AI "is...a superstructure that merges regressive politics with unchecked economic power in the guise of technological innovation. Put simply, there is too much money, some of it too untraceable, giving a small group of unelected people too much power over the people." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/o...

Opinion | Want to Fight Back Against Big Tech? Start Here.

A.I. is a political theory. And it is gobbling up our democracy.

nytimes.com

I wrote this piece on @markwarner.bsky.social AI AGENT Act a few weeks ago. @datasociety.bsky.social critique of "human oversight fallacy" + reward hacking incidents demonstrate need for agentic monitoring and freedom to deploy faithful agents.

Richard Reisman@rreisman.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Masterfully insightful report by @ellgood.bsky.social on this essential direction - the AI AGENT Act. Thanks to @justinhendrix.bsky.social & @techpolicypress.bsky.social for publishing it & @markwarner.bsky.social for valiantly reviving & extending the vison of his ACCESS Act bill to AI.

Masterfully insightful report by @ellgood.bsky.social on this essential direction - the AI AGENT Act. Thanks to @justinhendrix.bsky.social & @techpolicypress.bsky.social for publishing it & @markwarner.bsky.social for valiantly reviving & extending the vison of his ACCESS Act bill to AI.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“If recommendation algorithms gave online platforms the ability to control what people see online, agentic AI offers them an opportunity to control what people do.” Rutgers law professor Ellen P. Goodman considers Sen. Mark Warner's draft AI AGENT Act and details obstacles to its implementation.

“…we need …a populist A.I. agenda that treats the technology as a public project. Just as NASA made space a national mission rather than a private one, the government should now do the same for A.I. to ensure that its benefits reach the public, not just the companies building it.”

New York Times Opinion@nytopinion.nytimes.com · 2mo ago

Fears around A.I., from parents to policymakers, “are not irrational,” Eric Schmidt and Selina Xu write. “People are asking a simple question: Will A.I. make my life better, or make it worse?”

We Can’t Let My Former Venture Capital Colleagues Buy Off Our Democracy: "A.I...could concentrate economic power in ways that would make the Gilded Age look quaint." - the billionaires hope you won't stop them. via @jofarrell.bsky.social formerly @ Andreessen Horowitz www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/o...

Opinion | We Can’t Let My Former Venture Capital Colleagues Buy Off Our Democracy

nytimes.com

Important call on preserving free speech in Western democracies, via @mchangama.bsky.social in @foreignaffairs.com. www.foreignaffairs.com/europe/end-o...

The End of the Open Internet

Europe lost the plot on online speech.

foreignaffairs.com

Took a decade, but gravity is taking hold of the streaming wars & the insanity of all-you-can-eat subscriptions to limited menus. Via @nytimes.com Viewers don’t want streaming services, they want whatever shows they want, as I have been suggesting for >1 decade. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/b...

Streaming Services Tie Up to Keep You Hooked

nytimes.com

8 years ago, WaPo published this sentence: “It has become standard operating procedure for Trump and his aides to deceive the public with false statements and shifting accounts.” I have thought about that. presswatchers.org/2026/05/jour...

Journalists who write about Trump really need to start adding disclaimers | Press Watch

With a few words that simply state the obvious, news outlets could help their readers understand why all this is happening

presswatchers.org

Iranian doctors treating badly disfigured Ayatollah Khomeini

This is a long listen but it's worth it. Perhaps a better headline is, can third party software break the grip of big social. @bsky.app gets a run thanks to comments by @rreisman.bsky.social 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Knight First Amendment Institute@knightcolumbia.org · 6mo ago

⬇️ Kicking off at 9:00am ET. Tune in to our half-day convening Can Middleware Save Social Media? Livestream: www.youtube.com/live/m8_rOeg...

Can Middleware Save Social Media? Very happy to be part of this outstanding 3/27 event by @knightcolumbia.org, now at YouTube. Where we are & why, & where we might be going, as #Middleware opens social media platforms to better serve individuals & society. www.youtube.com/live/m8_rOeg...

Can Middleware Save Social Media?

