On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Trump v. Barbara, a case challenging President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order banning birthright citizenship. Justices seemed skeptical of the administration’s argument, but by taking up birthright citizenship at all, they showed how much ground nativists have gained since Trump’s first term. The 14th Amendment is quite clear: “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Trump seeks to overturn this and create a new, effectively stateless American underclass, and he’s gotten alarmingly far.
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Trump’s birthright citizenship ban may fail — but the administration already got too far
Hours after being sworn back into office for his second term, Trump issued an executive order titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” Under the order, children born to undocumented mothers — or to women in the country on non-immigrant visas — would no longer be citizens upon birth, unless the children’s fathers were citizens or permanent residents. The order’s provisions would take effect 30 days after it was issued. It was immediately challenged in court and several federal injunctions prevented its implementation, meaning birthright citizenship remains the law of the land for now.
Trump’s efforts hinge on the meaning of a specific clause: “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” The administration contends that noncitizens and those who don’t have permanent residency are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, since they’re actually loyal to a foreign power. This interpretation would reverse not only centuries of US law but also precedent set by English common law, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without status or stateless upon birth. Karen Tumlin, the director of the Justice Action Center, called the case a “canary in the coalmine for our democracy”: if Trump can end birthright citizenship with the stroke of a pen, then no constitutional protection is safe.
All but the most conservative justices seemed unconvinced. Their questions largely focused on two landmark decisions. One was Dred Scott v. Sandford, the 1857 case in which the court decided that enslaved people were not citizens — which the 14th Amendment was ratified partly to overturn. The other was United States v. Wong Kim Ark, an 1898 case in which the court ruled that, despite the Chinese Exclusion Act, the American-born children of Chinese nationals were indeed US citizens.
After Justice Clarence Thomas asked Sauer how the citizenship clause responds to Dred Scott, Sauer acknowledged that the 1857 decision “imposed one of the worst injustices in the history of this court.” But he argued that Congress specifically ratified the 14th Amendment to grant citizenship to “newly freed slaves and their children” who, according to Sauer, had “a relationship of domicile” to the United States and no “relationship to any foreign power.”
Nineteenth-century legislators, Sauer argued, couldn’t have foreseen the problem of birth tourism. “There are 500 — 500 — birth tourism companies in the People’s Republic of China whose business is to bring people here to give birth and return to that nation,” Sauer said. The current interpretation of birthright citizenship “could not possibly have been approved by the 19th century framers of this amendment,” he said. “We’re in a new world,” he continued, “where 8 billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who’s a US citizen.”
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was questioning Sauer, appeared unswayed. “It’s a new world,” he agreed, but “it’s the same Constitution.”
“It’s a new world,” Gorsuch said, but “it’s the same Constitution”
Chief Justice John Roberts called Sauer’s examples of existing exceptions — including children of ambassadors or enemies during a hostile invasion — “very quirky” and not necessarily comparable to“a whole class of illegal aliens who are here in the country.” Justice Elena Kagan noted that most of Sauer’s brief focused on people who are temporarily in the country on visas — but Trump’s executive order was clearly intended to restrict immigration, and the president has said so himself.
In 2019, Trump called birthright citizenship a “magnet for illegal immigration.” Last year, presidential adviser Stephen Miller said the US-born children of immigrants are just as much of a problem as the immigrants themselves. “With a lot of these immigrant groups, not only is the first generation unsuccessful,” Miller said in a Fox News interview, citing the Somali-American community, which the administration would soon target in Minneapolis, as an example. “You see persistent issues in every subsequent generation. So you see consistent high rates of welfare use, consistent high rates of criminal activity, consistent failures to assimilate.”
The administration has sought to restrict legal immigration in all its forms: it implemented a steep fee for H-1B work visas, has signaled it may end a work program for international students, and enacted a travel ban on several countries that is even affecting World Cup players. The operation is barefacedly racist. The president famously complained about “all these people from shithole countries” who migrate and expressed his desire to have “more people from Norway.” Last year, he cut the refugee resettlement cap to just 7,500 and prioritized the resettlement of white South Africans. The Department of Homeland Security has linked the “homeland” to a decidedly white vision of Manifest Destiny that, like debates about birthright citizenship, harkens back to the nineteenth century.
