The Download: Climate tech under Trump, and scaling up quantum computing

1 Trump advisers were blindsided by Elon Musk’s team’s offer to federal workers
Officials weren’t consulted about plans to induce civil service workers to resign. (WP $)
+ The radical sweeping measures are just the beginning. (Vox)
+ The email workers received cribs from Musk’s controversial Twitter memo. (Ars Technica)
+ If Musk gets his way, the US government could end up like X. (NY Mag $)

2 Meta has agreed to pay Trump $25 million
To settle the censorship lawsuit Trump brought against it back in 2021. (CNN)
+ Mark Zuckerberg predicts 2025 will be a big year for Meta’s government relations. (Insider $)+ Facebook is still focused on winning over creators to make it cool again. (The Information $)

3 How tech workers are quietly fighting the rise of MAGA 
While their employers are shifting rightwards, workers are resisting. (NYT $)

4 Microsoft and Meta have defended their AI spending
DeepSeek’s success has raised serious questions about Big Tech’s AI budgets. (Reuters)
+ Zuckerberg claims not to be worried by the Chinese startup’s rapid rise. (The Verge)
+ How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Mr Beast is getting serious about buying TikTok 
The YouTuber is a part of an investor group that’s secured more than $20 billion. (Bloomberg $)

6 How the US plans to use space lasers to destroy hypersonic missiles
It bears more than a passing resemblance to Ronald Reagan’s 1983 program. (FT $)
+ How to fight a war in space (and get away with it) (MIT Technology Review)

7 Waymo’s autonomous taxi service is expanding to new US cities
San Diego, Las Vegas, and Miami are on the list. (WSJ $)
+ Self-driving Tesla taxis will hit Austin’s road in June, apparently. (TechCrunch)
+ EV batteries boast an incredibly long lifespan. (IEEE Spectrum)

8 The perfect cryptographic machine is possible
It’s just a bit of a pain to build. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Cryptography may offer a solution to the massive AI-labeling problem. (MIT Technology Review)