As the government shutdown drags into another week and the House remains out of session, Washington’s policy engine may be idling—but the tech world isn’t waiting. From new revelations about ICE’s facial recognition practices to a finalized U.S.–China deal over TikTok and mounting questions about AI’s impact on work, this week’s stories show how innovation continues to outpace governance. We also look at the growing intersection of politics, privacy, and technology—from Nvidia’s Trump-aligned conference to a $20,000 home robot that blurs the line between convenience and surveillance.

In this week’s Nimitz Tech:

• Automation: As AI reshapes work, America’s biggest employers are betting on machines—and trimming their human ranks.

• Fealty: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang turned his AI summit into a full-throated tribute to Trump—and a showcase of political power behind America’s tech boom.

• Social: A long-awaited U.S.–China deal saves TikTok—turning the app into a new American-owned company backed by tech and Wall Street giants.

TECH NEWS DRIVING THE WEEK

In Washington

• A new letter from House Democrat Jamie Raskin challenges Republican claims that the Biden administration pressured YouTube to censor COVID-19 misinformation. The letter cites interviews with 20 Alphabet employees—spanning roles in policy, health, and trust and safety—who all denied experiencing any government coercion to remove or suppress content. This directly contradicts Alphabet’s own legal counsel’s earlier statement suggesting White House influence, which Republicans had hailed as proof of Democratic censorship. Raskin accused Alphabet of backtracking to appease Trump and GOP figures. The dispute unfolds amid renewed political battles over tech regulation, as the Supreme Court recently upheld government communication with social media platforms, and Trump’s administration has itself increased engagement with tech leaders while pursuing its own content moderation requests.

• President Donald Trump downplayed his connection to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao after granting the crypto billionaire a controversial pardon, claiming he knows “nothing” about him despite family business ties to Zhao’s company. Zhao, who served four months in prison for failing to maintain anti–money laundering controls, was pardoned amid scrutiny over Binance’s involvement with Trump’s family venture, World Liberty Financial. In a “60 Minutes” interview, Trump dismissed concerns, saying his sons—not he—are active in crypto and portraying Zhao as a victim of a “Biden witch hunt.” The pardon underscores Trump’s pro-crypto stance and marks a sharp contrast with the Biden administration’s tougher regulatory approach under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

National

• An internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by 404 Media reveals that individuals cannot refuse to be scanned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s new facial recognition tool, Mobile Fortify, and that the app stores collected photos for 15 years—including those of U.S. citizens. The DHS Privacy Threshold Analysis details how ICE and Customs and Border Protection use the app to verify identities by cross-checking images against databases containing over 200 million photos, alongside location and fingerprint data. Critics warn the system enables warrantless biometric surveillance and could override traditional proof of citizenship, as ICE reportedly treats the app’s results as definitive even over birth certificates. Lawmakers and privacy experts have condemned the practice as an unconstitutional overreach that blurs the line between immigration enforcement and mass surveillance.

• At Nvidia’s annual AI conference in Washington, CEO Jensen Huang transformed what is typically a showcase of cutting-edge technology into an overtly political event, showering praise on President Donald Trump for energizing the U.S. tech sector and reshoring manufacturing. Huang credited Trump’s policies for helping Nvidia soar to a $4 trillion valuation and announced a major partnership with the Energy Department to build seven new supercomputers, including the record-breaking “Solstice” system powered by 100,000 American-made Blackwell chips. The speech marked a sharp departure from Nvidia’s usual apolitical tone, featuring nods to Trump’s campaign slogan and acknowledgments of the company’s donations to his White House projects. Huang’s remarks underscored both his deepening alignment with Trump and the administration’s expanding influence over the AI and semiconductor industries.

International

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the U.S. and China have finalized an agreement allowing TikTok to continue operating in the United States, following months of uncertainty under a divest-or-ban law. The deal, approved by President Trump with backing from Chinese President Xi Jinping, will spin off TikTok into a separate U.S.-based company majority-owned by American investors such as Oracle and Silver Lake. It limits the role of ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, to comply with national security requirements aimed at reducing foreign influence over user data. The announcement came as Trump and Xi met in South Korea, where they also agreed to ease trade tensions through tariff reductions, delayed export controls, and renewed agricultural purchases.

Just for Fun

🎨 LGBTQ Sip and Paint at Barrel House Cafe & Bar (Logan Circle, Mon. 11/03)

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