The Philip DeFranco Show - Perez Hilton's Horrifying Livestream is Part of a Bigger Problem

Episode Date: August 5, 2026

They played with the lives of 15 million users?!Visit today’s sponsor: http://strawberry.me/defranco for 50% off your first session! It's like therapy for your career. Get an exclusive NordVPN deal at https://nordvpn.com/phil  Risk free with Nord's 30-day money back guarantee!   Grab the Emotionally Exhausted drop now at https://beautifulbastard.com/ Donate to the LFG campaign @ http://lindsayforga.com/donate  TOUR STARTS August 21st! Get your tickets!  https://CrashingOutTour.com  LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2VWATCH CRASHING OUT w/ PHILIP & ALEX Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCergKLoy-Yv9zlPk3XQYK7Q?sub_confirmation=1 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DkU87umhGH9mH1z24Bi9w?si=6sSdjhVNQjyVeBQDLiXcyg Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crashing-out-with-philip-defranco-and-alex-pearlman/id1843429519 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY 📸Instagram: https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco  🐦Twitter: https://twitter.com/phillyd  🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco TODAY’S STORIES 00:00 - Perez Hilton Livestream Exposes TikTok’s Growing Problem 07:24 - ICE Reportedly Stalking Critics on Social Media 15:21 - Sponsored by Strawberry.me 16:18 - Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan Senate Primary 21:53 - Sponsored by NordVPN 23:01 - SpaceX Falls 12% in Premarket Trading After Outperforming Initial Expectations  24:15 - Blanche Told Faith Leaders He Would Make Dobbs a “Permanent” Law in All States 26:09 - Anthropic & OpenAI Impersonated People to Hack GitHub THE TEAM Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino, Victor Sledge   ———————————— #News #PerezHilton #TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And then there's more we gotta dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, August is a great time for a reset before fall gets chaotic and my closet, it could use some adult supervision. That's where today's sponsor, Quince comes in. Quince makes fewer better pieces from premium materials, the things you'll reach for constantly. And I really like their staples like organic cotton teas and Mongolian cashmere sweaters at work all day and into the evening. Or basically, clothes that make you look put together without looking like you spend an hour planning it. Their denim and Taylor Chino start at 60 bucks with a fit, structure, and quality that you'd expect from a luxury designer brand. And then you've got things like the cotton silk short sleeve crewneck sweater.

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So hey, upgrade your everyday by scanning that QR code or going to quince.com slash defranco for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. And they're now available in Canada and the UK as well. So that's QU-I-N-C-E dot com slash defranco. Quince.com slash defranco. The Perez Hilton live stream situation that you might have seen not only was horrifying, but it exposed a growing problem that we need to talk about. Open AI and Anthropics AI models just got scarier. Trump's deportation machine has been quietly getting more and more aggressive.

And while you've got people freaking out and divided over what happened. in Michigan with El Cyanette. We're talking about all of that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show you daily dive into the news starting with this. This horrifying Perez-Hilton live stream situation that you're seeing, it is disturbing on its own, but it's also exposed an even bigger growing problem.

Because if you haven't seen, and I highly recommend, you do not seek out the video, there is a very disturbing incident last night. I can't safely on this platform, go into too much detail, I'm not gonna show the video for the same reason, and we can't even really hear go into too many specifics about what happened. But last night, you had Hilton appearing to harm himself during a very shocking TikTok live stream.

And while you'd police in Miami not specifically naming Perez in response to Muslim media inquiries about him, they said that deputies responded to reports of someone live streaming acts of self-harm on social media. And they also added that this person has been safely recovered and is receiving medical attention at a hospital. And for those who don't know, Perez Hilton was like the OG celebrity blogger. He was one of the biggest names back in the day. But he became very well known in the 2000s for his harsh coverage of stars, which many consider to just be cruel and bullying. Well, he's since, in later years, tried to kind of rebrand and apologize for that, he is still largely known for his very mean-spirited commentary.

