The U.S. government's digital transformation team 18F was abruptly terminated on March 1, 2025, despite previous praise from leadership as the 'gold standard' of civic tech. Critical government technology projects with NOAA, Department of State, and IRS were halted without transition planning, following similar cuts to the US Digital Service.
HP Inc has reversed its controversial 15-minute mandatory wait time policy for customer support calls following significant backlash. The policy, implemented on February 18 across several European countries, was designed to push customers toward digital support options but faced internal resistance and customer frustration. The company now acknowledges the importance of timely access to live customer service agents.
Dozens of Technology Transformation Services workers at the US General Services Administration were terminated, particularly affecting probationary and short-term staffers, including Presidential Innovation Fellows and US Digital Corps members. The GSA, under new leadership influenced by Musk associates, aims to operate TTS like a startup software company with focus on AI implementation while reducing workforce size.
A thoughtful exploration of how AI's immediacy in creative processes, particularly in design, risks eliminating the valuable 'productive void' - the space between intention and result where creativity flourishes. The author advocates for preserving creative friction and using AI as a tool for expansion rather than compression, drawing from personal experiences in design spanning physical to algorithmic tools.