Today, 2:16 AM UTCTodd HaseltonGoogle Maps in the US will change to Gulf of America and Mount McKinleyIllustration: The VergeGoogle said today that it plans to update Google Maps to reflect President Trumps January 20th executive order to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali to the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley, respectively.The company noted on X the updated nomenclature will appear once the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated.Read Article >Today, 1:38 AM UTCRichard LawlerTrump says hell put tariffs on imported chips in the near futureImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesWithout going into detail about what might happen to the $52 billion in subsidies from the CHIPS Act under his administration, Donald Trump said tariffs on foreign computer chips, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals are coming in the near future. He also namechecked DeepSeeks AI releases, saying, ...coming up with a faster method of AI and less expensive, thats good. I view that as a positive if it is fact and it is true, and nobody knows, but I view that as a positive.In the speech at the House GOP Issues Conference held at the Trump National Doral Resort in Miami Monday afternoon, he said that to return the production of these goods to the US, we dont want to give them billions of dollars like this ridiculous program Biden has. Instead the incentive for manufacturers will be they will not want to pay a tax.Read Article >Jan 24Richard LawlerElon Musk email to X staff: were barely breaking evenImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesEver since Elon Musk closed his deal to buy Twitter hes claimed the company, now called X, is in a very dire situation from a revenue standpoint.Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that banks are preparing a coordinated move to sell off some of the $13 billion in debt they loaned Musk to finance the deal. It mentions an email sent to employees this month, also confirmed by The Verge, where the Chief Twit said, ...weve witnessed the power of X in shaping national conversations and outcomes, but also claimed, Our user growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and were barely breaking even.Read Article >Jan 23Thomas RickerTrump bends to the tech oligarchy.Tim Cook complained about the EUs data privacy and competition laws, Zuck followed suit, and they all feted the man with flattery and millions before bowing to kiss the ring.Here is their reward:Jan 23Nilay PatelHow Metas MAGA heel turn is a play for global powerIllustration by The VergeOn todays episode of Decoder, were diving into an especially messy set of ideas. Its been a chaotic couple of weeks for big tech companies as the second Trump administration kicks off an unprecedented era of how we think about who controls the internet. Metas changed its rules to openly allow more slurs and hate speech on its platforms, TikTok was banned and sort of unbanned, and a bunch of tech CEOs attended the second Trump inauguration. Theres a major collision, or maybe merger, happening right now between billionaire power and state power and everyone who uses tech to communicate so, basically everyone is stuck in the middle.Read Article >Jan 23Adi RobertsonLess Trump, unless you want it.As The Verges policy editor, I know how exhausting the Trump administration news firehose can be. Theres truly need-to-know stuff like the future of the Paris climate agreement and the TikTok ban. But were now collecting some updates in a stream whose posts wont all appear on the front page, so readers get a break from the full weight of Trumps random off-the-cuff proposals and his regulators antics. That said, were entering a new era in tech policy, so I hope youll periodically check it out!Trumps first 100 days: all the news impacting the tech industryJan 23Adi RobertsonBrendan Carr amps up his censorship campaign.Hes reinstated three complaints against broadcasters that former chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed as attempts to influence news coverage:Rosenworcel said the commission was rejecting complaints that seek to weaponize the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment. Then, on Wednesday, the FCC said in a series of orders the complaints had been dismissed prematurely based on an insufficient investigatory record.A fourth complaint, against a Fox station, has not been reinstated.FCC reinstates complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC for 2024 election coverage[The Guardian]Jan 22Justine CalmaNASAs climate website is moving.Its going to look a little different as it migrates to a more general science site, according to NASA. President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax, and researchers have been archiving environmental data in case it starts to disappear from federal websites.The Biden administrations climate and economic justice screening tool, a federal website on reproductive rights, and NASAs diversity and inclusion pages appear to be down.Jan 22Richard LawlerSatya Nadella on Elons Stargate accusations: All I know is Im good for my $80 billion.In a CNBC interview this morning, Microsofts CEO avoided the accusations that OpenAI and Softbank dont have the money to support their AI infrastructure dreams.Nadella said hes not in the details of investments in The Stargate Project, confirming only the $80 billion Microsoft will invest annually in building up Azure to handle AI.Jan 22Mia SatoDozens of subreddits are banning links to XPhoto by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty ImagesDozens of popular