Mhmmm
@tinanguyen
Senior Reporter at The Verge and author of Regulator, covering Big Tech vs Big Government. Formerly Puck/Politico/Vanity Fair. Wrote a book called THE MAGA DIARIES. Send your juiciest/most apocalyptic goss to tina@theverge.com or @tina_nguyen.19 on signal.
Mhmmm
I would like to inform the Bluesky community that Undersecretary of Defense Emil Michael is crashing out on X right now
NEW: The New York Times confirms my reporting that the DOJ is withholding several FBI interviews with a woman who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her as a child
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/u...
Read more about yesterday's fight over whether Anthropic should allow AI autonomous lethal weaponry with no human oversight (and more!) in this week's Regulator! (Gift link below)
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
And Steve Feinberg should be familiar to anyone who tracks Wall Street news cycles:
Emil Michael has a very fun history that @theverge.com readers should be familiar with:
NEW: Pete Hegseth brought some VERY interesting people with him to the Pentagon's negotiations with Anthropic over their acceptable use policy:
Political appointees Emil Michael, formerly of Uber, and Steve Feinberg, the private equity billionaire founder of Cerberus Capital Management.
Pete Hegsethβs Pentagon AI bro squad includes a former Uber executive and a private equity billionaire
Oh my god I didnβt even realize Emil fucking Michael is the CTO of the Defense Department until @tinanguyen.bsky.social pointed it out
(Media) SCOOP: Weeks ago, the owner of the Washington City Paper had offered to purchase The Washington Post's sports and local sections, keeping their desks alive.
The Post reporters were laid off and the desks were shut down instead.
www.theverge.com/policy/87683...
This interview was available first to Verge subscribers, and we're planning on doing some exciting political stuff this year, so sign up below to read about the future before anyone else :)
www.theverge.com/subscribe?ut...
In his view, Trump has handed China a massive advantage in the AI race against China: "[Their] main constraint at the moment is not power, not money, not talent. Itβs chips. And we are now basically filling that hole for them."
Regulator is opening 2026 with an interview with someone who'd know a thing or two about the Trump-Nvidia chip deal:
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser under President Joe Biden, who had implemented the restrictions on selling high-end chips to China.
www.theverge.com/policy/85681...
I went to the opening for PubKey, a Bitcoin bar originally from NY with a new location in downtown DC. It was wacky and wild and had several Santas, Chinese lion dancers, a mariachi band, and more.
But the weirdest thing of all were the federal employees in suits.
www.theverge.com/policy/84913...
Today:
- @elizabethkim.bsky.social on Mamdani's transition;
- @elienyc.bsky.social on SCOTUS and executive power,
- @tinanguyen.bsky.social on Trump & AI regulation;
- @theatlantic.com's Valerie Trapp on self-checkout culture at the grocery story
Live at 10 on 93.9 FM, AM820 or @wnyc.org
Big @tinanguyen.bsky.social scoop - the Trump MAGA / tech coalition continues to fracture as the hard right pushes back against David Sacks and his attempt to preempt state AI laws. Caught in the middle: Vance. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
We had to ensure several times that Nilay did, indeed, want this to be the official headline of this story
Trust me, we had to ask several times if this was really the one Nilay wanted to go with
He was ADAMANT
In Regulator's latest issue, I speak to Charlie Bullock at the Institute for Law & AI about the draft executive order that would have punished states for writing and enforcing their own AI laws, and its "chilling effect on state legislation."
www.theverge.com/column/82993...
I did a deep dive into the White House's draft executive order that would have counteracted states' abilities to write and enforce their own AI laws.
Boy, does it give David Sacks a lot of influence over setting federal AI regulatory policy!
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Seeking to kneecap states and hand even more power over to his big tech cronies, the ever power thirsty and David Sacks gets ratioed. For now at least β this group is like mold and always returns www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Great moments in Verge background policy here btw - @tinanguyen.bsky.social nailed this one
This viral AI pen didnβt help me cheat Donβt fall for the YouTube videos of βAI smart pensβ helping students cheat on paper tests. We tried one and it sucks. by Elissa Welle Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales
the verge's reviews program has always been the heart of the site and one reason we jealously protect it and refuse to do brand deals is so we can just say the products are bad www.theverge.com/report/82215...
Operative word being "draft"; which you can also read here
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
I obtained a draft of the WH's executive order that would ban state AI laws via at least FOUR agencies
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
"New media" used to broadly describe traditional outlets that published traditional news, but online. But these days in DC, powerful Republicans now use βnew mediaβ as a polite catch-all for βright-wing media.β
My latest reporting in this week's Regulator:
www.theverge.com/column/79990...
Hereβs @tinanguyen.bsky.social detailing the results of the incredible settlement YouTube paid to Trump for no reason except cowardice www.theverge.com/policy/79135...
Donald Trump and Silicon Valley have formed an alliance β but that doesnβt mean the MAGA base thinks itβs a good idea.
This week @tinanguyen.bsky.social joins @parismarx.com to discuss the many ways the MAGA movement isnβt on side with Big Tech.
Full ep: techwontsave.us/episode/296_...
When I read @tinanguyen.bsky.socialβs recent piece on visiting NatCon and seeing MAGA leaders openly criticize tech executives and their companies, I knew I had to have Tina on the show. It was a really insightful conversation!