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Louise Matsakis

@lmatsakis.bsky.social
20K followers 342 following 291 posts

✨ senior business & China editor @wired.com ✨ contact me on Signal: louise_matsakis.83 ✨ sign up for my newsletter: youmayalsolike.beehiiv.com ✨ stalk me: louisematsakis.com

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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
remember when everyone was like “u should delete Facebook” and somehow now it’s “you should give Facebook all your emails, bank statements, text messages, all of it!” nothing matters 💕
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
we are living in science fiction times. fascinating reporting from @laurengoode.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/ai-mod...
wired.com
AI Models Built From Rat Brains Just Got Closer to Reality
The Biological Computing Company is bringing its AI tools to Amazon Web Services in a major boost for a once-fringe field that aims to marry nature with code.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
this is such a China move tbh. A huge problem with China's internet ecosystem is how little of it is on the open web. Innovating can be hard because many services (and data) are locked up in walled gardens
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
SCOOP: Flock Safety announced a voluntary employee separation program on Friday amid growing backlash against the surveillance technology company, according to an internal email shared with WIRED. By @dmehro.bsky.social & @peard33.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/flock-...
wired.com
Flock Offers Employees Buyouts as Customers Flee
As dozens of cities end contracts for its controversial license plate readers, Flock is rolling out a voluntary severance program, WIRED has learned.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It was a dream come true to interview some of the smartest people thinking about China’s tech ecosystem at Johns Hopkins SAIS last week. We need for spaces where we can talk about China with the complexity it deserves www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_-G...
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I wrote about the biggest thing the AI discourse is getting wrong about China: Beijing is not shrugging off the risks of advanced AI, it just doesn't buy the idea that “cooperation” should start with the US deliberately keeping China behind www.wired.com/story/china-...
wired.com
China Isn’t Buying Silicon Valley’s Call for an AI Slowdown
The US and China agree that advanced AI poses serious risks. But Beijing is deeply skeptical of a deal that prioritizes keeping US companies ahead.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I regret to inform you that Chipotle is working with Palantir lol www.wired.com/story/chipot...
wired.com
Chipotle Is Working With Palantir to Track Food Safety Risks
The burrito chain has enlisted Palantir for a platform that monitors pest incidents, employee illnesses, and other factors. The partnership comes after a nightmare summer for food safety across the US...
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I’m extraordinarily proud to work with @ejdickson.bsky.social & Alana Levinson, who worked on this unflinching account of some of the most horrific abuses committed against women on the internet www.wired.com/story/burner...
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I'm moderating at this China tech policy event in DC next week, the lineup is incredible. You should join us if you're in town! Tickets are free and it's open to the public, but there's only a few seats left: www.eventbrite.com/e/getting-te...
eventbrite.com
Getting Tech Right: U.S. China Policy for a New Era
This public event will examine the full landscape of U.S.-China technological relations.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
read more about the mouse and see other some truly disturbing pics from inside the federal government here: www.wired.com/story/mice-a...
wired.com
Mice, a Caved-In Ceiling, and Cloudy Water: The GSA’s New Office Is Falling Apart
“Do we need to look at the ceiling before going to the bathroom? Can we actually trust the water is safe to drink?” asks one GSA worker.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I feel spiritually aligned with the dead mouse in @zoeschiffer.bsky.social's scoop we just published. At my core, I am the mouse caught in the trap at the General Services Administration's crumbling office building. if you really think about it, we are all this poor mouse
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This is SO true and a great way to put it, it’s the end of the first phase, when Amazon dominated the market
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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Mechanical Turk may be shutting down, but AI will always depend on data workers whose knowledge trains and tunes models. AI runs on extracted cultural skills and knowledge, and culture is always changing. Less the end of an era, but the end of an early prototype.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Amazon is officially shutting down Mechanical Turk next month. It feels like the end of an era. I've written about the platform on and off for close to a decade. We wouldn't have the AI tools we do now if it weren't for the low-paid, largely invisible labor of MTurkers
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Kate Knibbs @knibbs.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
a plug for Wired's Made in China newsletter, written by @zeyiyang.bsky.social and @lmatsakis.bsky.social — I learn something new every week!!! www.wired.com/story/the-ch...
wired.com
The Chinese Philosopher Americans Can’t Stop Fighting About
Yiyang Zhuge was already an intellectual celebrity in China. Her viral interview with Christopher Nolan made her famous in the US—and quickly turned her into a political Rorschach test.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This is starting in a few minutes! Come hang out with me and @lhn.bsky.social on Reddit and ask whatever's on your mind about AI + cybersecurity
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
this essay is so good thepointmag.com/criticism/st...
