Jade-Ruyu Yan
@fangsonggongzhu.bsky.social
Investigative tech reporter at @opendemocracy.net and @techpolicypress.bsky.social https://www.jadelyan.com/
Last month, Palantir's UK CEO accused our reporting of being "politically motivated." As two people in a small newsroom, we were first to reveal (through many hours of painstaking analysis and many conversations with tax experts) that Palantir pays very little corporation tax in the UK, and why.
Big story from me and Aman Sethi about Palantir today. The headline should speak for itself. www.opendemocracy.net/exclusive-ho...
Exclusive: How Palantir harvested millions in UK tax breaks
In 2024, Palantir’s effective tax rate was just 8%, far less than the usual 25%, despite £25.3m of pre-tax profits
opendemocracy.net
Read our latest coverage on Palantir's work with the NHS here 👇 @fangsonggongzhu.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/palantir-is-...
Palantir is turning the NHS into a tool for mass surveillance
Kicking out Palantir, experts warn, may not solve the problems its Federated Data Platform has created.
opendemocracy.net
Our investigative tech reporter @fangsonggongzhu.bsky.social was on the @mediastormpod.bsky.social podcast this week discussing Palantir, surveillance states, and more. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts ⤵️ open.spotify.com/episode/7vOi...
Surveillance nation: Palantir, facial recognition and the UK
Media Storm · Episode
open.spotify.com
OpenAI has put its UK AI infrastructure project on hold. Shocker. Seeing as whoever I asked over the past few months could give me no information about the project, and there were also no planning documents online -- as I said, shocker. www.politico.eu/article/open...
OpenAI puts ‘Stargate UK’ on hold in blow to Britain’s AI ambitions
OpenAI said issues including the U.K.’s copyright rules and energy prices affect its investment decisions.
politico.eu
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUMA... Why is this glowy pic of ex-CMA Chair Marcus Bokkerink so Beauty School Dropout-coded
Understanding the UK's efforts to regulate for online safety can feel difficult. In a new article for @techpolicypress.bsky.social, I go into why you should know about new efforts to amend the Online Safety Act -- and why they're probably not the best idea. www.techpolicy.press/uk-seeks-mor...
UK Seeks More Powers Under Online Safety Act to Tackle AI Harms
In response to criticism over slow action on fast-evolving digital threats, the UK plans to give ministers powers to update the Online Safety Act more quickly.
techpolicy.press
We need a ban on profiles on Sam Altman. No more fan fiction about his mercurial personality, ambiguous intentions and youthful appearance www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?
New interviews and closely guarded documents shed light on the persistent doubts about the head of OpenAI.
newyorker.com
A former Amazon exec heading up the Competitions and Marketing Authority is a recipe for disaster. If you've got questions about why that's the case, our tech reporting fellow Jade-Ruyu Yan wants to hear from you. Drop her a message! https://prdisaster.substack.com/p/why-you-should-care-about
Why you (yes, you) should read my boring article
The appointment of an ex-Amazon exec to the UK’s competition watchdog is not just for competition lawyers to gossip about
prdisaster.substack.com
Given that most of us have lives, I'd be surprised if you were closely following the appointment of ex-Amazon exec Doug Gurr to the UK's competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority. Here's my case about why we should care, for PR Disaster: prdisaster.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...
Why you (yes, you) should read my boring article
The appointment of an ex-Amazon exec to the UK’s competition watchdog is not just for competition lawyers to gossip about
prdisaster.substack.com
We've got an ex-Amazon guy leading the UK competition watchdog. He downplays his Amazon ties. The petty thing would be to say that he's the director of the Natural History Museum, which partners with AWS. I did that, but I asked: do these connections matter? www.opendemocracy.net/en/doug-gurr...
Gurr-boss: The ex-Amazon exec at the UK competition watchdog
Yes, new CMA chair Doug Gurr has downplayed links to Big Tech. But that’s not why experts are worried
opendemocracy.net
Really pleased to see the Mail covering the harms of self swab kits but I wish they’d drop the “Mail revealed…” line when my investigation came out 6 months before theirs DIY evidence kits are a risk for rape victims, police say www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
DIY evidence kits are a risk for rape victims, police say
Survivors are being 'misled' by claims they can get justice by self-swabbing for their attacker's DNA.
dailymail.co.uk
it's a real mindfuck to see the leadership of a publication creating some of the most important journalism of a generation trying to screw the people doing the work
More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 5mo agoThe ProPublica union has voted to authorize a strike. Around 150 journalists, videographers, copy editors and more voted to authorize, with 92% of the union voting yes. ProPublica allegedly rejected restrictions on replacing jobs with AI, and hasn't met other union concerns.
