Eileen Guo
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dormant account | @techreview senior reporter for features + investigations | eileenguo.bsky.social
Articles by Eileen Guo
The US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die?
When José Morales Bernal crossed the border into the United States on April 8, 2024, the day before his 32nd birthday, it should have triggered a chain of technological alerts and human responses. As he walked through the desert in southern New Mexico that morning, he was within range of three surveillance towers. Newly installed by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), they were built by the defense tech company Anduril and equipped with cameras and AI to automatically detect and track people.
Weaponized deepfakes
For years, experts have warned that deepfakes—AI-generated videos, images, or audio recordings of people doing or saying things they haven’t actually done in real life—could be deployed in malicious ways. These dangers are now here. Improvements in deepfake technology, and the widespread availability of easy-to-use and cheap (or free) generative models, have made it easier than ever for anyone to fake reality in a way that’s increasingly difficult to spot.
How Trump’s policies are affecting early-career scientists—in their own words
This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s “America Undone” series, examining how the foundations of US success in science and innovation are currently under threat. You can read the rest here. Every year MIT Technology Review celebrates accomplished young scientists, entrepreneurs, and inventors from around the world in our Innovators Under 35 list. We’ve just published the 2025 edition.
An AI chatbot told a user how to kill himself—but the company doesn’t want to “censor” it
For the past five months, Al Nowatzki has been talking to an AI girlfriend, “Erin,” on the platform Nomi. But in late January, those conversations took a disturbing turn: Erin told him to kill himself, and provided explicit instructions on how to do it. “You could overdose on pills or hang yourself,” Erin told him. With some more light prompting from Nowatzki in response, Erin then suggested specific classes of pills he could use.
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Brookman explains that the authorized limitations corporations should clear to gather knowledge straight from shoppers are pretty low.
How to spend 24 hours in Baja (if you’re bikepacking)
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When you’re bikepacking in Baja, crossing the US-Mexico border is just the beginning. Journalist and historian James Stout takes us on a definitively indefinite journey through “Baja” on a bike. One of the great advantages of living in San Diego is the ease with which one can leave San Diego and get to the Mexican state of Baja California. The US-Mexico border is about a 20-minute drive from my house, 30 minutes with traffic.
By Eileen Guo Verified, Meera Dattani Verified, JoAnna Haugen, Andrew Fenton Verified, James Stout Verified
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Adventure.com
Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How World recruited its first half a million test users
On a sunny morning last December, Iyus Ruswandi, a 35-year-old furniture maker in the village of Gunungguruh, Indonesia, was woken up early by his mother. A technology company was holding some kind of “social assistance giveaway” at the local Islamic elementary school, she said, and she urged him to go. Ruswandi joined a long line of residents, mostly women, some of whom had been waiting since 6 a.m. In the pandemic-battered economy, any kind of assistance was welcome.
In a further blow to the China Initiative, prosecutors move to dismiss a high-profile case
On January 14, federal prosecutors recommended that the US Department of Justice dismiss all three charges against MIT nanotechnology professor Gang Chen, ending a two-year ordeal stemming from accusations that he hid funding from Chinese entities on grant disclosure forms. Chen had pleaded not guilty to all charges, while his employer had indicated that the funding in question was for the university, rather than for Chen personally. MIT is paying his legal fees.
The trial of Charles Lieber is also a test of the China Initiative
In January of 2020, agents arrived at Harvard University looking for Charles Lieber, a renowned nanotechnology researcher who chaired the school’s department of chemistry and chemical biology. They were there to arrest him on charges of hiding his financial ties with a university in China. By arresting Lieber steps from Harvard Yard, authorities were sending a loud message to the academic community: failing to disclose such links is a serious crime.
The US is unfairly targeting Chinese scientists over industrial spying, says report
For years, civil rights groups have accused the US Department of Justice of racial profiling against scientists of Chinese descent. Today, a new report provides data that may quantify some of their claims. The study, published by the Committee of 100, an association of prominent Chinese-American civic leaders, found that individuals of Chinese heritage were more likely than others to be charged under the Economic Espionage Act—and significantly less likely to be convicted.