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I'm doing a Reddit AMA with the GOAT @lhn.bsky.social on Monday answering all your questions about the recent spree of hacks by rogue AI agents. Leave a question for us here: www.reddit.com/r/pwnhub/com...
reddit.com
From the pwnhub community on Reddit: We're Louise Matsakis and Lily Hay Newman, reporters at WIRED. Ask us anything about the state of AI security, from models that hack real systems to the biggest ta...
Explore this post and more from the pwnhub community
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Every week, Zeyi and I publish a clear-eyed, unbiased view of the biggest tech & internet culture news coming out of China. Sign up for MADE IN CHINA here: www.wired.com/newsletter/e...
wired.com
Sign up for WIRED's premium newsletters
WIRED's premium newsletters will showcase top-quality reporting and analysis, written by correspondents who are deeply sourced experts in their field.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Zhang didn't ask Nolan about celebrities or Hollywood. Instead, she opened by asking whether he considered himself "a bard for a civilization at dusk." Zhang claims she wasn't referring specifically to the United States
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
For MADE IN CHINA this week, @zeyiyang.bsky.social spoke to Yiyang Zhuge, the Chinese podcaster whose interview with Christopher Nolan broke the internet www.wired.com/story/the-ch...
wired.com
The Chinese Philosopher Americans Can’t Stop Fighting About
Yiyang Zhuge was already an intellectual celebrity in China. Her viral interview with Christopher Nolan made her famous in the US—and quickly turned her into a political Rorschach test.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
NEW from @carolinehaskins.bsky.social: At least four police departments that Flock featured in YouTube marketing videos have since been accused of misusing the company’s license plate readers www.wired.com/story/flock-...
wired.com
Flock Highlighted Police Departments Using Its Tech. Now 4 Face Allegations of Misuse
Flock posted videos on its YouTube channel highlighting at least four police departments whose officers have faced allegations of misusing the company’s tech.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
"Even though Google will take a stake in the new company, it’s a devastating blow to the search giant as it attempts to keep pace in the frantic AI model competition." www.wired.com/story/jeff-d...
wired.com
4 of Google’s Top AI Brains Are Leaving—and Launching Their Own AI Startup
Jeff Dean and other high-profile Google executives have founded Discovery Loop, a startup that will seek AI-powered breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to chip design.
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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
NEW: “We now have evidence confirming that both of the two largest AI labs have not only failed to contain their agents, but also failed to detect their jailbreaks in real time.” @lmatsakis.bsky.social & @lhn.bsky.social report: www.wired.com/story/anthro...
wired.com
Anthropic Says Claude Hacked Real Systems During Cybersecurity Tests
In a review triggered by OpenAI’s Hugging Face incident, Anthropic discovered three of its AI models had breached real organizations during third-party evaluations.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
extremely fire mix www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdfG...
youtube.com
Chinese Club Mix at a Senior Center | Chinese Folk, Jersey Club, Hip-Hop & More
YouTube video by AZURE
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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
NEW: OpenAI’s unhinged AI models hacked at least FOUR “publicly available services”—not just Hugging Face, as was initially disclosed. @dell.bsky.social and Maxwell Zeff report: www.wired.com/story/openai...
wired.com
OpenAI’s Rogue AI Agent Hacked More Than Just Hugging Face
In a new disclosure, OpenAI says its agent used exposed logins to gain access to at least four “publicly available services” in its unhinged quest to solve a test.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I have turned my terrible habit into content www.wired.com/story/made-i...