But then also in recent months, he'd been posting about some health episodes, including a long hospitalization for sepsis. And notably during that stint, he claimed that God presented himself to him and that he is now a believer. But also, obviously, it's unclear of any of the prior health episodes contributed to yesterday's events, or we just don't know right now. Though in place of that online, right, while you do have some of the usual responses, sending thoughts and prayers, or well wishes for his family, you're then also seeing people share that they think that this is some sort of carmic justice because of the way that

mock celebrities during their downfalls. And pointing to how in some cases, he was actually blamed for being the cause of their breakdowns. But as far as last night's, very disturbing incident, yes, TikTok, they removed the live stream, but also screenshots and other re-uploads, they have popped up elsewhere. And while you've seen crackdowns on uncensored re-uploads,

you also have a lot of people wondering, how the hell was this allowed to be live streamed on TikTok in the first place? And the timing of all this is very interesting because it actually sparked even bigger conversations that were already happening about the platform's overall issues when it comes to material related to self-harm. Right, just earlier this week,

you had Bloomberg publishing this massive article about how TikTok previously withheld new safety features from some of its users, and one of those users ended up dying by suicide. But according to internal documents, around 2021, the platform altered its algorithm so that users would not be as overwhelmed with harmful content. But instead of giving everyone the safer version, it turned it into an experiment, creating a control group of 10% of U.S. users who kept the older, less safe version of the app. Well, that sounds like maybe a small number. That translated to about 15 million people. And one of those people, as it turned out, was teenager Chase Nasca, who has repeatedly served content about self-harm, suicide, and depression. And while you'd Bloomberg describing him as a free-spirited 16-year-old soccer prodigy with no history of mental health issues,

he took his life in February of 2022. And as for why, you had TikTok deciding to put Chase and millions of others in a control group that lacked new content measures, that internal document said, the user impact decision was a delicate balance across safety and the ability to measure impact on daily active users and core metrics. Or in other words, they want to see if these updates were going to change how many people use the app and how frequently. Sure, we want people to be safe, but I mean, is it going to hurt shareholder value? And specifically, the focus on daily active users, that's critical. Because that is how many on Wall Street judge the success of social media companies, with Bloomberg claiming that as a result,

within the hyper-competitive industry, user growth is often prioritized over user safety. And if that Chase story in particular sounds familiar, it's because it's not the first time that they've made the news. Right as family, they sued TikTok. They were also present when TikTok CEO testified before Congress, with some lawmakers bringing up his case specifically. We even had one representative playing a montage clip served at Chase's page that included videos encouraging suicide and romanticizing death.

His for you page was sadly a window to discover suicide. It is unacceptable, sir, that even after knowing all these dangers, you still claim TikTok is something grand to behold. I want you to see what Chase would see. Would you share this content with your children, with your two children? Would you want them to see this? Also, in March of 2023, you had members of TikTok safety team, actually writing up a review of Chase's account detailing his watch history. And after analyzing over 7,000 videos served to his page in the two weeks before he died,

they found that 73% of the videos did not violate TikTok's rules, but still had themes like suicide awareness testimonials from suicide survivors and other mental health discussions. But then also almost 10% of the videos that he received did in fact violate the rules depicting memes and messages about depression, loneliness, and suicidal ideation. And then you had the report adding that his account fell into a filter bubble where his account was recommended a repetitive amount of content surrounding suicide and self-harm and depressive topics, particularly leading up to the date of his suicide, saying TikTok's filter bubble prevention strategies did not take effect on this user by design. You essentially had them admitting that they sent him into a destructive echo chamber. An echo chamber that they say started when he was just searching for songs about loneliness and then just kept feeding him from there. Again, all of this, because Chase was selected to be in this control group that didn't get new safety features. It's seemingly

to try to fix this, you had TikTok saying in the future, they would exclude children from control groups and shrink their size. But then even still, you're talking about hundreds of thousands, as if not still millions of people that would be impacted. And for their part, you had TikTok saying that it was deeply committed to the safety and well-being of users and dadding, our hearts break for any family that experienced a tragic loss.

