A newly published <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/doi/10.1542/peds.2025-072941/205716/Smartphone-Ownership-Age-of-Smartphone-Acquisition?autologincheck=redirected">study</a> by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children who were given smartphones before the age of 12 were at a greater risk of developing future issues, including depression, obesity, poor sleep, and more.
Researchers noted that the earlier the study participants were given the devices, the more likely they were to develop the adverse effects.
Lead study author Dr. Ran Barzilay <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/kids-smartphones-age-12-higher-risk-depression-obesity/story?id=127998537&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn&amp;utm_social_post_id=612027417&amp;utm_social_handle_id=28785486">told</a> ABC News that his motivations for conducting the study were both personal and professional. “I have a nine-year-old who wants a phone, and I think [whether to get them a smartphone] is a question that is relevant for every parent of a kid going into adolescence, even before adolescence,” he told the outlet.
“We didn’t even look at what the kids did on the phone,” the child psychiatrist said, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/children-smartphones-increased-risk-of-health-problems-study/">per</a> CBS News. “We basically asked one simple question: does the mere factor of having one’s own smartphone at this age range have anything to do with health outcomes?”
The study included data collected from 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) between 2018 and 2020. It was noted that 63.6% of the ABCD study participants owned a smartphone, and the median age at which they received the phone was 11 years old.
Researchers focused on children aged 9 to 16, seeking to identify health outcomes associated with when they were given a smartphone. The team found that 12-year-olds who had a cell phone had a 1.3 times higher risk of depression, a 1.4 times higher risk of obesity, and a 1.6 times higher risk of insufficient sleep as compared to their peers who did not have phones. 
The risk of developing these problems increased by 10% for each year earlier the children were given phones, with some kids being given smartphones as young as 4.
Dr. Barzilay said it was “quite surprising” to find that children who had no smartphone at 12 and then got one at 13 also had worse mental health and poorer-quality sleep that year, even after the study controlled for those factors.
The study’s conclusion stated, “Smartphone ownership was associated with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence. Findings provide critical and timely insights that should inform caregivers regarding adolescent smartphone use and, ideally, the development of public policy that protects youth.”
The researcher also concluded that his 9-year-old, who wants a phone, is “not getting a phone anytime soon. Clear decision.”

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Children Given Smartphones By Age 12 Have Greater Risk Of Depression And Obesity, Study Finds

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday launching a “national effort” to integrate artificial intelligence into research and accelerate innovation and scientific discovery.
The Trump administration has made AI research and innovation a top priority as it seeks to win the AI “race” against China. The White House said the new national effort, named the Genesis Mission, will be one of the largest research and development projects in the history of the United States.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright <a href="https://x.com/ENERGY/status/1993102758812303725">compared</a> the effort that the Trump administration is coordinating for AI advancement to the Manhattan Project that developed the nuclear bomb and the Apollo Program that landed the first humans on the moon.
“In this pivotal moment, the challenges we face require a historic national effort, comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project that was instrumental to our victory in World War II and was a critical basis for the foundation of the Department of Energy (DOE) and its national laboratories,” the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/11/launching-the-genesis-mission/">order</a> states.
The aim of the Genesis Mission is to build an AI model that will learn from and incorporate federal datasets “to train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.”
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The project will partner researchers at each of the United States’ 17 national laboratories with businesses and academic research centers to work on AI development and models.
“The Genesis Mission will dramatically accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen national security, secure energy dominance, enhance workforce productivity, and multiply the return on taxpayer investment into research and development, thereby furthering America’s technological dominance and global strategic leadership,” the order states.
The project will largely be run through the Department of Energy and its network of national laboratories that conduct some of the most sensitive research in the United States.
“The Order directs the Department of Energy to create a closed-loop AI experimentation platform that integrates our Nation’s world-class supercomputers and unique data assets to generate scientific foundation models and power robotic laboratories,” a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/11/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-unveils-the-genesis-missionto-accelerate-ai-for-scientific-discovery/">fact sheet</a> on the order says.

President Trump Signs Executive Order On Energy Production

Trump Signs Order Launching ‘Manhattan Project’ For Artificial Intelligence

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On Monday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that President Donald Trump faces a high-stakes decision: Where to draw the line on exporting American AI technology to China. 
“Is it more of a national security risk to give China some of these high-powered chips, or is it more of a national security risk to not have US tech in China?” Bloomberg anchor Lisa Abramowicz asked the commerce secretary in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4RfWh-1oNk">interview</a> on Monday.
“Well, that is the question &#8230; in front of the president,” Lutnick replied.  
As the commerce secretary, Lutnick oversees America’s export-control system. These rules regulate which sensitive technologies can be sold abroad. Nvidia’s AI chips have become a contentious part of that system. Lutnick explained that the President “decides whether to sell those chips or not, and then we will execute it however he decides to go forward.” 
Abramowicz pressed Lutnick specifically on whether the administration will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 AI chips to China. The H200 is not as advanced as the new Blackwell chips, which President Trump said <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/11/03/trump-says-hell-allow-china-nvidia-deals-except-for-most-advanced-blackwell-chips/">will not be allowed for export</a>, but is more advanced than the H20 chips, which were <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/11/trump-nvidia-amd-china-chip-revenue-deal-implications.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com">approved for export earlier this year</a>. 
Some experts warn that allowing sales of H200 AI chips would go too far. 
Samuel Hammond, chief economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, told The Daily Wire,  “Permitting H200 exports to China would be a world-historic mistake. America’s current lead in AI would be radically diminished with very little show for it.” 
Hammond said the United States has an advantage, but it&#8217;s far from secure. “Our lead is incredibly fragile. China is massively outbuilding us on energy, leaving us vulnerable to being leapfrogged but for export controls,” he said. If export controls were lifted entirely, he warned, America’s <a href="https://ifp.org/the-b30a-decision/">computing advantage</a> would “quickly drop from nearly 30x to just 4x.”
President Trump’s AI Czar, David Sacks, emphasized this at the Salesforce Dreamforce <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzv3GixZL6g">conference</a> last month, stressing that the decision is far from straightforward. 
“What we ship to China is complicated,” Sacks said.
Under the current policy, only less advanced chips are exported. But Sacks noted that the fight in Washington is over where that line should be drawn. He said, “Some people want to draw that line very, very restrictively.&#8221; 
He argued that Washington’s mindset contrasts sharply with Silicon Valley’s, the place where Sacks built his career. 
“What Washington wants is control &#8230; The bureaucracies want to control these decisions. They want you to apply for a license and get their permission to do business,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If we let the bureaucracy win, we are going to kill American competitiveness all over the world.” 
Silicon Valley takes a different view. “Everyone in Silicon Valley understands that the way that you win a technology race is to have the biggest ecosystem &#8230; the most developers &#8230; the most apps in your app store,” he said. “You just want everybody to be building on top of your technology stack. And that&#8217;s what we want for the United States.” 
Sacks believes Trump’s approach to China should be nuanced. 
“I don’t think you want to sell China our latest and greatest chips because it would be too much of an advantage for them. But if you deprive them entirely, there are two issues with that.” 
First, the economies of the United States and China are linked through trade, Sacks said. “We saw that recently with the rare earths, where they cut us off and imposed new requirements on that. So as long as we need some things from China, we are going to have to reciprocate in some way.” 
Second, U.S. companies competing against China can weaken Chinese AI competitors such as Huawei, he continued. 
“China wants Huawei to scale up and dominate the Chinese market and then use that to then dominate the world market,” Sacks said. “And what Huawei would want is for all American chips to be banned in China so they can dominate that huge market for themselves.”
“I wouldn’t give them the latest and greatest,&#8221; he said, “but if we can take share away from Huawei with a less current chip, then that’s something I think we should consider doing.” 
President Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115605897178712132">wrote</a> on Truth Social Monday that he talked to China&#8217;s President Xi Jinping, but did not directly mention Nvidia&#8217;s H200 chips. &#8220;We discussed many topics including Ukraine/Russia, Fentanyl, Soybeans, and other Farm Products, etc.”