subreddits are banning links to X after Elon Musk made a gesture that historians and human rights groups have described as a Nazi salute. Communities that have instituted a ban on links to X include r/formula1, r/military, r/nursing, r/TwoXChromosomes, and r/nintendo.The shift is spreading across Reddit after neo-Nazis celebrated Musks speech at a rally on Monday for Donald Trumps inauguration. During the speech, Musk twice raised his arm in a salute that historians, elected officials, and organizations that support Holocaust survivors have observed as a Nazi salute. During his speech, Musk places his hand on his chest and throws his arm forward at an angle, holding it mid-air for a few moments. My heart goes out to you, he says to supporters. Some supporters of Musk have defended him, saying the gesture went along with his words.Read Article >Jan 22Andrew J. HawkinsTrumps war on electric cars has only just begunImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesJust to start out: the federal EV tax credit is still alive and kicking. It was not eliminated by the stroke of Donald Trumps pen because it cant be. The tax credit $7,500 for a new EV, $4,500 for a used one was passed by Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and it would take another act of Congress to do away with it. Now the bad news: at Trumps behest, Congress is very likely to do away with the tax credit at some point in the near future. Republican lawmakers have tried several times in the past to kill the credit, most recently in July 2024. But with Democrats in control of the Senate and Joe Biden in the White House, none of those efforts ever went anywhere. Read Article >Jan 22Chris WelchElon Musk, White House adviser, says OpenAI deal announced at White House is a shamIllustration: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Photo: Getty ImagesElon Musk doesnt miss an opportunity to take a dig at OpenAI even when the news item in question is supposed to be favorable to President Trump. Just a few hours after yesterdays White House presser on The Stargate Project wrapped up, Musk posted on X that they dont actually have the money.Softbank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX have committed to deploy $100 billion now and $500 billion toward the AI data center company over the next four years.Read Article >Jan 22David PierceA PSA for all those wondering why youre suddenly following Trump and Vance on social.There is, alas, no grand conspiracy here. Its just that every four years, on X, Instagram, and Facebook, accounts like @POTUS, @VP, and @WhiteHouse are transferred to the incoming administration. Heres how it went down in 2021, and with the first Trump term.There are people who say they never followed these accounts and now suddenly do, which would be much stranger. I have a theory about this, but if it happened to you I want to know!Users Who Weren't Following Donald Trump and J.D. Vance on Facebook and Instagram Might Be Now. Here's Why[PEOPLE]Jan 22Nilay PatelTrump is absolutely going to make ByteDance sell TikTok or shut down again.Here he is talking about it during todays big data center announcement, with Larry Ellison, Sam Altman, and Masa Son standing in the room with him.Extreme First Amendment issues with having the government own a social platform aside, its striking how he keeps talking about permits even though nothing in the TikTok bill has anything to do with permits. Once a real-estate guy, always a real-estate guy, I suppose.Jan 22Jay PetersTrump is discussing a 10 percent tariff on imports from China.Were talking about a tariff of 10 percent on China based on the fact that theyre sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada, President Donald Trump said during todays press conference where he also helped announce The Stargate Project. The administration is looking at imposing the tariff on February 1st.You can watch Trumps comments about the tariffs on YouTube.Jan 22Sarah JeongTrump pardons Silk Road operator Ross UlbrichtImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesOn Tuesday night, President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, who ran the dark web marketplace Silk Road under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts. Ulbricht has been serving a life sentence without parole since 2015, when he was convicted of multiple charges, including the distribution of narcotics.The Silk Road marketplace, which was only accessible through the Tor network, became one of the most prevalent early commercial uses of Bitcoin. Buyers and sellers traded in illicit drugs, forged passports, and more.Read Article >Jan 21Jay PetersDonald Trump acknowledged his meme coin today.Something tells me hes not going to divest himself of it.Jan 21Lauren FeinerTrump says hes open to Musk or Ellison buying TikTokImage: The VergePresident Donald Trump says hed be open to his buddies Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok.Larry, lets negotiate in front of the media, Trump said at a press conference with the Oracle co-founder, SoftBank CEO Masa Son, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to announce a $500 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure investment. What Im thinking about saying to somebody is, buy it, and give half to the United States of America. Half, and well give you the permit. And theyll have a great partner, the United States.Read Article >Jan 21Richard LawlerOpenAI and Softbank are starting a $500 billion AI data center companyImage: The White House (YouTube)A plan to build a system of data centers for artificial intelligence has been revealed in a