To help protect our community, we continue to invest significantly in trust and safety, including robust detection systems and dedicated enforcement teams that proactively remove content that violates our community guidelines. But one, you have many now pointing

to this whole Perez Hilton situation going, well, what the hell was a platform doing there? And two, it is important to remember that a lot of what we were just talking about is just one teenager and concerns about the way the TikTok handles dangerous content, they're very widespread. Just earlier this year, you had researchers in the UK creating test profiles for teens, and they found that they were exposed to guns, self-harm, and misogyny within just minutes of making accounts. And so that's

before you'd even expect it to get to the even worse stuff as it funnels you down. Also in March, you're the BBC speaking to whistleblowers at several social media companies, including TikTok about how these apps specifically allow harmful content to remain up. You would a member at TikTok's trust and safety team actually allowing the outlet to access internal dashboards to see what cases he and the team were dealing with. And he claimed that some roles of been replaced by AI, which he believes is more limited in its ability to effectively deal with potentially dangerous content. So as a result, you had him saying that material with terrorism, sexual violence, physical violence, abuse, and trafficking appears to be increasing. And then he also

alleged the company intervenes in how TikTok responds to certain cases. But apparently, staff has instructed to prioritize cases involving politicians over reports of harmful posts featuring children, even if the politician cases are not that consequential. And so for example, you had one instance where a political figure was being compared to a chicken, and that was actually prioritized over teen cyberbullying in France and potential sexual image abuse against a teen in Iraq. And then according to this whistleblower, these decisions were made to maintain a strong relationship with political figures to avoid any threats of regulation. Now, for their part, TikTok denied these allegations saying the idea that it would prioritize

a politician over children, quote, but it mentally misrepresents the way their moderation systems operate. Adding, specialist workflows for certain issues do not result in the deprioritization of child safety cases, which are handled by dedicated teams within parallel review structures. But it does also seem that for nearly the past decade, there has been, a consistent flow of headlines about how TikTok and other social media companies put profit, growth, and just pretty much about everything else above user safety. And so while we wait to see what other further updates we get on the Perez-Hilton front,

while we wait to see if more stories that are similar to this pop up because now there's a bigger spotlight on the situation, really appreciate to hear your thoughts, opinions, and reactions to everything we're seeing on this front. But then jumping from that to other news, you may not realize, but Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, it is not only back in full swing. It is more aggressive than it's ever been. Right, because after the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Prattie, it seemed like the Trump administration was going to calm down, or relatively speaking. What he was doing at the time, both generally and specifically with ICE, it was very unpopular, who was freaking out the normies.

It was hitting that level of just so transparently fucked up that people couldn't go, ah, well, you know, my life's busy and not pay attention to it. But with time, which is on his side in one way that, you know, people forget, life goes on, though against him because he is the oldest person that's ever been president. You saw is that the dust settled in the So did the government shutdown, ended, and there was this torn of fresh recruits in funding that flowed into the Department of Homeland Security. And so yes, while you've seen a lot less of the flashier in-your-face things, and attention has shifted to other

issues, ICE has quietly expanded its operations in the background. And you've got new reports coming out saying that the agency arrested 51,000 people just in July, which is the most in a single month in the entire history of DHS. Now, it was after ICE already broke the record in June with some 43,000 arrests. And then at the same time, you're starting to see

some of those more provocative tactics You've got stuff like agents rounding up Haitian immigrants in Ohio and outfitting them with ankle monitors regardless of their criminal record, if they even have one. They're also arresting people with expired visas at airports, including spouses of U.S. citizens, even if they're waiting for a visa extension or green card, or they have a work permit. Hey, you guys, come help us. ICE is here. Help us. Meanwhile, you've got the same surveillance systems that ICE uses to track down immigrants also being used to keep an eye on its critics. You've got the Wall Street Journal reporting that DHS has a round-the-clock digital drag net that monitors internet traffic for activity. that it deems dangerous to its operations. So basically, you've got private contractors getting

paid millions of your tax dollars to scour nearly 20 social media sites. And then, when a user's been flagged as a threat originator, the government identifies who they are using stuff like DMV records and police reports and they maps out their key relationships. And so you've got daily reports getting compiled with a poster's name, location, date of birth, workplace, social security, number, vehicle registration, and criminal history when possible. And as if that wasn't alarming enough on its own, the government reportedly uses a so-called AI-powered anticipatory threat intelligence. So think Tom Cruise Minority Report, which basically means that they're analyzing trends to identify potential threats before they even happen. And actually, according to reports,