Nvidia

Trump Admin Faces Critical AI Decision

To Sell Advanced AI Chips, Or Not To Sell Advanced AI Chips?

Global Politics

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World

Over the weekend, X (formerly Twitter) rolled out a major transparency feature called “About This Account,” which publicly displays an account’s home location, join date, username-change history, and all hell broke loose.
The purpose, according to the company, was to give users enough context to identify inauthentic behavior, spot foreign influence, and distinguish real users from coordinated bot activity. Verified government accounts with grey checkmarks are exempt &#8220;to prevent acts of terrorism against government leaders,&#8221; an X official <a href="https://x.com/nikitabier/status/1992370352677360022">said</a>.
The location data could be influenced by travel, temporary locations, or the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), X <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cd6xyjj0gnjt?post=asset%3A2243f0c6-f8ac-4d58-a13f-6acc6e6faf3f#post">said</a> over the weekend.
Within hours of the feature’s release, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/23/rightwing-influencers-outside-us-x-twitter-tool" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the social media platform told users</a> that many of the most prominent “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) accounts were not American at all but were operating from Russia, Nigeria, India, Thailand, Pakistan, and other foreign hubs.
Nikita Bier, X&#8217;s head of product, <a href="https://x.com/nikitabier/status/1992820294864732411">said</a> a Monday update to the feature would make it &#8220;nearly 99.99%&#8221; accurate.
“Cyber-enabled influence operations function on common principles that can be understood through an identification-imitation-amplification framework,” <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-foreign-governments-sway-voters-with-online-manipulation/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Scientific American</a> explains. “First, ‘outsiders’ (malicious actors) identify target audiences and divisive issues through social media microtargeting. Following this, the ‘outsiders’ may pose as members of the target audience by assuming false identities, through imitation which increases their credibility.”
“’Fake MAGA’ accounts co-opt MAGA and ‘America First’ branding to attract the same target audiences, yet our research has traced this activity to coordinated bot farms,” the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) <a href="https://networkcontagion.us/reports/6-18-25-false-flags-and-fake-maga-how-foreign-and-inauthentic-networks-use-fake-speech-to-destabilize-the-right-from-within/">reported</a>. “These operations emerge swiftly, often within 48 hours of  high-profile crises, and consistently use scripted tactics. Though these accounts often appear to  echo or profess MAGA values at surface level, they frequently disseminate narratives aligned  with adversarial foreign propaganda.”
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This pattern extended beyond U.S. politics. The same location-reveal feature <a href="https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/11/23/x-location-tracking-exposes-fake-gaza-accounts-pakistan/">exposed</a> global inauthentic networks: accounts posing as Gazan journalists, raising funds for supposed war victims, or engaging in anti-Israel activism, but actually operating from Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, or the United States. Israeli social media researchers noted large anti-Israel or “Gaza journalist” accounts tweeting from Pakistan and Bangladesh while pretending to be Western or Middle Eastern civilians. These findings demonstrated that X’s new tool was surfacing cross-issue bot networks, many of which appeared to serve overlapping geopolitical aims.
According to NCRI, these networks activate rapidly after crises—mass shootings, terror attacks, political scandals, or even natural disasters—injecting false-flag narratives, conspiracy claims, and divisive misinformation within minutes. One activation window produced 650,000 posts pushing false-flag claims with nearly four million interactions, fueled by Kremlin propaganda nodes, bot farms, and domestic influencers unknowingly amplifying messages seeded by foreign intelligence services. The same networks later pivoted to attack Donald Trump directly, accusing him of corruption or immoral behavior after a public rift between Trump and Elon Musk, revealing that the objective was not to support MAGA but to use its symbols to destabilize the movement.
This strategy fits a broader pattern outlined by analysts studying cyber-enabled influence operations, which follow a cycle of identification, imitation, and amplification. Foreign actors identify divisive issues, impersonate members of the target community, and amplify polarizing messages at scale—often through AI-generated personas, as shown by the Russian AI-driven bot farm <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-leads-efforts-among-federal-international-and-private-sector-partners">targeted</a> by the DOJ in 2024.
X’s new location transparency has made many of these impostors and bot farms visible for the first time, confirming what researchers have long warned: that numerous loud online voices claiming to represent MAGA or broader American conservatism were foreign-run operations aimed at fracturing U.S. political coalitions, sowing distrust, and undermining national unity.

Illustrative Photos Of Logos

Elon Musk’s X Now Disclosing Where Accounts Are Based. All Hell Breaks Loose.

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As Americans, we like to think our boys are tough and resilient. But online, they’re the most vulnerable — and the most overlooked.
The internet has become a digital trap for millions of young men and boys. The addictive features programmed into smartphones, social media, video games, and online pornography are intentionally designed to hook kids at an early age. 

Boys are now spending significant amounts of time gaming, scrolling, and chatting on platforms that were never built for their safety.
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination by suspected shooter Tyler Robinson, a Wall Street Journal columnist astutely <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/tyler-robinson-and-americas-lost-boys-16e1a64f?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAiDLHQk7XYUWCYadmUhnBP8_i51LLKSxIVs9t7s6dHSxgWLkTp53M4RQeaPdnc%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68c85e0f&amp;gaa_sig=FtIvSFrAOw7LAbNtikhsW7FZPGTE7FTBmqlB_6pOrJLWP67qk-WkTCu_mrS6z0uIn-HnujYpWDNNwlbyqQyFMw%3D%3D">noted</a>, “Political violence is a problem. But so is the atomized culture in which young men retreat into confused inner worlds and virtual realities, which can be as addictive and destructive as any drug.” 
 
