This week, Brian, Leah, and Zoë discuss WIRED’s big scoop on ICE’s startling plans to expand to nearly every state in the US. Then, they unpack Alex Karp’s nearly-hour-long non-response to Palantir employees with ethical concerns about collaborating with ICE. Plus, a WIRED writer lets the viral AI assistant OpenClaw run his life for a week to give listeners a peek into what AI agents can and can’t actually do. 

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• The Shoes and Brooms Transforming Curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics
• I Loved My OpenClaw AI Agent—Until It Turned on Me
• Palantir CEO Alex Karp Recorded a Video About ICE for His Employees
• ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
• The ICE Expansion Won’t Happen in the Dark
• James Holzhauer's Jeopardy! Greatness, in Charts

This week, Brian and Leah dive into the key tech industry figures who show up in the final batch of the Epstein Files. Then, they discuss SpaceX and xAI’s blockbuster merger, and what it says about the future of Elon Musk’s companies. Plus, we share the story of how a whistleblower revealed — and fled — the inner operations of a crypto scam compound in Laos. 

Articles mentioned in this episode: 

• The Tech Elites in the Epstein Files 
• Elon Musk Is Rolling xAI Into SpaceX—Creating the World’s Most Valuable Private Company
• Inside the ICE Forum Where Agents Complain About Their Jobs
• He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests. 

Katie sits down with the Westworld showrunner, Jonah Nolan for a wide ranging conversation about what keeps him coming back to sci-fi storytelling about technology and human nature. After decades of writing about Ai, Nolan explains why Ai may be good for burgeoning filmmakers, but won’t replace Hollywood as we know it.

Nolan’s past work includes Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Interstellar and Westworld. 

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

In the wake of the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis, several prominent tech executives attended a private White House screening of Melania, a documentary being released by Amazon MGM Studios. The timing was not lost on the group of Silicon Valley workers who recently launched ICEout.tech, essentially an open letter to their bosses. The letter, posted following Renee Nicole Good’s killing earlier this month, has now been signed by more than 1,000 tech employees. Those workers, who come from across the spectrum of Big Tech companies and startups, are asking that executives use their clout to demand Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents leave American cities, that they cancel company contracts with the agency, and that they speak publicly about ICE’s violent and deadly tactics. Katie talks to two of the signatories in this week's episode. 

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

In today’s episode, Brian and Zoë are joined by WIRED’s Tim Marchman to discuss the news of the week — including how far-right influencers spread misinformation in Minneapolis, and why TikTok’s US version is off to a rocky start. Plus, we dive into why some people are currently obsessed with the AI assistant Moltbot. 

Articles mentioned in this episode: 

• ICE Is Using Palantir’s AI Tools to Sort Through Tips | WIRED
• Google DeepMind Staffers Ask Leaders to Keep Them ‘Physically Safe’ From ICE | WIRED
• TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes | WIRED
• Moltbot Is Taking Over Silicon Valley | WIRED 

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests. 

Welcome back to Uncanny Valley! This week, WIRED’s Brian Barrett and Leah Feiger are joining the show as the new co-hosts, alongside Zoë Schiffer. And our attention has been on the drama going down in the quaint little town of Davos. Zoë tells us how at the World Economic Forum’s event, major AI players like Anthropic have been the protagonists — sharing the spotlight with President Trump, who insists on invading Greenland. Brian has been looking at how ICE activity is developing across the U.S, and Leah is forcing us to think about this year’s midterms because tech giants are already pouring millions into it. Plus, we dive into why OpenAI's decision to roll out ads in ChatGPT was a long time coming.

Articles mentioned in this episode: 

• ​​Pro-AI Super PACs Are Already All In on the Midterms | WIRED 
• ‘I’m Witnessing a Lot of Emptiness’: How ICE Uprooted Normal Life in Minneapolis | WIRED 
• Ads Are Coming to ChatGPT. Here’s How They’ll Work | WIRED 

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests. 

Katie sits down with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales talks about what it means to build something used by billions of people that’s not optimized for growth at all costs. Jimmy reflected on Wikipedia’s messy, human origins, the ways it’s been targeted by governments from Russia to Saudi Arabia, and the challenges of holding the line on neutrality in an online ecosystem hostile to the notion that facts even exist.

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

The LinkedIn cofounder and frequent Trump target, Reid Hoffman has a simple message for his peers: “Just speak up about the things that you think are true.”

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

On this week’s episode of The Big Interview, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood talks about Elon Musk, political resistance, and why she still has hope for America’s future.

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

Netflix CTO Elizabeth Stone is an anomaly. Instead of coding, she spent her twenties getting a PhD in economics. She quietly rose through the ranks in Silicon Valley and is now responsible for leading Netflix’s technology push towards live programming. In this candid conversation, Stone discusses the value of failure, the power behind genuine curiosity, and why she can’t pick her favorite Love is Blind couple.

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Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

For better or for worse, this year had it all — from the AI industry shaping the global economy and our lives, to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) taking over U.S federal agencies under Elon Musk’s leadership. In today’s episode, Zoë and WIRED’s executive editor Brian Barrett get together to reflect on some of this year’s key moments — and how they give us important clues as to what we can expect this upcoming year. 

Articles mentioned in this episode: 

• The AI Data Center Boom Is Warping the US Economy | WIRED
• The US Needs an Open Source AI Intervention to Beat China | WIRED
• DOGE Is the Deep State | WIRED
• ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team | WIRED
• The FBI's Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Had Nearly 3 Minutes Cut Out | WIRED

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.