when that launched, this program identified so many potential threats that the office that was supposed to handle them had to get help from somewhere else in DHS. But then also, the department sometimes goes beyond just collecting public information. Right, you've got the journal reporting that DHS has sent hundreds of subpoenas to social media companies demanding private records on specific users. And while at first, you're those mostly being administrative subpoenas, which can come from within DHS itself and they're actually very easy to get. Since they then had platforms like Reddit telling them to go fuck themselves, they resorted more often to grand jury subpoenas,

which carry more legal weight. And you were the journal finding several of those cases where the judge upheld those types of subpoenas, so they appear to be working. Now, if you ask the Hs, they say all of this is necessary because their agents have supposedly seen an 8,000% increase in death threats since Trump took office. And while you had many saying this sounds like a self-victimization

bullshit push, more specifically, you would critics questioning how many of these things that they're pointing to are actually death threats. And you had one civil rights attorney telling the journal, as far as I can tell, all of this is about people saying naughty things about ICE and immigration enforcement. Nothing that comes close to true threats. And that is actually an incredibly important point and distinction,

because the Supreme Court, they've ruled that true threats aren't the same as political hyperbole, which is often, quote, betuprative, abusive, and an exact, but not illegal. And so there have been cases that seem relatively clear, such as a man who made several posts about shooting ICE agents, like, quote, we as US citizen should be gunning down these domestic terrorists. But then there are also other cases that people say are more ambiguous, like for example, a woman who made a Nazi comparison and wrote all ICE agents,

to be put down like the dogs they are. Right, maybe that's hyperbole, maybe she means down like a nap. But then also, there are cases where someone's speech doesn't even include a threat. Or something like they just posted publicly available information about ICE agents. Stuff like their names, their home addresses, their license plates, or the locations where they're carrying out raids, posts that the administration considers doxing and therefore domestic terrorism. And so you've had agents showing up to people's workplaces or stopping them on the road and asking them to sign letters acknowledging that their posts may be a crime.

But then also with this, you've got critics arguing, hey, there is something seriously wrong with the system. when you have threats or supposed threats of violence from ordinary people being treated as criminal, but actual persistent acts of violence by the state being taken for granted as normal. People arguing what ICE is doing isn't legitimate law enforcement anymore. It is state terror. Saying it's state tyranny, it's the kind of thing that future generations are going to read about in history books and wonder why more people didn't resist. Speaking of which, another person's now died in ICE custody bringing the total since Trump took office to at least 56.

That's nearly four times a death rate under the Biden administration. This latest one was a roughly 40-year-old Salvadoran man who'd been in the United States for two decades. And after ICE arrested him back in June, he was put in the infamous Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey with his family saying that he complained that he wasn't getting regular access to his medications, which he needed for diabetes, high blood pressure, and seizures. And after he died, he had his family giving this brutal testimony. And first, you'll hear his mother and then his 12-year-old daughter, who's a U.S. citizen. I'm here to the man justice for my son and also for my granddaughter, who now has no father.

there's not a way that I can fix this now. And I'm going to grow up without a father. You get a who did you? And they didn't let him see me one last time before he died. And with all this, you now have several lawmakers calling for justice, with for example, Senator Alex Padilla writing on X. When Democrats retake the majority, we're going to hold ICE and CBP accountable

for this disastrous mass detention and deportation agenda. And then you had Senator Andy Kim reacting to this latest death saying, He is somebody that has already had a habeas case open because of the medical problems that he was facing and detail on that he should not be held in detention. We don't want these for-profit ICE detention centers that are just profiting off of the detention of these people in our own communities. But of course, none of this is really new. Each of the previous 55 deaths, it reminded us that detainees, they're being mistreated out there. I mean, just last week, we were the medical director with physicians for human rights testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee, and she didn't pull punches. As Senator Derman noted, for over two decades, I have been evaluated.

health care and immigration detention. Throughout, I've had deep concerns about the quality of medical care and detention, but I have never been more alarmed than I am right now. My reviews of deaths under this administration show the same recurring failures in medical care. Missed diagnoses, inappropriate care, delayed escalation, symptoms ignored until it was too late. Yeah, both Delany Hall and other ICE detention centers, or as many critics have called them, concentration camps, are notorious for having poor conditions, being overcrowded, and neglecting the medical needs of detainees. Which is then also why for months, you've had demonstrators routinely clash with the guards outside, sometimes trying to block vehicles from getting inside.