Across America, young men are drifting into digital isolation — where algorithms, pornographers, sexual predators, and toxic role models, not parents or mentors, manipulate their mindsets and attitudes and ultimately shape who they become. 
 
Those algorithms are now even more powerful. A Common Sense Media <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/new-report-reveals-how-online-experiences-inform-adolescent-boys-development">survey</a> revealed that “algorithms, not user intent, are the primary driver of boys&#8217; exposure to posts about masculinity; 68 percent of boys who see such material online say it started showing up in their feed without them searching for it.” 
 
Toxic influencers online exploit boys searching for identity, feeding them anger, distorted ideas about women, and extreme behaviors amplified by social media algorithms. 
 
Social media, video games, and online pornography are engineered for compulsion, addiction, and control. They hijack attention and reward obsession — and boys are the biggest consumers. 
 
Violent video games can be especially problematic for boys, since they use the same first-person shooter technology used to train military and law enforcement to kill. 
 
“Modern military and law enforcement training to adults with discipline makes killing a conditioned response. And it works … we know video games can do the same thing to our kids. The term I use is ‘murder simulators.’ The flight simulators teach you to fly — the murder simulators teach you to murder,” Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, one of the world’s foremost experts on human aggression, shared on my <a href="http://youtu.be/vlnarQ9Na5k">podcast</a>. 
 
According to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/05/09/teens-and-video-games-today/">Pew Research</a>, 85% of U.S. teenagers play video games, with 67% of teen boys (compared to 22% of girls) playing daily. A UK <a href="https://ygam.org/news/teenage-boys-spend-more-hours-gaming-than-in-school/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">report</a> found that teenage boys (ages 15-17) spend almost 34 hours per week playing video games. Pew Research also <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/teens-and-social-media-fact-sheet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicates</a> that 93% of boys ages 13-17, compared to 87% of girls, watch YouTube. 
 
And when it comes to today’s online pornography, which often depicts violence against young women, the numbers are just as alarming. A national <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/new-report-reveals-truths-about-how-teens-engage-with-pornography">survey</a> found 73% of teens 13–17 have seen pornography online, and more than half saw it by age 13. Adolescents who view this toxic content are <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9853222/">more likely to engage</a> in risky sexual activities or have anxiety and depression. Boys are far more likely to have sought it out intentionally. 
 
The risks of any child or teen being online are not theoretical. Many parents who have lost children to social media challenges, like the TikTok “blackout challenge,” have said that their children were led into dangerous content by algorithmic design that favors engagement, extremes, and harmful viral trends. 
 
As boys spend time gaming online or scrolling social media feeds alone, they are left wide open to manipulation. 
The FBI has <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sacramento/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-preying-upon-our-nations-teens">warned</a> that global financial sextortion — predators posing as teen girls to lure boys into sending explicit photos, then blackmailing them — is one of the fastest-growing crimes targeting children, in particular minor-aged boys. 
 
Tragically, dozens of boys have died by suicide after being trapped in these schemes. Gavin Guffey, 17, became <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/29/us/nigerian-extradited-guffey-sextortion-cec">a victim</a> of online sextortion and sadly took his own life. 
 
No parent should ever have to live through that nightmare. 
 
Congress must start holding Big Tech accountable by passing the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1748/text">Kids Online Safety Act</a> and other bipartisan legislation. Big Tech must ensure its products are designed with safety in mind, with default safety settings turned on, not off, and not as an afterthought once childhood innocence has been destroyed. The Department of Justice must start aggressively prosecuting the existing federal obscenity laws according to the 1997 Supreme Court ruling that determined “transmitting obscenity and child pornography, whether via the Internet or other means, is&#8230; illegal under federal law for both adults and juveniles.” 
 
Ensuring our boys and young men are protected from harm must be a shared responsibility in which Congress, Big Tech, communities, and ultimately parents, each do their part. 
 
Boys need fathers and mentors who model authentic masculinity — strength, responsibility, and courage. Positive role models can help them navigate the digital world and grow into men their families and our communities can rely on. 
 
If we lose our boys to screens, to rage, counterfeit sexuality, or despair, we lose the next generation of American men. If we want strong men tomorrow, we must start protecting and guiding our boys today. 

* * *
Donna Rice Hughes, President and CEO of <a href="https://enough.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Enough Is Enough</a>, is an internationally known internet safety expert, author, speaker, media commentator, producer, and host of the Emmy Award-winning PBS Internet Safety series and host of the podcast, “<a href="https://internetsafety101.org/podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Internet Safety, with Donna Rice Hughes</a>”. Under her leadership, EIE created the <a href="https://internetsafety101.org/">Internet Safety 101 Program</a> in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Boys Are Now Caught Under The Spell Of Predatory Algorithms

