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More than 1,300 rallies worldwide protest Trump and Musk

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More than 1,300 rallies worldwide protest Trump and Musk

People are gathering in cities all over the United States and globally to protest an “illegal, billionaire power grab” by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. They’re being put on by over 150 different organizations, including civil rights groups, labor unions, and LGBTQ+ advocates, and span more than 1,300 locations.

Last weekend, “Tesla Takedown” protests targeted Tesla showrooms around the country to show disapproval for Musk, its CEO, who has spearheaded an effort to carry out mass federal workforce layoffs and hollow out government agencies. As Tesla’s sales have plummeted this quarter, Musk has threatened to “go after” the company’s critics, while the FBI has created a task force to investigate individual acts of vandalism and other actions aimed at the company.

The scope of these protests is much broader, targeting both Trump and Musk, who the Hands Off website accuses (accurately) of “shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid.” The Verge’s Mia Sato is in Manhattan’s Bryant Park in New York City, where she took the above video. She told me it wasn’t clear how many people are there, but that it’s “wall to wall everywhere” despite the fact that it’s “raining here and really nasty.”

My colleague Lauren Feiner, who attended the protest in Washington, DC, said the protest there “is very big, thousands here around the Washington monument.” She described it as “very peaceful and orderly,” with attendees listening quietly to the speakers, occasionally chanting in response. (Organizer estimates later suggested there were more than 100,000 people each at both the NYC and DC rallies.)

People gather to protest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Photo: Jessica Toman
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Jessica Toman, who went to the protest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, texted the above image to me. A person posting images of the same protest on Bluesky guessed that protesters numbered in the thousands.

It looks like a similar story in Boston, where “thousands” are seen in this video from today:

Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul posted aerial footage of a massive crowd gathered at the State Capitol building in St. Paul, Minnesota:

Demonstrators gathered in massive numbers in Daley Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, too, where a CBS Chicago livestream showed what looked like many thousands of people filling an entire street from one side to the other for many blocks. (Over 30,000 people marched in Chicago on Saturday, according to organizer estimates reported by WBEZ Chicago after we published this story). Protests are also taking place overseas, in cities like Berlin, Germany and London, England.

It’s not just major cities. Hundreds appear to have shown up to protest in cities like St. Augustine, Florida, which the US Census Bureau estimates has less than 16,000 people, and Riverhead, New York, where only about 36,000 people live. Cars honked in apparent support of a protest in Manhattan, Kansas (under 54,000 residents), according to the Bluesky user who posted this video:

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A similar scene plays out in this video, apparently taken in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a town of fewer than 4,000 people, today:

Here’s a gallery with some more images taken by Sato, Toman, and The Verge’s Chris Welch:

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Protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Photo: Jessica Toman

Update April 6th: Changed the number of protests that were planned from 1,200 to 1,300 to more accurately reflect information from the Hands Off! protest website. Also updated with attendance estimates for specific rallies where relevant.

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The best robot vacuum deals available during Prime Day

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The best robot vacuum deals available during Prime Day

If you’ve been wanting to buy a robot vacuum but have been put off by how much it can cost to get a good one, now is not a bad time to start looking. Prime Day has kicked off, though more than just Amazon is offering deals on several models we’ve tested from brands like Roborock, Dreame, and Shark. Whether you’re looking for a basic robot vacuum that can cut down on the amount of vacuuming you have to do or a high-end model that can wash and dry its own mop pads and climb over room thresholds, there are deals available across a wide range of price points.

Update, June 23rd: Adjusted prices and availability and added deals for the Narwal Flow, Narwal Flow 2, and SwitchBot K11 Plus.

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Hoto’s 25-bit electric screwdriver is 40 percent off during Prime Day

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Hoto’s 25-bit electric screwdriver is 40 percent off during Prime Day

You knew there’d be a Hoto deal, right? Whether you’re moving into a new apartment or tackling a growing list of small repairs around the house, a good electric screwdriver can save you time and effort. Hoto’s 3.6V Electric Screwdriver Kit Pro is one we love to recommend, especially because it’s on sale for $28.49 ($21.50 off) at Amazon and Walmart during Prime Day, which is just $5 shy of its all-time low price.

Unlike a big power drill, the Hoto is small and lightweight enough to keep in a drawer or car trunk, yet it’s powerful enough to tackle a number of common household tasks. The kit includes 25 interchangeable steel bits along with an extension bar, making it well suited to everything from assembling furniture to making small appliance repairs, or working on scooters and bikes.

The Hoto offers three torque settings, allowing you to apply less force when working with delicate electronics and more when putting together furniture. The rechargeable 1,500mAh battery charges via USB-C and can handle dozens of small projects on a single charge. As a convenience, there’s a built-in LED light that makes it easier to see what you’re doing, which is especially handy when working behind a TV stand or under a desk.

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Nvidia says its AI data center design runs hotter to use a lot less water

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Nvidia says its AI data center design runs hotter to use a lot less water

Public pushback against data centers has emphasized their water and energy consumption, and now Nvidia is highlighting its claim that the Rubin generation reference design for a fully liquid-cooled data center has “eliminated massive amounts of power usage and pretty much all water usage.” Still, it doesn’t address all of the concerns around AI data centers, including during their construction, and for the power generation requirements of the massive facilities. Also, as Gizmodo points out, Nvidia’s blog post doesn’t mention the cost of building this style of data center vs. one using less efficient air cooling, but claims that “every cloud provider and data center operator building for [Rubin] is making the transition.”

The efficiency gains are partly due to running AI servers hotter, as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius). In a recent report, Amazon similarly touted higher heat tolerances as part of making its mostly air-cooled data centers more efficient.

With Nvidia’s system, “heat is captured directly at the chip and transported through liquid loops operating at much higher temperatures, allowing outdoor dry coolers to reject heat efficiently for much of the year,” with much more flexibility when it comes to the ambient air temperature.

According to Nvidia’s head of sustainability, Josh Parker, the reference design takes water use “from roughly 2.6 million gallons per megawatt per year for conventional cooling-tower-based systems to near zero — up to a 100 percent reduction.”

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