Weekly Roundup: DNA Collection, AI Content Backlash, and SpaceX’s Moon Crash
US immigration authorities collected DNA from nearly a million people over the past year, including young children. Meanwhile, Google disabled an AI feature after fake images emerged, and a SpaceX rocket piece crashed into the Moon.
Recent weeks have brought a tangle of technology and policy stories, from a controversial DNA-collection effort by US immigration authorities to the unintended crash of a SpaceX rocket into the Moon.
DNA collection under scrutiny
According to WIRED reporting, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) collected DNA from nearly one million people over the past year, including young children. The samples have placed hundreds of thousands of people without criminal convictions into an FBI database, where they can remain indefinitely. The Department of Homeland Security has become the largest single contributor of new profiles to that database.
Internal training materials reviewed by WIRED and researchers at Georgetown reportedly state that asylum seekers and refugees who have not adjusted their immigration status must have DNA collected after arrest. Refusing collection has led to prosecutions: WIRED identified two 2025 cases against people in immigration custody who declined.
Particularly contentious is the collection from children. Although the official minimum age is 14, WIRED and Georgetown found 492 children younger than 14 whose DNA was sent to the FBI between January 2025 and January 2026. That group included 21 five-year-olds, 32 six-year-olds and 33 seven-year-olds. Lawmakers have protested, saying families at the Dilley, Texas detention center have not been convicted and should not be in a database meant for violent criminals.
AI backlash and regulation
Google Earth disabled a new AI feature after users quickly generated fabricated scenes, including a nuclear plant in Iran, a bombed hospital in Gaza and fires at an Iranian oil terminal. The tool allowed anyone to type a prompt and superimpose an AI-generated view on satellite imagery.
The episode is part of a wider backlash against low-quality AI content. LinkedIn has added a way for users to flag such content, and Substack has begun integrating an AI-detection tool from the company Pangram. Meanwhile, the European Union has introduced rules requiring AI-generated content to be labeled.
Space and politics
A Falcon 9 rocket component from SpaceX crashed into the Moon, creating a new crater and raising questions about debris and impact. The White House also announced a plan to address security risks from AI companies, but kept details secret.
WIRED’s Molly Taft joins the podcast to explain how data-center growth has reshaped American politics, forming an unusual left-right coalition against large facilities.
