Have you ever whispered something and then got an ad about it on your phone later? You’re not crazy. This happens. Google settled a lawsuit this week that alleged Google Assistant recorded private audio even when users did not activate it by saying “Hey Google” or “OK Google.” Google did not admit wrongdoing but it also did not fight the case. Instead, it agreed to pay $68 million to make it go away. The lawsuit claimed the assistant sometimes activated on its own, captured fragments of private conversations, and that those recordings were then used to inform targeted advertising. Google says these were “false activations,” not intentional surveillance. Plaintiffs say the ads that followed their private conversations told a different story. The takeaway isn’t that your phone is always listening because that was not proven in court. Google settled so nothing could be proven or disproven. The takeaway is that the tech industry has quietly normalized collecting far more data than users meaningfully consent to and only draws a line when lawyers and judges get involved. The post They’re Listening! appeared first on Redacted.

“Cuba will be failing pretty soon.” That is what President Trump said on Tuesday. What is this about? Cuba is under longstanding trade embargoes, which means it has to work around normal channels to obtain oil. Previously, it relied heavily on shipments from Venezuela, but those supplies have been cut off after the Trump administration’s intervention there. Cuba then turned to Mexico, but the U.S. pressured Mexico to stop sending oil as well. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she would not comply with those orders but then she did. There was reportedly no oil shipment to Cuba from Mexico in January. China has condemned this action. A spokesperson said that “China is deeply concerned about and strongly condemns the U.S. moves, and urges the U.S. to stop depriving the Cuban people of their rights to subsistence and development, stop disrupting regional peace and stability, stop its violations of international law, and immediately lift its blockade and sanctions against.” Why would China care? Because China and Cuba are trade partners and it sees U.S. pressure on Havana as part of a broader regional contest between Washington and Beijing. Could that be the real reason the U.S. is willing to harm Cuban citizens? Why otherwise would the U.S. withhold critical resources from a country already impoverished by decades of sanctions? Cuba is not a meaningful military or geopolitical threat to the United States. Sanctions are a slow burn of mass destruction and a torture inflicted primarily on ordinary people. This is an age-old tactic of economic isolation used as leverage. So why deploy it now? Is it really to provoke China or for another reason? The post Cuba Isn’t a Threat. So Why Is Washington Trying to Break It? appeared first on Redacted.

Tesla cars may soon be a thing of the past. Elon Musk announced on an earnings call that the company will dedicate its Fremont, California factory to making humanoid robots instead of electric vehicles. The Optimus 3 will launch in a few months, Musk said, and will be a “general purpose robot that will learn by observing human behavior. So you can like demonstrate a task or literally verbally describe a task or show it a task um even show it a video and it will be able to do that task. So, it’s a it’s going to be a very capable robot.” Musk says that the goal is for the Fremont factory to build one million robots per year but since it is a brand new type of assembly line, this will be a challenge. The Fremont factory was Tesla’s first factory. The fact that it will no longer build Model S and Model X vehicles is significant. In fact, Musk indicated that Tesla may one day not be known for EVs. Tesla earnings were down, consistent with declining sales for all EVs. It does make sense to pivot to something else but robots!? Wow! Side note: Fremont is also incidentally my home town. The post The End of Tesla Cars? Musk Turns Fremont Into a Robot Factory appeared first on Redacted.

The Department of Justice says it will release Epstein-related documents under the Epstein Transparency Act. Eventually. In a recent court filing, DOJ explains that it is still reviewing victim lists and other “sensitive materials” to ensure compliance with the new law. The implication is that this is painstaking, unfamiliar work requiring extraordinary care and time. That explanation strains credulity. This was their case. Their investigation. Their prosecution. Their evidence. The DOJ spent years seizing, cataloging, reviewing, redacting, and litigating these very materials in order to prosecute Jeffrey Epstein and secure Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction. These documents were not discovered last week in a forgotten filing cabinet. They were central to one of the most high-profile criminal cases in modern history. Congress did not ask the DOJ to rediscover the record. It asked them to publish it with appropriate victim protections, which the Department has already applied repeatedly in court proceedings. Instead, the DOJ is now speaking as though it is encountering the Epstein files for the first time, invoking an open-ended review process with no deadline and no clear end point. That posture doesn’t suggest a search for truth. It suggests delay. The post The Epstein Files Are Coming… Someday appeared first on Redacted.

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