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The trove of documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to Jeffrey Epstein have revealed just how close the convicted child sex offender and financier was to all sorts of politicians, academics, business leaders, and other prominent figures. These figures not only talked about visits to Epsteins private island, but also shared news articles, discussed personal events, and had long debates about science and philosophy. Epsteins views, those conversations reveal, included peddling climate denialism and ecofascismand illustrate how the ultra-wealthy undermine meaningful climate action. ‘Potentially a good thing for the species’ In a series of July 2016 emails with Joscha Bach, a German philosopher, AI researcher, and cognitive scientist, Epstein brings up climate change in the middle of a discussion about cognition and race. Maybe climate change is a good way of dealing with overpopulation, Epstein writes. the earths forest fire. potentially a good thing for the species. Linking the conversation back to the earlier topic of how brains function, Epstein adds: too many people . . . [it] is the fundamental fact that everyone dies at some time. make it [impossible] to ask so why not earlier. if the brain discards unused neurons, why [should] society keep their equivalent. (Regarding his correspondence with Epstein, Bach recently told SFGate that he hadn’t been aware of Epstein’s crimes after his 2008 conviction and that “his second arrest came as a shock.”) Citing climate change as a solution to overpopulation isnt a totally surprising position for someone like Epstein, says Michael Mann, a climatologist and coauthor, with Peter Hotez, of the 2025 book Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World. The overpopulation quote is entirely keeping with the ethos of this group, Mann tells Fast Company via email, referring to Epstein and his elite associates. Studies suggest that becoming richer makes you less empathetic, and that those with more power often care less about those with little power; the ultra-wealthy can then therefore be more dismissive of the needs of poor people, communities in developing countries, and their lived realities. An example of this way of thinking, Mann notes, comes from Bjorn Lomborg, a political scientist who has been criticized for spreading climate denialism. Lomborg, who also makes an appearance in Epstein’s emails, has argued that poor people need fossil fuels. Lomborg cynically uses his feigned concern for the poor and downtrodden people of the Global South to justify continued fossil fuel dependence, when in fact it is they who will suffer the most from continued planetary warming, Mann says. According to the Epstein files, Lomborg had a meeting with the financier in September 2012. That conversation was about philanthropic investments, a spokesperson for Lomborg’s think tank, the Copenhagen Consensus Center, told Drilled Media. But there wasnt any contact afterward, and the think tank did not receive money from Epstein. Epstein and climate misinformation In some places where the topic of climate change appears in the Epstein emails, Epstein is revealed to have shared messages that perpetuate climate myths. In December 2016, for example, Epstein sent a YouTube video featuring a climate change denier to theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss. That video, titled Nobel Laureate Smashes the Global Warming Hoax, features Ivar Giaever (now deceased), who had long denied the climate crisis. Krauss does push back. So you are listening to an old Nobel laureate whose expertise has nothing to do with this, who has never studied this in detail, built models, done experiments, he replies. But Epstein isnt fully deterred. i liked the argument that more co2 is good for plants? he says, repeating a classic myth from the climate deniers playbook. (In reality, excess CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels leads crop yields to drop and also worsens drought, heat, and disasters that destroy harvests.) In a later reply, Epstein repeats another piece of climate change misinformation: is the south pole getting colder and more ice? Krauss responds that the west Antarctic ice sheet is melting at an unprecedented rate. This wasnt the first time that the two discussed climate changeand seemed to disagree about it. In a 2013 email, Krauss sends Epstein an op-ed he wrote for The New York Times, headlined “Deafness at Doomsday,” which touched on how poicymakers should not ignore scientists about climate change. As usual i dont have to agree but will support your decisions, congratulations, Epstein replies. (Krauss recently told Nature, in response to questions about his interactions with Epstein, that he did not know about the “horrendous crimes” Epstein was accused of and that he was “as shocked as the rest of the world when Epstein was arrested.) How plutocrats promote climate denialism Manns book details five forces that threaten science: plutocrats, pros, petrostates, phonies, and the press. The Epstein Files is almost an advertisement for Science Under Siege because we see all of the key promoters of climate denial and anti-science that we talk about in the book, Mann says. That includes, he notes, propagandists like Lomberg and Steven