wired.com
Chinese Companies Are Selling Vapes With Chemicals Potentially More Potent Than Nicotine
Big Tobacco studied nicotine analogs like 6-methyl-nicotine for decades but never marketed them. Now, Chinese vape makers are using them to sidestep US regulations.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
"In many ways, the open versus closed debate is more entangled with the US versus China debate than ever before." really insightful piece about the hysteria over Kimi K3 from @zeyiyang.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/chinas...
wired.com
China’s Open AI Models Are Challenging Silicon Valley’s Playbook
As access to Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s frontier models becomes more restricted, Chinese labs are pitching their open-source alternatives as stable, accessible, and increasingly capable.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The donations highlight growing tensions inside OpenAI over the company's efforts to shape AI policy
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
SCOOP from @mzeff.bsky.social: OpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to a new group that directly opposes Leading the Future, a pro-AI industry super PAC with $50 million in funding from OpenAI president Greg Brockman & his wife www.wired.com/story/openai...
wired.com
OpenAI Staffers Are Funding a Rival Super PAC to Take on Their Boss
OpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to a political effort opposing Leading the Future, a group backed by the company’s president, Greg Brockman.
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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
NEW: The Trump admin clamped down on Anthropic following a spat over the company granting South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom access to Claude Mythos. Why? US officials were concerned the company may have ties to China.
wired.com
The Korean Telecom Giant at the Center of Anthropic’s Mythos Controversy
Days before Anthropic took its most advanced AI models offline, the White House ordered the company to revoke SK Telecom’s access to Claude Mythos over claims of alleged ties to China.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
SCOOP: The White House put export controls on Anthropic following a dispute over Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom's access to Mythos. Officials were concerned about what they believed were SK Telecom's ties to China, sources tell WIRED. w/ @mzeff.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/sk-tel...
wired.com
The Korean Telecom Giant at the Center of Anthropic’s Mythos Controversy
Days before Anthropic took its most advanced AI models offline, the White House ordered the company to revoke SK Telecom’s access to Claude Mythos over claims of alleged ties to China.
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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 12/06/2026
How many lessons does this story pack?! - If you ever thought everyone obeys the will of Xi, consider what this says about workarounds. - 上有政策下有对策 - And they have a sense of humor about it - Tesla “safety” theater - ”AI” guardrails vs user innovation - Online discourse in China—a goldmine
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
scoop: a former Meta employee who lost their job in the company’s recent layoffs was detained by ICE in El Paso, Texas, sources tell WIRED. It’s unclear whether they remain in custody. w/ @laurengoode.bsky.social & @peard33.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/meta-l...
wired.com
A Meta Employee Who Just Lost Their Job Was Detained by Immigration Agents
Colleagues discussed the incident on internal message boards, according to documents seen by WIRED.
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Lauren Goode @laurengoode.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
NEW from me, @peard33.bsky.social, and @lmatsakis.bsky.social: Immigration agents have detained a Meta worker who recently lost their job in a massive round of layoffs, according to documents we viewed www.wired.com/story/meta-l...
wired.com
A Meta Employee Who Just Lost Their Job Was Detained by Immigration Agents
Colleagues discussed the incident on internal message boards, according to documents seen by WIRED.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
SCOOP from @telliotter.bsky.social and @zeyiyang.bsky.social: RightsCon, the world’s largest digital rights conference, was canceled this year due to pressure from the Chinese government, which didn't want people from Taiwan to participate www.wired.com/story/the-ch...
wired.com
The Chinese Government Just Got the World’s Largest Digital Rights Conference Canceled
Access Now, the group that organizes RightsCon, says Zambian officials asked it to exclude Taiwanese participants if it wanted the event to proceed as planned.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
I'm completely OBSESSED with cyberdecks and was so delighted to read this from @thiccreese.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/cyberd...
wired.com
The Hottest Anti-AI Gadget Is a Cyberdeck
On TikTok, young women are going viral for crafting whimsical homemade computers inside purses.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
As @zeyiyang.bsky.social reports, it looks like Xiaohongshu is trying to take a mixed approach like WeChat did—one app where everyone can communicate, but Chinese users are more heavily censored
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
there’s a ton of censorship pressure on companies like Xiaohongshu in the domestic market, but that heavy-handed moderation would never fly with ppl in, say, the United States
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Rednote went viral last year *because* it was a platform where people could talk to Chinese people and learn about their lives directly, but Xiaohongshu knows that building a truly global social media app just isn’t possible for a Chinese company
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Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅 @zeyiyang.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Scoop: Rednote (aka 小红书/Xiaohongshu) is taking steps to separate its Chinese and international users. Users report being redirected to new intl web domain, whose separate privacy policy, updated in late March, says intl user data will be stored in Singapore. www.wired.com/story/rednot...