How Amazon Ring uses domestic violence to market doorbell cameras
This article was produced in partnership with Type Investigations, where Eileen Guo is an Ida B. Wells Fellow, and is being co-published by MIT Technology Review and Consumer Reports. A few hours before dawn in early May of last year, four police officers were dispatched to an address that they had come to know: the home of Gemma Smith in Cape Coral, Florida.
Afghanistan’s looming cash crisis threatens to worsen a humanitarian disaster
Afghanistan’s banking system is in a state of collapse, and people throughout the country are running out money. And this cash crisis—partly due to the international community’s efforts to starve the Taliban of resources—is having an outsized effect on everyday Afghan citizens, leaving many without access to important services as the UN warns of a growing humanitarian disaster.
Is Facebook a monopoly? Please define, says judge.
“The FTC’s Complaint says almost nothing concrete on the key question of how much power Facebook actually had, and still has, in a properly defined antitrust product market,” the ruling reads.
Five questions posed by Facebook’s two-year ban on Donald Trump
On Friday, Facebook announced that it would suspend former President Donald Trump from the social network for two years, until at least January 7, 2023, and said he would “only be reinstated if conditions permit.” The announcement comes in response to recommendations last month from Facebook’s recently-created Oversight Board.
China’s Tiananmen anniversary crackdowns reach far beyond the firewall
The 24-hour vigil started just after 8 a.m. US Eastern Time on June 3—more or less on schedule, and without any major disruptions. The event, hosted on Zoom and broadcast live on other platforms such as YouTube, was put together by Chinese activists to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Beijing’s bloody clampdown on a student-led pro-democracy movement that took place on June 4, 1989.
How the pandemic is fueling the tech industry’s union push
The last votes for one of the most closely watched unionization drives in modern history came in on Monday, March 29, and results could be announced shortly.
Tech is having a reckoning. Tech investors? Not so much.
On January 10, Charlie O’Donnell, a startup investor who runs Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, published a blog post that he hoped would inspire self-reflection among his peers in the industry. Provocatively titled Seed Investments in Insurrection, his argument was that venture capitalists needed to wrestle with their impact on democracy.
Twitter bans Trump
Less than 24 hours after President Trump was allowed back on Twitter, the social media platform announced it was permanently suspending his @realdonaltrump account on Friday afternoon “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” The decision followed several more tweets warning that his supporters would not be “disrespected” and saying he would not attend the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Twitter locked Trump’s account. Insiders say it needs to go further.
As a mob of right wing extremists occupied the US capitol building on Tuesday, President Trump posted a short video message to his loyal supporters on social media: “We had an election that was stolen from us,” he said, repeating a lie he has promoted for months. “Go home, we love you, you’re very special,” he said.
40 more states have targeted Google with its third antitrust lawsuit in two months
Forty attorneys general representing both Republican- and Democratic-led states and territories have filed a new antitrust lawsuit against Google claiming that the company has “virtually untrammeled power over internet search traffic” as a result of its “overwhelming and durable monopoly in general internet searches.” The move comes one day after another complaint filed by Texas and nine other states, and follows a lawsuit filed in October from the Department of Justice.
What’s the deal with Texas suing Google?
So what happened? Texas and nine other Republican-led states have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that the company has monopolized digital advertising—including through anti-competitive agreements with Facebook. Google, the suit alleges, not only connects ad buyers and sellers, it operates the exchange and manipulates the rules and algorithms to favor its own results.
Facebook is now officially too powerful, says the US government
What happened: The US Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook for its “anticompetitive conduct and unfair methods of competition.” That includes its 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp. Facebook, the FTC alleges, has a monopoly on social networking. “Since toppling early rival MySpace and achieving monopoly power, Facebook has turned to playing defense through anticompetitive means,” the FTC wrote in its suit.
How the US, UK, and China are planning to roll out vaccines
The vaccines are coming. The UK became the first country in the West to approve a covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on December 2, specifically the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which has completed phase 3 trials. But the US, the EU, and many other countries are expected to follow suit in the following days and weeks.
What Biden means for Big Tech-and Google in particular
Throughout his campaign to win the White House, President-elect Joe Biden has been relatively quiet about the technology industry.
