This week we’re talking about the tech industry’s response to the killings by federal agents in Minneapolis and the federal government’s strategy to control the narrative on social media. Then we follow Casey through his trial of a new open-source A.I. assistant called Moltbot (formerly Clawdbot) and consider whether it is worth the security risk. And, finally, it’s time for a look at the rest of the week’s tech news with a round of HatGPT.Additional Reading: <ul><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/us/minnesota-shooting-false-posts.html">False Posts and Altered Images Distort Views of Minnesota Shooting</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-alex-pretti-timeline.html">A Moment-by-Moment Look at the Shooting of Alex Pretti</a></li><li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2025/ice-social-media-blitz/">It’s a War: Inside ICE’s Media Machine</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-staff-calendar-invitation-upcoming-job-cuts-project-dawn-2026-1">Some Amazon Employees Get ‘Project Dawn’ Calendar Invitation Discussing Upcoming Job Cuts</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-ice-videos-censorship-allegations-algorithm/">TikTok Data Center Outage Triggers Trust Crisis for New U.S. Owners</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/22/ftx-crypto-executive-caroline-ellison-prison-release">Former FTX Crypto Executive Caroline Ellison Released From Federal Custody</a></li><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/26/anthropic-ai-dario-amodei-humanity">Anthropic C.E.O.’s Grave Warning: A.I. Will “Test Us as a Species”</a></li><li><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/inside-white-house-screening-amazon-melania-1236484545/">Inside the White House Screening for Amazon’s ‘Melania’ Doc</a></li><li><a href="http://404media.co/app-for-quitting-porn-leaked-users-masturbation-habits/">App for Quitting Porn Leaked Users’ Masturbation Habits</a></li><li><a href="https://dig.watch/updates/alaska-student-arrested-after-eating-ai-generated-art-in-protest">Alaska Student Arrested After Eating A.I.-Generated Art in Protest</a></li><li><a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/steak-n-shake-adds-5-million-in-bitcoin">Steak ’n Shake Adds $5 Million in Bitcoin Exposure, Deepening Bitcoin Commitment</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0ee356cb-5c77-4686-9392-260520369122?sharetype=blocked">SpaceX Weighs June I.P.O. Timed to Planetary Alignment and Elon Musk’s Birthday</a></li><li><a href="https://www.engadget.com/ai/linkedin-will-let-you-show-off-your-vibe-coding-expertise-140000776.html">LinkedIn Will Let You Show Off Your Vibe Coding Expertise</a></li></ul> We want to hear from you. Email us at <a href="mailto:hardfork@nytimes.com">hardfork@nytimes.com</a>. Find “Hard Fork” on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hardfork">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork">TikTok</a>.
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Tech Grapples With ICE + Casey Tries Clawdbot, a Risky New A.I. Assistant + HatGPT

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