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Rebecca Heilweil

Rebecca Heilweil was an investigative reporter for FedScoop. She wrote about the intersection of government, tech policy, and emerging technologies.

Previously she was a reporter at Vox’s tech site, Recode. She’s also written for Slate, Wired, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications.

Articles by Author

A Starlink by SpaceX promotion is displayed during the Everything Electric London 2024 at ExCel on March 28, 2024 in London. (Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images)

SpaceX differentiates between Starlink and Starshield, but the services are intertwined

Tech

People walk by the General Services Administration building on June 1, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Government coders are studying whether major AI models, including Grok, output hate speech

AI

President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order during the “Winning the AI Race” summit hosted by All‑In Podcast and Hill & Valley Forum at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on July 23, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Trump signed executive orders related to his Artificial Intelligence Action Plan during the event. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The US government has its first federal chief AI officer

AI

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload of 20 Starlink internet satellites into space soars across the sky after sunset above the Pacific Ocean after launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 18, 2024, as seen from San Diego. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Starlink outage impacted Starshield, its defense communications service

Emerging Tech

Elon Musk, who oversees the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), wears a “Tech Support” t-shirt as he speaks during the first cabinet meeting of Trump’s second term, on Feb. 26, 2025. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

House Oversight Democrats demand answers on Grok’s use in government

AI

President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order during the “Winning the AI Race” summit hosted by All‑In Podcast and Hill & Valley Forum at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on July 23, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Trump signed executive orders related to his Artificial Intelligence Action Plan during the event. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Open-source AI could provide ‘geostrategic value,’ Trump AI plan says

Policy

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks remotely during the Mobile World Congress on June 29, 2021, in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros/Corbis via Getty Images)

As Trump and Elon feud, government demand for Starlink grows

Tech

A warning tape can be seen where a sign for USAID used to be on the now-shuttered office at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. on April 1, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

USAID is dead, but some departing staffers’ government phones still work

Tech

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is silhouetted as a pre-recorded interview with Elon Musk is played during the Microsoft Build 2025 conference in Seattle on May 19, 2025. Nadella announced that Grok AI, by Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI, will be available on Microsoft’s Foundry Models. (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

Elon Musk’s Grok is now working with the US government

AI