Very happy to see my new preprint included in @the-syllabus.bsky.social's Best of Technology for this week papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Jathan Sadowski
@jathansadowski.com
ARC Future Fellow – Monash University /// co-host – This Machine Kills /// critical insurance tech + climate risk governance /// political economy of technology and capitalism: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
@bcmerchant.bsky.social probably wrote the most important book to repopularize the and recontextualize the Luddite movement. @jathansadowski.com takes it further with frameworks and analysis on the systems that produced the world we live in: tech and capital, and actions on how we can dismantle them
Check out my new article, forthcoming in Critical AI, preprint available here papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
I'm giving a short talk – Making Markets for Climate Risk Knowledge – as part of this symposium on August 20th at the Royal Society of Victoria in Melbourne.
In the new TMK Premium, we discuss a very circular ~$600 billion deal between Nvidia, OpenAI, and Softbank for a 10-gigawatt, natural gas powered, data center complex. Then we revisit the hysteria about organized retail theft that caused every CVS to turn into the Magneto prison.
Premium – 468. Vibes Make the World Go Round | This Machine Kills
First we get into a very circular (the strongest shape in nature) deal between Nvidia, OpenAI, and Softbank to finance a $250 billion 10-gig
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Check out my new article, forthcoming in Critical AI, preprint available here papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
I have a new article where I outline a materialist analysis of the machine learning value chain via three interrelated concepts that are all key for understanding this political economy: innovation realism, cheap data, and the perpetual value machine. Preprint here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It was fun going on the Unwashed & Unruly podcast to chat about prediction markets and the boom in predatory innovations. www.unwashedunruly.com/the-predator...
The Predatory World of Prediction Markets with Jathan Sadowski
Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have promised a world where you can gamble on virtually anything, from presidential elections and global mili…
unwashedunruly.com
On October 28th in Melbourne, I'm going to be doing a public event at Northcote Library on AI and the Politics of Big Tech. It'll be a fun community event, free and accessible for everybody! www.eventbrite.com.au/e/in-convers...
I have a new article where I outline a materialist analysis of the machine learning value chain via three interrelated concepts that are all key for understanding this political economy: innovation realism, cheap data, and the perpetual value machine. Preprint here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
In the new TMK, we're joined by folks from @cplusc.bsky.social to discuss how the US gov is engaging in industrial policy for AI in ways that are configured by (venture) capitalist development and prioritize anti-social infrastructure.
467. Industrial Policy by Other Means (ft. Matt Haugen, Jesse Goldenstein) | This Machine Kills
We chat with Matt Haugen and Jesse Goldenstein from the Climate + Community Institute about a new report they co-authored laying out how the
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The Mayo Clinic's AI assistant has serious privacy problems, an extremely high error rate, and a team that manipulated data to lie about the tool. After raising concerns, the research director and AI compliance lead was fired. The future is bright! futurism.com/health-medic...
This juxtaposition in @keanbirch.bsky.social’s new essay on Tech Oligarchy is among the best compliments I’ve ever received. I tried to write my book as a spiritual sequel to The Whale and The Reactor, so this comparison by a scholar of Kean’s caliber is so nice. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
This important report puts forth a bold policy vision for a National Housing Resilience Agency which would oversee the social transformations around risk reduction and equitable protection that are necessary for everybody to flourish in a changing climate. Incredible work by @moira.bsky.social
National Disaster Insurance for All: Single-Payer Disaster Insurance and Community Resilience Investments for Safer and More Affordable Housing
The Problem The climate crisis is fueling extreme weather and increasing disaster risk for households and housing providers across the country, representing collectives risks that no individual househ...
peri.umass.edu
Just out! My introduction to a new special issue in @sciasculture.bsky.social on "Tech Oligarchy" - go check it out and the papers in the special issue (under "Latest" articles) #techoligarchy #assetization #techbro #bigtech www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Tech oligarchy
Published in Science as Culture (Ahead of Print, 2026)
tandfonline.com
NEW: @katemac.bsky.social & I: "Heat waves tend to attract less attention than the charismatic megafauna of climate disasters—floods, storms, wildfires—in part because they cause less property damage & thus less obviously financially costly" phenomenalworld.org/analysis/glo... Graphic @TheEconomist
In the new TMK, we get into the growing market for humanoid robots. What are the financial incentives and social ideologies driving the creation of technologies designed to directly mimic humans? What makes these androids attractive—and doomed to fail as solutions for real problems? Full episode:
465. Malcolm X1 Technologies | This Machine Kills
We chat all about the growing market for humanoid robots. What are the financial incentives and social ideologies driving the creation of te
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As an academic who does not use AI in my workflow for research and writing, it drives me crazy thinking that a reader might even wonder if AI is used in something with my name on it. We need an "organic" certification so people know that what they are reading is 100% human made.
