspiracy account which been linked to a growing portfolio of offline extremism, including <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/libs-tiktok-x-chaya-raichik-bomb-threat-twitter-of-libsoftiktok-rcna102784">21 bomb threats</a>.
"The account is extremely active on Meta platforms, which I think people forget," Olson observed. "For years, the account was not active on Meta platforms, because it could not have gotten away with the things it posts. Obviously since January there's been this significant shift, but Meta has been shifting even prior to that, particularly last year, allowing more and more extreme hate, including LibsOfTikTok."
As this content proliferates on Meta, LGBTQ users are being suppressed. In the past few months, Meta has blocked users under 18 from using <a href="https://www.usermag.co/p/instagram-blocked-teens-from-searching">LGBTQ hashtags</a>, removed transgender users' posts under "<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/17/oversight-board-presses-meta-to-revise-convoluted-and-poorly-defined-nudity-policy/">sexual solicitation</a>" guidelines, and <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/debug/san-francisco-trans-march-instagram/">suspended the organizer</a> of the San Francisco Trans March citing "human exploitation" violations.
"Because LGBTQ people end up being defined by our sexual orientation and gender identify in relation to sex, there's this scrutiny of content that doesn't have anything to do with sex," says Olson. "We just happen to be gay... You don't scrutinize somebody's content as 'sexual' just because they're straight."
While Zuckerberg's Meta is particularly odious, it's far from the only company ignoring its <a href="https://about.meta.com/actions/safety/audiences/lgbtq/">stated goal</a> of protecting LGBTQ users from harm.
Other platforms highlighted by GLAAD include YouTube, which scored 41 on its scorecard after <a href="https://www.advocate.com/business/youtube-scraps-gender-identity-protection">scrubbing "gender identity</a>" from its hate speech policy, and X-formerly-Twitter, which has transformed into a cesspit of <a href="https://glaad.org/x-is-neither-trusted-nor-safe/">reactionary hate</a> since being purchased by Elon Musk. X scored just 30 out of 100 — which is probably no surprise to the <a href="https://owlead.com/how-many-people-use-x/">32 million users</a> who've fled the app since its rebranding.
These scores translate to real offline harms. According <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2024/">to The Trevor Project</a>, 39 percent of LGBTQ youth faced a suicidal crisis in 2024. Among those aged 13 to 17, 35 percent reported experiencing cyberbullying in the past year — a factor that tripled their risk of attempting suicide.
In response to the sharp influx of anti-LGBTQ policy, GLAAD is calling on social media giants to reverse their regressive policy agendas and take a hard look at the report's safety recommendations.
"All the platforms should enforce or restore their policies that protect LGBTQ people and others from hate and harassment," Olson says. "Improving training for content moderators... using AI systems to flag content for human review," and "working with civil society groups like GLAAD" would go a long way toward mitigating these harms, she notes.
With clear evidence of harm and strong policy solutions, the path forward is obvious — but how do we get the world’s biggest tech companies to act?
"As you can see from the index, no one is doing a good job. And what is the cudgel to beat back on it?" asks Sarah Roberts, UCLA professor and Director of the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry. "It's not like they're unaware."
In years past, it was the gloss of <a href="https://www.carlbeijer.com/p/facebook-and-the-end-of-woke-capital">progressive values</a> and democratic expression keeping platforms in check. As evidenced by Zuckerberg's new chic, that's out the window. "We've always had 'the stick' of bad PR," Roberts said, "but we're in a very different and unique moment where some of those levers have less power than they did even six months ago."
Key to any change in the global social media industry, then, is "dispensing with the notion that social media firms are in the business of promulgation of social values," notes Roberts.
In other words, we need to take a hard look at social media for what it is — not as a neutral service to humanity, but a conglomerate of some of the most <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/04/mark-zuckerberg-meta-facebook-ai-future-accountability">powerful corporations</a> on the planet.
More on Meta: <a href="https://futurism.com/zuckerberg-lonely-friends-create-ai">Zuckerberg Says in Response to Loneliness Epidemic, He Will Create Most of Your Friends Using Artificial Intelligence</a>

Happy Pride

"You don't scrutinize somebody's content as 'sexual' just because they're straight."