Koonina theoretical physicist who is only mentioned in the emails when others are sharing his work. In 2014, Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft, sent Epstein a Wall Street Journal piece headlined Climate Science Is Not Settled, by Koonin, calling it “a good summary.” Koonin has criticized climate science and was also an author on the Trump administrations 2025 Department of Energy report that downplayed the climate crisis. The Epstein files also mention connections to “petrostates” (nations whose economies are heavily driven by the extraction and export of petroleum, natural gas, and other fossil fuels), including Russia and Saudi Arabia. And finally, its filled with plutocrats, like Elon Musk and Bill Gates. (Musk has denied a personal connection to Epstein; Gates has said he “regrets” his time spent with Epstein and maintains that Epstein’s claims about him in the files are false.) Gates often writes and lectures about climate change; the billionaire Microsoft cofounder has invested billions of dollars into technologies like carbon capture and nuclear power. But Mann has also long criticized Gates’s approach for straying from the straightforward solution of stopping fossil fuel use. To Mann, this is a common tactic from the wealthy, one he describes as stopping short of denying the basic science of climate change, but downplaying the impacts, dismissing the real solutions (i.e., clean energy), and ultimately acting as enablers of the fossil fuel status quo. The Epstein files have offered a glimpse into the world of billionaires and the way they collect and wield their powerincluding billionaire philanthropists who are influencing our reactions to crises like climate change. At a time when public sentiment of billionaires has become increasingly negative, people are questioning just how much influence the ultra-wealthy should have on our society. Mann has previously made the point that the solution to the climate crisis isnt going to come from benevolent plutocrats. If nothing else, he tells Fast Company, the Epstein Files really drive home this point.
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Sunday night’s Super Bowl and Bad Bunny fell short of setting records for most watched U.S. broadcast and halftime show.Seattle’s 29-13 victory over New England averaged 124.9 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+, according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel rating system.That fell short of the 127.7 million U.S. viewers that tuned in for Philadelphia’s 40-22 victory over Kansas City last year on Fox.However, Super Bowl 60 is the most-watched program in NBC history. The network is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers from 8:15-8:30 p.m. Eastern. That would make it the fourth-most watched halftime behind Kendrick Lamar (133.5 million, 2025), Michael Jackson (133.4 million, 1993) and Usher (129.3 million, 2024). Peak audience sets U.S. record The audience for the game peaked at 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter (7:45-8 p.m. Eastern), which is a record. That surpassed the previous mark of 137.7 million during the second quarter of last year’s Super Bowl.This year’s audience ended a streak where the last four Super Bowls had experienced audience increases. It is the fifth straight year the game has averaged over 100 million viewers.After three straight years of Super Bowls that came down to the final minute, the last two have lacked excitement.Sunday’s game was the second in Super Bowl history in which a touchdown had not been scored in the first three quarters. Seattle was up 12-0 going into the final 15 minutes.Last year’s game was decided in the first half as Philadelphia built a 24-0 lead en route to a 40-22 victory. Bad Bunny versus Kid Rock The Turning Point USA halftime show featuring Kid Rock peaked at 5 million at one point on YouTube.Nielsen did not measure any of the YouTube live stream viewership. Of the linear networks that carried it, the only one Nielsen measures is broadcast network Charge! Full Nielsen ratings for the prior week will be released on Wednesday.According to YouTube figures though, there have been 21,208,583 views of the alternate halftime show through Tuesday night, according to the conservative organization’s page. Bad Bunny’s show has already had 61,311,972 views. Halftime show on social media Total social media consumption of Bad Bunny’s halftime show set a record of 4 billion views after the first 24 hours, according to the NFL and Ripple Analytics. That is a 137% increase over last year.The social media figures include fans, owned platforms, broadcast partners and influencers.The NFL said over 55% of all social views came from international markets.Full global viewership for the halftime show is expected to be available early next week. Spanish audience record Telemundo averaged 3.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl Spanish-language broadcast in the United States. The Super Bowl has been televised in Spanish in the U.S. since 2014.The audience peaked during the halftime show, averaging 4.8 million viewersalso making it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime in Spanish-language history. Olympics benefit from Super Bowl NBC’s “Primetime in Milan” Olympic show, which featured the women’s downhill and team figure skating events, averaged 42 million viewers, the network’s largest Winter Olympics audience since Day 2 of the 2014 Sochi Games.It also was a 73% increase from the Olympics show after Super Bowl 56 (24.3 million).