Elon Musk Hates Lupita Nyong'o; Meta Is Erasing Queer Accounts; AI Is Penalizing Women - NEWS ROUNDUP

There Are No Girls on the Internet is a weekly podcast hosted by Bridget Todd. Every week, we break down the tech and internet stories that deserve more attention — especially when they're about AI, power, gender, race, and who actually gets hurt when systems fail.

This week: Elon Musk using a Hollywood casting decision to push white nationalist conspiracy theories. The government is surveilling people who oppose data centers as potential terrorists. The DOJ is going after a billionaire who helped fund E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit against Trump. And researchers who study online hate speech being threatened with deportation.

If that sounds like your thing — Apple Podcasts | Spotify | and come back every week.

HERE’S WHAT WE’RE WATCHING THIS WEEK:

🔗 Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is partnering with Jared Leto — a man with nine sexual abuse allegations — to scan people's eyeballs. Altman's company World has already been banned in multiple countries for exploiting people in impoverished nations for their biometric data. Now it's partnering with Jared Leto — who has nine sexual abuse allegations against him, including behavior toward a minor — to scan fans' irises to buy concert tickets. Altman himself has also faced his own sexual misconduct allegation.

🔗 Lupita Nyong'o was cast as Helen of Troy. Elon Musk is using it to push white nationalist conspiracy theories. Christopher Nolan cast Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy in The Odyssey. Musk spent days melting down about it. Experts say it's the "great replacement" theory — a white nationalist belief that white people are being deliberately replaced by people of color — applied to a casting decision.

🔗 The government is now surveilling people who oppose AI and data centers as potential extremists. Leaked documents show the FBI and Homeland Security have created a new threat category called "anti-tech extremism." A nonprofit called More Perfect Union made a video about the harm data centers cause to communities — nothing illegal, nothing violent. The feds flagged it as a potential terrorist threat. Meanwhile Trump, his sons, and his administration all have direct financial stakes in AI data center expansion.

🔗 The DOJ is trying to unmask anonymous Reddit and X users who criticized ICE. Jeanine Pirro's office has subpoenaed Reddit and X for the names, addresses, and financial data of users who made negative comments about ICE online. No char