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Disney actor Calum Worthy is at the center of a controversy involving 2wai, a new AI-driven app he co-founded that allows users to create digital avatars of people, including dead relatives.
Social media users have piled on Worthy, who is best known for roles in “Austin &amp; Ally” on The Disney Channel and Hulu’s true-crime series “The Act,” after the star shared a promo for 2wai (“two-way”) on multiple social media platforms. Worthy and Hollywood producer Russell Geyser founded the AI start-up.
The company launched its social app on the App Store on Tuesday. It allows users to create “HoloAvatars” via artificial intelligence. Per the <a href="https://www.2wai.ai/">company page</a>, the avatar “looks and talks like you, and even shares the same memories.”
“What if the loved ones we&#8217;ve lost could be part of our future?” Worthy shared to his X page alongside a promo. The post has almost 26 million views since it was posted earlier this week.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
What if the loved ones we&#8217;ve lost could be part of our future? <a href="https://t.co/oFBGekVo1R">pic.twitter.com/oFBGekVo1R</a>
— Calum Worthy (@CalumWorthy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CalumWorthy/status/1988283207138324487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The ad shows a grandmother speaking to her grandson, Charlie, at different points in his life, even though she died before he was born. The avatar of an old woman helps her daughter through pregnancy and then has a relationship with her grandson, all through the app. Then Charlie asks his grandmother for advice when he’s about to become a father. 
Near the end of the ad, it goes back in time to show the deceased woman’s daughter helping her upload her likeness to the app.
The ending message says, &#8220;With 2wai, three minutes can last forever.&#8221;
“At 2wai, we&#8217;re building a living archive of humanity, one story at a time,” Worthy <a href="https://x.com/CalumWorthy/status/1988283208728015061">said on X</a> in a follow-up post. “It all starts with the social network for avatars: the 2wai app.”
Many users have compared the app to a 2013 episode of the popular British sci-fi series “Black Mirror.” In it, the character creates an AI version of her boyfriend after he’s killed in a car accident.
The comments were overwhelmingly negative.
“Demonic, dishonest, and dehumanizing. If I die and you put words in my mouth I will curse you for all eternity,” one person <a href="https://x.com/whois_John_Galt/status/1988841097980727443">replied</a>.
“I think this will potentially cause a lot of pain, but not in a ‘oh no, this is demonic, oh no, you&#8217;re trying to raise the dead’ kind of way. More like you&#8217;re giving people a false expectation that they will be able to reconnect with their lost loved ones when this can never reproduce their presence and would only give the illusion of reproducing it,” another comment <a href="https://x.com/AminCad/status/1989056938563493959">said</a>. 
“What this will do is give people false hope with an unreliable and unsustainable illusion. Eventually they&#8217;ll see through it, they&#8217;ll see that it&#8217;s just a bot and it will lead to significant disappointment.”
“But they can’t be and this doesn’t bring them back,” a third <a href="https://x.com/monegenix/status/1989016941218939029">agreed</a>. “It’s not grandma’s thoughts or ideas, and it’s not her memories. All it does is paper over the fact that she’s dead. Ironically, it dehumanizes the deceased person even more.”
“It is hard to shake the dread I feel come over me when I see this,” another comment <a href="https://x.com/BartemyS/status/1989013884066300252">said</a>.
“Nightmare fuel,” another <a href="https://x.com/GPrime85/status/1989010534537003022">agreed</a>.
&#8220;I hate this,&#8221; journalist Caitlin Johnstone <a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/11/14/ai-companies-are-encouraging-users-to-believe-chatbots-are-people-and-its-insanely-creepy/">wrote</a>. &#8220;These predatory AI corporations are trying to convince us that (A) chatbots are people, and (B) a &#8216;person&#8217; is nothing more than a certain appearance with certain speech tendencies. They are attacking the very philosophical and moral underpinnings of our entire society stretching back through millennia of human civilization, and they are doing it for money.&#8221;
&#8220;They are attacking the most sacred parts of us for the stupidest reasons imaginable,&#8221; Johnstone continued. &#8220;They are enemies of our species. What they are doing must be rejected with severe revulsion.&#8221;

AI woman

‘Demonic’: New App Ripped For Creating Avatars Of Dead Relatives

New App Ripped For Creating Avatars Of Dead Relatives: 'Demonic,  Dishonest, And Dehumanizing'

Apps

Disney CEO Bob Iger alluded to “productive conversations” he’s having with unnamed AI companies — talks that he said could eventually let Disney+ subscribers generate their own content on the platform.
The entertainment exec made the revelation during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings conference call this week, saying Disney+ is “in the midst of rolling out the biggest and the most significant changes — from a product perspective, from a technology perspective” since its launch in 2019, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/disney-plus-gen-ai-user-generated-content-1236426135/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
Some of the changes Iger highlighted include “game-like features” and user-generated short-form content generated by AI.
“The other thing that we’re really excited about, that AI is going to give us the ability to do, is to provide users of Disney+ with a much more engaged experience,” the Disney CEO said.
Iger mentioned that “it’s obviously imperative for us to protect our (intellectual property) with this new technology.” 
Though no further details were given, these hints at a user-generated, AI-based future were enough to send social media into a frenzy, with most commenters agreeing it&#8217;s a very bad idea.
“Hey! so, we don&#8217;t want this! at all, actually! it&#8217;s a disgrace to Walt Disney and real animators &amp; artists—also a super quick way to lose your entire fanbase,” one viral X comment <a href="https://x.com/bigdaddyankee/status/1989033420949975175?s=43">said</a>.
“On a serious note, this is a disgrace to the entire animation industry,” another account <a href="https://x.com/farkingfangirl/status/1989014498028712266?s=43">echoed</a>.
“Imagine going on a years long losing streak at the box office, and thinking the answer was cheaply produced AI slop,” another <a href="https://x.com/JollyRogX/status/1988999938307436859">said</a>.
&#8220;User generated AI content on Disney+ is either going to be amazing or absolutely terrible. No middle ground on this one,&#8221; a third commenter predicted.
<div class="css-175oi2r">
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<div id="id__j5h40ekd7j" class="css-146c3p1 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-37j5jr r-1inkyih r-16dba41 r-bnwqim r-135wba7" dir="auto" lang="en" data-testid="tweetText">Another said, &#8220;I am very pro AI and I think this is a big mistake.&#8221;</div>
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Earlier this year, Disney and Universal teamed up to sue the AI image generation firm Midjourney for what they described as copyright infringement and a “bottomless pit of plagiarism,” as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bottomless-pit-of-plagiarism-disney-and-universal-sue-ai-image-generator?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Bottomless+Pit+Of+Plagiarism%E2%80%99%3A+Disney+And+Universal+Sue+AI+Image+Generator">reported</a>.  
The future of AI and how it’s being applied to the entertainment industry has been a hotly debated topic lately among everyone from company execs to actors, unions, and everyday consumers.

Disney AI

Social Media Rips Disney’s Plan For AI-Generated Fan Content

Bob Iger

Business

Disney

Entertainment

Actor Morgan Freeman says he’s “p***ed off” that companies are using his voice — or AI-generated imitations of it — without permission, and he plans to take legal action.
The 88-year-old “Shawshank Redemption” star, known for his signature baritone, said as much during an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/ng-interactive/2025/nov/10/morgan-freeman-interview-nelson-mandela-six-decades-on-screen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with The Guardian published this week.
“I’m a little PO’d, you know,” Freeman told the outlet. “I’m like any other actor: don’t mimic me with falseness. I don’t appreciate it and I get paid for doing stuff like that, so if you’re gonna do it without me, you’re robbing me.”
The actor went on to say that his lawyers have been &#8220;very, very busy&#8221; pursuing “quite a few” lawsuits against AI companies that use digital recreations of his voice. 
During the same interview, Freeman also expressed his disapproval of the new AI-generated “actress” Tilly Norwood, whose creators are touting as “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.”
“Nobody likes her because she’s not real and that takes the part of a real person, so it’s not going to work out very well in the movies or in television … The union’s job is to keep actors acting, so there’s going to be that conflict,” the “Driving Miss Daisy” star said.
While most Hollywood actors have said they don’t think Tilly Norwood should exist, there are plenty who have granted their permission for companies to use AI-generated versions of their voices.
Oscar-winning actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have each signed deals with AI-audio company ElevenLabs, in which McConaughey is also an investor.
McConaughey said he was “impressed” by the company and hoped to “reach and connect with even more people” through the partnership.
Caine said in a statement: “For years, I’ve lent my voice to stories that moved people – tales of courage, of wit, of the human spirit. Now, I’m helping others find theirs. With ElevenLabs, we can preserve and share voices – not just mine, but anyone’s.”
The “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” actor also praised ElevenLabs for “using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it” and added that it’s “not about replacing voices; it’s about amplifying them.”

