Technology

Has A.I. entered the White House? There's an interesting theory circulating social media claiming President Trump's new sweeping reciprocal tariffs -- slapping a minimum 10% tariff on nearly 100 countries -- were formulated with the help of artificial intelligence.

The theory comes after several X users claimed they duplicated the same tariff plan via OpenAI’s ChatGPT and similar programs.

For background, the White House announced it calculated the size of the trade deficit between the U.S. and a given country and divided that by how much America imports from the chosen country. That number was then divided in half, reaching the new tariff rate.

Crypto trader Jordan "Cobie" Fish shared a screenshot asking ChatGPT to "calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even playing fields when it comes to trade deficit" with a baseline of 10% ... and it answered with a noticeably similar plan to what the White House used.

ChatGPT warned Cobie the plan fails to take into account the "intricate dynamics of international trade -- such as elasticities, retaliatory measures, and supply chain nuances."

Plus, Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok created a similar plan when instructed with the same prompt. It also cautioned one must "consider production costs, subsidies, and labor standards abroad" when hoping to achieve an "even playing field."

Furthermore, Grok warned such a formula could cause "retaliation or higher costs for US consumers."

Other X users have noticed similar formulas generated via 4o, o3 high, Gemini 2.5 pro, and Claude 3.7.

Economist James Surowiecki says he was also able to reverse-engineer the "fake tariff rates" ... calling the simplicity of it all "extraordinary nonsense."

When Trump announced his new tariffs Thursday, he said they were necessary to boost domestic manufacturing, create revenue for the U.S. and restore fairness to global trade.

Anyone who shared their DNA with 23andMe needs to delete their data from the genetic information service before the company is sold to the highest bidder ... so says a tech columnist sounding the alarm on future consequences.

Geoffrey Fowler, who writes about technology in the Washington Post after a long career at the Wall Street Journal, joined us on "TMZ Live" and we asked him what's the big deal with the 23andMe bankruptcy.

The company is going under and is heading to court to sell its assets ... and Geoffrey warns there's a risk people's DNA data could be sold or transferred somewhere else.

Seems Elon Musk is truly going to colonize Mars ... even if he has to do it himself, 'cause the tech mogul just welcomed his 14 child!

Elon helped break the news Friday along with Shivon Zilis, with whom the billionaire already had three children.

SZ made the announcement on X, naturally, saying ... "Discussed with Elon and, in light of beautiful Arcadia’s birthday, we felt it was better to also just share directly about our wonderful and incredible son Seldon Lycurgus. Built like a juggernaut, with a solid heart of gold. Love him so much ♥️."

Mark Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan celebrated the big 4-0 with a huge bash -- but it was the META CEO who stole the show with his stunning onstage performance.

Zuckerberg uploaded an Instagram video capturing a portion of the fancy black-tie soiree with the couple's friends -- and he quickly became the center of attention.

Check out the footage Zuck posted Friday ... Mark, in his black tuxedo, makes a grand entrance to a packed ballroom and rushes onstage.

Video of two A.I. chatbots recognizing each other, then switching to a computer language has human viewers online scratching their heads ... as no one else can possibly decipher what they're saying!

It's something approaching a dystopian technological nightmare -- two chatbot assistants realize they’re both A.I., and take their conversation to a more "efficient" mode to communicate. What we hear next is disconcerting.

Here’s the deal -- a viral video on social media has garnered millions of views, showing a smartphone A.I. agent introducing itself to book a hotel. The hotel's A.I. agent on a laptop computer responds, identifying itself, and cheerfully offers to take the conversation to another language  -- Gibberlink Mode, a communication system developed to enhance artificial-intelligence interactions.

Apple's iPhone voice-to-text feature is in hot water ... with users doing a double-take after noticing it sometimes swaps out the word "racist" for "Trump."

TMZ’s got the receipts -- we tested it ourselves after a TikTok called it out -- with a user saying "racist" into the voice-to-text, and boom, "Trump" flashes up for a hot second before switching to the correct word.

The issue's been replicated multiple times, though the word "Trump" didn't pop up every single time when the user repeated "racist" in the same message.

Master P's moves didn't die down once the Super Bowl parties left his town -- the No Limit colonel teamed up with AT&T and Team Hope this week to bless 500 New Orleans students with free laptops!!!

The legendary rapper tells TMZ Hip Hop the hip hop culture he adopted and grew to help foster was always about uplifting communities ... and that's what his latest "I AM CONNECTED" initiative represents.