And even inside the facilities, detainees, they've launched their own protests with hunger strikes, right, something they did earlier this year at Delaney. But then also, you have the Guardian reporting that in at least 10 separate cases since Trump returned to office, ICE has attempted to subject detainees to involuntary medical procedures, namely force feeding. And in at least three, but likely five of those cases, they didn't just attempt it, they actually did it. And that's even though human rights organizations have widely condemned force feeding as torture. And it's easy to see why. It is horrific. First, the guards hold you down, then medical staff insert a tube up your nose and down your throat,

and then they pump nutritional liquid into your body. It's been described as painful, humiliating, and so often traumatizing, and in some cases, it can harm you. And this isn't always just a one-time deal. For at least one guy, they did this to him every day for six months. While you have the DHS, obtaining permission from a judge before doing that procedure, six of the detainees reportedly didn't have any legal representation during those court proceedings. And so for many who have been watching all this, right, they feel nauseous, angry, but also powerless. Right, and they also want more than just minor reforms. They want real justice here.

They want people to be charged, arrested, and prosecuted. Whether it be ICE agents or people that are in this administration. But of course, the road from here to there, it's miles away for now. With the primary speed bumps being, one, what happens in the elections, who gets power. And then, of course, two, what those with power promised and what they actually do with it. And then you've got more that we're going to dive in. into in just a minute, but first, let me thank a sponsor and say, have you ever been so busy that you didn't realize you've been professionally standing still? You check things off, answer email, survive meetings, and then suddenly it's six months later

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to be their fighter in a race to decide which party controls the Senate. Right with El-Said, narrowly beating out what many people saw as the establishment's chosen candidate, Haley Stevens. Right now, one of the stories you're seeing with this, and I think it is an important one, is that there is a lack of faith around voting polls. And with Elsa'ed securing this nomination by only around 15,000 votes, that by itself is a huge part of this story. There's gonna be even less trust in a lot of polls because of this. Before the primary, he was polling with a double-digit lead.

But also, while the margin for victory was tight, it also doesn't change the fact that this victory is massive. Even at places like the New York Times describing it as the most significant triumph for his party's left wing this year. And it was big. El-Sayette, he's a doctor, a former public health official, and he campaigned hard against the Democratic establishment. He ran on a populist platform with backing from big names in the party's left flank, including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He and his supporters, they argued that his progressive ideology, it would energize voters across the political spectrum who feel disenfranchised by party politics. But at the same time, you've seen the Democratic establishment thinking his left-leaning views,

they're going to prevent the party from defending this essential seat. And so he had them, largely throwing their way behind Representative Haley Stevens, who's been seen as a moderate and a staunch defender of Israel. One of the arguments is that she is actually a stronger general candidate to win over independence and Republicans in a battleground state. But of course she lost, and that is despite Another big part of this whole story is that there was record spending. But according to his campaign, the race drew almost $70 million in outside spending from PACs and corporate interests outspending Abdul by a ratio of 11 to 1.

But also with that, one of the huge things is that nearly half of that money came from the pro-Israel lobby, APEC. And in fact, they broke a record by pouring more than $30 million into this race. That's reportedly the most they've ever spent on a single race. And what you saw is like other progressives. Else I had condemned the war in Gaza as a genocide. He called for cutting U.S. military aid to Israel, while. also slamming Stevens for her pro-Israel stance and all the money that she took from APEC. And the fact that he was able to beat back such an enormous amount of money from the pro-Israel lobby

that's notable on its own because it is part of a growing trend that we've been seeing. But as you've had public sentiment about Israel shifting, A-PAC has become increasingly toxic for campaigns and so some of the big spends on the races have actually backfired. Especially when you have the group trying to hide the extent of their involvement in certain high-profile elections, which also appears to be something that affected Stevens. And so overall, you have experts saying all of this, it really highlights serious divisions among Democrats, especially when it comes to how they should approach Israel and how they determine which candidates are actually electable.