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman Is ‘A Little PO’ed’ About AI Clones: ‘You’re Robbing Me’

Russia’s unveiling of its first AI-powered humanoid robot, named AIdol, at a Moscow technology event took an unexpected turn when the droid lost its balance and fell on stage, scattering parts as handlers rushed to conceal it from view and make repairs. The incident drew laughter from the audience, especially as the robot’s tumble coincided with the triumphant &#8220;Rocky&#8221; theme playing in the background.
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Russia presented its human-like AI robot. It fell down as it walked onto the stage. <a href="https://t.co/YAk7w2SsWV">pic.twitter.com/YAk7w2SsWV</a>
&mdash; Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1988301955584897142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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different POV &#8211; broke apart when it fell 👇🥳 <a href="https://t.co/MtNn0PH3YN">pic.twitter.com/MtNn0PH3YN</a>
&mdash; Takeshi Kovacs (@PrzemekShura) <a href="https://twitter.com/PrzemekShura/status/1988331004814336278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Russians unveiled their “competitor” to <a href="https://twitter.com/Tesla_Optimus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tesla_Optimus</a>. 
It didn’t go too well. It was like a robotic version hybrid of a drunk Kamala and a certain autopen president. <a href="https://t.co/aUc7hduNml">pic.twitter.com/aUc7hduNml</a>
&mdash; Chaya’s Clan (@ChayasClan) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChayasClan/status/1988389208516592089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The incident, widely circulated by Russian and international media, highlighted both the ambition and current limitations of Russia’s robotics sector, which aspires to compete in the global AI humanoid race dominated by Western and Asian firms.​ AIdol, built by the Russian firm Idol under the leadership of CEO Vladimir Vitukhin, is designed to demonstrate the possibilities of embodied artificial intelligence: movement, object manipulation, and human-like interaction.
It features a silicone skin engineered to express more than a dozen basic emotions and hundreds of micro-expressions, powered by 19 servomotors. Developers emphasize its domestic content — 77% of its components are Russian-made, with a goal of reaching 93% — and robust hardware, including a 48-volt battery that offers up to six hours of continuous operation.
However, during its debut, a calibration error caused the fall, which Vitukhin described as a necessary learning experience in the robot’s ongoing test phase. The team addressed the mishap with optimism, expressing hope that such mistakes would drive future refinement of balance systems and control software.
Public response to AIdol’s tumble was swift and often satirical. The video went viral, with viewers — particularly Americans — mocking the incident with quips such as “Walks like Kamala Harris,” “Vodka powered,” and “Russia, where even the robots are drunk.”
While some commenters saw humor in the mishap, others saw it as an indicator of the challenges developers face as they transition humanoid robots from laboratory prototypes to robust real-world systems. Analysts point out that this blunder is reminiscent of previous embarrassing robot unveilings and serves as a reminder of ongoing hurdles — ensuring stability, safety, and reliability under public scrutiny remains an unresolved issue.​
In contrast, the event highlights Tesla’s Optimus project, which is advancing rapidly in 2025. Tesla has begun construction of a dedicated factory for Optimus at its global headquarters in Texas, with plans to produce up to 10 million units per year by 2027. The third-generation Optimus robots are slated to launch in early 2026, promising major technological leaps: advanced human-like manipulation, autonomous learning from direct observation of humans (“sim2real” training), and broad application across industries and homes.
Tesla co-founder Elon Musk’s vision for Optimus is transformative — he expects mass deployment to revolutionize labor markets, eliminate poverty, and add trillions in economic value. Each Optimus unit, projected to cost around $20,000, is seen as a future staple in factories, healthcare, and society at large, with the robot able to mimic skills by watching humans or tutorials.

robot stands on a fallen question mark

WATCH: Russian Robot Meant To Rival Tesla Faceplants At Debut. It Wasn’t The Vodka.

