Alix Dunn
@alixdunn.com
I bloop about the politics of technology and host the Computer Says Maybe podcast: https://www.themaybe.org/podcast
Connecting a rabid calculator to the open internet was maybe a bad idea in hindsight.
Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social · 5h agoCool, they've invented something that can run their own spearphishing campaigns with malicious code, that'll help society - OpenAI and Anthropic models ‘went rogue’ during UK cybersecurity test www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Yeah buddy we can see that. africa.businessinsider.com/news/sam-alt...
Sam Altman says cognitive atrophy is one of the most overlooked risks of the AI era
Sam Altman says one of AIs underappreciated risks is that people may let the technology do so much thinking for them that their own mental muscles begin to weaken
africa.businessinsider.com
“AI researchers may have the hottest tech job, but forward-deployed engineers… are becoming indispensable too. The military-inspired job title, which Palantir began using in the context of business software >a decade ago, spread to all corners of the industry." www.theinformation.com/articles/for...
Why Forward Deployed Engineers Are the Rage
AI researchers may have the hottest job in tech, but forward-deployed engineers who put the AI to good use are becoming indispensable too. The military-inspired job title, which Palantir began using i...
theinformation.com
The imprecision between culpability and capability in the hacking discourse is maddening. Those calling for *people* to be held responsible for the model's actions are not saying that the models aren't important.
Now that I’ve moved back to London, I’m trying to lean into a European summer — we’re taking a little summer break on the pod! We’ll be back on your feed on August 21st.
For every 1 job a data center creates, the developer gets about $2 million in tax breaks. I'm not exaggerating.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5d agoHassett: "Data centers are very good for towns bc they create so many jobs & bring people in with high incomes that can buy houses & stuff like that. So if you take a sleepy town that hasn't seen much in the last 30 years & put a data center there, there are gonna be a bunch of happy residents."
@amnesty.org should know that ceding ground to bullies does not stop the bullying!
Rose Schmits@roseschmits.bsky.social · 5d agoSorry we tried to stand up for trans people, we won’t do it again, Gender Criticalism is normal stuff actually
@alixdunn.com sat down with @keshaunpearson.bsky.social to talk about his longstanding fight for Memphis residents, his vision for people-led governance, and how he plans to make that vision a reality. Listen to this conversation here: www.themaybe.org/podcast/the-...
The Colossus Crossroads: Fighting for the Future of Memphis w/ KeShaun Pearson
In Memphis, companies don't come in to invest in the city. They come in to extract from its people and its land, no matter how high the human cost.
themaybe.org
@keshaunpearson.bsky.social has fought corporate extraction before. He knows how companies turn neighborhoods like his into their dumping grounds. And he knows how to fight - and win.
Data center builders (Big Tech) in the US are using NDAs (even on local politicians) to effectively destroy local democratic processes to stop data center buildouts. Why isn’t it illegal for a politician to sign an NDA regarding a political issue in their community? Their loyalty is to the people?
How Tech Billionaires Are Using NDAs to Hide Data Center Deals
YouTube video by More Perfect Union
youtube.com
We've been back in London for two weeks and I am yet to get into a car. So nice!
Can someone explain the regulation requiring plastic caps on bottles to stay attached? It is so annoying and I cannot figure out the rationale or what it's meant to bring about.
If you have time this weekend, please check out the doc (~30 min.) my team & I released this week on Musk’s push into Greater Memphis with xAI and its noisy, methane gas burning turbines, data centers, broken promises & impacts on majority Black communities next door. www.cnbc.com/2026/07/16/e...
Elon Musk's Memphis AI empire is the epicenter of the data center backlash
Data center-related policy proposals, protests and litigation are underway across the country citing Colossus and Memphis as a cautionary tale.
cnbc.com
When tech gig companies like Uber and Lyft "disrupted" the taxi industry, they also disrupted the lives of workers around the world. @veenadubal.bsky.social shares how the Uberization of everything upended wage labor as we know it. Listen to the conversation here: www.themaybe.org/podcast/the-...
The Gig is Up: How Uber Ruined Wage Labor with Veena Dubal
Veena Dubal shares with us her firsthand account of the Uberization of everything from the beginning to now.
themaybe.org
If bombing an elementary school full of children doesn’t cross your red lines, there’s something deeply wrong with your company. This morning, we took our message to the SF offices of xAI/Tesla, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft to call out their complicity in Trump's reckless violence.
For a so-called human rights lawyer, Keir Starmer sure is into the idea of curtailing political speech. Who cares about a banner? Doesn't he have bigger things to do like...move out of his current accommodation?
The pub on the corner is watching a World Cup feed that is like 25 seconds ahead of us and so we know what is going to happen or not happen. It's like hearing into the future.
You can find our analysis of how AI is infiltrating humanitarian tech stacks at various level (and what to do about it) in this @accessnow.org report www.accessnow.org/ai-infiltrat...
Buyer beware: how AI is infiltrating humanitarian aid operations - Access Now
Our new research unpacks how AI tools are dodging procurement vetting to infiltrate humanitarian organisations' operations.
accessnow.org
Personal update that I guess is a professional one too...as of 24 hours ago we are back in London for good. Left with a baby and came back with a 6-year old, also picked up a dog along way. Open for coffee dates!
HYPERSCALE is hitting bookstores on October 20. Preorder it now! In the book, I dig into how the data center boom is pushing our planet past its breaking point, and the incredible efforts of people pushing back against the profit-driven interests of Big Tech. Get your copy: hyperscalebook.com
Joseph Weizenbaum's 1976 book, Computer Power and Human Reason, has long been out of print - used copies sell for hundreds of dollars. It's wild that this is not more widely available given how much his ideas still apply to the world we're in now. 🧵/
Google DeepMind continues to treat their employees' profound moral concerns, which the company once pledged to honor, as an HR problem to be swept aside rather than a crisis for its future.
Google DeepMind Unionization Talks Are Off to a Rocky Start
During negotiations on Wednesday, employees voiced frustrations with what they consider an unwillingness among executives to engage meaningfully with the prospect of unionization.
wired.com
“Donald Trump calls AI data centers electricity eating monsters, and he considers it a compliment.” America may be 250 this weekend, but its leaders are entangled more than ever in the fascist project of mass AI development.
Colonialism never ended, it just adapted to the times. Now, technocolonialism touches every corner of the world. We see it in data center expansion, in racist facial recognition surveillance, in dangerous conditions for people powering AI. But in every manifestation, we can also find resistance.
Tech’s consolidation of power is global. But so is the resistance. I got to chat with @eafernanda.bsky.social, Paola Ricaurte Quijano, Angela Chukunzira, and Kauna Love Malgwi about their local fights against technocolonialism. Catch the conversation here:
REAL Resistance: The Global Fight Against Technocolonialism
Paola Ricaurte Quijano, Fernanda Rodriguez, Angela Chukunzira and Kauna Love Malgwi make it clear that colonial powers have never gone away.
themaybe.org