Meta's Platforms Have Become a Cesspool of Hatred Against Queer People

<h2>Running Down That Hill</h2>
A <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/1l24eio/tourists_and_guides_run_for_their_lives_when/">terrifying video</a> that's making its rounds on social media shows dozens of tourists fleeing a massive volcano eruption by running down an ash-covered hill.
The footage was recorded on the hills next to Mount Etna on the island of Sicily, which violently erupted on Monday morning.
"Stop the boat!" one man can be heard shouting in the clip. "Come on!"
At around the forty-second mark, a massive cloud can be seen engulfing the surrounding hillside in a dark shadow.
"We were nearly grazed, look at this cloud here," a tourist said in a separate <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/02/travel/italy-mount-etna-erupts-intl">video obtained by CNN</a>. "We were two steps away and thank goodness we have a responsible guide with us."
"It arrived all at once, an immense smoke, immense, immense roar," he added.
The volcano is one of the world's most active, making eruptions not uncommon. For instance, a <a href="https://www.euronews.com/travel/2025/02/14/mount-etna-volcanic-eruption-closes-catania-international-airport">powerful eruption in February</a> caused a nearby airport to divert dozens of flights. However, the magnitude of this week's event hasn't been observed since 2014, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology Observatory.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Footage shows Italy&#039;s Mount Etna erupting" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o-Y_xoISXBE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>Manic Volcanic</h2>
Fortunately, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5e7vx2pk9o">BBC reports</a>, damage or injury as a result of its frequent eruptions are extremely rare. And according to CNN, all tourists were evacuated safely.
Nonetheless, footage of the eruption is mesmerizing. Etna blew a dark cloud of gas and rock hundreds of feet into the air, showering the nearby villages with a thick layer of ash.
According to the BBC, experts suggest the volcano's crater may have partially collapsed, allowing a sludge of material to flow down its side.
Monday's eruption was the result of gas bubbles within the volcano's magma chamber bursting suddenly, causing material to be shot high into the sky. That makes them especially dangerous for nearby aircraft.
Despite the terrifying possibility of being caught by surprise by an erupting volcano, hikers are unlikely to give up on an experience of a lifetime anytime soon.
"Mount Etna is a majestic and unpredictable force of nature," hiking guide Alessio Zocco told CNN. "It commands respect, but it also offers one of the most powerful and awe-inspiring experiences you can witness."
"With knowledge, preparation, and humility, it’s possible to explore this landscape safely and meaningfully," he added.
More on volcanoes: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/cap-yellowstone-supervolcano">Scientists Say Something Is Corking the Yellowstone Supervolcano</a>

Strombolian Eruption for Two

"Stop the boat!"

Terrifying Footage Shows Tourists Fleeing Epic Volcanic Eruption

Earlier this year, the Trump administration <a href="https://futurism.com/white-house-nasa-artemis-program-proposed-budget">revealed</a> its proposed budget for NASA's fiscal year 2026, indicating brutal cuts of unprecedented proportions are coming.
Now, the agency has <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budget-request/">released new data</a> about the proposal, painting a dire picture of its future. As <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-budget-would-cancel-dozens-of-science-missions-lay-off-thousands/">SpaceNews reports</a>, the documents reveal that thousands of jobs would be cut, and dozens of science missions would be on the chopping block.
The cuts — which would drag the budget to its lowest point since 1961, SpaceNews points out, when adjusted for inflation — would result in the firing of roughly one-third of all civil servants.
The budget would also slash the space agency's <a href="https://futurism.com/trump-admin-nasa-budget">science budget in almost half</a>, "nothing short of an extinction-level event for space science and exploration in the United States," as Planetary Society chief of space policy Casey Dreier <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/white-house-may-seek-to-slash-nasas-science-budget-by-50-percent/">told Ars Technica</a> in March.
The extent of the proposed cuts is truly baffling, with the Trump administration basically looking to give up on space science altogether in favor of militarizing the Earth's orbit and sending humans to Mars.
The so-called "skinny" budget would result in the cancellation of several key space exploration missions, including NASA's Mars Sample Return mission. Other Earth observation programs would also be ripped up, including missions to monitor the planet's gravity field or study tropical cyclones, per SpaceNews.
The budget would also cancel planned missions to explore the surface of Mars, as well as existing operations such as OSIRIS-APEX, which is headed to an asteroid called Apophis.
While NASA's next major landmark space observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, wouldn't be entirely canceled, it would be allocated less than half of its previously outlined budget.
Meanwhile, the space agency would be doubling down on establishing commercially funded ways to get to the Moon and Mars, highlighting the Trump administration's <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-working-nasa">sometimes-cozy relationship</a> with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose space company is <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-faa-spacex-contract">bound to reap the benefits</a>.
The budget would clear up north of $1 billion for projects connected to sending humans to the Red Planet, indicating the president is willing to <a href="https://futurism.com/nasa-mars-rockets-2026-elon-musk">closely follow Musk's lead</a>.
The proposed 2026 fiscal year budget is now headed to Congress, where it's likely to meet ample opposition.
"No one is eager to cut NASA science," Dreier told SpaceNews. "No one is out there openly defending and saying that this is a great idea."
In short, if it were to make it through Congress unaltered — which is unlikely, since the agency is supported by many lawmakers — Trump's NASA budget could deal the country's leadership in space an existential blow, allowing adversaries, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronauts-tour-china-space-station">most notably China</a>, to race ahead.
"It sends a signal that America is stepping back from leadership in virtually every science area, including NASA," former NASA associate administrator for science John Grunsfeld <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-the-trump-administrations-plans-to-slash-nasas-budget-will-impact-science">told PBS</a>. "The proposal for the NASA science budget is, in fact, cataclysmic for US leadership in science."
"What we see is a full-scale assault on science in America," representative George Whitesides (D-CA) added. "It is probably the biggest attack on our scientific establishment in history."
"It's a poorly wielded chainsaw," he added.
More on NASA's budget: <a href="https://futurism.com/nasa-disgusted-elon-musk-layoffs">NASA Disgusted by Elon Musk's Disrespect</a>