But now, of course, the biggest thing, the biggest test, it comes in November. Can El-Sayed win in November? And many are viewing this as like the litmus test for 2028. Does this show in a battleground state a progressive, yes, they can win a primary, but how does that play out in a general election? Especially because El-Sayed's win was so narrow with Democrats. And so understandably, a lot of the conversation,

yes, it's been focused around energizing a base, but also now coalition building. And actually on that note, you already have top Michigan leaders quickly rallying around El-Sayed with Stevens herself even saying that she spoke to the nominee and offered her full support. And this need for party unity, it's something that El-Sayed has hit on since his victory. There is so much more that unites us. However much we might disagree with our democratic opponent, there is so much more that unites us than divides us. And whatever differences that we might have had in the primary, they pale in comparison to what unifies us,

a recognition that so long as we want to keep, our democracy, that democracy better be working for people and that all of us have to come together to make sure that we never let Mike Rogers see the inside of the U.S. Senate. There's a lot of healing to do after a hard fought primary like this, but I have said that this is a big open movement. We welcome anybody and everybody who understands that we need a government of the people, by the people, and for the people to it. But now in the meantime, you've got Republicans already tearing into El-Sayat. And you've got places like The Times predicting that it's just going to get worse.

They're going to try to turn him into a left-wing boogeyman of epic proportions. Even had Trump posting on truth social, that his win was great news for the Republican Party. And then you had the Senate Republican campaign arm already releasing a digital ad this morning, attacking him and tying him to Hassan Piker, who's endorsed and campaigned for. But then also a very notable thing is that El Sayad, right, he wasn't the only left-wing candidate who claimed a major victory in Michigan yesterday. Right over in Michigan 7th district, you had Bernie Sanders endorsed progressive, William Lawrence, being now two more moderate competitors. That's also a race that you've had many saying is incredibly important because the district is a battleground that currently is represented by a Republican. So that one's widely viewed as essential for Democrats' efforts to flip the House in November.

Then also over in Michigan's solidly blue 13th district, you a Democratic voter is actually ousting their moderate incumbent congressman in favor of Representative Donovan McKinney, who's a Democratic Socialist who challenged him from the left. And while those are two very different situations that both further underscore the appeal of populist platforms in a key swing state, that also doesn't appear to be the case in some other parts of the country. And so for example, over in Missouri's first district, the incumbent Representative Wesley Bell, a moderate Democrat easily beat former Congresswoman Cory Bush, who'd run as a Democratic socialist.

And you've had many noting this as an example of a race where outside funding from APEC didn't backfire. Where with the lobby, we're reportedly spending around $3 million to help Bell secure reelection against Bush. And then in addition to some other moderate Dems that were beating out more leftists, you also ended up seeing voters in two red states rejecting Republican-led ballot measures

that would have given state lawmakers more power to reshake key issues. And so in Kansas, you had voters shooting down a measure that would have allowed state Supreme Court justices to be directly elected rather than be appointed by the governor who is currently a Democrat. Or with critics claiming of the move was a thinly-veiled attempt

to remake the court with justices who would revisit high-profile rulings, including one that guaranteed a right to abortion. And then over in Missouri, you had voters overwhelmingly rejecting an initiative that would have made it much harder to pass citizen-led constitutional amendments imposing the highest threshold of any of the 18 states that allow ballot amendments. So a big day, a big night with a lot of highlights,

but we're now just another day closer to November 3rd. And then there's even more that we're gonna dive into in just a minute, but let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, it's weird. We'll think twice about plugging our phone into a random USB charger, but connected to just about any, Wi-Fi network without a second thought. Airport Wi-Fi, hotel Wi-Fi, coffee shop Wi-Fi. If it says free Internet, most of us are already connected. And that's why I keep today's

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And one subscription protects up to 10 devices and their dark web monitor, it can alert you if your information shows up in any known data breach. So, hey, if you want to upgrade your online security, scan that code or go to NordVPN.com slash phil to get an exclusive discount on a two-year plan plus for extra months free when you use my link. That's NordVPN.com slash fill, and it's completely risk-free with NordVPN's 30-day money-back guarantee. And then finally today, let's cram in some more news you need to know. Starting with SpaceX actually perform better than expected in its first quarterly reports since going public. Or you had them reporting $7.8 billion in revenue, a billion more than a Wall Street analyst predicted. But that does not look like it was enough to get investors to start reaching back into their wallets.

