'A team of Stanford University computer scientists find that SLMs can find the same — or better — answer to the kind of queries that dominate current chat requests almost every time and cut compute and energy costs by between 60 and 80 per cent.' www.ft.com/content/4858...

Listen you sound nuts if you try to explain that a bunch of silicon valley luminaries are involved in a weird cult that started with a harry potter fanfic and that their weird bboard flame war has spilled over into the real world That's absurd is what that is But also... It's true

Three notes: (1) this is not *just* marketing. These guys really do mean it. They are convinced they’ve built a vengeful digital god. (2) but also they’re a cult. They are not impartial scientific experts. (3) and one of the byproduct of their endless confidence is marketing hype.

Alejandra Caraballo@esqueer.net · 5d ago

The alarms are all flashing red.

It keeps doing exactly what they tell it to do, merely in ways they didn’t expect or bother to monitor, and then they rush to the press screaming it “went rogue” and it’s like no man you just literally told it to do a felony and it went ahead and did it for you, and it makes me feel goddamn insane

Colin@colin-fraser.net · 4d ago

I'm having some fun in this thread but I do think you should get in trouble for unleashing insane hacker robots on the open Internet that you've explicitly instructed to attack critical public infrastructure, which, to be clear, it eventually succeeds at.

sorry, but torturing the omelas kid is just a smart move, polling-wise. i personally wish there wasn't a kid in the omelas hole--of course i do!--but let's not get distracted by purity tests, here.

The U.S. ambassador to Canada reposted this

That parts of the internet are already busy being nasty about Dolly Parton of all people shows so starkly how much the snuffing out of any positive, kind, pro-social feeling has become a bedrock, load-bearing industry. If they can’t totally monetize your heart, they’ll happily monetize rotting it.

i wrote this last year but there is literally no publicly available evidence that donald trump knows what a tariff actually is

Peter Sagal@petersagal.bsky.social · 3w ago

In his speech yesterday, Canada PM Mark Carney seemed to try to explain to the President what a “trade deficit” is. You’re not just giving another country 100s of millions of dollars… You’re buying things from them! That you want!

In case you are an academic who is currently being gaslit into believing that you're a caveman who wants their students to be jobless if you resist allowing AI in your classrooms... I present to you Berkeley Law's response, which can be summarized as "Fuck off directly into the sun."

Artificial Intelligence Policy

Effective Summer 2026 Purpose Future lawyers may need to use artificial intelligence (“AI”) fluently. But the current state of the technology requires that AI use be coupled with the cognitive […]

law.berkeley.edu

One thing I wish people would realize is just how central JK Rowling is to the entire anti-trans ecosystem. Looking at a network node analysis of the top 200 anti-trans X accounts, she is the most central figure spanning both sides of the Atlantic from Republicans to Labour.

@vivaciousvandal.bsky.social you have... so many Spotify playlists. So, so many.

The AI stans say this shit all the time too. It's hilarious. As someone who worked in advertising and marketing, it's not this at all. In fact, the marketing is the ONLY reason they're getting traction at all with such a flawed product. Ad firms pay the Scorseses for those testimonials, etc

nilay patel@reckless.bsky.social · last mo.

I love that AI companies are all like "we just have a marketing problem" when regular people are having AI experiences like this all over the place every single day

Truly one of my all time faves.

Colin Smith@colinsmith.bsky.social · last mo.

In 2007’s Wizard Extra, Alan Moore offered a few words about his choice of classic characters for The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which were printed with typically splendid art by his LOEG collaborator Kevin O’Neill.

Miller is a piece of shit. But be cautious about calling family photos of nude toddlers "CSAM." I've written about lives ruined over allegations that turned out to be harmless photos of kids taking a bath or running naked through the house. Moreno is already calling for prosecutions, here.

Max Miller’s lawyer admits to accidentally releasing ‘private images’ of daughter

Lawyers for ex-wife Emily Moreno said possible “Child Sexual Abuse Material” was included in a trove of documents the Ohio lawmaker publicly posted.

politico.com

How I grok your mouth music

Chuck Tingle@chucktingle.bsky.social · 2mo ago

YOULL NEVER TAKE MY EM DASH

[Homer sits backwards on a chair] let me tell you about ANOTHER giant brute who was being beaten by Nobody

I have a fat pampered cat who thinks he’s very fierce & brave. He’s always trying to get outside to take on the world But when he does escape, he instantly realizes he’s a fluffy spoilt dummy who’s prepared to handle nothing & begs to come back So anyway, that’s what’s happening with the Iran War.

This is a really good dissection of why MN's anti-nudifying-app law is a great policy goal but a very poorly written actual law

Techdirt@techdirt.com · 2mo ago

The Worst Person You Know Just Filed A Good First Amendment Lawsuit Against A Very Badly Drafted Nudify App Ban There's been a bunch of news this... https://www.techdirt.com/2026/07/30/the-worst-person-you-know-just-filed-a-good-first-amendment-lawsuit-against-a-very-badly-drafted-nudify-app-ban/

when we said “bring back shame” this is exactly what we meant none of these assholes should be allowed to buy coffee in peace

𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭 🩷@jastuart68.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Watching ICE agents literally run away from a Mount Laurel Starbucks without their coffee because the neighborhood completely rejected them is pure gold. South Jersey will make you unwelcome every single time you show your faces.

ME: b-but Reverend Mother, we mustn’t, what if Shai Hulud hears the rhythm of our prayer and comes here and devours me?? MY DOMINATRIX: …I’m sorry can you explain all this again please

"Ben owns a farm. He employs 100 workers. His total payroll is $10 million/year. One day, he buys a mule, which provides the worker who uses it with a modest 10% productivity gain. Ben fires 99 of his workers and purchases 99 mules, expecting a 1,000% productivity gain..."

AI Economics for Dummies

“Xavier owns an apartment that he rents out at a loss of $1 billion/month. Seeing this success, he decides to make financial commitments to construct $850 bi...

buff.ly

Seeing the Peter Serafinowicz Harry Potter announcement just made me think, once again, about this excellent James Acaster bit from Off Menu.

Matthew Dow Smith@matthewdowsmith.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hey, UK acting people, it would be great if you just came out and said you were totally cool with transphobia instead of making us all wait for the slow trickle of casting announcements for projects with the very openly transphobic lady to know that you suck.

Next week, McDonald's is bringing back the FRIED APPLE PIE for the first time in over three decades (at least here in the States). I know I'll be first in line to grab one of these - prepping my mouth for extreme burns already! (1986 packaging depicted below)

We regret to announce that the following acts will not be appearing as announced at Americapalooza on account of our not having gotten their permission to list them and also them saying we are Nazi scum: 1/23

every one of these folks should be primaried unconscionable betrayal of their constituents

Alejandra Caraballo@esqueer.net · 4mo ago

These 8 Democrats voted to pass a national ban on trans teachers and mention of LGBTQ topics. Rep Henry Cuellar (TX) Rep. Don Davis (NC) Rep. Cleo Fields (LA) Rep. Laura Gillen (NY) Rep. Vicente González (TX) Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH) Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA) Rep. Eugene Vindman (VA)

I've known Cat for *mumblety* years now and if there's one thing I know about her, it's her unyielding commitment to hatred*. *of Ashley from Mass Effect

Catherynne M. Valente@catvalente.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Hey fun story I’ve been pilloried for two years for continuing to watch & talk about Eurovision despite the boycott… …and now I’m a racist & a monster, not for saying I won’t watch or vote, but just saying I won’t make a bunch of jokes & link to my books. MAKES SENSE TO ME!

Good morning