No Step Forward, Four Steps Back

"Cataclysmic for US leadership in science."

Trump's Budget for NASA Is Absolutely Horrifying

If the testimony of beleaguered teachers is anything to go by — as gathered in this <a href="https://www.404media.co/teachers-are-not-ok-ai-chatgpt/">extensive roundup</a> of educator opinions by 404 Media — it sure sounds like the explosion of the homeworking-cheating machines also known as AI models is obliterating the <a href="https://futurism.com/college-students-ai-typos">up and coming generation of students</a>.
"I think generative AI is incredibly destructive to our teaching of university students," Robert W. Gehl, Ontario research chair of digital governance for social justice at York University in Toronto, told 404. Gehl noted how institutions collaborate with companies like Google and Microsoft to push their AI tools on students, undermining teachers who try to limit its use in the classroom. "A student might hear 'don't use generative AI' from a prof but then log on to the university's Microsoft suite, which then suggests using Copilot to sum up readings or help draft writing."
"Honestly, if we ejected all the genAI tools into the Sun," Gehl concluded, "I would be quite pleased."
Hearing the horror stories they have to share, it's not hard to see why Gehl and other educators feel that way. A Los Angeles-based teacher grimly estimated that 40 percent of the work that came across their desk "is touched by the hand of AI." Another who teaches postgrads was appalled that their students in a doctoral program about responsible AI gave in to lazily using the tech.
And as it turns out, teaching English-speakers how to speak Spanish is pretty difficult when the AI-addled learners barely have a grasp on the written language of their native tongue.
"Even my brightest students often don't know the English word that is the direct translation for the Spanish they are supposed to be learning," a high school Spanish teacher in Oklahoma told 404.
In several cases, the Spanish teacher said they caught students using AI for assignments "because they can't read what they submit to me and so don't know to delete the sentence that says something to the effect of 'This summary meets the requirements of the prompt, I hope it is helpful to you!'" 
A Philadelphia English teacher who conducts lessons virtually shared her ghastly suspicion that some of her students are using AI chatbots to pretty much outsource thinking itself.
"In response to follow up questions, students regularly will — in the course of conversation — use AI to respond on the spot," they told 404. "Just yesterday, a student who couldn't explain her response asked for a second to think. She went on mute and, I have to assume, Googled the question I just asked out loud. The effect was not seamless, or convincing."
Trying to crack down on AI usage just made things worse, pushing many of the students to stop participating.
"I am often left with a choice between soliciting participation where students are merely the deadpan voice boxes of hallucinatory AI slop, or silence," the Philadelphia teacher despaired. "Which am I supposed to choose?"
There's research to back up the idea that extensive AI usage could be <a href="https://futurism.com/experts-ai-stupider">making us dumber</a> — part of a broader phenomenon known as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-025-00432-2">cognitive offloading</a>. In an academic setting, some research has found a link between ChatGPT use <a href="https://www.psypost.org/too-much-chatgpt-study-ties-ai-reliance-to-lower-grades-and-motivation/">and tanking grades</a> — and even <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/chatgpt-memory-loss-procrastination">memory loss</a> in students. And one <a href="https://futurism.com/study-ai-critical-thinking">study</a> from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon found that the more that people trust in AI responses, the more their critical thinking skills turn to mush.
But some pedagogues aren't quite prepared to declare that the AI apocalypse is fully upon them yet — or that the kids are beyond saving.
"LLM use is rampant, but I don't think it's ubiquitous," Ben Prytherch, a statistics professor at Colorado State University, told 404.
After moving to in-class writing assignments, Prytherch found that the students' performance improved remarkably.
"It turns out most of them can write after all," Phyrtherch said. "For all the talk about how kids can't write anymore, I don't see it." 
And that brings us to our next point. If we're going to be a little critical of some of the teachers here, some of their complaints make them sound a little out of touch: "My kids don't think anymore. They don't have interests," fumed a 12th grade English teacher. "Literally, when I ask them what they're interested in, so many of them can't name anything for me… They don't have original thoughts. They just parrot back what they've heard in TikToks."
We have to remember we're talking about human beings that just happen to be younger here, and not some impenetrably exotic species of extraterrestrial. Granted, the teacher's frustration is more than justified. They're dealing with a massive problem inflicted on them by moneyed interests totally beyond their control.
"ChatGPT isn't its own, unique problem. It's a symptom of a totalizing cultural paradigm in which passive consumption and regurgitation of content becomes the status quo," Nathan Schmidt, a university lecturer and managing editor at Gamers With Glasses, told 404.
More on AI: <a href="https://futurism.com/ai-gen-z-careers">AI Is Destroying Gen Z's Chances at a Stable Career</a>

