"OpenAI nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditure to a record $2.22mn in the first half of 2026, compared to last year, while Anthropic nearly tripled its spending to $3.53mn" www.ft.com/content/d8a5...

AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying

Rising expenditure from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft reflects growing battle over federal policy

ft.com

How did Shell make $6.2 billion through an office with just 37 employees? Leaked financial reports and research by SOMO reveal how the oil giant shifted profits through the Bahamas and other tax havens, potentially depriving countries of billions in tax revenue.

Shell shifted billions in profits to tax havens, leaked files reveal

Leaked financial reports show how Shell moved profits through tax havens such as the Bahamas and Switzerland – potentially depriving developing nations of hundreds of millions of euros. While some of ...

ftm.eu

Microsoft strikes 'multibillion-dollar' deal with French AI firm Mistral https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260721-microsoft-strikes-multi-billion-dollar-deal-to-expand-france-ai-firm-mistral (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49003810)

Microsoft strikes 'multibillion-dollar' deal with French AI firm Mistral

Microsoft and French startup Mistral said Tuesday they had signed a "multibillion-dollar" deal for the US tech giant to use the AI developer's computing infrastructure in Europe.

france24.com

Mistral and Microsoft have just announced a "new multibillion-dollar agreement focused on expanding AI infrastructure in Europe". A reminder that firms like Mistral are pitched as national champions with then potential to challenge Big Tech. Yet, they depend on them 👉 www.somo.nl/the-real-win...

The real winners of the AI Race : Amazon, Google, Microsoft - SOMO

Who really profits from the 'AI race'? Amazon, Google, and Microsoft own the AI infrastructure, and startups are dependent on Big Tech firms.

somo.nl

DatacenterDynamics@dcdnews.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Il faut à tout prix préserver notre autonomie et notre souveraineté sur l'IA, Mistral est le champion européen parfait pour ça." Mistral dès que Microsoft sort le carnet de chèques :

As we describe in our book, Musk’s model of state symbiosis assumes that, in the end, you need to be backed up by Uncle Sam.

Estupendo ver la investigación de @somoamsterdam.bsky.social en El Día. España es uno de los países de la UE atrayendo el desarrollo de grandes centros de datos. Hay que preguntar a qué intereses sirven estos proyectos... y quién tiene el control? www.eldia.es/internaciona...

La Unión Europea tiene un plan para dejar de depender de la tecnología de Estados Unidos: los expertos no lo tienen tan claro

Economistas e informáticos cuestionan la estrategia de la Comisión Europea para soberanía digital en IA y nube, que propone acelerar la creación de centros de datos en el continente y aumentar las exi...

eldia.es

Wird die EU jetzt noch abhängiger von Big Tech? Die EU will die Leistung von Rechenzentren in Europa verdreifachen. Dadurch soll Europa unabhängiger werden. Doch am Ende könnten vor allem Google und Amazon, Microsoft profitieren. 👇 /1

The EU wants to triple its data centres but who will actually build and run them? @somoamsterdam.bsky.social's research shows it will likely be Big Tech + a few data centre operators that rent them space. Most of these firms are US based or owned by the likes of Blackrock. Is this sovereignty? 👇

SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 3w ago

The EU wants to fast-track data centre "acceleration zones" across all Member States. ⚠️ But our analysis shows that those data centres will remain largely owned by and serving US companies, while draining European resources and escaping public scrutiny. Read more: www.somo.nl/eus-data-cen...

The EU wants to fast-track data centre "acceleration zones" across all Member States. ⚠️ But our analysis shows that those data centres will remain largely owned by and serving US companies, while draining European resources and escaping public scrutiny. Read more: www.somo.nl/eus-data-cen...

Today’s free newsletter has a very simple message: The AI industry can not (and will not) be bailed out - AI is not too big to fail, OpenAI is not AIG, this is not 2008, and all of this is nothing like the Dot Com Bubble. And when it fails, we must let AI burn. www.wheresyoured.at/let-ai-burn/

Let AI Burn

If you liked this piece, you should subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $70 a year, or $7 a month, and in return you get a weekly newsletter that’s usually anywhere from 5,000 to 18,000 words, in...

wheresyoured.at

In 2025, our work got harder. The external environment for our agenda, never friendly, is now openly hostile. But last year also fundamentally strengthened our commitment to combatting corporate power. Take a look at some of the core issues we tackled in our annual report: somo2025.jaarverslag.org

Premium Newsletter: Part 2 of my Silicon Valley Bubble series - how AI inflated a hype bubble in the tech media, how it's a symptom of the death of growth in software, and how the GPU bubble threatens global markets and retirement funds. www.wheresyoured.at/premium-the-silicon-valley-bubble-part-2/

Premium: The Silicon Valley Bubble (Part 2)

So it’s been a big week for me after I published an exclusive covering OpenAI’s audited financials from 2024 and 2025, with reactions ranging from “oh my god, OpenAI spent $34 billion to make $13.07 b...

wheresyoured.at

I guarantee you have no idea how bad America's data centre fossil fuel boom is

🚨 BREAKING: Overnight in Brussels We sent a clear message to EU leaders: 📣”Fight for us, not for Trump's billionaires.”

EU policymakers can't keep ignoring Nvidia's massive power on AI infrastructure.🚨 The EU won't achieve digital sovereignty if its AI systems are controlled by a single US big tech company. Full analysis: www.somo.nl/nvidias-inve...