Experts are broadly in agreement that most justices weren’t convinced by the administration’s argument, but it’s not clear exactly how the court will rule.
If the court did hand Trump an unexpected victory, a series of grim questions would immediately come into play — starting with when the change kicks in. The order was supposed to be implemented on February 19, 2025, thirty days after Trump signed the order, and would have gone into effect if not for a number of federal injunctions. “If the court sides with Trump, it will have to decide on a date on which to begin applying the president’s interpretation of the 14th amendment,” César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a professor of civil rights and civil liberties at the Ohio State University College of Law, told The Verge. “Anyone born on or after that date and described in Trump’s order would be treated as a migrant rather than a U.S. citizen.”
Sauer asked the court to apply Trump’s executive order “proactively” and not retroactively, and backdating the change to 2025 would pose a number of problems, calling the citizenship of millions of children into question.
The Trump administration is trying to narrow who counts as an American while simultaneously pushing for policies that prevent noncitizens from participating in public life. The administration has tried to prohibit states from offering in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who live there, revoked accreditation for training centers that work with noncitizen truckers, and has broadly sought to turn America into a “papers, please” country.
Trump was in the audience during Wednesday’s arguments, making him the first sitting president to attend oral arguments before the Supreme Court. His presence may have intended to intimidate skeptical justices into taking his side. Norman Wong, a direct descendant of Wong Kim Ark, was also outside the courthouse, according to the New York Times. Wong and his family embody the stakes of this case, and he had a message for the justices: “They will be shamed for history if they get this wrong.”
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Google says it has updated Gemini to better direct users to get mental health resources during moments of crisis. The change comes as the tech giant faces a wrongful death lawsuit alleging its chatbot “coached” a man to die by suicide, the latest in a string of lawsuits alleging tangible harm from AI products.
When a conversation indicates a user is in a potential crisis related to suicide or self-harm, Gemini already launches a “Help is available” module that directs users to mental health crisis resources, like a suicide hotline or crisis text line. Google says the update — really more of a redesign — will streamline this into a “one-touch” interface that will make it easier for users to get help quickly.
The help module also contains more empathetic responses designed “to encourage people to seek help,” Google says. Once activated, “the option to reach out for professional help will remain clearly available” for the remainder of the conversation.
Google says it engaged with clinical experts for the redesign and is committed to supporting users in crisis. It also announced $30 million in funding globally over the next three years “to help global hotlines.”
Like other leading chatbot providers, Google stressed that Gemini “is not a substitute for professional clinical care, therapy, or crisis support,” but acknowledged many people are using it for health information, including during moments of crisis.
The update comes amid broader scrutiny over how adequate the industry’s safeguards actually are. Reports and investigations, including our probe into the provision of crisis resources, frequently flag cases where chatbots fail vulnerable users, by helping them hide eating disorders or plan shootings. Google often fares better than many rivals in these tests, but is not perfect. Other AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, have also taken steps to improve their detection and support of vulnerable users.
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If your office cranks up the AC on a hot afternoon, you are part of a much bigger story. Energy demand is climbing fast. Data centers and AI systems are using more electricity than ever. At the same time, extreme weather is putting added stress on the grid. That pressure has utilities looking for relief in an unexpected place. Not a new plant. Not a massive battery installation. Instead, they are turning to buildings that already exist. A Seattle startup called Edo is betting your office can help keep the lights on.
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A BASIC MONTHLY BILL AMERICANS CAN’T DODGE IS BECOMING A MIDTERM FLASH POINT
Seattle startup Edo is helping utilities tap office buildings as virtual power plants, shifting energy use when demand spikes and the grid faces added stress. (alacatr/Getty Images)
What is a virtual power plant?
A virtual power plant, often called a VPP, connects many buildings and devices so they can act like one coordinated energy resource. Instead of generating new electricity, these systems adjust when and how energy gets used.
