People across the country received racist text messages in the days after Donald Trump was elected to a second term for president, and now federal authorities are investigating.

“In multiple states, including Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, Black women, men, and students have reported receiving racist text messages from an unknown source, urging them to report to a plantation to pick cotton,” the NAACP said in a press release. Messages said variations of, “You have been selected to be a house slave,” or “You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” according to screenshots and news reports. They also often instruct recipients on where to go or when to be ready “With all of your belongings.”

CBS...

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Donald Trump’s second term means significant changes for AI, crypto, and EV policy.

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The technology that powers Election Day has hit some expected hiccups, but as of early afternoon on Tuesday, nonpartisan groups say that the voting system is mostly holding up. Where it has faltered, they stress, there are robust backup plans that will ensure voters can still cast their ballots and that their votes will be counted.

Members of the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition, which runs a hotline for voters seeking information or help at the polls, said they’re so far seeing reports of pretty standard tech issues. That includes spotty Wi-Fi connections impacting electronic poll books used to check voters in more efficiently, imprecise calibration on voting machine touchscreens, and ballot scanners that are down. These...

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The Alphabet Workers Union filed a charge against Google with the National Labor Relations Board after Google management asked workers to “refrain” from talking about its ongoing Search antitrust case.

The union charges that Google issued an “overly broad directive” on discussing the case to employees, according to a copy of the charge filed in August and viewed by The Verge. On August 5th, just after US District Court Judge Amit Mehta issued his decision finding Google to have an illegal monopoly, president of global affairs Kent Walker sent an email (also reviewed by The Verge) directing employees to “please refrain from commenting on this case, both internally and externally.” Walker sent a similar message at the start of the trial...

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