In a shocking turn of events, representatives of Elon Musk and DOGE were granted "full access" to the US Treasury payments system, which is used to disperse trillions of dollars to Americans each year. This move has raised significant national security concerns, with Senator Ron Wyden warning that Musk's access to the system poses a "national security risk." In response, U.S. Democratic Representative Mark Pocan proposed a bill called the Elon Musk Act, which stands for Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy.

This is not the first time Elon Musk has attempted to infiltrate the inner workings of the federal government. The billionaire entrepreneur has been making efforts to gain access to sensitive government data, sparking concerns about the security of Americans' private information. The latest development has raised questions about the legality of Musk's activities and the security clearances of DOGE staffers.

In other news, Google quietly removed a pledge to not build AI for weapons or surveillance from its website this week. The company erased a section titled "applications we will not pursue" from its public AI principles page, pointing to a blog post on "responsible AI" instead. The post notes that Google should work together with governments and organizations "to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security." This move has sparked concerns about the company's commitment to ethical AI development.

Meanwhile, researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington have made a breakthrough in AI development, training an AI "reasoning" model for under $50 in cloud compute credits. The model, known as s1, performs similarly to models like OpenAI's o1 and DeepSeek's R1 on math and coding tests. This achievement has significant implications for the future of AI research and development.

In other tech news, Meta is facing a lawsuit from one of its earliest employees, Kelly Stonelake, who alleges sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation. Stonelake claims that Meta failed to take action after she reported sexual harassment and assault, retaliated against her after she flagged a video game product as racist and potentially harmful to minors, and was routinely passed over for promotions in favor of men on her team.

The EU has also taken a significant step in regulating AI, with regulators now able to ban the use of AI systems deemed to pose "unacceptable risk" or harm. Companies could be on the hook for up to $36 million, or 7% of their annual revenue from the prior fiscal year, whichever is greater. This move is seen as a significant step towards ensuring the ethical development and deployment of AI.

In other news, Workday has laid off 1,750 employees, affecting roughly 8.5% of its total head count. The company plans to hire AI talent and adopt a new approach to its operations. A new AI productivity app, Hero, has also been launched, aiming to take on the competition by integrating notes, schedule management, and to-dos into one place.

Cruise, an autonomous vehicle company, is laying off nearly 50% of its workforce, including top executives like CEO Marc Whitten, as it prepares to shut down operations. What remains of the company will move under General Motors. X is also suing more advertisers, including Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate, Lego, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell, following an alleged "boycott" on the platform.

As the tech industry continues to evolve, it is clear that the lines between innovation and national security are becoming increasingly blurred. The latest developments surrounding Elon Musk's DOGE and Google's AI weapons pledge have raised significant concerns about the future of AI development and deployment. As the industry moves forward, it is essential that companies prioritize ethical development and deployment, ensuring that AI is used for the betterment of society, not to compromise national security.