Uncanny Valley | WIRED

Brian and Zoë discuss the inside meltdown that has recently been unfolding at Meta and what it says about the company's relentless ambitions in the AI race. They also dive into the leaked messages and names of an invite-only group co-founded by billionaire tech founder Peter Thiel, and how Sam Bankman-Fried is now actively seeking a pardon from the Trump administration. Plus, they share their impressions on SpaceX acquiring Cursor and the latest on the negotiations between Anthropic and the government. Articles mentioned in this episode: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth Admits the Company’s AI Reorg Was ‘Atrocious’ | WIRED ‘Tell Him He’s a Piece of Shit’: Meta’s New AI Unit Is a Total Mess | WIRED Leak Exposes Members of Peter Thiel’s Secretive ‘Dialog’ Society | WIRED Anthropic Is Still at Odds With the White House Over Claude Fable 5 | WIRED Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from the newest ventures to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Over the weekend, the Trump administration placed export controls on Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — their most advanced AI models — citing national security concerns. This effectively leading the company to shut them down for all users worldwide. In this special episode, Brian and Zoë bring you the very latest in this breaking news and explain what led to this unprecedented moment; what cybersecurity experts think about the administration’s move; and what this impasse means for the AI industry and users at large. Articles mentioned in this episode: Anthropic Says It’s Taking Claude Fable 5 Offline to Comply With US Government Order | WIRED Anthropic Offers Mythos Upgrade for Cyber Partners and a ‘Safe’ Version for the Rest of You | WIRED Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from the newest ventures to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week, the team discusses Apple’s Siri AI brand new release, SpaceX officially going public — and who will benefit the most from it. They also get into how Meta removed a facial recognition feature after a WIRED report exposed it, and later in the show — an investigation into how the Knicks’ owner James Dolan created an extensive surveillance system inside all of his Madison Square Garden properties. Articles mentioned in this episode: Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2026 | WIRED Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report The Shocking Secrets of Madison Square Garden’s Surveillance Machine | WIRED Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from the newest ventures to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices