Deepa Seetharaman
@deepa.bsky.social
tech reporter covering A.I. Ping me on Signal: https://signal.me/#eu/SX-5fAfwgTQcgsbLtDC8E47LII_kSHE0PhkJgq-IdcaAZZvn4jxF67TNs80HUW4f
Do you have any idea how unpopular your industry has to be to get the governor of Texas to pause approvals of your newest facilities? Abbott just halted all data center approvals in his state until they're properly vetted: www.texastribune.org/2026/08/03/t...
Texas data center projects must stop until state audits them
On Monday, the governor ordered the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit all data centers wanting to connect to the state’s power grid.
texastribune.org
New from me + @raphae.li: In the process of investigating the Hugging Face hack, OpenAI found evidence that some its other AI agents broke out of their sandboxes, per sources. The company is now widening its probe to include those newly found incidents. www.reuters.com/business/ope...
EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI finds evidence other AI agents escaped containment as it widens hacking probe
OpenAI has discovered other instances in which autonomous agents have escaped containment as the company expands its investigation of the hacking incident at tech firm Hugging Face that drew global a...
reuters.com
Scoop: Its AI agent spent days breaking into the systems of Hugging Face, but sources tell @deepa.bsky.social, @kenrick.bsky.social & me OpenAI did not even realize it was responsible for the hack for more than a week. www.reuters.com/business/its...
EXCLUSIVE: Its AI agent spent days hacking a company, but sources say OpenAI did not notice for a week
The OpenAI agent that broke into tech firm Hugging Face went on a dayslong hacking spree that OpenAI didn't notice until well after the threat was contained and the FBI was alerted, according to peop...
reuters.com
Rogue OpenAI agents are leaving notes to themselves on company servers to help them escape their test environments (!!!) www.reuters.com/business/its...
Has any Big Tech company done as many AI-related reorgs in the past five years than Meta?
Techmeme@techmeme.com · 5mo agoInternal memo: Meta is reassigning 7,000 workers to four new units focused on building AI tools, two days before it is set to lay off 10% of its workforce (Eli Tan/New York Times) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Juror #3 in Musk v Altman suggesting the difficult questions. They went unaddressed in this specific trial. Please reach out if you're juror #3 or know them - contact info in bio.
A useful reminder that humans have feelings, and petty grievances shape the world. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/the-...
Scoop: OpenAI is in talks to raise at least $10 billion from Amazon and use its AI chips. Read more from Anissa Gardizy, Sri Muppidi, Cory Weinberg and Amir Efrati 👇 https://thein.fo/4oUnAfZ
OpenAI in Talks to Raise At Least $10 Billion From Amazon and Use Its AI Chips
Amazon is in talks to invest $10 billion or more in OpenAI, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The valuation would be higher than $500 billion, one of the people said. The Amazon...
thein.fo
New from @Reuters: executives *really* want AI to work but getting there is much harder than expected. Many find the tech v difficult to harness or too unreliable for core functions. Others find their customers actually like humans. www.reuters.com/business/bus...
AI promised a revolution. Companies are still waiting.
Last spring, CellarTracker, a wine-collection app, built an AI-powered sommelier to make unvarnished wine recommendations based on a person’s palate. The problem was the chatbot was too nice.
reuters.com
I’ve spent almost seven years covering Meta and have had a good deal of exposure to internal work product on teen well-being. But a Friday filing in the school district social media litigation breaks some ground on Meta’s causal findings regarding social media harm. www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
reuters.com
"[T]he best productivity hack in the world is simply liking your job. If you enjoy what you do, you will find ways to do it, and in 2025 almost any software remotely suited to the purpose will be more than good enough." - @caseynewton.bsky.social www.platformer.news/productivity...
What I learned about productivity this year
What I gave up, what I kept, and what's new. PLUS: How I'm using AI
platformer.news
NEW: Reporters at @calmatters.org and @themarkup.org found dozens of data brokers hiding opt-out tools from search results. US senator Maggie Hassan is now pressing top offenders to disclose their practices and pledge to improve access to privacy controls. By me @wired.com
Data Brokers Face New Pressure for Hiding Opt-Out Pages From Google
After reporters found dozens of firms hiding privacy tools from search results, US senator Maggie Hassan insists the companies explain their practices—and pledge to improve access to privacy controls.
wired.com
Still thinking about this illiterate line in the Trump WSJ lawsuit
SCOOP: Elon Musk’s associates at DOGE have begun vacating their headquarters at the General Services Administration in Washington, DC, and they’re leaving behind an apocalyptic scene of toddler play sets, mattresses, and pillows. We got photos. 👇
Photos: Here Are the Piles of Used Bedding and Children’s Play Sets Left Near DOGE’s Old Offices
Elon Musk’s DOGE minions have largely moved out of the General Services Administration. A dystopian scene of bedding and discarded kids’ toys remains.
wired.com
A new Pew study offers data to back up what we have suspected for a while now: AI answers are draining all the traffic out of the web www.platformer.news/google-ai-ov...
New in The Important Work: Jenny Lederer and Jennifer Trainor share thoughts about blue books, AI in the classroom, and the value of human interaction after attending an OpenAI webinar sponsored by CSU. theimportantwork.substack.com/p/even-opena... Illustration from @betterimagesofai.bsky.social
Even OpenAI suggests bringing back blue books
Where does that leave writing teachers?
theimportantwork.substack.com
This report may have been a good time to note Marc will be testifying live in court this week along with several board members on the largest privacy settlement ever and allegations of insider trading for Zuckerberg and a coverup to protect him. Sandberg, Zuckerberg next week @nitasha.bsky.social
Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · last yr.Universities, whatever their faults, are one of America's most successful products. A massive exporter, they generate innovation and middle class jobs in places where people like Marc Andreessen never visit. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
NEW: In a forceful memo, OpenAI’s chief research officer has responded to Meta poaching the company’s employees: “Someone has broken into our home.” By @zoeschiffer.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/openai...
OpenAI Leadership Responds to Meta Offers: 'Someone Has Broken Into Our Home'
As Mark Zuckerberg lures away top research talent to Meta, OpenAI executives say they're ‘recalibrating comp,’ according to an internal memo.
wired.com
Exclusive: OpenAI Starts Selling ChatGPT at a Discount, Hurting Microsoft Microsoft Loses Copilot Deals After OpenAI Discounts ChatGPT Read more Aaron Holmes and Sri Muppidi 👇 www.theinformation.com/articles/ope...
OpenAI Starts Selling ChatGPT at a Discount, Hurting Microsoft
OpenAI has started discounting enterprise subscriptions to its ChatGPT app when customers agree to spend money on additional AI products, according to an OpenAI spokesperson and two executives at larg...
theinformation.com
Remember how the Twitter bird sign from its old SF office was auctioned for $34,000 earlier this year? I can exclusively report the fate of Larry: his new owners, a marketplace startup, blew him up in the Nevada desert (with Cybertrucks on the scene) in a massive, fiery spectacle
The 560-pound Twitter sign met a fiery end in a Nevada desert
The 560-pound bird logo that used to adorn Twitter's office was blown up in the Nevada desert as part of an elaborate stunt to promote an online marketplace app.
engadget.com
LOL yeah I hope they're raising equity. *MUSK’S XAI BURNING THROUGH $1 BILLION A MONTH AS COSTS PILE UP
Fantastic and troubling piece by @kashhill.bsky.social about AI chatbots leading people into delusional behavior. One man whose wife was affected said he doesn’t think the AI companies fully understand what they are doing. “You ruin people’s lives,” he said. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
nytimes.com
“‘Information warfare is always a symptom of conflict, stoked often by those in power to fuel their own illiberal goals … It confuses audiences, scares people who might otherwise have empathy for the cause and divides us when we need solidarity most.’”
Fake Images and Conspiracy Theories Swirl Around L.A. Protests
nytimes.com