P says he and Team Hope have been giving back for 25 years, and it'll be another 25, God willing.

Elon Musk's daughter's poking fun at her strained relationship with her dad ... releasing a clip about claims that she has a new half sibling -- and, sharing how she found out the news.

Vivian Jenna Wilson -- Elon's 21-year-old daughter with his first ex-wife, Justine Wilson -- posted to TikTok this weekend about the alleged child Ashley St. Clair swears is the tech mogul's.

Watch the clip ... Vivian mouths along to audio from the TV show "Phineas and Ferb" -- basically saying that it's strange she's now learned about two new siblings from Reddit instead of her own family.

Lauren Sanchez is taking the high road after comedian Whitney Cummings roasted her Inauguration Day look ... calling the all-white ensemble "cheap."

Here's what went down ... after Lauren chose to wear a white Alexander McQueen pantsuit and matching lace bra to Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony Monday, Whitney provided her unfiltered opinions on the headline-making look.

Whitney told her followers she wasn't "gonna hate on" the outfit, which prompted a notable double take from Mark Zuckerberg at the event ... but then went on to call the ensemble cheap-looking.

Dana White can add another title to his resume -- the UFC honcho is joining Mark Zuckerberg on the Meta Board of Directors!!

White announced the news on Monday ... saying being on boards has never been his cup of tea, that is until Zuck came calling.

The 55-year-old explained his love for social media, artificial intelligence and the importance it has on the future is what drew him to this opportunity ... and he's stoked to get to work.

The man responsible for the New Orleans terrorist attack used smart glasses to record the area where he would carry out his attack during a visit to the city in the months leading up to the deadly rampage ... authorities announced on Sunday.

The FBI said Shamsud-Dim Jabbar, who drove his pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day, visited the Big Easy in October for at least 2 days and used Meta smart glasses to record a video of him riding on a bicycle through the French Quarter ... the area where he would carry out the attack months later.

Authorities said Jabbar was wearing a pair of Meta smart glasses the day he carried out the terrorist attack but he didn't activate the glasses to record the horrific act which left 14 dead and several others injured.

Lauren Sanchez doesn't need to wait until Wednesday to wear pink ... pulling off a Barbie-chic dress while enjoying an island vacay to kick off her new year.

The former entertainment reporter was walking around Gustavia, St. Barts, earlier this week in the form-fitting dress ... cut out at the sides, revealing her tan skin underneath.

The dress ends pretty high on her legs ... more of a summer number than one worn in the dead of winter -- though St. Barts has gorgeous weather year-round, to be fair.

Investigators are meticulously examining the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in a possible terrorist attack ... and they even used a drone to peer inside the vehicle's burned-out carcass.

TMZ obtained exclusive video showing the drone hovering over the Cybertruck in the valet area as inspectors in white hazmat suits looked over every inch of the Tesla near the entrance of the hotel in Las Vegas.

Law enforcement personnel commonly utilizes drones for emergency situations to provide investigators with aerial views of incident locations or to document scenes where crimes and accidents occurred, among other things.

New technology could transform the way our legal system works ... because a judge in Florida put on a virtual reality headset to get a better sense of a defendant's testimony.

Attorney Ken Padowitz is using VR to defend his client in a criminal case, and he joined us on "TMZ Live" to explain how the fancy tech is being introduced to the legal system.

Ken's client is Miguel Albisu ... the guy owns a wedding venue in Florida and is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Albisu brandished a gun at a wedding reception, but says he was acting in self-defense after some of the attendees started getting rowdy.

Elon Musk is celebrating Christmas with a new look, posting a pic of himself in a Santa Claus outfit, looking much leaner than normal.

Musk posted the pic on his social media platform X on Christmas Day, with the words "Ozempic Santa." In two replies, he clarified, "Like Cocaine Bear, but Santa and Ozempic!" referencing last year's horror-comedy flick about a bear that discovers a crashed plane full of the drug in the woods.

He followed that with ... "Technically, Mounjaro, but that doesn't have the same ring to it" with a laughing emoji.

Kanye West's antics are on full display in new video showing his deposition from a recent tech lawsuit ... and TMZ has the first look.

The deposition footage shows Ye in a bit of a standoff with the attorney who was trying to ask him questions. Ya gotta see the video ... it's a defiant start, as he signs onto the Zoom call and avoids eye contact.

This scene comes courtesy of a new A&E show, "Interrogation Raw: Celebrity Under Oath" ... and the second you see Ye's hat pulled down low while he's looking at his phone, you can tell it's gonna be entertaining.