What's Happening

Politics

The Big Beautiful Bromance Is Over

What's going on: President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s bromance blew up in broad daylight with all the chaos of a reality TV reunion special. What started as a fight over the president’s prized spending bill, turned into a wave of back-and-forth insults that touched on everything from Trump’s election victory to Musk’s black eye. At one point, Musk said that the president “would have lost the election” without his support and liked a post calling for Trump’s impeachment. Meanwhile, the president said the Tesla CEO suffered from “Trump derangement syndrome.” Which, what? Musk, for his part, had the real mic drop moment, when he claimed that the president “is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.” He provided no evidence, but you can probably still hear the internet’s collective gasps.

What it means: The blowup comes days after Trump handed Musk a ceremonial key to the White House. Still, Washington insiders aren’t shocked — the president has a track record of turning on those who steal the spotlight (see: Steve Bannon and Anthony Scaramucci). But the feud could have real consequences: Trump threatened to cut government contracts and subsidies with Musk’s companies, causing Tesla stock to slide 14%. The Tesla CEO, meanwhile, posted a poll asking whether the US needed to create a new political party — a move that cast doubt on the $100 million he had pledged to the GOP ahead of the midterms. While the fallout remains to be seen, the public meltdown sparked plenty of jokes (Andy Cohen even offered to host the reunion) — and fresh side-eye on gender politics. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) wrote: “You know, when I first got into politics, men would always tell me that WOMEN were too emotional to lead.”

Related: The Internet Brought the Popcorn — and Didn’t Hold Back on the Trump-Musk Memes (NYT Gift Link)

Legal

SCOTUS Ruling Could Redefine Workplace Bias

What's going on: A case claiming “reverse” discrimination has a verdict after nearly five years. The Supreme Court unanimously sided with a straight, white woman who claimed she was denied two promotions and later demoted in favor of gay colleagues. Lower courts had ruled against Marlean Ames’s lawsuit challenging the Ohio Department of Youth Services. Why? Because the bar for proving workplace bias was higher for majority-group members than for minorities. Lawyers for Ames argued the Civil Rights Act doesn’t make that distinction. The Supreme Court agreed. In her opinion, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote, “Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone.”

What it means: Ames can now bring her case back to a lower court — this time, there’ll be a lower burden of proof. Beyond that, the decision will make it easier for people outside of traditionally marginalized groups to bring workplace bias claims, potentially leading to more so-called “reverse” discrimination cases. While Ames’s lawsuit doesn’t specifically mention DEI, the ruling comes as some companies cut these programs in response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders. Some lawyers say the justices’ decision could prompt businesses to rethink remaining DEI programs. The NAACP and other civil rights groups criticized the ruling, saying it risks ignoring the country’s ongoing legacy of inequality.

Related: Judge Blocks Trump’s Latest Effort To Ban Harvard International Students (Politico)

Tech

Beware, "AI Slop" Summer Is Here

What's going on: The internet and chronically online aren’t ready, and it shows… A video of a service kangaroo getting turned away from a flight recently went viral, racking up over a million likes. Viewers melted over the creature’s apparent sweetness — until they realized the whole thing was AI-generated. Videos like that could just be the beginning. Fast Company reports that feeds might soon be filled (if they’re not already) with “AI slop” — low-quality, AI-generated content — cranked out to rack up views on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Some of it’s political, much of it’s misleading, and it tends to spread further through messaging apps like WhatsApp.

What it means: AI-generated content is no longer fringe — it’s creeping into search results, product listings, user reviews, and even published books. And as the tools get sharper, spotting the fakes becomes harder. Even digital natives are falling for it. Some companies, like Google, are trying to help by adding AI watermarks, but experts say that’s just a Band-Aid. With social platforms incentivizing engagement over accuracy, and regulation lagging behind, we may be headed for what Fast Company calls a “zero-trust internet” — where everything looks a little suspicious because anything could be fake.

Related: Anthropic’s CEO Issues a Stark AI Warning: “In 10 Years, All Bets Are Off” (The Hill)