“The Super Bowl and the NFL once again delivered a blockbuster audience across the NBC broadcast network, Peacock, and Telemundo, and provided an unprecedented lead-in to our Primetime in Milan coverage,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella said in a statement. “The Super Bowl and the Olympics are the two most powerful events in the world, and we salute our talented production, tech, and announce teams who delivered best-in-class presentations for our viewers, stations and partners.” Other NFL figures The NFL playoffs averaged 37 million viewers the first three weekends, up 5% from last year and the second-most watched in the last 10 years.That followed a regular season that averaged 18.7 million, the second-highest since audience averages began being kept in 1988. It was a 10% increase from last season. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Joe Reedy, AP Sports Writer
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For the past few weeks, political ads attacking Alex Bores have been running in New Yorks 12th Congressional District. The ads are funded by a pro-AI political action committee that supports the expansion of artificial intelligence, yet they aim to weaken Boress candidacy by tying him to his past work in tech. They accuse Bores, who has recently called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), of hypocrisy because he previously worked at Palantir, a data analytics company whose contracts with ICE have made it a frequent target of activists. The ads allege that Bores made hundreds of thousands of dollars building and selling technology for the agency. Now hes running from his past, while ICE is in our communities, one ad warns. ICE is powered by Boress tech . . . he should never, ever be in Congress. Inside Palantir, the ads are starting to irk some employees. Two current employees and three former employees tell Fast Company that they view the campaign as opportunistic. Some believe the ads misrepresent Boress record at the company. Others say Palantirs approach to its work with ICE has changed since Bores left the company many years ago. Several employees said they see the ads as less about immigration enforcement and more about politics within the tech industry. They point to the PAC funding the campaign, Leading the Future, as evidence that the effort is primarily about countering Boress support for AI regulation. That view is shared by one former Biden administration staffer who, speaking on condition of anonymity, emphasized that the ad campaign was almost certainly a response to Boress role as a lead sponsor of an AI safety bill in New York. If Boress campaign is one that would restrict the tech industrys growth, and his base is one that is already primed to be critical of Palantir, people (like me!) who watch this ad wouldnt suspect that its people with significant interests in Palantir and the broader industry that are funding the ads, too, one former employee tells Fast Company in a message. Bores, a member of the New York State Assembly who successfully pushed for AI regulation at the state level, is currently running for the Democratic nomination for New Yorks 12th Congressional District. The district represents the very liberal and very wealthy neighborhoods of Manhattans Upper West and Upper East Sides, meaning the winner of the Democratic primary is all but guaranteed to win the general election. Bores has leaned into his tech background on the campaign trail. He says he is proud of his work at Palantir but left the company seven years ago in response to its work for ICE, a project he says he never worked on or participated in. Since then, however, he has been the subject of an extended ad campaign branding him an expert in hypocrisy and alleging that he profited from Palantirs work with the Department of Homeland Security. The ads seek to capitalize on widespread anger over ICE, particularly following a massive escalation of raids and deportations and the killing of two American citizens. Boress campaign has since sent Leading the Future a cease-and-desist, Semafor recently reported. Joe Lonsdales role in the anti-Bores effort The ads are being released by Think Big, a group that describes itself as supporting pro-AI Democratic leaders. Think Big is funded by the Super PAC Leading the Future, according to Federal Election Commission documents. Leading the Futures founding supporters, according to its own press release, include Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and the AI company Perplexity. Multiple donors associated with the groupsuch as Lonsdale and Andreessenhave also been major contributors to Republican candidates and causes. Campaign finance records show that Lonsdale Enterprises is the only donor, aside from Leading the Future itself, listed on filings associated with American Mission, a separate PAC affiliated with the same network. (Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited sums but are prohibited from donating directly to candidates. Traditional PACs face strict contribution limits but are allowed to