👇 "If you really want an "AI strategy" for your country, it should be this: wait for the bubble to burst, then buy hardware and talent at fire-sale prices in the wave of ensuing bankruptcies, and use them to extract more performance from free, open source models."

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 2w ago

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: pluralistic.net/2026/07/22/t... 2/

"Give Trump everything he asks for and he'll demand more. Deny Trump anything and he'll demand more. Sign a contract with Trump and he'll break it. Send Trump an invoice and he'll stiff you. For Trump, "the art of the deal" can be summed up in one word: renege."

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 2w ago

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: pluralistic.net/2026/07/22/t... 2/

"If the Mandelson-Streeting-Palantir worldview is fully implemented, perhaps the advice may have to become: "Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly."" docs.google.com/document/d/1... @medconfidential.bsky.social assessment of the none too distant future NHS is intensely depressing

NHS 2028 – The Trajectory of Current Decisions

NHS 2028 – The Trajectory of Current Decisions (from medConfidential) The Health Bill/Act of 2026 is expected to come into force for 2027, creating an all-powerful Department of Health in England whi...

docs.google.com

"Congratulations... Prime Minister. You have inherited an economy that has been quietly wired to serve a handful of dominant US-based technology firms. You also have the rare opportunity to tap into the public mood by curbing their excessive power" www.openrightsgroup.org/app/uploads/...

"the boundless appetites and irrationalities of a small number of billionaires seem increasingly incompatible with the need to maintain a stable civil society" Henry Farrell www.programmablemutter.com/p/the-politi...

The political economy of billionaire derangement

The passions are devouring the interests

programmablemutter.com

On the new PM's plan to abolish the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Tom Loosemore says, "Deckchair shuffling is for the unserious." www.linkedin.com/posts/tomloo...

The FT and Guardian report that the new PM will disband the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSIT), splitting its functions between a beefed-up Department for Business and Trade… | To...

The FT and Guardian report that the new PM will disband the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSIT), splitting its functions between a beefed-up Department for Business and Trade (DBT)...

linkedin.com

"there are some kinds of people who are systematically more likely to succeed in getting their views listened to than other kinds of people" Henry Farrell www.programmablemutter.com/p/noah-smith...

Noah Smith's Review of Power and Progress is Very, Very Bad

It should have been disowned, not republished

programmablemutter.com

"Capital-intensive industries can sustain durable margins, but only by either becoming functionally software or achieving market concentration." @randomwalker.bsky.social www.normaltech.ai/p/up-the-sta...

Up the Stack: How AI’s Escape From the Commodity Trap Risks Enterprise Lock-in

Critics and boosters are both looking in the wrong place

normaltech.ai

I oppose genocide. You'd think that goes without saying. But in Britain today, peaceful action against genocide, alongside groups like Palestine Action, is treated as a crime. This is my speech for the political prisoners. Rally organised by the wonderful @defendourjuries.bsky.social 🎤

"The European Parliament voted on "Chat Control", the regime that lets tech companies scan your private messages. Your chats. Your emails. Your family photos. No suspicion. No warrant. No judge. 314 MEPs voted against. 276 voted for. And it passed." #chatcontrol www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

👇 "when dependence is asymmetric, extractive, and controlling, it harms the whole ecosystem."

Open Rights Group@openrightsgroup.org · 3w ago

Digital sovereignty, if done right, could ensure we have a thriving software ecosystem. Ecological digital sovereignty is where digital systems are diverse, interoperable, locally adaptable, and not controlled by any single point of power. ORG’s James Baker writes for @green-isles.bsky.social ⬇️

The Code of Practice will come into force on the 5th August. Here's what that means: goodlaw.social/3b7a2a

‘Discriminatory’ and ‘unworkable’ trans guidance to come into force | Good Law Project

The equalities minister has ordered the government’s harmful code of practice will apply from 5 August – we’re pushing back

goodlaw.social

The shamelessness of a political party which is led by a man who just weeks ago called for "pure cold rage" on the streets, shortly before migrants were literally burnt out of their homes, now accusing their opponents of "stochastic terrorism" against them, is quite something

Protect children online without making the Internet less secure www.openrightsgroup.org/publications...

Joint Letter: Protect VPNs

Dear Secretary of State, Protect children online without making the Internet less secure Protecting children online is an objective we all share.

openrightsgroup.org

Open Rights Group@openrightsgroup.org · 3w ago

VPNs are key to cybersecurity. They keep young people safe online. Remote working possible. Journalists, activists and whistleblowers protected. Public WiFi use secure. But, parents should talk to children about VPNs and ensure they use a reputable company that protects data. Find out more ⬇️

Protect children online without making the Internet less secure www.openrightsgroup.org/publications... @openrightsgroup.org @bigbrotherwatch.bsky.social @defenddigitalme.bsky.social @indexoncensorship.org @rsf.org et al

Open Rights Group@openrightsgroup.org · 3w ago

Independent research commissioned by DSIT concluded that privacy is the driver behind VPN use, as ORG has long pointed out. Just 7-10% of all British children using a VPN do so to access restricted platforms. Suggestions that VPNs should be restricted to prop up a social media ban are wrong.

