The latest episode of WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast covers ICE's rapidly expanding DNA collection programme, which has swept up hundreds of thousands of people with no criminal convictions—including young children—into an FBI database with no clear removal process. Hosts also examine growing public and corporate pushback against poor-quality AI content, alongside a secretive new White House AI cybersecurity plan and an unusual left-right political coalition opposing data centre expansion across the US.

Reporting cited in the episode shows ICE collected DNA from nearly a million people over the past year, making the Department of Homeland Security the single largest contributor of new profiles to the FBI's database, with samples retained indefinitely. The hosts also discuss Google Earth disabling an AI feature after it was used to generate fake maps, Substack's new partnership with AI-detection tool Pangram, warnings about AI-driven hacking tools worsening into "worms and viruses," and a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage that struck the Moon largely unnoticed, leaving a fresh crater.