White House press conference, with Masayoshi Son, Sam Altman, and Larry Ellison joining Donald Trump to announce The Stargate Project. Their companies, Softbank, OpenAI, and Oracle (respectively), along with MGX are listed as initial equity funders for $500 billion in investments over the next four years, building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States.According to a statement from OpenAI, Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are the initial tech partners, with a buildout currently underway starting in Texas as other sites across the country are evaluated. It also says that Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system.Read Article >Jan 21Gaby Del ValleACLU and 18 states sue Trump over his attempt to repeal birthright citizenshipImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesOne of President Donald Trumps first moves in office was an executive order repealing birthright citizenship something he promised to do but didnt deliver on during his first term. The move, which is almost certainly unconstitutional, would affect more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country as well as people in the US on non-immigrant visas, including more than 580,000 people with H1-Bs. The executive order is slated to go into effect 30 days after its announcement, though two lawsuits filed in federal courts could slow or halt its implementation. Trump floated the idea of doing away with birthright citizenship in 2018. At the time, his critics pointed out that the move would require a constitutional amendment since birthright citizenship is enshrined under the 14th Amendment. No president can change the Constitution with the stroke of a pen, Beth Werlin, then-executive director of the American Immigration Council, said at the time. To get around this, Trumps executive order attempts to reinterpret the 14th Amendment rather than amending or repealing it altogether. Read Article >Jan 21Richard LawlerCBS News reports OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank will announce a Stargate AI data center project.Its reportedly part of billions of dollars in private sector investment to build artificial intelligence infrastructure that Donald Trump is preparing to announce, with the first project in Texas. Oddly, earlier rumors about Stargate included Microsoft and this one doesnt so far, but their connection with OpenAI has grown more complicated since then.Executives from the companies are expected to say they plan to commit $100 billion initially and pour up to $500 billion into Stargate over the next four years.Trump to announce up to $500 billion in private sector AI infrastructure investment[CBS News]Jan 21Justine CalmaA federal website on reproductive rights has vanishedA screenshot of reproductiverights.gov from the Internet Archive.A federal website for information on reproductive rights and healthcare access is suddenly down, following Donald Trumps inauguration yesterday. Reproductiverights.gov seemed to be offline as of last night, CBS reports.The Biden administration launched the website in 2022 in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. On top of information about abortion rights, the website also included resources on accessing preventative care, including breast and cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care, and HIV screening. (The Internet Archive has a snapshot of what the website looked like as recently as January 15th.)Read Article >Jan 21Nilay PatelThe United States Digital Service is now DOGE heres what it was responsible for.The USDS was set up under Obama, and it was more or less the federal governments software product management group. I interviewed outgoing head Mina Hsiang on Decoder in 2023, and it was one of our most popular episodes that year it turns out being the PM of healthcare.gov looks a lot like being the PM of any other software product.Trumps executive order creating DOGE says USDS is now the US DOGE Service, so well see if Elon Musk approaches the governments tech teams the same way he did Twitter. Its a lot riskier to screw up the VA website!Jan 21Justine CalmaDonald Trump rescinds Biden-era executive order on AI safetyImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesIn his executive actions on day one of his presidency, Donald Trump rescinded an executive order Joe Biden signed in 2023 to establish safety guidelines for generative AI.The Biden-era order required developers of large AI models like OpenAIs GPT lineup to share the results of safety tests with the US government. It also directed the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop standards for safety testing, and it tasked other federal agencies with assessing any potential chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, cybersecurity, or critical infrastructure risks AI might pose.Read Article >Jan 21Andrew J. HawkinsThere is no EV mandate.Kathy Harris, clean vehicle director at NRDC, swats down one of Trumps falsehoods about Bidens EV incentives:There is no `EV mandate, Harris said in a statement, but Trumps move to repeal existing standards and federal investments would be a huge blow to the U.S. auto industry and bad news for American drivers. Fat-cat oil executives are the only ones cracking open the champagne about this one. Still, this is not the end of this story. The administration will need to follow the facts and the law in making any changes to the electric vehicle incentives or the federal vehicle standards and state waivers. Our lawyers are watching. If the administration tries to cut corners or ignore the law, they will end up in court.