With Elon Musk playing such a high-profile role in Donald Trump’s transition team, Musk’s buddies, many of them Silicon Valley venture capitalists, are reportedly being tapped to help out. For instance, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and in particular co-founder Marc Andreessen, is repeatedly being mentioned. He, along with Antonio Gracias and Joe Lonsdale, are reportedly being asked to help with Musk’s advisory panel, the Department of Government Efficiency, which is examining ways to overcome the technical challenges of collecting data about federal programs, reported the Washington Post on Sunday. They are among a handful of other Silicon Valley moguls being tapped. Read about all the VCs reportedly in the running for new Trump committees at the link in the bio 👆 Article by Julie Bort and Maxwell Zeff Image Credits: Taylor Hill / Contributor / Getty Images #TechCrunch #technews #SiliconValley #venturecapitalists #venture #government

American teens have lost their faith in Big Tech, according to a new report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit offering reviews and ratings for media and technology, which more recently includes AI products. In the study released Wednesday, the organization surveyed over 1,000 teens on whether major technology companies like Google, Apple, Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft cared about their well-being and safety, made ethical decisions, protected their private data, and more. In all cases, a majority of teens reported low levels of trust in these tech companies. Nearly half of teens said they had little or no trust that the companies would make responsible decisions about how they use AI. Read more findings from the report at the link in the bio 👆 Article by Sarah Perez Image Credits: JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / Contributor / Getty Images #TechCrunch #technews #tech #bigtech #siliconvalley #Meta #Amazon #Google #X

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of AI labs have war rooms going on right now,” said Robert Nishihara, the co-founder of AI infrastructure startup Anyscale, in an interview with TechCrunch. The rise of DeepSeek marks an inflection point for Silicon Valley’s AI landscape. AI CEOs, founders, researchers, and investors tell TechCrunch that DeepSeek’s models have major implications for American AI policy. Moreover, these experts say, the models serve as an indicator of the accelerating rate of AI progress. “Of course [DeepSeek] was over-hyped,” Ravid Shwartz-Ziv, an assistant professor at NYU’s Center for Data Science, told TechCrunch. “But it’s still very interesting, and there’s a lot we can take from it.” Read more on how DeepSeek changed Silicon Valley’s AI landscape at the link in the bio 👆 Article by Maxwell Zeff Image Credits: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg / Getty Images #TechCrunch #technews #artificialintelligence #DeepSeek #SiliconValley

Companies around America have started cutting DEI programs and eliminating DEI commitments from public documents in response to legal and political threats from the Trump administration. Just a few weeks ago, Attorney General Pam Bondi instructed the Department of Justice to “investigate, eliminate, and penalize,” DEI programs deemed illegal in private sector companies that receive federal funds. Trump has signed an executive order banning DEI in the federal government with the approval of his right-hand companion Elon Musk, an immigrant from South Africa and a long-time denouncer of DEI. The reaction to the government’s anti-diversity push has taken many forms. One contractor said NASA has started to scrub mention of terms like “environmental justice” or “anything specifically targeting women.” PBS had to shutter its DEI office. Read the full list of tech companies rolling back DEI or still committed to it at the link in the bio 👆 Article by Dominic-Madori Davis Image Credits: Chip Somodevilla / Staff / Getty Images #TechCrunch #technews #DEI #governmet #policy #bigtech #siliconvalley