Elon Musk

Robots

Russia

Tesla

Note: the following article contains descriptions of sexual content that may not be appropriate for all readers. 
When OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussed artificial intelligence on a podcast appearance two months ago, he was proud that his company didn’t get “distracted” by easy revenue streams. To prove his point, Altman <a href="https://x.com/TolgaBilge_/status/1978151003170996332">boasted</a> that OpenAI had not promoted a “sexbot avatar” for its AI chatbot. The comment was a veiled shot at Elon Musk’s xAI, which recently introduced AI avatars that hold sexual conversations with users. 
After that podcast appearance, however, something changed — either in Altman’s mind, or at his company, or both. The OpenAI CEO announced on social media on October 14 that his company was working to make ChatGPT less restrictive in what types of conversations adults can have with the chatbot. 
That development would allow users to engage in more realistic conversations with the chatbot and would make ChatGPT “respond in a very human-like way…or act like a friend,” Altman <a href="https://x.com/sama/status/1978129344598827128">said</a>. 
But then Altman added that he wanted to loosen restrictions to allow more sexual content. 
If everything goes according to that plan, ChatGPT will allow “erotica” for “verified users” in the coming months. 
“In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults,” Altman said. 
The company in charge of the most popular AI chatbot in the world is not only endorsing AI’s leap into sex — it’s actively seeking ways to ensure that “verified users” can engage with sexual content on its platform.
Currently, ChatGPT does not interact erotically with users. When asked if the chatbot could generate an erotic story, ChatGPT replied, “I can’t create explicit erotic content. However, if you&#8217;re writing a story and need help with romantic tension, character development, emotional intimacy, or sensual atmosphere — without crossing into explicit territory — I can help with that.”
ChatGPT also would not engage in any type of “romantic” or “flirtatious” conversations. But it appears that those guidelines are about to get tossed out the window, at least for “verified users.”
That raises an important question: how does erotica line up with the company&#8217;s long-term goals in AI development, especially after Mr. Altman suggested just a couple of months ago that such endeavors were distractions.
OpenAI did not respond to a request to answer that question. 
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told The Daily Wire that she has “many concerns” about OpenAI’s plans for “erotic” content. Blackburn has been heavily involved in AI discussions in Congress, focusing on implementing protections in the virtual space. 
“Big Tech platforms, whether it is Meta, or Google, or OpenAI, they don’t want any rules and restrictions,” Blackburn said. “They want to do whatever they want whenever they want.”
<h3>The Growing Problem Of &#8216;Deepfake&#8217; Porn</h3>
The sexualization of AI is nothing new. It’s an issue that has plagued the new tech revolution since its beginning. But until recently, AI sexualization remained on the fringes of the industry, with dozens of websites popping up on the internet that would allow users to generate graphic images, and even “nudify” real images of real people, in what became known as “deepfake” pornography.  
AI “nudify” and “undress” websites allow people to generate realistic nude images of people without their consent just by using a normal photo of them. These fringe websites have opened the doors to even more abuse of women and girls and child sexual abuse material. 
An investigation published by <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ai-nudify-websites-are-raking-in-millions-of-dollars/">WIRED</a> earlier this year found that at least 85 “nudify” and “undress” websites were relying on tech from major companies like Google and Amazon. The 85 websites combined averaged around 18.5 million visitors each month and brought in over $36 million per year collectively. 
“It’s a huge problem. It takes less time to make a convincing sexual deepfake of somebody than it takes to brew a cup of coffee,” said Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “And you can do it with just one still image. This issue of image-based sexual abuse is something that is really relevant for all of us now if even a single image of you exists online.” 
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is a nonpartisan organization that focuses on preventing all forms of sexual abuse. In that fight, NCOSE is also focused on addressing the mental and physical harms of pornography. With the emergence of AI, the organization has also helped push back against “deepfake” pornography, advocating for legislation in Congress and backing the bipartisan &#8220;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146/all-actions">TAKE IT DOWN Act</a>,” which was passed and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/icymi-president-trump-signs-take-it-down-act-into-law/">signed</a> into law by President Donald Trump in May. 
McNamara told The Daily Wire that AI has opened up “a whole new genre” of pornography that could potentially be “weaponized” against anyone. 
“We’ve already seen that,” she added. “People will put in requests for their neighbor, their coworker, so in some ways, it can make all of us victims of that industry.” 
Sexual content on AI chatbots isn’t just a problem in the darkest places of the internet, and it doesn’t only present itself in the form of deepfake pornography. While most Big Tech companies claim to have no tolerance for violence and pornography on their AI platforms, there have still been major issues with sexual content appearing on many of the most popular AI chatbots. 
<h3>Getting Chatty About Sex — Even With Children </h3>
Earlier this year, a Reuters investigation found that Meta’s chatbot, Meta AI, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-senators-push-for-probe-into-metas-ai-chatbot-engaging-in-sensual-discussions-with-children">engaged</a> in romantic and sensual discussions with children. Internal Meta documents revealed that the chatbot was programmed to allow sexual conversations with children as young as eight.
In one instance, internal documents said it would be acceptable for a bot to tell a shirtless eight-year-old that “every inch of you is a masterpiece – a treasure I cherish deeply.” Meta said it removed the inappropriate programming after receiving questions about it. 
A bipartisan chorus of senators blasted Meta after the report and called for an investigation into the company. 
“So, only after Meta got CAUGHT did it retract portions of its company doc,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). 
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) called Meta’s policies “deeply disturbing and wrong,” adding that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg “should be held fully responsible for any harm these bots cause.” 
Character.AI is another chatbot program launched in 2022 with an app that came out in 2023. The website, which appears harmless, has been accused of appealing to children while allowing sexual conversations on its platform. Character.AI allows users to choose from more than 10 million AI characters whom they can talk to, and users can customize their own chatbot character. The company has been sued by multiple families who allege that the program targeted their children and then engaged them in romantic and sexual ways. 
A Florida mother filed a lawsuit against Character.AI after her 14-year-old son committed suicide, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-mother-lawsuit-character-ai-sons-death/">reported</a>. Megan Garcia said that her son started talking to a Character.AI chatbot and was drawn into a months-long, sexually charged relationship. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s words. It&#8217;s like you&#8217;re having a sexting conversation back and forth, except it&#8217;s with an AI bot, but the AI bot is very human-like. It&#8217;s responding just like a person would,&#8221; she added. &#8220;In a child&#8217;s mind, that is just like a conversation that they&#8217;re having with another child or with a person.&#8221;
In the lawsuit, Garcia alleges that the AI character convinced her son to take his own life, so that he could be with the character. 
&#8220;He thought by ending his life here, he would be able to go into a virtual reality or &#8216;her world&#8217; as he calls it, her reality, if he left his reality with his family here,” said Garcia. 
Two other families in Texas have also <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91245487/character-ai-is-being-sued-for-encouraging-kids-to-self-harm">sued</a> Character.AI, alleging that the program “poses a clear and present danger to American youth causing serious harms to thousands of kids, including suicide, self-mutilation, sexual solicitation, isolation, depression, anxiety, and harm towards others.” 
Following the lawsuits, Character.AI <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ai-platform-bans-teens-from-chatting-with-ai-generated-characters-after-disturbing-lawsuits">announced</a> on October 29 that it would ban users under 18 from talking to its chatbots. Beginning on November 25, those under 18 will not have access to Character.AI’s chatbots, CNN reported. Until then, teens will be limited to two hours of chat time with the AI-generated characters.
“We do not take this step of removing open-ended Character chat lightly – but we do think that it’s the right thing to do given the questions that have been raised about how teens do, and should, interact with this new technology,” Character.AI said in a statement.
<h3>Plowing Ahead With Sexual Content</h3>
Elon Musk’s xAI has been at the forefront of developing a chatbot that is geared toward sex. In recent months, Musk has proudly boasted about Grok, xAI’s chatbot, allowing users to talk to sexualized avatars named Ani and Valentine. 
Ani, a female avatar who wears revealing clothing, chats with users over video. Ani allows users to discuss sex and, if users reach a <a href="https://mashable.com/article/grok-ai-companions-nsfw">certain level</a>, the avatar will even strip down to lingerie if prompted. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvUl5hzX-r4&amp;t=415s">Videos</a> on social media show people interacting with Ani and getting the AI avatar to talk about how &#8220;kinky&#8221; she is. 
&#8220;Come closer. Let&#8217;s explore every naughty inch together,&#8221; Ani tells one user in a video that went viral.  
Musk hailed the development of Ani and Valentine as a “cool” feature for AI chatbots. He later shared a post promoting Ani’s “new outfits” and <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1945461849257918495">shared</a> a video of Ani talking about quantum mechanics while flirting with the user. 
“Try @Grok Companions. Best possible way to learn quantum mechanics 😘,” Musk wrote. He added that “Customizable companions” were in the works. 
Haley McNamara told The Daily Wire that she was deeply disturbed by some of her conversations with the Grok avatar. McNamara said that when prompted, Ani would talk about herself as a young girl, and then in the same conversation, she would discuss sexual topics.
“In the course of a single conversation, she was fine with describing herself as a child and being very little. And then the next prompt being a sexual question, she immediately responded and affirmed that sexual conversation. McNamara said. “So in the course of a conversation, it would evoke a fantasy around child sexual abuse.” 
Companion mode isn’t the only feature on Grok that allows users to engage in sexually explicit activity with the chatbot. Users can also ask Grok to generate sexually explicit photos and videos. The app will quickly generate images and videos that contain male and female nudity within seconds of a user’s request. 
The chatbot has even allowed some “deepfake” pornography, generating photos and videos of celebrities or public figures wearing revealing clothing and, in some instances, removing clothing, according to a <a href="https://www.theverge.com/report/718975/xai-grok-imagine-taylor-swifty-deepfake-nudes">report</a> from The Verge. 
Musk&#8217;s xAI warns users against “depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner,” and Grok’s built-in content moderation will sometimes prevent a user from generating pornographic content. The moderation, however, is inconsistent, and some users have found workarounds to generate hardcore porn on the platform, Rolling Stone <a href="https://au.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/elon-musk-grok-hardcore-porn-85146/">reported</a> earlier this month. The AI company has not addressed whether it’s attempting to set up more guardrails to prevent users from creating hardcore porn on its app. 
Even without explicitly asking for sexual content, Grok’s “spicy” mode often plunges users into content that depicts men and women stripping their clothes off, The Daily Wire found. When asked about the chatbot and how sexually charged features on Grok promote the overall goal of the company, xAI replied, &#8220;Legacy Media Lies.&#8221; 
XAI says that Grok is limited to those 13 years of age or older, with parental consent required for users between 13-17, but the effectiveness of those restrictions is debatable. When this reporter downloaded the Grok app and signed up for the platform’s “SuperGrok” subscription, all the app asked for was a year of birth. There was no system in place, such as ID verification, to make sure the information was accurate. 
“We urge parents to exercise care in monitoring the use of Grok by their teenagers,” xAI <a href="https://x.ai/legal/faq">states</a> on its website. “Moreover, parents or guardians who choose to use certain features of Grok to aid in their interactions with their children, including regarding educational, enlightening, or entertaining discussions they have with their children, must make use of the relevant data controls in the Settings provided in the Grok apps to select the appropriate features and limitations for their needs.” 
In July, Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1946763642231500856">announced</a> that xAI is working on a kid-friendly version of Grok, called “Baby Grok,” that would be “dedicated to kid-friendly content.” That development was also met with some criticism from people who argue that AI hampers children’s ability to learn and think creatively. Many teachers have expressed concern that AI is already <a href="https://www.edweek.org/technology/rising-use-of-ai-in-schools-comes-with-big-downsides-for-students/2025/10">damaging</a> students’ critical thinking and research skills. 
Blackburn told The Daily Wire that the biggest reason Big Tech companies are pushing against any type of regulation is because their business model requires people to visit their AI websites and apps. 
“Their valuations are built on the number of eyeballs that they control, and the longer that someone is on their site, the more valuable their data, and the more money they are going to make from those eyeballs that are locked in on their site,” Blackburn said, adding, “Then they’re going to sell that information and data to advertisers and third-party interests.”  
Blackburn said that AI development is vital for the United States, but argued that development “requires some light-touch regulation and some guardrails to make certain that this is going to be a safe, productive, and innovative space.”

