Tootfinder

How the US government is adopting AI: NASA reports 420 AI use cases in 2025, up from 18 in 2024, HHS reports 398, Energy 325, DOJ 295, Interior 234, and DHS 205 (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/09/trump-administration-ai-p…

Trump set off a surge of AI in the federal government. See what happened.
The Trump administration is accelerating AI adoption across government, embedding the technology in policing, health care, defense and science.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is
refusing to consider Moderna’s application for a new flu vaccine
made with Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology.
The news is the latest sign of the FDA’s heightened scrutiny of vaccines under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,
particularly those using mRNA technology,
which he has criticized before and after becoming the nation’s top health official.
Moderna received what’s called a “refusal-to-file” letter from…

Moderna says FDA will not consider its mRNA flu vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is refusing to consider Moderna’s application for a new flu vaccine made with mRNA technology. The company announced the news on Tuesday. The FDA's decision reflects heightened scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has criticized mRNA technology. Moderna received a “refusal-to-file” letter, objecting to its clinical trial methods. The FDA said the trial didn’t compare the new shot to the best available standard of care. Moderna …

Folks: Aral, you’re all about free and open technology, why won’t you speak at #FOSDEM?
Me: https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/115697202966701085
Also, I’m actually all about this:

#DeepFake is now an industry. Congratulations!
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/06/deepfake-taking-place-on-an-industr…

Meta, TikTok, and Snap agree to undergo independent assessments to rate how effectively they protect teen users based on 24 standards developed by experts (Ian Duncan/Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/10/meta-tiktok-snap-tee…

Under growing pressure, the biggest social networks agree to be rated on teen safety
The three major social media companies have agreed to undergo independent assessments of how effectively they protect the mental health of teenage users.

America’s new dietary guidelines ignore decades of scientific research
An emphasis on fruit, vegetables, and whole foods is welcome
—but it’s wrong to suggest steak and beef tallow should be prominent.
https://www.technologyreview.com…

America’s new dietary guidelines ignore decades of scientific research
An emphasis on fruit, vegetables, and whole foods is welcome—but it’s wrong to suggest steak and beef tallow should be prominent.

The UK government says X restricting Grok's image creation to paid users is insulting as it just makes the ability to generate unlawful images a premium service (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/202

Sources: Lip-Bu Tan's dual roles as Intel CEO and tech investor cause consternation in the industry and at Intel; four ex-Intel execs say it caused them to exit (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/technology/lip-bu-tan-intel-ceo-investor.h…

Does the Job of C.E.O. or Private Investor Come First? Intel’s Chief Is Juggling That Question.
Lip-Bu Tan, who was appointed chief executive of Intel in March, is also a longtime venture capitalist. His dual roles have caused some consternation.

Sources: this fall, Alexandr Wang told people that he disagreed with top Meta execs like Chris Cox and Andrew Bosworth, including on using Instagram data for AI (Eli Tan/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/technol

Meta’s New A.I. Superstars Are Chafing Against the Rest of the Company
An us-versus-them mentality has emerged between Meta’s top artificial intelligence team and longtime lieutenants to Mark Zuckerberg.

Filings: X's UK revenue fell 58.3% YoY from £69.1M in 2023 to £28.9M in 2024; pre-tax profits fell from £2.2M in 2023 to £767,000 in 2024 (Mark Sweney/The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/202