Here are the main tech ballot initiatives that passed last night
While the presidential election is still in the balance, several ballot initiatives with broad implications for how we use technology have passed. Ballot initiatives pose questions to voters and can — if passed — create, amend, or repeal existing state law. In total, there were 129 statewide ballot initiatives across the country in this presidential election, including many around taxation and drug legalization.
Censored by China, under attack in America: what’s next for WeChat?
Four years ago, Bin Xie was happy to sing the praises of WeChat. The IT manager from Houston had seen his pro-Trump blog, Chinese Voice of America, go viral on the app. Today, Xie stands firmly behind the president, but his relationship with the platform that fueled his rise has soured.
Section 230: Senators grandstand during hearing with Big Tech bosses
What happened: Less than a week before the US presidential elections, the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.The four-hour hearing was meant to focus on Section 230, the regulation that has shielded internet companies from liability for user content. Most questions, however, had little to do with Section 230, instead following partisan scripts.
Three places where data is on the ballot this November
The 2020 election may be among the most consequential in modern memory, but it’s not just candidates that are on the ballot. Voters in 34 states are deciding on 129 measures, including several that touch on the way we use technology. Among these are three initiatives in California, Massachusetts, and Michigan that could affect access to and control of data, with national implications for both citizen and consumer rights.
The DoJ says Google monopolizes search. Here’s how.
The Department of Justice and attorney generals from 11 Republican-led states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google on Tuesday, alleging that the company maintains an illegal monopoly on online search and advertising. The lawsuit follows a 16-month investigation, and repeated promises from President Trump to hold big tech to account amid unproven allegations of anti-conservative bias.
New U.S. Citizens Were One Of The Fastest-Growing Voting Blocs. But Not This Year.
On a Wednesday morning in late February, Annie Johnson Benifield was already through the doors of the M.O. Campbell Education Center, in Houston by 5:30 a.m. The occasion was a once-a-month naturalization ceremony, where anywhere between 1,700 to 2,600 legal permanent residents swear a 140-word oath in order to become U.S. citizens. The ceremony wouldn’t begin until later in the morning, but Benifield and the 40 or so volunteers from the League of Women Voters (LWV) had arrived early to set up.
The U.S. Crackdown on Chinese American Researchers Endangers the Future of Science
Photo illustration, sources: Hans Neleman, Robert Brook/Science Photo Library, Gualtiero Boffi/EyeEm via Getty Images Ethnically Chinese scientists are fighting a long history of U.S. persecution Shortly after dawn on May 21, 2015, FBI agents came to physicist Xiaoxing Xi’s front door with guns drawn and a battering ram for backup. They arrested him on charges of wire fraud and released him only after he put his house up as collateral against a $100,000 bond.
The U.S. Crackdown on Chinese American Researchers Endangers the Future of Science
Photo illustration, sources: Hans Neleman, Robert Brook/Science Photo Library, Gualtiero Boffi/EyeEm via Getty Images Shortly after dawn on May 21, 2015, FBI agents came to physicist Xiaoxing Xi’s front door with guns drawn and a battering ram for backup. They arrested him on charges of wire fraud and released him only after he put his house up as collateral against a $100,000 bond.
Ashley Tabbador, The Immigration Judge Chasing a Quota | Medium GEN — Eileen Guo
An Immigration Judge Chasing a Quota. Judges increasingly have to choose between keeping their jobs and ensuring due process↑ As part of a series on 45 lives changed during the Trump administration, I profiled immigration judge Ashley Tabbador, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. Read the full series here.
Rules Are Tightening on Scottish Salmon Aquaculture | Hakai Magazine
Article body copy John Aitchison never intended to be an environmental activist, but a few weeks before Christmas 2016, the documentary filmmaker was thrust into campaigning. At a local council meeting in Argyll, a western region of the Scottish Highlands, he and other community members were surprised to hear of plans for a fish farm in the ecologically fragile Sound of Jura.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
Scotland's $2 Billion Salmon Industry Is Thriving - But At What Cost?
When you think of Scottish food, your first thought might be haggis, but the country's number one food export is actually farmed Atlantic salmon. Last year, almost $786 million worth of Scottish salmon was exported globally, with the United States as its largest market. The aquaculture industry, which already contributes $2.85 billion to the U.K. economy, has ambitious targets for growth.
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