Happy Tuesday! Here's your Tuesday Tech Drop, the week's top stories at the intersection of politics and the wide world of technology, which includes everything from digital news to music and video games.
Trump embraces the swamp
Stephanie Ruhle aired a segment on MSNBC last week about the enduring support Donald Trump has received from uber-wealthy CEOs, including several Silicon Valley tech investors. Even after Trump’s criminal conviction in New York, his super-rich backers have shown no signs of backing away from him.
"The 11th Hour” explains how rich investors are eyeing Trump’s proposed tax cuts and his deregulatory agenda (the potentially deadly effects of which I've discussed elsewhere) as they shell out oodles of cash to aid Trump’s campaign.
And Trump, for his part, has made it abundantly clear he’s open for business. As The Washington Post reports:
Trump has met with an assortment of real estate, legal, finance, oil and other business executives in recent months, according to people familiar with invitation lists. He has often promised agenda items they would like passed as part of his broader fundraising pitch, and sometimes has asked allies to bundle millions or more, according to people close to the former president. Some of the meetings have included tours of his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., and his New York apartment.
Trump appears to have abandoned the whole "businessman not beholden to moneyed interests" thing. If he wins in November, his rich backers will expect to see a return on their investment.
Fearless Fund blocked
The Fearless Fund, an investment group that prioritizes women of color in its focus on technology, was blocked in federal court on Monday from continuing its grant program for Black women. The group is being sued by conservatives who say the grant program amounts to pro-Black discrimination. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, having ruled that the conservative group is likely to prevail, has suspended the fund from operations while the suit proceeds. And so continues the white, conservative backlash to diversity initiatives.
Read more at The Associated Press.
OpenAI influence operations
OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot tool ChatGPT, says it discovered and removed multiple foreign influence operations using its technology. Countries that OpenAI cited as conducting such operations include Russia, Israel, China and Iran.
NPR reports:
“Bad actors have used OpenAI’s tools, which include ChatGPT, to generate social media comments in multiple languages, make up names and bios for fake accounts, create cartoons and other images, and debug code.”
Read more at NPR.
Musk's campaign
Elon Musk is publicly advocating on his social media platform, X, for Tesla shareholders to re-approve a $46.5 billion pay package for him. That compensation package was thwarted by a Delaware judge who ruled that Musk's relationship with the board that originally approved the massive pay arrangement was too cozy.
Read more at The New York Times.
No forward progress for the NFL’s motion
Reporter Jim Trotter’s wrongful termination lawsuit against the National Football League can continue on after the league filed an unsuccessful motion to dismiss. Trotter, who worked as a reporter for NFL Media, claims his contract was allowed to expire after he publicly raised concerns to Commissioner Roger Goodell about the lack of diversity among NFL leadership.
Read more at NBC Sports.
Epoch Times’ epic indictment
The chief financial officer of right-wing conspiracy theory and propaganda outlet The Epoch Times is facing federal money laundering charges, according to a statement from the Justice Department on Monday. Epoch Times released a statement on Monday that it intends to cooperate with the investigation and has suspended Bill Guan, the CFO; it asserts, however, that Guan is "innocent until proven guilty" (the charges, according to the DOJ, "do not relate to the Media Company’s newsgathering activities"). The outlet, which has ties to the Falun Gong, is popular among American conservatives. That’s part of the reason my MSNBC colleague Steve Benen writes that the money laundering charges still carry “political implications.”
Read more at MSNBC.
Ramaswamy bugs BuzzFeed
Far-right businessman-turned-failed-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently purchased an activist stake in the digital media company BuzzFeed, yet another example of a right-wing investor taking a stake in a popular outlet. As one might have predicted, Ramaswamy is already using his toehold as an investor to advocate for more right-wing voices into BuzzFeed.
Ramaswamy discussed his intentions in an interview with Semafor, conducted in part by Semafor co-founder and former BuzzFeed CEO Ben Smith.
Read more at Semafor.
Trump’s TikTok arrival
Trump has officially launched his personal TikTok account, completing a self-serving reversal from a TikTok-hater and advocate for a ban to one of its defenders. The transition shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that far-right billionaire and TikTok investor Jeff Yass was revealed to be a top Trump backer earlier this year. Trump’s arrival to the social media platform also comes amid reports that TikTok — which faces a potential ban in the U.S. if its Chinese parent company doesn’t sell the app — has become a hub of Russian propaganda and disinformation targeting Joe Biden.
Read more at CNN.
Trumpian threats
Over at NBC News, reporter Ryan Reilly has an article on the Trump supporters’ efforts to dox and threaten jurors who found the former president guilty of fraud at his New York criminal trial. It’s a grim look at the desperate and dangerous attempts to shield their dear leader from accountability for his own actions.
Read more at NBC News.