donate to campaigns, leading many political networks to operate both.) The co-founder of Palantir started a Super PAC that is lying to New Yorkers about my work and the fact that I quit seven years ago over the ICE contract they continue to profit off of to this day, Bores tells Fast Company. The real issue, Bores argues, is his work on AI regulation. He co-sponsored a New York state law known as the Raise Act, which was signed last year by Governor Kathy Hochul and imposes safety requirements on frontier AI developers. He has said he plans to pursue similar legislation in Congress. John Vlasto, a leader at Leading the Future, said in an emailed statement: Leading the Future will aggressively oppose policymakers and candidates in states across the country who play political games with the future of American leadership and jeopardize American workers, families, and communities ability to benefit from AI innovation and growth. Palantir did not respond to Fast Companys request for comment. Now Palantir employees are grappling with the growing public scrutiny of the companys work with ICE and the way that criticism is being deployed politically. One current employee said Bores was always upfront internally about his background and found it jarring that a PAC backed by tech funders would attack someone for having worked in the technology industry. Another current employee said the ads and campaign materials highlighting Palantirs ICE contracts feel disingenuous, adding that the work remains controversial inside the company. (Indeed, Wired reported on Tuesday that Palantir employees have spent weeks pressing company leadership for answers about its work with ICE, prompting CEO Alex Karp to address the issue in a prerecorded internal video.) That tension has fueled anger among some employees that Lonsdale, a Palantir co-founder, appears to be amplifying criticism of the company based on its federal contracts. Theres even a Slack thread where people have flagged the ads and other campaign materials theyve received, one employee tells Fast Company. Nothing says principled stance like a founder denouncing their own companys employees for their own companys choices, Varoon Mathur, who worked on AI at the Biden White House, tells Fast Company. Another former Biden administration official similarly emphasized that the campaign was almost certainly because Bores sponsored AI safety legislation in New York. Controversy over ICE and Palantir The ads targeting Bores come amid growing criticism of Palantirs work with ICE. The company has worked with the Department of Homeland Security for more than a decade, but its current relationship with the federal government primarily centers on ICE. That work includes a product called ImmigrationOS, which assists the agency with deportation operations, as well as support for an ICE tip line that was recently disclosed in the agencys AI inventory. Work on the tip line began years ago but was shifted to Palantir during the second Trump administration, a former DHS employee tells Fast Company. (Palantir has also faced criticism for its contracts with the Israeli military during the war in Gaza.) The companys growing political baggage has made it a liability for some elected officials. In New York City, finance officials are pressing for an inquiry into the citys pension fund, which is invested in Palantir. In Colorado, Sen. John Hickenlooper and Rep. Jason Crow announced this week that they would offset campaign contributions from current and former Palantir employees by donating to immigrant rights groups. In Florida, far-right candidate James Fishback has called for banning the company from the state. For Bores, that scrutiny has extended to his own tenure at Palantir. He previously told Fast Company that he left the company when, or soon after, Palantir renewed an ICE contract that expanded the scope of its work with the Department of Homeland Security. However, City & State reported last month that Bores remained at Palantir after controversy over the ICE contract first emerged. (Boress spokesperson told the outlet that he left before the contract was renewed, and he believed the contracts renewal was likely.) Two Palantir employees who spoke to Fast Company said they had no reason to believe Bores worked on the ICE contract specifically, and one said they remembered him opposing the companys work with ICE internally. Some Palantir employees have also donated to his campaign, Bores has said. Current and former employees describe a company long divided over its government contracts, particularly those tied to immigration enforcement. One former employee said the ads were frustrating but predictable, given Palantirs history of pursuing government work across administrations. Another said they left the company after its approach to ICE shifted away from earlier guardrails, adding that the advertisements felt like retribution. A third former employee recalled internal conversations that look pretty different from at least what Im seeing publicly about Palantir now. Bores, for his part, has tried to turn the PACs focus on him into a political asset, framing it as validation of his push for AI regulation. Judge me by my enemies, he wrote in a recent tweet, referring directly to Lonsdale.
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