ICE’s DNA Collection Increases, SpaceX’s Rocket Crashes Into the Moon, and the AI Backlash Grows

This week on Uncanny Valley , Brian Barrett, Zoë Schiffer, and Leah Feiger break down how ICE has collected DNA from nearly a million people this year, including young children, feeding an FBI database indefinitely. The team also discusses the backlash against Google Earth’s AI slop, the White House’s secretive AI cybersecurity plan, and SpaceX rocket crashing into the moon. Plus, WIRED’s Molly Taft discusses their recent story on the strange left-right coalition fighting data centers across the US.

You can follow Brian Barrett on Bluesky at @brbarrett , Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer , Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger , and Molly Taft on Bluesky @mollytaft.com . Write to us at [email protected] .

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Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.

Zoe Schiffer : Welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley . I'm Zoe Schiffer, contributing editor.

Brian Barrett : I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor.

Leah Feiger : And I'm Leah Feiger, director of politics and science.

Brian Barrett : Today on the show, we're talking about how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, better known as ICE, has been collecting DNA samples at an alarming rate. These samples have led to hundreds of thousands of people, including young children, to end up in an FBI criminal database basically forever.

Zoe Schiffer : We'll also get into one of our favorite topics, AI slop. From Google Earth disabling its new AI tool after people used it to create fake maps, to Substack partnering with the AI writing detection tool Pangram, companies are starting to realize that people really don't like low-quality AI content flooding their feeds.

Leah Feiger : Also in the realm of AI, the White House announced a plan to tackle the increasing security risks brought on by AI companies. It's keeping the details mostly under wraps, but we're going to discuss what's behind all the secrecy and what this could mean for future regulation.