The decision to row back on threats to VPN use in the UK comes after ORG and over 20 organisations issued a joint letter yesterday. We warned that requiring users to go through age checks or other restrictions “would undercut the security and privacy of millions, without making children safer.”

Hands off our VPNs, privacy groups tell UK ministers

Mozilla, Proton, Tor warn ministers that targeting the tech risks creating more problems than it solves

theregister.com

VPNs are safe... for now 🛡️ The government backs down on restricting this vital cybersecurity tool. Alongside the announcement of a social media curfew for 16 and 17 year olds comes a win for privacy! Plans to age-gate or restrict VPNs have been dropped, but we're not complacent to future risks.

UK 16- and 17-year-olds to be encouraged to follow midnight social media curfew

Midnight to 6am block on some apps is latest stage of Labour’s bid to protect young people from online harms

theguardian.com

My blog, www.publiclawforeveryone.com, now features "Not by AI" badging. For more information on the Not by AI initiative, see: notbyai.fyi/not-by-ai-90....

Cities across the nation are re-evaluating whether to allow mass surveillance by Flock ALPR cameras. Want to find out whether your local police are using Flock to scan for immigrants targeted by ICE? EFF tells you how. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Are Your Local Police Using Flock Safety ALPRs to Scan for Immigrants?

When a car passes an automated license plate reader (ALPR), its plate is captured and instantly compared against a list of vehicles that police are actively looking for or that police have identified

eff.org

“The deeper theoretical and moral question is whether voice, likeness and persona should be governed primarily as property, or... concepts of dignity, personhood, identity and autonomy... the latter provides the more appropriate starting point” @edinadd.bsky.social www.techradar.com/ai-platforms...

Taylor Swift is trying to protect her voice from AI — but what rights do the rest of us have?

I asked legal experts what rights we really have over our voice

techradar.com

Meta patent for persistent, invasive emotional surveillance image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-pu... Toxic

"If you were...on a...path to creating an all-powerful deity and just needed cash to keep the venture going until the cancer-curing word-guesser awoke from its long slumber, then wouldn't you want as much cash as possible? Why would you...split the take with some sucky...business from before 2022?"

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 3w ago

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: pluralistic.net/2026/07/13/g... 2/

"Every get-rich-quick schemer will tell you that they've found the infinite money hack... they will sell to you for a... reasonable sum... if you can make all the money with your amazing system, why do you need my money? ... What do the AI hucksters buy/ One half so precious as the Gods they sell?"

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 3w ago

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: pluralistic.net/2026/07/13/g... 2/

"As financial, regulatory and reputational pressures increase, governing bodies naturally seek additional assurance. The easiest route is more reporting, more scrutiny and greater involvement in executive activity" profserious.substack.com/p/on-univers... #trust & #goodwill don't feature

On University Governance

… beyond assurance

profserious.substack.com

in september 2024 @ucirvinelaw.bsky.social hosted a symposium asking whether int'l law would survive (we toyed with 'thrive', too optimistic). the journal is out & i've been meaning to direct ppl to it & my foreword. escholarship.org/uc/jitcl & my foreword here: escholarship.org/uc/item/2jx4...

While the AI bubble is primarily a *material* phenomenon (driven by the calculation that bosses are easy marks for a sales pitch for replacing workers with apps), there is an inescapable ideological component to it: the desire for a world without people in it: pluralistic.net/2026/05/13/v... 1/

"the right and left have large, substantive disagreements that are matters of life and death... Mistaking cultural signifiers and identity markers for politics is centrism's most dangerous pathology, the thing that makes centrism the handmaiden of the right."

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 4w ago

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: pluralistic.net/2026/07/08/w... 2/

The far right: screaming about government tyranny and surveillance out of one side of their mouths, whilst investing in it for fun and profit out of the other. This is the company behind the child nudity detection snake oil, the newly converted Jesus freaks who previously courted Prince Andrew.

Martin Calladine@uglygame.bsky.social · 4w ago

Grateful to @alexparsons.bsky.social for discovering that only one MP declares a shareholding in SafeToNet: Restore leader Rupert Lowe, who has held more £70,000 worth of shares since mid-2024. (His name is not on the shareholder list, so he must own them through one of his companies.)

France national team uses ICE deportation planes for World Cup travel www.theguardian.com/football/liv...

World Cup 2026: France v Morocco quarter-final buildup, Collina defends refereeing – live

Join our writers for the latest from the tournament as we begin the countdown towards the first of the quarter-finals

theguardian.com

EU-US Data Transfers in light of the Trump v Slaughter decision noyb.eu/sites/defaul... @noybeu.bsky.social letter to EC Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael Mcgrath and EC Director for Equality and Union Citizenship, Irena Moozova