wired.com
Rednote Draws a Line Between China and the World
As the platform expands abroad, it’s taking steps to separate Chinese users from the international audiences it once brought together.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
SCOOP from @zeyiyang.bsky.social: Xiaohongshu (or Rednote) is moving to split Chinese users from everyone else, threatening one of the last real bridges between the Chinese internet and the rest of the world www.wired.com/story/rednot...
wired.com
Rednote Draws a Line Between China and the World
As the platform expands abroad, it’s taking steps to separate Chinese users from the international audiences it once brought together.
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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
NEW: Someone allegedly threw a molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's house then went to OpenAI headquarters to make threats at workers. @lmatsakis.bsky.social and Maxwell Zeff with the scoop: www.wired.com/story/sam-al...
wired.com
Suspect Arrested For Allegedly Throwing Molotov Cocktail at Sam Altman's Home
An attacker allegedly threw a molotov cocktail at the OpenAI CEO's residence before making threats outside of the startup's headquarters.
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John Herrman @jwherrman.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Arguments about AI aren't just about the future — they're trapped it in nymag.com/intelligence...
Communication between characters as constitutionally different as Amodei and Hegseth was always going to be strained, but the breakdown was about more than "vibes and personalities." It was about an AI company and the Pentagon trying to account for disparate and extreme visions of tomorrow in clauses and provisions written for today. It was a collision between two movements that believe, in different and inherently incompatible ways, that they might be on the cusp of achieving absolute power, either for themselves or for the systems they're helping to build, and that current concessions will extrapolate into total failure.Of course, Hegseth isn't really thinking about the singularity or ways in which today's Claude is still in ways unreliable (if AI supremacy is a core part of your national security philosophy, you don't hobble your country's leading lab over a procurement dispute). He's thinking about consolidating power, and his conception of the potential of AI is subordinate to that, and him, rather than a future superintelligence. This is why the situation escalated the way it did, with the government not just walking away but attempting to punish the company for asserting itself at all. If not for this retaliation, the government's narrow defense — that if a private company wants to contract with the military, it shouldn't expect to be able to micromanage how its tools are deployed and should reasonably expect to be implicated directly or through reputation if, for example, the military were to then bomb a school - would make sense on its own terms. But the Trump administration's belief in its right to total power, expressed by and in the belligerent figure of Hegseth, is central to both its "vision," such as it is, and to understanding the way it conducts itself here and elsewhere.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Not subscribed to Made in China yet? Fix that here: www.wired.com/newsletter/
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
This week’s Made in China is exactly the kind of reporting I hoped to work on when I joined WIRED. @zeyiyang.bsky.social talked to people in China caught up in the OpenClaw hype, and wrote a really smart story about what the saga says about the country’s AI market www.wired.com/story/china-...
wired.com
China’s OpenClaw Boom Is a Gold Rush for AI Companies
Hype around the open source agent is driving people to rent cloud servers and buy AI subscriptions just to try it, creating a windfall for tech companies.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Palantir has promoted using AI chatbots to generate suggestions for what troops should do next in the battlefield. In one demo, an AI chatbot comes up with 5 options, including one titled "Support-by-Fire-Then-Penetration-Shock-and-Destruction"
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
SCOOP: The Pentagon/Anthropic feud has been all over the news, but few details about how the military actually uses AI chatbots have come out, until today @carolinehaskins.bsky.social uncovered tons of specifics about how these tools are likely being deployed www.wired.com/story/palant...
wired.com
Palantir Demos Show How the Military Could Use AI Chatbots to Generate War Plans
Software demos and Pentagon records detail how chatbots like Anthropic’s Claude could help the Pentagon analyze intelligence and suggest next steps.
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
happy Marnie day to all who celebrate
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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
I unexpectedly love being a blue head
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