On International Women’s Day yesterday I was thinking about how On This Day five years ago a police chief texted me weirdo messages in the middle of the night trying to intimidate me into not writing about his lil policing program southsideweekly.com/who-is-the-c...
A former Amazon boss will now lead the UK watchdog that investigates and penalises companies like Amazon, for the next five years. People are worried. Read more about it here: www.opendemocracy.net/en/cma-chair... My newest question: why are we avoiding mentioning the word Amazon?
Nothing to see here: Ex-Amazon exec to lead markets watchdog
Experts described the decision to appoint Doug Gurr as the head of the CMA as “very positive” if you are Big Tech
opendemocracy.net
Nothing to see here: Ex-Amazon UK boss to lead competition watchdog
Nothing to see here: Ex-Amazon UK boss to lead competition watchdog
Experts described the decision to appoint Doug Gurr as the head of the CMA as “very positive” if you are Big Tech
bit.ly
The government keeps going on and onnnn about how the UK's economy is struggling because we don't have enough Big Tech investment. Enough alreadyyyy just admit that you like each other, don't be embarrassed. <3
So good of former Amazon exec. Doug Gurr to do charity for the Competitions&Markets Authority when he's got a full-time job at the Natural History Museum. Love to see giving like this.
Today I waltzed around a data centre to see wtf it was all about. (I was kindly shown around a data centre owned by Redcentric by the director of facilities Paul Hone. Redcentric is a managed IT service provider that only operates in the UK.)
I'm pretty proud of this poem I made out of the euphemisms that companies used to describe the ICE occupation in corporate communications. Also read the whole story: racketmn.com/corporate-co...
Not to be unhelpful but @microsoft.com if you're only starting to be community-first now, are your previous developments community-second, community-third, community-nth? Sad face. blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issue...
Building Community-First AI Infrastructure
Microsoft is launching a new initiative to build what we call Community-First AI Infrastructure—a commitment to do this work differently than some others and to do it responsibly.
blogs.microsoft.com
I'm a fan of a dossier, particularly about AI developments & a company's actions over decades, both which can be such an information overload. From The Midas Project, a look into VC firm's a16z's "notorious" investments & efforts to shape AI policy: www.modelrepublic.org/articles/a16...
Andreessen Horowitz is shaping AI policy — while investing in a bleak vision of the future - Model Republic
The firm’s investment portfolio is full of companies that have exploited legal loopholes, created disturbing products, and broken the law.
modelrepublic.org
Why is seemingly any information about patient feedback withheld from patients? The Care Quality Commission, regulator of health & social care in the UK, denied a FOIA request I made for patient complaints about a hospital here. I wrote about it here: prdisaster.substack.com/p/who-do-our...
Who do our complaints belong to? According to the UK's Care Quality Commission, not us.
The CQC, which regulates health and social care in the UK, collects feedback about providers. It recently denied a FOIA request for this information.
prdisaster.substack.com
What are politicians doing on YouTube — and why is it kind of cringe? "Liberal technocrats — from Ottawa to DC to Berlin — are still trying to figure out what" being on platforms such as YouTube means, said Ben Grinspan, VP of Cultural Strategy at MSL Group. prdisaster.substack.com/p/what-are-p...
What are politicians doing on YouTube — and why is it kind of cringe?
"Liberal technocrats — from Ottawa to DC to Berlin — are still trying to figure out what" being on platforms such as YouTube means, said Ben Grinspan, VP of Cultural Strategy at PR agency MSL Group.
prdisaster.substack.com
What are US cities doing to vaccinate people for mpox? It's hard to know. The CDC has stopped tracking vaccinations & nationwide communication has died down. With the arrival of another strain, here's what one city has been doing, in the @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2024/12/11/m...
Another strain of mpox has arrived in the US. How is Chicago preparing?
The city has continued its vaccination efforts since the first outbreak in 2022. But with reduced funding nationwide, what do its efforts against mpox look like?
chicagotribune.com