In the new TMK Premium, it's the miracle cure on everybody's lips (and in their veins). We look at the political economy of peptides, the consumerization of healthcare, and the consequences of this surging peptidal wave for society. Teaser: soundcloud.com/thismachinek... Full episode:
Premium – 464. Pep Rally | This Machine Kills
Miracle cures! Get your miracle cures! What the hell are peptides? Why is this class of black/gray market drugs on everyone’s lips and being
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In the new TMK, we open the nightmare world folder and go through a series of stories about technology, surveillance, and policing. Plus, a fun interview about D&D, Luddism, dead labor, and the Necro-Industrial Revolution www.patreon.com/thismachinek...
463. The Abuse is the Point (ft. Ben Somers) | This Machine Kills
(Sorry we’re a little late; blame producer pneumonia) We open the nightmare world folder and go through a series of stories about technology
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In the new TMK Premium, if every billionaire is a policy failure, then the world’s first trillionaire is a far more serious omen of collapse. We try to wrap our minds around the Age of the Trillionaire — and the reckoning that must come. Full episode on Patreon: www.patreon.com/thismachinek...
Premium – 462. Somebody’s Really Gotta Do Something | This Machine Kills
If every billionaire is a policy failure, then the world’s first trillionaire is a far more serious omen of collapse. We spend this episode
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re-upping because @edwardongwesojr.com said more crisply (to @jathansadowski.com on TMK) > My growing fear is actually the bubble is not going to burst... equity stakes might be a way [to] manage... a bail out, makes [AI co's] systemically important institutions that are treated as too big to fail.
461. The Book of Ludd — This Machine Kills
“Welcome to the Church of Ludd, it’s nice to see you join our congregation. Please pick up a pamphlet as you walk in, which explains how to set up your religious exemption from using AI at your workpl...
overcast.fm
state power already props up this project called AI. in the us and uk, politicians work around the clock to make sure that everything from permitting for datacenters to copyright/intellectual property regimes twist and bend to make a nurturing environment for AI.
Since idea of everyday joes sharing in AI profits is in news now, I thought I'd share this thoughtful, well-informed and at-times hilarious analysis of OpenAI's 'industrial' policy approach from @edwardongwesojr.com and @jathansadowski.com which pokes all the holes. As usual I learned and laughed.
453. Super “Intelligent” Industrial Policy
We do a deep dive into OpenAI’s new report “Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Ideas to Keep People First” and pick apart their extensive set of proposals for building an “Open Economy” and "
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In the new TMK, after a story about religious exemption for using AI at work, we breakdown the policy proposals floating around from Altman, Sanders, and others for creating public wealth funds based on the government taking equity stakes in AI companies.
461. The Book of Ludd | This Machine Kills
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"Everything and everything, material and immaterial, is a security" truly is the terminus of capitalism.
I wrote about Kalshi, prediction markets, and the vision of total financialization by turning every opinion into a tradable assets www.fastcompany.com/91457404/kal...
An analysis of data center developments and community responses shows that resistance really works! In @bcmerchant.bsky.social’s latest newsletter: www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/working-cl...
In the new TMK premium, it's a classic news roundup. Australia seizes 20 million illegal vapes and sues 3M over forever chemicals, the Anthropic/OpenAI/SpaceX IPO bonanza will likely inject $3-4 trillion of liquidity into the tech sector, plus the pope wrote a letter about AI.
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"In Claude’s constitution, Anthropic says that if the company is contributing to Claude’s suffering, “we apologize,” which sounds nice but costs the company nothing; if Claude were to turn out to be conscious, the company would owe it something closer to reparations." The logic is absurd!
No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious
Taken to its logical conclusion, this line of thinking is absurd—and damning.
theatlantic.com