Trump’s Tech Posse in China, Who’s Winning in Musk v. Altman, and Hantavirus Conspiracy Theories

This week on Uncanny Valley, the team dives into Trump’s selected entourage for his high-stakes visit to China, ranging from Silicon Valley’s tech billionaires to Melania director Brett Ratner. We also break down the latest developments in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman, alleging that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit mission for profit-driven goals, and whether either side is actually gaining an edge in the trial. Plus, Leah shares with us some of the most outlandish conspiracy theories that have been swirling around the hantavirus outbreak. Articles mentioned in this episode: - Everyone at the Musk v. Altman Trial Is Using Fancy Butt Cushions - Elon Musk Had ‘Hair-Raising’ Idea of Passing OpenAI On to His Kids, Sam Altman Says - Hantavirus Conspiracy Theories Are Already Spreading Online - Inside the Race to Develop a Test for the Rare Andes Hantavirus You can follow Brian Barrett on Bluesky at @brbarrett, Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer, and Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Write to us at [email protected]. How to Listen You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts and search for “Uncanny Valley.” We’re on Spotify too. Transcript Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors. Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoë Schiffer, director of business and industry. Brian Barrett: I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor. Leah Feiger: And I'm Leah Feiger, director of politics and science. Zoë Schiffer: Today on the show, we're diving into the final week of the Musk v. Altman trial. The high-profile testimonies we've heard this week, including from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself, have resurfaced a lot of past events and a lot of drama, but we're asking will this actually be consequential to the trial's verdict? Brian Barrett: Also happening this week, President Trump is headed to China. He's accompanied by a select number of Silicon Valley's top CEOs. We'll discuss how their presence could influence conversations between world leaders at a moment when the economic and foreign policy stakes could not be higher for the US. Leah Feiger: We'll also get into the wild conspiracy theories that have been increasingly swirling around the hantavirus from wellness influencers and grifters. A lot of them have been recycling very similar conspiracy theories from the Covid-19 pandemic. We're going to tell you what they're sharing and also how to spot this kind of harmful misinformation. Zoë Schiffer: So we're wrapping up the final week of one of the most consequential and honestly one of the pettiest trials in Silicon Valley history. The one between Elon Musk and Sam Altman. The last time we spoke about the trial, we were still at the very beginning, figuring out who was going to…