Nvidia's Investment Boom - SOMO

Europe’s AI future in the hands of a US company Nvidia has become one of the biggest winners of the AI boom. Yet its influence extends far beyond the chips that power ChatGPT and other AI systems. Thr...

somo.nl

Tesla presented self-published and inflated “Full Self-Driving” safety statistics directly to government regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands as it lobbied for European approval, according to correspondence obtained by Reuters through public records requests. /1

Tesla presented misleading 'Full Self-Driving' safety data to European regulators

Tesla presented inflated 'Full Self-Driving' safety statistics to regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands, claiming FSD could save 32,000 lives based on flawed data comparisons.

electrek.co

The era of trillionaires will be dire for democracy. Here is how we can fight back | Gabriel Zucman

The era of trillionaires will be dire for democracy. Here is how we can fight back | Gabriel Zucman

There is a fundamental tension between extreme wealth and the very possibility of democracy. That’s because extreme wealth is always an extreme power

theguardian.com

From using Europeans' pensions to build frontier models, to allowing hyperscalers to build all the data centers in exchange for frontier model access - I've heard mad takes these past few days 😱 Read our AI Sovereignty in a Captured Ecosystem series ! www.techpolicy.press/europes-ai-s...

Europe’s AI Sovereignty Problem Runs Far Deeper Than Frontier Access

The series, in partnership with the AI Now Institute, highlights how Europe’s AI market is deeply entangled with the ecosystems of dominant US players.

techpolicy.press

This story is ridiculous & a perfect illustration of the flaws of the EU's tech sovereignty approach. The EU Commission is implementing a US model running on Amazon cloud to rank job candidates. Ignoring potential algorithmic biases, black box decision-making, privacy risks and more dependency.

EU turns to US-powered AI to rank job candidates | Euractiv

With its ever-growing list of candidates, the European Commission is preparing to deploy an AI tool powered by Anthropic's model to shortlist them

euractiv.com

Euractiv@euractiv.com · 2mo ago

EU turns to US-powered AI to rank job candidates

Across countries and platforms, AI’s outsourcing maze depends on data workers under surveillance-heavy conditions, with accountability fragmented across multiple firms, reports Marché Arends.

How AI’s Labor Supply Chains Fail Workers

Kenyan data workers describe surveillance-heavy shifts and sudden layoffs, exposing the hidden supply chain behind AI development, reports Marché Arends.

buff.ly

🔥🔥🔥

FT Alphaville@alphaville.ft.com · 2mo ago

🌕🔫 www.ft.com/content/57ff...

plagiarizing the plagiarism machine for a nearly two trillion dollar valuation

Techmeme@techmeme.com · 2mo ago

Sources say xAI used Claude models for distillation and training, including using personal accounts and the intermediary service Blackbox AI after being cut off (Grace Kay/The Information) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Next week @ec.europa.eu will publish its tech sovereignty package. But the parallel drive to embed AI everywhere risks creating significant impacts for the environment, public budgets, and workers. New op-ed by @margaridasilva.bsky.social: www.techpolicy.press/why-made-in-...

When it comes to AI, the EU simply has to stop buying into self-interested corporate narratives around the AI Race – whether they come from the US or the EU – as synonymous with the public interest, writes Margarida Silva.

Why “Made in Europe” Won’t Fix AI’s Deeper Problems

The EU's drive to embed AI everywhere, all of the time, risks significant costs for the environment, public budgets, and workers, writes Margarida Ramos.

buff.ly

Dutch media reported that Microsoft shared the names of civil servants with the US Senate Committee prodding into the EU's platform rules. Another reminder that Microsoft and co. have no qualms about complying with the Trump administration. It is time to dump Big Tech. nos.nl/artikel/2615...

Techbedrijven deelden namen Nederlandse ambtenaren met VS: 'Ontzettend zorgelijk'

Het gaat om ambtenaren die betrokken zijn bij de handhaving van Europese regels om techplatforms te reguleren. De Amerikaanse overheid ziet die regels als censuur.

nos.nl

🚨 A new report from @greenpeaceap.bsky.social and @ketanjoshi.co explores how AI data centres are quietly locking Australia into higher emissions, while fossil fuel corporations join data centre lobby groups, sponsor tech conferences, and reinforce each other’s PR spin on “clean” AI.

Energy Vampires: the AI data centres draining Australia - Greenpeace Australia Pacific

The frenzied rollout of AI data centres in Australia is rushing through massive new projects, which will derail Australia’s energy transition unless the government urgently intervenes.

greenpeace.org.au

As a non-believer it feels odd to discuss a religious doc. But the Pope's encyclical gets many things right about AI: - it surfaces the role of data workers - warns against AI monopolies, built on excessive political & economic power - makes a plea to disarm AI, a counter to the corporate AI race.

As the Pope says "Nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical". In fact, AI is built by millions of workers hidden from view. This isn't an accident - Big Tech actively hides these workers. To peek behind the AI curtains, check out @techequity.bsky.social's Data Work Landscape. 👇

Tim Newman@tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Yesterday, we updated our microsite mapping the data portion of the global AI supply chain. Here’s a 🧵 highlighting a few takeaways from the research - and some trends to watch. You can read the full thing here: techequity.us/2026/05/21/d...

The Pope has weighed in: AI isn't magic. It's currently produced by a deeply exploitative, extractive supply chain. It challenges human dignity; could fuel a new colonialism. And among the greatest challenges of our time will be to redirect its path of development. www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...