Class Dismissed 

"Students regularly will — in the course of conversation — use AI to respond on the spot."

AI Is Destroying a Generation of Students

Amid Business Insider's <a href="https://futurism.com/business-insiders-parent-company-signs-deal-openai">latest pivot to AI</a>, the site's past brushes with the technology are coming back to haunt it.
As <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/06/01/2025/business-insider-recommended-nonexistent-books-to-staff-as-it-leans-into-ai">Semafor reports</a>, a manager recommended fake, seemingly-AI-generated books to underlings last year on a reading list meant to help them better understand business journalism.
In the staff email, which was leaked to Semafor, the senior BI manager suggested well-known titles like Andrew Ross Sorkin's classic "<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6687247-too-big-to-fail">Too Big To Fail</a>," about the Wall Street crash of 2008, and "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/23/film.highereducation">DisneyWar</a>" by James Stewart, which exposed the tumultuous behind-the-scenes drama at the famed studio some 20 years ago.
Those were recommended alongside books that nobody had heard of, with names like "Simply Target: A CEO’s Lessons in a Turbulent Time and Transforming an Iconic Brand" by Gregg Steinhafel, the former chief executive of the big-box chain, and "The House of Morgan: An Intimate Portrait of the Most Powerful Banking Family in the World," by purported author Fredric Morgan.
But Semafor was unable to find any evidence that those titles had ever been published. Some were similar to real books — like the legitimate book "<a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671734008">The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance</a>" by Ron Chernow — while others seem to have been completely made up.
One of the books on the most ludicrous falsehoods on the list was "Mark Zuckerberg Autobiography: The Man Behind the Code," a purported autobiography of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that also claims to have been written by a "Jasper Robin." (An autobiography, obviously, is written by its subject.)
Though Zuckerberg has been the subject of at least a few biographies written by other people, none of them have been named "Jasper Robin," and in fact, we were not able to find anything about said author except for their <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/43839952.Jasper_Robin">author page on Goodreads</a>, which also <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198421684-mark-zuckerberg-autobiography">links to the title</a> in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198421684-mark-zuckerberg-autobiography">Italian</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/43839952.Jasper_Robin">German</a> — but not to any booksellers.
Though BI didn't admit the source for those phony titles either in leaked documents or in requests for comment from Semafor, it doesn't take a deep investigation to figure out where they almost certainly came from — especially given that the company is now investing in AI, and is planning to <a href="https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/business-insider-layoffs-shift-toward-ai-live-events-1236412950/">lay off 21 percent of its workforce</a> amid its pivot to using the <a href="https://futurism.com/ai-industry-problem-smarter-hallucinating">hallucination-happy technology</a>.
In a memo to staff announcing the layoffs that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-note-from-business-insiders-ceo">later published on its website</a>, BI CEO Barbara Peng said that the company is "going all-in on AI" and experiencing growing pains as it does.
"Change like this isn't easy," Peng wrote. "But Business Insider was born in a time of disruption — when the smartphone was reshaping how people consumed news. We thrived by taking risks and building something new."
To say that BI has "thrived" may be an overstatement. The site has long been winnowing its workforce; along with the latest cuts, the company <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/media/business-insider-layoffs">laid off eight percent of its workforce</a> last year and <a href="https://gizmodo.com/business-insider-layoffs-ai-chatgpt-tests-1850356792">axed 10 percent of its roles</a> in 2023 — and in that instance, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/13/insiders-newsroom-will-start-experimenting-with-ai">AI experiments were also announced</a> around the same time.
And when senior managers are recommending books they haven't even read, nevermind verified they're real, it's easy to see why.
More on hallucinatory citations: <a href="https://futurism.com/rfk-jr-make-america-healthy-again-report-studies-ai">RFK Jr's "Make America Healthy Again" Report Cites Studies That Don't Exist, in Clear Sign of AI Generated Slop</a>