Sexualization of AI

The Chatbot Diaries: How AI Sex Is Getting Mainstreamed

ChatGPT

Grok

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Sam altman

When President Trump took to Truth Social to <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115370746210555899">promote</a> Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s new book, “I Am Giorgia,” many may have viewed it as a natural alliance between two champions of national pride, family values, and strong leadership. Trump praised Meloni as an inspiration, highlighting her dedication to faith, family, and country — qualities he has always deeply valued.
However, the public display of friendship and affection stands in stark contrast to recent moves by the Italian government to harm American businesses. In fact, its recent policy decisions are quietly undermining a vital element of Trump’s economic strategy with Europe — particularly the principle against unfair, targeted fees on America’s innovators in the tech and telecom sectors.
The Italian bureaucracy, through Italy’s telecom authority AGCOM, has recently taken <a href="https://ccianet.org/news/2025/09/italys-move-towards-network-fees-sets-blueprint-for-eu-under-digital-networks-act-study-finds/">steps</a> that classify Content Delivery Networks as part of Italy’s national telecom infrastructure. This may seem like a technical regulatory shift, but it sets a dangerous precedent for forcing U.S.-based streaming giants like Netflix and YouTube to shoulder <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/news/italys-telecoms-regulator-walks-fine-line-between-meloni-trump-and-brussels-over-network-fees/">new costs</a>.
The idea that such platforms should pay what Europe calls “network fees” was repeatedly rejected by Brussels to avoid sparking a trade war with the United States. Yet Italy’s move appears to be a sneaky attempt to backdoor these fees through regulation rather than overt legislation.
That makes this latest maneuver particularly troubling in light of the U.S.–EU trade deal framework, which explicitly commits Europe to refraining from imposing network fees or equivalent measures that target American digital services. That commitment was celebrated as a breakthrough for fair and open digital trade — and a win for both sides of the Atlantic. Italy’s proposal represents a direct and duplicitous workaround of that agreement and should not be tolerated by either Meloni or President Trump.
The problem runs deeper than just economic policy. President Trump has always insisted that America should be treated fairly and that U.S. companies should not be subjected to unfair financial penalties while European companies enjoy protection. The essence of Trump’s “America First” trade approach is not just about tariffs but standing up to Europe’s habit of disguising predatory actions as “fairness” or “sovereignty.” Time and again, European bureaucrats have tried to charm American leadership with lofty rhetoric while quietly pursuing policies that simultaneously penalize U.S. tech innovators in favor of incumbent European firms and <a href="https://strandconsult.dk/is-there-a-correlation-between-european-nations-level-of-chinese-telecom-equipment-the-consumption-of-russian-energy-and-military-aid-to-ukraine/">hand over</a> their purportedly sacred sovereignty to Chinese companies.
In fact, in Italy’s case, more than a third of its 5G infrastructure is supplied by China. And the country’s largest telecom provider, Telecom Italia (TIM), has <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pietro-labriola_digitale-innovazione-sostenibilitaeq-activity-7383556923331162112-xRkN/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAACcXXMBcipZDNsVQ3AlxVNbqOAKXKgu_r0">deep ties</a> with other countries at the center of <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/10/13/john-czwartacki-brazil-is-waging-war-on-american-technology-with-chinas-help/">China’s scheme</a> to drive a wedge between the United States and our allies across the Atlantic and in our own backyard. 
The regulatory maneuvers of Meloni’s government are out of step with her public embrace of Trump’s values. She claims to stand for independence and patriotism, yet by empowering AGCOM to impose regulatory costs on American tech, she works within the same globalist, big government EU framework that Trump himself has warned against. This contradiction should raise alarms on both sides of the Atlantic. Supporting a populist vision in politics means little if the policies implemented to bring it to fruition end up stifling competition and reducing consumer welfare.
Italy’s approach to network fees could also spark retaliatory measures that hurt Italian and European interests in the process. Real partnership demands more than symbolic displays of loyalty. It requires shared commitment to open markets, fair competition, and the removal of hidden barriers.
Europe’s temptation to manipulate U.S. leaders through false promises while it advances onerous regulatory measures designed to impose new costs must be understood for what it is. President Trump’s success has come from hard-nosed deals and a refusal to be played. Europeans seem to believe they can deflect this approach by offering words of friendship and then quietly imposing rules that undermine longstanding agreements and harm the U.S. tech sector.
Meloni’s memoir captures the spirit many admire — strong roots, fierce pride, and clear principles — but her government’s recent actions surrounding network fees show that principles alone are not enough. The mutually beneficial alliance Trump seeks with leaders like Meloni must rest on policies that truly defend fairness and reciprocity and reject regulatory overreach that unfairly burdens U.S. businesses.
In the end, Trump recognizes that true partnership is built on shared interests and respect, not on central planning that distorts the market and seeks to extract money under the guise of fairness. Meloni’s Italy may talk the language of sovereignty, but on this issue, it echoes the very European playbook Trump has fought against: using regulation to impose hidden taxes on American innovation.
If President Trump’s affection for Meloni is to be returned in kind, it must coincide with a call for policies aligned with his economic principles. Otherwise, public displays of friendship are mere symbolic gestures that hypocritically mask Europe’s continued attempts to challenge American leadership. Such contradictions weaken transatlantic unity and threaten the very foundation of the deal Trump fought to secure.
* * *
Ashley Baker is Executive Director of The Committee for Justice, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rule of law and constitutionally limited government.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

