A secretive super PAC has created new websites and X accounts with AI images that are targeting progressive lawmakers in the Bay Area. The super PAC is based in San Diego and has almost no public footprint. Great reporting by @jrivanob.bsky.social missionlocal.org/2026/06/jack...

Mystery ‘Recall Jackie Fielder’ campaign launches — and it’s not the only one

At least 10 linked websites have sprung up in recent weeks targeting progressive officials and tax measures across the Bay Area.

missionlocal.org

What economist Gabriel Zucman said when I asked about SpaceX's IPO and how the concentration of wealth will affect us: "There is a fundamental tension in democratic societies between extreme wealth – which is always an extreme power – and the very possibility of a well-functioning democracy." 1/3

New: xAI doubled the gas turbines at its data center, even as NAACP sues alleging the turbines violate the Clean Air Act. This comes as SpaceX IPOs tomorrow, and Anthropic and Google signed deals to use xAI's data center. Here's a graph showing how much toxic NOx xAI's data center is emitting

I looked into whether tech billionaire big spending paid off in the California primaries. And, well, it did. Despite the Matt Mahan loss, the industry came out ahead in smaller races up and down the ballot -- especially in state legislature races. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Tech industry wins big in California primary election with millions spent paying off

Silicon Valley is fighting against AI regulation and taxation and will benefit from having political leverage

theguardian.com

just a short list of 62 candidates to choose from for california governor

Welp, I missed this filing that came in at 6:55pm on Friday night. Brin shells out another $16M to fight the billionaire tax, making his contributions to this Super PAC total $82M.

Dara Kerr@darakerr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

So much tech money flowing into CA politics. Crypto boss Chris Larsen spent $1M on the state insurance commissioner primary. Sergey Brin spent $66M to fight the wealth tax. Larsen, Google & Meta have thrown millions to local campaigns in the state legislature. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

So much tech money flowing into CA politics. Crypto boss Chris Larsen spent $1M on the state insurance commissioner primary. Sergey Brin spent $66M to fight the wealth tax. Larsen, Google & Meta have thrown millions to local campaigns in the state legislature. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Tech billionaires are spending unprecedented sums in California races. Experts say it’s the tip of the iceberg

From Google co-founder Brin spending $66m to fight a billionaire tax to Google and Meta funding a joint Super Pac, Silicon Valley is engaged in an existential fight for its political power at home

theguardian.com

Campos: While I want to thank CBS news for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship.

The plaintiff, who filed a lawsuit that he says is existential, is not going to be in the courtroom for closing arguments. This is highly unusual.

I spent the last two weeks sitting in court watching the billionaire-on-billionaire drama. It felt like a modern-day version of Bonfire of the Vanities with ambition, ego, greed and the spectrum of social class on full display--along with a good dose of humor. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

What I saw at the Musk-OpenAI trial: petty billionaires, protests and a stern judge

Showdown between Musk and Altman has rendered the world’s most wealthy comical under egalitarian eye of court

theguardian.com

"There is a grim satisfaction in watching this organization hoist with its own petard."

Julia Angwin@juliaangwin.com · 3mo ago

Meta’s disregard for its users and its reckless spending are driving it into the grave. But unfortunately dying Internet companies can do a lot of damage on their way down. My latest for @nytopinion.nytimes.com (gift link): www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/o...

Covered Shivon Zilis' testimony at Musk v Altman today and this text from her to a friend came up: “When the father of your babies starts a competitive effort and will recruit out of openai there’s nothing to be done.” And honestly, who among us? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Shivon Zilis, mother of four of Elon Musk’s children, testifies in OpenAI trial

Zilis, an executive at Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink, served on OpenAI’s board from 2020 to 2023

theguardian.com

The jury was finalized in Musk v Altman today. The judge had to repeatedly ask if people could put aside negative feelings for Musk. One called him a “jerk”, another said they “disagree with a lot of things he’s done”. One said: “Elon doesn’t care about people” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Elon Musk and Sam Altman face off in court over OpenAI’s founding mission

Musk’s lawsuit accuses Altman of fraud, while OpenAI says that Musk is ‘motivated by jealousy’

theguardian.com

The billionaire tax has made it to the California ballot for a vote November. With 1,550,000 signatures, it nearly doubled the amount of signatures necessary to get on the ballot

Google's Sergey Brin throws $3M more into the fight against the CA billionaire tax. That brings his total known contributions to $48M. In this new filing, other techies donated too, incl crypto exec Chris Larsen and VCs John Doerr and Michael Moritz. Background: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

for all the talk of how AI is going to replace your job, let's make sure we also talk about how AI is degrading work today. we uncovered a political campaign by ShiftKey & Clipboard Health to spread surveillance wages.