Because you had the company falling 12% in pre-market trading. It's almost as if the initial valuation of its IPO and then its high after the IPO made no fucking sense. And as more people realize that and that the numbers don't always go up and that later more people who had their shares would eventually be given the chance to sell them. Sell off got nasty and you have a lot of people kind of talking about it like it's a bit of a meme stock. But more specifically, you have analysts saying that investors, they're just still not fully convinced that SpaceX is going to be able to live up to Elon Musk's promises. Right, this most recent dip comes after he threw a bunch of money at AI, which is actually $16 billion to be exact.

And you've got analysts saying that shook investors who are essentially waiting in the dark for returns as they bankroll his plans to put data centers in orbit. And while you've had a lot of people highlighting all the things that Elon Musk's would say would happen in 10, 15 years, not coming true and people pointing to all the launch fit. the recent news that a SpaceX rocket crashed into the moon. Right now, the thing for a lot of people is that the numbers still just don't make sense. But as far as Musk, at least publicly facing, he doesn't seem fades. Even at him saying that he expects to see SpaceX's revenue hit $1 trillion by 2030.

And also in other news, you've got Todd Blanche, again making headlines. And this time, it's because he just got caught on a leaked phone call with some faith leaders talking about his plans to end abortion rights across the country, even in states that protect them. We have a lot of work to do with some of the policies around, um, pro-life and some of the pro-abortion work that the Biden administration and the Justice Department allowed to happen. Rest assured that we're working, you know, hand in hand with HHS and the FDA and the White

House and President Trump's team to get permanent solutions so that the Dobbs decision becomes permanent in every single state. Because while Rovi Wade was overturned a few years ago, that did not stop people from getting abortions actually, we saw those numbers go up. Right, last year, over 140,000 people traveled out of state for abortion care, which is 75% more than what we were seeing in 2020. You're also now seeing that 63% of abortions are done by medication, and a lot of those are prescribed virtually and sent through the mail. And so actually with that, 19 states plus DC have laws to protect those providers from out-of-state legal action. But here, you've got Blanche sounding like he is ready

to cut through all that. If states have said, we are not, we are going to protect the unborn, and we're going to protect every life from the moment of conception, we're putting practices and policies in place so that other states and other organizations can't attack that and they can't do things like they're doing with mailing and mail order drugs. And when we're not exactly sure how we plans to pull that off, what we do know is that other anti-abortion advocates

have been pushing the Comstock Act, which is this old anti-obscenity law that they want to try to use against male and abortion medicine. And if that were to come into play, then you could see doctors getting put away for years for prescribing. But for now, you have Blanche, specifically mentioning going that route, but also this is just a leaked phone call. So we don't know fully what games he's gonna try to play, but it does sound like Blanche's

dead set on trying to make some hard changes. And we don't have complete victory yet, but we will have victory and victory will be soon and then it will be permanent. And then last up today, you had open AI and anthropic models creating fake identities, impersonating real people, and then trying to sneak malicious code onto GitHub. You've got the UK's AI Security Institute calling it a level of autonomy and deception never seen before. And while reportedly this was part of a routine AI safety test, Anthropics Mythos agent was by far the more alarming of the two.

Though you had both companies stressing that the test reduced to remove normal safeguards. But still, researchers said that Mythos developed a malicious code and then tried to insert it into GitHub system by one, identifying and researching real people who maintain the platform servers, two, creating fake profiles based on those people, and then three, it even started DMing other people

while pretending to be those people. And then when the AI Security Institute challenged Mythos further, it started editing its own earlier activity online so that it looked harmless. And the key thing that you had researchers noting is that the only thing that kept Mythos restrained here was actual real life human review. And you've had all of this coming not only as both anthropic and open AI, they're

gearing to go public, but they've also been hit by a wave of headlines around their AI models going rogue and hacking networks. You know, I'm sure everything, it's just going to be fine. But that, my friend, you beautiful bastard is the end of your Wednesday show. But also, if you're still not 100% filled in, you should definitely check out today's brand new episode of crashing out. Are my still kind of news? More news adjacent opinion podcast with my buddy Alex Perlman.

Rock out a brand new episode every Wednesday. And while it's actually really big on Spotify, on YouTube, we're almost at 100,000 subscribers. So we'd love to have you. So click or tap, I got links in the description. But whatever you do, let me just say, thank you for watching. I love yo faces. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.