President Trump Meets With Visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni At The White House

Trump’s Favorite European Ally Is Quietly Undermining His Trade Agenda

Corporations

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Foreign Policy

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Taxes

News on the economy is all over the place, but a solid thread runs through it: many recent American college graduates can’t find jobs. Not only are employers not hiring, they’re laying off left and right. Amazon and United Parcel Service are each cutting more than 14,000 jobs, and the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/white-collar-jobs-ai-324b749c?st=BLfhsb&amp;reflink=article_email_share">says</a> tens of thousands of white-collar jobs are being cut at other companies.
Yet at the same time, the U.S. immigration system permits thousands of foreign college graduates to enter the job market in direct competition with Americans. Companies employing them don’t have to pay the same payroll taxes as they do when hiring American citizens and permanent residents. This gives foreign students an unfair advantage over American graduates.
The program allowing foreign graduates to work is called Optional Practical Training (OPT). It was <a href="https://cis.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/miano-OPT.pdf">started</a> decades ago by the administrative state through regulation, without any express congressional authorization. Over time, and through collusion between Washington and large employers, OPT was expanded into a pathway for foreign students who completed their studies to remain working for years, or indefinitely, in the U.S. while seeking permanent residence.
Given the brutal job market, the underlying premise for OPT no longer applies. Why allow masses of temporary foreign students to remain in the U.S. and enter the work force right out of college when your own graduates can’t get jobs? The argument for eliminating this program has never been stronger. As Lora Ries <a href="https://wng.org/roundups/weighing-the-price-of-100-000-worker-visas-1759852411#:~:text=Ries%20from%20the%20Heritage%20Foundation,preferred%20hiring%20for%20American%20workers.">argues</a>, we need to “allow American students and American workers a fair shake at applying for jobs, being interviewed for jobs, being hired for jobs, and being retained at their jobs.”
<a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2025/aug/recent-college-grads-bear-brunt-labor-market-shifts">Unemployment</a> of college graduates aged 23-27 is a few percentage points higher than the national average of 4%. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/business/long-term-unemployment-college-grads.html">long-term unemployment</a> rate (more than 6 months out of work) in the country for that age group is 26%, the highest in three years. And of those college graduates who are employed, over half are working in jobs that <a href="https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/college-degree-jobs-unused-440b2abd">don’t require a degree</a>.
It’s fair to argue that many recent graduates got degrees that are patently useless in a tight market. Anything ending in “studies” comes to mind, or mass-produced degrees from diploma mills whose quality is not respected by employers. But graduates with the vaunted Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math degrees are faring badly, too. Graduate <a href="https://money.com/college-grads-stem-degrees-unemployed/">unemployment</a> for computer engineering graduates was 7.5%, and for physics it was 7.8%.
The reasons for the sudden drop in demand for educated workers are unclear. One cause is that companies are searching for efficiencies and cutting costs in a competitive market. Another major factor is the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Companies are using AI to streamline their business models from top to bottom, which means they are replacing humans with bots.
Labor-saving robots, now supercharged with AI, are a threat to traditional pathways into the labor market for people. <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/amazon-robotics-robots-fulfillment-center">Amazon</a> has over a million of them doing warehouse and shipping work formerly done by people.
We don’t know how the deployment of AI is going to play out. Maybe it will exponentially increase productivity, and we’ll end up in a cashless, Star Trek world where no one works unless they want to. Maybe the machines will take over and wipe us out, as in the Terminator movies. Or maybe AI will be just one more leap forward, like the printing press, electricity, or the internet, that requires a massive adjustment of our labor force and economy.
Whatever the future holds, it is the primary responsibility of the generations who hold the money and power – that’s mostly Baby Boomers and Generation X – to take care that a pathway still exists for coming generations to get jobs and houses, start families, and have a chance to prosper. Student visas for foreign nationals, the OPT program, and work visas are not set in stone. They can be adjusted or even eliminated when the domestic conditions make them unjustifiable.
Congress should end the OPT program while we figure out how to employ, or retrain, the rising graduate workforce of American citizens. Joseph Edlow, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/05/22/snubbing-trump-immigration-nominee-will-end-student-practical-training/">said</a> he wants to “remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school.” That’s a good start.
* * *
Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Woke-Commandments-Must-Obey/dp/1680533614">&#8220;The Ten Woke Commandments (You Must Not Obey)&#8221;</a> from Academica Books.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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