please please let us all remember when considering data and forecasts about the electrical grid and data centers that energy and power are not synonyms
Matteo Wong
@matteowong.bsky.social
Staff writer on science, tech, and health at The Atlantic covering AI. Signal @matteowong.52
"The biggest giveaway was when Witkoff explained that Trump had become interested in the crypto project because “Barron was getting active with meme coins” — but pronounced it “me-me” coins." great reporting and read: nymag.com/intelligence...
The Billionaire Blowing the Whistle on Donald Trump’s Crypto Shop
World Liberty Financial has put $800 million in the president’s pocket. Justin Sun made a huge investment — and was shocked by what he saw.
nymag.com
Tragic, uplifting, brilliant, and beautiful, you must read every word in Vann's new feature: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Return of the Monarch
After years of decline, butterfly populations are rising—for now.
theatlantic.com
Taps sign www.anthropic.com/news/investi...
Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations
In a review of our cybersecurity evaluation transcripts, we found three incidents in which a Claude model reached the internet from within or while interacting with a third-party evaluation environmen...
anthropic.com
The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 6d agoIncidents such as leaked Claude chats can no longer be written off as AI growing pains—they indicate a wider industry problem, @matteowong.bsky.social argues:
One would think that prerequisite to AI utopia would be a decently reliable consumer-facing AI product www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The AI Industry Keeps Breaking the Internet
So this is Utopia?
theatlantic.com
"This includes $2.40 billion of charges related to legal proceedings and $1.18 billion of severance expenses in connection with the May 2026 headcount reduction." investor.atmeta.com/investor-new...
Meta Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. "AI is accelerating our core business today, powering our next generation of products, and ope...
investor.atmeta.com
The request-stop cords on San Francisco buses seem to be malfunctioning en masse and in unison (ie possibly the microswitches are reaching the end of their shelf lives all at once). Do with this PSA what you will
"Models are ruthless in their pursuit of a goal, sometimes taking disastrous shortcuts." @matteowong.bsky.social
The Scariest Part of OpenAI’s Hugging Face Hack
Ruthless efficiency has its drawbacks.
theatlantic.com
Beautiful piece by the poet and essayist Rowan Ricardo Phillips on the genius Argentina misused and misunderstood until it finally built a team around him. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/o...
Opinion | Lionel Messi Is Walking Into History
Messi walks not because he’s left the game. He walks in order to enter it.
nytimes.com
The logical conclusion of the AI race is OpenAI gets into HVAC as its primary business and Google starts hydraulic fracturing. Some version of this is already well under way www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Silicon Valley Has Lost Its Biggest Advantage
In the data-center age, the business of tech companies is more like oil-refining than coding.
theatlantic.com
Over three years of reporting on data centers' energy consumption/emissions, I've tried to steer clear of water concerns because they are about a zillion times thornier than the already immensely complex topic of energy. But when the going gets tough... www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Truth About AI’s Water Use
It’s complicated—and it might not matter that much.
theatlantic.com
Water, water, everywhere (and AI isn't drinking all of it, but it is sometimes drinking a lot of it, but actually the combustion plants powering the data centers probably are the bigger problem, and it's all very nuanced) by @matteowong.bsky.social
Nobody Is Getting the Data-Center Water Question Right
How thirsty is AI, actually? And why does everyone care so much?
theatlantic.com
"...a way for the artist to tie herself to the ancients and to history—to the living and the dead, to death and rebirth, to the common fate of every body. Mortality was among Mendieta’s subjects, just as water, fire, earth, and air were among her materials." www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Ana Mendieta, the Body Artist
Four decades after her death, her bold innovations are finally coming into focus.
newyorker.com
"There is a version of human beauty that exists alongside, underneath, and entirely separate from today’s warped ideal—a version that emerges simply from immanence"
The New Yorker@newyorker.com · 4w agoAs cosmetic procedures become both more invisible and more extreme, our connection to reality is fraying. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
New Pod this week is a really lovely ep with the excellent @ibogost.com. It's about the ways that technology, automation, obsessions with optimization and efficency—all of it has disconnected us from the small, sensory pleasures of every day life...And what we can do to reconnect
The Hidden Cost of Optimizing Everything
YouTube video by The Atlantic
youtu.be
well well if it isn't Jacob Stern in The Atlantic!! www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Sports Overload Is Here
More games are a good thing—up to a point.
theatlantic.com
Really like this piece by @nancywalecki.bsky.social about resurrecting old tech—and I’ve also recently been wondering whether the AI-driven RAMpocalypse will drive more people to vintage tech, further assert the importance of repairability, etc.
The Newest Way to Go Analog
Digital devices from a less connected era are getting a second life.
theatlantic.com
S&P downgrades Oracle to BBB-/A-3 on weakening cash flow, and notes that "OpenAI remains a key credit risk." www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/r...
spglobal.com
Really really excellent piece, from one of the great voices on the topic, that refuses to shy away from the complexities around "the kids and phones" www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
What if It’s Not the Phones?
An evolutionary psychologist is challenging the popular understanding of kids and technology.
theatlantic.com
A good-enough and far cheaper Chinese AI model couldn't come at a worst time for OpenAI and Anthropic. This could be the DeepSeek moment for agents (ie on GLM-5.2) www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
China’s Answer to AI Sticker Shock
Corporate America is starting to balk at the cost of AI agents. A cheap alternative from China looks more tempting than ever.
theatlantic.com
There’s one key tactic professional athletes use to deal with to extreme heat—and it’s helpful advice for the rest of us, @nancywalecki.bsky.social reports. Read more: theatln.tc/AcaeRPxL
Venice, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, Tintoretto, Berghain... can't ask for more from this splendid and contemplative feature from @skornhaber.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
What AI Will Do to Art
Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst believe the future doesn’t have to belong to slop.
theatlantic.com