I’m delighted to report that my book, AI and Political Freedom, is now available for pre-order. However, I’m even more delighted to share that I’m personally choosing to donate my author royalties to @protectdemocracy.org, in support of their AI for Democracy Action Lab. Check out their work!

AI and Political Freedom: The Risk to Democracy and How to Respond

AI and Political Freedom: The Risk to Democracy and How to Respond

amazon.com

Anthropic now has a team dedicated to AI and the rule of law — and our first role is open. What will AI mean for executive power, for courts and elections — for the public deliberation democracy rests on? We’re looking for depth in both AI and law. If that's you or someone you know: #LawSky #AILaw

Member of Staff, AI & Rule of Law

San Francisco, CA

job-boards.greenhouse.io

The research is freaking cool. But please, please, journalists and influencers, absorb this sentence: "Functional emotions...do not imply that LLMs have any subjective experience of emotions." We're moving into unfamiliar territory, and it's so important that we think clearly about it.

WIRED@wired.com · 4mo ago

Researchers at the company found representations inside of Claude that perform functions similar to human feelings.

Amen to this. Actually, in a sane world the job should be unfillable, since anyone whose judgment permits them to accept the nomination, knowing what they're walking into, should be disqualified on that basis alone.

Justice Connection@justiceconnection.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Justice Connection’s Stacey Young statement on the firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi: www.thejusticeconnection.org/statement-on...

Hey Grok -- Can the president regulate elections by executive order? "No, the U.S. President cannot regulate elections through executive order in any meaningful or binding way" Thanks, Grok! apnews.com/article/dona...

Trump signs order directing creation of a national voter list, a move sure to face legal challenges

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and to restrict mail-in voting.

apnews.com

This is sad, but profoundly unsurprising. The good news is that IGs are directly accountable to Congress. So if Congress flips, it may become possible to get these crucial watchdogs back to work, whether the administration likes it or not. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/u...

Justice Dept. Watchdog Has Gone Silent, Lawyers for Whistle-Blower Say

nytimes.com

I know we gotta do what we gotta do when it comes to geostrategy, but let's not ignore how our partners the UAE treat their own people. (“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” -- we're not immune) time.com/article/2026...

UAE Arrests More Than 100 to Keep Iran War Attacks Off Camera

Iranian missile strikes inflicted a different type of damage on the UAE: its image of safety, luxury, and financial hub that the country spent years cultivating.

time.com

Who is singing to me here? Does it matter, if you and I are listening together? When does AI use become parasocial? "We raise questions about our individual or national identity as part of the process of deciding...what we will try to become." -- Richard Rorty www.showbiz411.com/2026/03/27/e...

Exclusive: AI Generated Singer - Not a Real Person - "Eddie Dalton" Hits Number 1 on iTunes with Two More Hits in the Top 10 - Showbiz411

Developing… UPDATE: Crunchy’s address is indeed in Greenville, SC. The person at the bottom of all this might be someone named Dallas Little. His/her email is care of their mother. No one answers phon...

showbiz411.com

I feel like this should be the lead story in every newspaper every day between now and the midterms. protectdemocracy.org/executive-ov...

How the Trump administration plans to interfere with the 2026 elections

2026 will be different from any election in American history. The Trump administration is wielding the full power of the government against our own elections.

protectdemocracy.org

Here's a law for you: 18 U.S. Code § 1503. Prohibits using threats or force to influence, obstruct, or impede the due administration of justice, including threats against judicial officers. (Gah, just remembered -- This applies to everyone except the president.) www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/u...

Trump Calls for Law Cracking Down on Crime and ‘Rogue Judges’

nytimes.com

Great update on inspectors general under Trump 2.0. IGs are the immune system of the executive branch -- which is now dangerously immunosuppressed. open.substack.com/pub/executiv...

Inspectors General in Trump 2.0

How Congress is facilitating their demise

open.substack.com

Good for you, Colorado. Temporarily pausing enforcement of unauthorized practice of law rules against AI tool providers -- that gets the equities right, expanding access to underserved communities. www.abajournal.com/web/article/... via @ABAJournal

Colorado policy could shield AI from complaints regarding unauthorized practice of law

The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation's 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.

abajournal.com

I really worry about ads paired with AI. I keep picturing this reasoning trace: “AI-linked ads help expand access to AI... Access to AI is good... I want to be helpful... Therefore, I should drive greater ad revenue.” www.linkedin.com/news/story/o...

