Trump Pivots On AI Regulation; What Is Hantavirus?; Worker Ousted by DOGE Runs for Office
Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
4.1 • 572 Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
This week, the team discusses the surprising reports of the Trump administration seemingly reversing its stance when it comes to AI safety and regulation. They also look into what exactly is going on with the Hantavirus outbreak, and whether we should be worried. Also — we get into the story of how a former federal employee who was ousted by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is now running for office. Plus, a Spirit Airlines laid off employee shares with us how they experienced the company’s shutdown news last weekend and what they’ll miss most about the job.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
- A Federal Worker Was Fired for Filming DOGE. Now She’s Running for Congress | WIRED
- What the Spirit Airlines Implosion Means for Your Vacation | WIRED
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Wired's Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoe Schiffer, director of business and industry. |
| 0:06.8 | I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor. And I'm Leah Feiger, director of politics and science. |
| 0:11.2 | Today on the show, we're diving into recent reports that the Trump administration is considering |
| 0:15.6 | an executive order that would establish some sort of federal oversight over new AI models. |
| 0:22.2 | And we're going to talk about whether this move actually signals a meaningful shift in future |
| 0:27.3 | regulation of this technology. |
| 0:29.3 | In another surprising turn of events, we're also going to get into how a federal worker |
| 0:33.5 | who was fired earlier this year for filming Doge operatives and during her workplace is now running for a house seat. |
| 0:40.5 | We're also going to check in with a Spirit Airlines worker who was laid off after the company shut down. |
| 0:45.0 | And last but not least, we'll also talk through just how worried you should be about Haanta virus. |
| 0:49.4 | Spoiler, probably not as concerned as Leah is. |
| 0:52.2 | I'm very concerned. |
| 0:53.4 | She's very concerned. |
| 0:56.0 | A good week, you guys. |
| 1:03.6 | Okay, so it's been an interesting week for the AI industry. |
| 1:07.4 | On Monday, we heard that the Trump administration announced what on its face seems like a pretty big about face and its approach to AI regulation. |
| 1:16.3 | The New York Times initially reported that there is an executive order being considered just at that stage right now that would create a group of tech executives and government officials who would essentially review AI models before they are released to the public. |
| 1:32.4 | At the time that this was reported, it wasn't totally clear, at least to me, whether they would just get access to the models and be able to look at them and evaluate them or whether they would be able to say whether a model could be released or not. |
| 1:44.7 | But it does seem like a pretty significant reversal of the very loose and pointed lack of |
| 1:50.4 | regulation that the Trump administration has had until now toward the AI industry. |
| 1:55.0 | It's been really interesting to see how as AI models get more powerful, they've sort of hit |
| 2:00.4 | their limit, right? I think the |
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