Here is the idea in plain terms. When demand spikes, a building can temporarily reduce non-essential power use. That might mean cooling a space earlier in the day or delaying equipment that does not need to run right away. Across thousands of buildings, those small shifts add up quickly.
How Edo turns buildings into grid assets
Edo focuses on commercial buildings, which make up a large share of U.S. electricity use. The company installs technology that connects to existing building systems like HVAC, batteries, solar and EV charging. It links these systems through standard communication protocols and manages them from a central platform. That allows everything to work together instead of operating in silos. Edo then maps out where energy is being used and when. From there, building operators get a clearer picture of what can be adjusted without disrupting daily operations.
For example:
- Pre-cooling or pre-heating before peak pricing kicks in
- Charging electric vehicles when electricity is cheaper
- Shifting flexible tasks to off-peak hours
- Sending stored solar energy back to the grid
These changes happen with coordination, not guesswork. Utilities can then tap into that flexibility when demand spikes.
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As AI and data centers drive electricity demand higher, utilities are looking to commercial buildings for fast, flexible grid support instead of waiting on new infrastructure. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Why utilities are paying attention now
This approach solves a real problem. When demand surges, utilities usually face tough choices. They can build new power plants, install large-scale batteries or reduce power through blackouts. All of those options come with high costs or major disruptions. Virtual power plants offer another path. They reduce strain on the grid without building new infrastructure. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, VPPs could provide up to 160 gigawatts of flexible capacity by 2030 if adoption ramps up.
The shift from niche idea to mainstream solution
Virtual power plants have been around for years, mostly in residential settings. Companies like Tesla, Sunrun and EnergyHub already connect home batteries and smart devices.
At the same time, firms like Voltus and CPower Energy focus on large industrial users. Commercial buildings, however, have been largely overlooked. That is where Edo sees opportunity.
Why this matters as AI demand grows
AI is not just a software story. It is an energy story. Massive data centers require huge amounts of electricity. As more companies adopt AI tools, demand will continue to rise.
That makes flexible energy strategies more important than ever. Instead of racing to build new plants, utilities are rethinking how existing power gets used. Virtual power plants are becoming part of that solution.
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Edo connects HVAC, batteries, solar and EV charging systems, so office buildings can respond in real time when utilities need relief on the grid. (AJ Watt/Getty Images)
Kurt’s key takeaways
Office buildings are already being used to support the grid. Companies like Edo are working with thousands of properties to adjust energy use in real time when demand spikes. What makes this shift important is how quickly it can scale. Instead of waiting years for new infrastructure, utilities can tap into systems that already exist. As AI demand grows and energy pressure builds, that flexibility could become one of the most practical tools available.
As AI drives up electricity demand, who should take the lead in keeping the grid stable: utilities or the companies using the most power? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would’ve required residents to verify their age before accessing porn sites, as reported earlier by 404 Media. In a letter to the members of the assembly last week, Evers writes that the bill “imposes an intrusive burden on adults who are trying to access constitutionally protected materials.”
The bill (AB 105) would’ve required sites with more than one-third of their total content deemed harmful to minors to impose a “reasonable” form of age verification, such as asking users to show their government-issued ID. More than two dozen states have already passed similar age check requirements for access to adult content, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia. As a result, Pornhub has blocked its site in these locations.
Last month, the Wisconsin American Civil Liberties Union testified that AB-105 “raises significant concerns around privacy, surveillance, and the First Amendment,” and it seems like Governor Evers agreed. “I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to this bill’s intrusion into the personal privacy of Wisconsin residents,” Evers writes, adding that he’s “concerned about data security and the potential for misuse of personally identifiable information” obtained as a result of the age verification process.
An early version of Wisconsin’s age verification bill also included a ban on virtual private networks (VPN), which people have been using to circumvent online age checks. Lawmakers dropped this provision in February, though VPNs are becoming a target for regulators around the globe.
Despite vetoing this bill, Evers is leaving the door open for other kinds of age verification solutions, such as “device-based” methods that would verify the age of users on their phone or computer.
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