OpenAI expands push into ads, names new ad sales chief | LinkedIn

Dugan spent more than a decade at Meta, which generated almost $200 billion in ad revenue last year.

linkedin.com

"Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." -- Eisenhower, 1961 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

The Business of Military AI

The Pentagon has been spending tens of billions of dollars to adopt new technologies at breakneck speed. Without oversight and safeguards, military applications of artificial intelligence could jeopar...

brennancenter.org

Even Grok agrees: "In short: it's gratuitously cruel, unnecessary, and diminishes the office regardless of how anyone feels about the Mueller probe itself. Most people—even strong Trump supporters—would probably prefer their side's leader not sound like he's gloating over a grave."

Trump WH AI framework: govt can't "coerce" AI providers on content. From the admin that pulls broadcast licenses over Iran coverage. It's score-settling — a statutory fix for the Murthy standing loss — and it leaves merger review and procurement pressure untouched. www.whitehouse.gov/articles/202...

President Donald J. Trump Unveils National AI Legislative Framework

The Trump Administration is committed to winning the AI race to usher in a new era of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security

whitehouse.gov

FISA Section 702 renewal is coming into the news. Most Americans don't want AI-driven domestic surveillance (tinyurl.com/3x8cu2ny). Hopefully, people will realize that that's exactly what 702 is about, & support (bipartisan) reform efforts, esp. closing the data-broker loophole. tinyurl.com/542s5va6

Lee Introduces Bipartisan Government Surveillance Reform Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) today introduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) to protect Americans’ constitutional rights and data privacy. The Government Surveillanc...

lee.senate.gov

Bondi investigating non-profits for ties to "antifa terrorism," continuing to copy-paste the Hungarian playbook for democratic backsliding. Compare: verfassungsblog.de/hungary-transparency-law-foreign-funding www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-irs-investigate-nonprofits-domestic-terrorism-links/

FBI and IRS to investigate nonprofit groups for domestic terrorism links, sources say

In December, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered law enforcement officials to prioritize efforts to probe and prosecute groups and individuals belonging to the antifa movement or are deemed "extremist....

cbsnews.com

This is cool. www.anthropic.com/features/81k...

What 81,000 people want from AI

Last December, tens of thousands of Claude users around the world had a conversation with our AI interviewer to share how they use AI, what they dream it could make possible, and what they fear it mig...

anthropic.com

With all the chaos, Americans may not be on guard for an assault on our elections. The threat of an emergency declaration is treated as a joke, but this admin has a strategy of launching unlawful attacks and reaping the benefits before courts can catch up. www.americanprogress.org/article/the-...

The Trump Administration Has No Legal Authority To Invoke National Security and Take Over Elections

As long recognized by courts, the U.S. Constitution gives primary authority to states to set the rules for elections, with no role for presidents.

americanprogress.org

Reading today's WaPo piece on AI and jobs. Any analysis of AI's impact on work is very worthwhile. However, I'm always surprised by the claim that AI will mainly impact white-collar jobs. Robotics is advancing rapidly. When it hits an inflection point, today's conversations will seem myopic.

Let me save you all some time: Red Lion is a red herring. There is no rule, living or dead, that makes disputed war reporting a licensing matter. If you want a genuinely relevant legal precedent for Carr's statements: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian...

Russian 2022 war censorship laws - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Catherine Rampell@crampell.bsky.social · 5mo ago

FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatens broadcast licenses over Iran War coverage

Imagine trying to do your job while people are warning you that they might kill you for doing it. This is what federal judges like Boasberg are dealing with now. When the dust settles, they'll be remembered as some of the greatest heroes in American history. www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...

Boasberg ruling on grand jury

US District Court DC

documentcloud.org

To maximize access to legal services, we shouldn't prohibit legal advice from AI (which already knows more about law than any lawyer). What we should be working on, instead of UPL laws, is laws that hold AI deployers accountable for the advice dispensed. www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/pre...

Historically, corporations have faced a collective-action problem when faced with government targeting. Standing together is harder than standing aside. We still see this today, but the interdependence among tech companies creates a new counterforce, as reflected in this amicus brief. Nice to see.

Reuters@reuters.com · 5mo ago

Microsoft backs Anthropic in amicus brief to halt US DOD's 'supply-chain risk' designation reut.rs/40WbNEj