AI Now Institute@ainowinstitute.bsky.social · 4mo ago

NEW REPORT: “Uber For Nursing Part II” uncovers a nationwide campaign — backed by huge sums of venture capital and private-equity funds — to limit public oversight of healthcare facilities, weaken labor protections, and expose patients to new risks: ainowinstitute.org/publications/uber-for-nursing

This essay, so good. "For soon-to-be trillionaires, no level of loss could significantly change their global standing or personal power. For them, the word failure has ceased to mean anything." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat

For the richest men on Earth, everything is free and nothing matters.

theatlantic.com

Elon Musk wanted the Cybertruck to be his dream vehicle. Now people are burning alive inside them. This week @darakerr.bsky.social joins @parismarx.com to explore the safety disaster that the vehicles have become and why regulators aren’t acting faster. Full ep: techwontsave.us/episode/324_...

Pete Hegseth believes that Jesus guides Tomahawk missiles, even when they hit elementary schools. I wrote about the roots of his militant faith - from the Crusades to the confederacy - and what they mean for the US and Iran today.

Pete Hegseth’s holy war: the militant Christian theology animating the US attack on Iran

The bible-thumping US defense secretary is overseeing another strategic disaster in the Middle East. Is this a war or a crusade?

theguardian.com

Goodnight, TX, is the site of an upcoming Google data center. Cleanview got ahold of documents showing how the facility will be powered. Turns out a gas plant is in the works. This would be one of Google's first direct investments in fossil fuel infrastructure. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Google teams up with gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals

Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco

theguardian.com

With two unprecedented trial defeats, big tech firms face crisis akin to that faced by cigarette makers in the 1990s

‘Accountability has arrived’: dual US court losses show shifting tide against Meta and co

theguardian.com

h/t @teslaqasia.bsky.social My spreadsheet documenting all 167 Tesla fire victims: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Reminder: Nissan Leaf, since 2009: zero (!) burned alive Tesla now has nearly 2,5 times MORE fire victims per Tesla than even the infamous $1800 Ford Pinto from half a century ago ..

No verdict today. “There’s a good chance tomorrow we get a verdict,” said plaintiff lawyer Mark Lanier.

$45M is 0.018% of $247bn. For someone with a net worth of $125K (the median in the US), that's the equivalent of spending $22.

New filings in California show Google's Sergey Brin has now donated $45M to a super PAC dedicated to kneecapping the proposed billionaire tax in the state. Google's Eric Schmidt has also upped his donations with totals now at $4M to anti-wealth tax PACs www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Google co-founder spends $45m in fight against California billionaire tax

Sergey Brin gives $25m on top of $20m he’s already given to Super Pac trying to blocking state’s proposed 5% wealth tax

theguardian.com

I did a deep dive into five Cybertruck fires. What I learned was the truck's design can hamper rescue efforts and lead to worst-case scenarios where fires rapidly ignite, the vehicle’s electric door handles won’t unlock and passengers are trapped inside www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Inside the fiery, deadly crashes involving the Tesla Cybertruck

Cybertrucks have locked passengers inside and burned so hot they’ve disintegrated drivers’ bones. Victims’ families blame what they say is the faulty design of a truck Elon Musk calls ‘apocalypse-proo...

theguardian.com

Meta and YouTube accused of creating harmful products in trial seen as a bellwether for attitudes towards social media

‘IG is a drug’: jury to deliberate as US trial over social media addiction wraps up

theguardian.com

Lots of new campaign filings coming out in California with tech billionaires spending big. One new filing I hadn't seen reported on yet was Google's Eric Schmidt donating more than $1M to a committee combating the proposed billionaire tax www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

welp, it appears the public hearing supposedly held today didn't make a dent in any decisions www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Musk’s xAI wins permit for datacenter’s makeshift power plant despite backlash

Billionaire’s artificial intelligence company gets approval to run 41 methane gas turbines at its ‘Colossus 2’ in Mississippi

theguardian.com

Mississippi's environmental agency called a public hearing over xAI's proposed 41 gas turbines for tomorrow... on primary election day... in a county that's a 3-hour drive away. "This is not a public hearing, this is a deliberate attempt to silence frontline communities" naacp.org/articles/naa...

NAACP Demands Mississippi Regulators Reschedule Data Center Permit Hearing

The NAACP is calling on the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to immediately reschedule a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, 2026—Election Day—regarding an air permit...

naacp.org