YouTube video by Knight First Amendment Institute

youtube.com

Can Middleware Save Social Media? 9:15AM – 10:00AM ET Join @daphnek.bsky.social @rreisman.bsky.social and moderator @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social for Panel 1. RSVP: bit.ly/3P3Uf6M

My comment explains why this common critique of Bluesky as just “lib Twitter” is totally misguided and short-sighted. (More on that on my blog.) www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Bluesky raises $100M but faces a messy reality

The social media platform is making a big bet on open protocol.

washingtonpost.com

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “It is safe to say that no one anticipated the spontaneous upsurge of neighboring that exploded in the Twin Cities and eventually forced Trump into a humiliating withdrawal,” Thomas Friedman writes after time back in his old hometown, Minneapolis.

Opinion | Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future

Moms donating their breast milk to strangers, dads taking someone else’s kids to school: Minnesotans showed a basic human impulse to look out for their neighbors.

nyti.ms

Donald Trump’s politics depends on the strength that comes from winning. If he seems a loser, expect him to exact retribution. A weaker president could become a more dangerous one. Go beyond the headline. Register to read this article for free econ.st/4t26IXm

Thanks for sharing your insights.

“I miss believing we are not like them.”

Richard Reisman@rreisman.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Makes one think twice about those who continue to support MAGA. …And for those who do not, how “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.” (gift article from The New York Times): www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/o...

Wasn’t it called “the banality of evil?” It’s growing here.

🗯️ Can #middleware save social media? Join @noupside.bsky.social, @nadinefj.bsky.social, @lehogg.bsky.social, @daphnek.bsky.social, @ryanheadedsouth.bsky.social, @rreisman.bsky.social, @oliviersylvain.bsky.social, @ethanz.bsky.social, @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social to discuss. RSVP: bit.ly/3P3Uf6M

“Was you ever bit by a dead Ayatollah? They can sting you just as bad as if they was alive…Specially if they was kind of mad when they got killed.” (Walter Brennan to Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not)

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 6mo ago

Trump was told by his top general that a war with Iran risked closing the Strait of Hormuz. He went ahead anyway.

Very pleased to be speaking at this event on the broad importance of Interoperability as a Design Principle for the Digital Economy -- at NYU Stern School of Business with Ioannis Lianos, Nicholas Economides, and Christos Makridis.

Knight First Amendment Institute@knightcolumbia.org · 7mo ago

🗓️ THIS MONTH: On Friday 3/27, @knightcolumbia.org & @oliviersylvain.bsky.social will host a half-day event on the future of middleware. Speakers: @noupside.bsky.social, @daphnek.bsky.social, @ethanz.bsky.social, @lukehogg.bsky.social, @rreisman.bsky.social. RSVP: knightcolumbia.org/events/can-m...

Thanks @frankfukuyama.bsky.social, for pointing the way to the end of misunderstanding history — as too many do, including many of our top leaders.

Francis Fukuyama@frankfukuyama.bsky.social · 7mo ago

What “Western Civilization” Really Means open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." The grimly hopeful story of Ukraine — and if we do not help, it may soon become our turn. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/o...

Opinion | When Will This War End? The Question Is Meaningless.

nytimes.com

Red alert! Midterms under threat, some measures to safeguard the vote, via @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social @nytimes.com

David French@davidfrenchjag.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Yes, a corrupt president may pardon the crooks who act on his behalf, but a modest change in the law could give them pause. Violating civil rights should carry a profound cost, and the message to the Trump administration must be clear: Protect the integrity of the election, or we will make you pay.

"The Attachment Economy Is Here. We’re Not Ready." via @humanetech.bsky.social It defines a whole new level of AI threat to consumers, beyond attention and intention, to “attachment.” It could take the idea of “relationship commerce” to a new dimension of abuse. open.substack.com/pub/centerfo...

The Attachment Economy Is Here. We’re Not Ready.

Key Takeaways from Our Conversation with Dr. Zak Stein

open.substack.com

"This is Not a Drill" - scary and very real. @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social, "I’ll try to describe what can be done to stop him — aside from simply hoping and praying that his lawlessness has limits other than his own morality — but a nation won’t rouse itself if it doesn’t hear the alarm." Please do!

David French@davidfrenchjag.bsky.social · 8mo ago

"A president who doesn’t care about the law, who commands an obedient Congress and is supported by a radicalized base of tens of millions of people who believe his lies, represents a threat to the next election. I fear that millions of citizens are still too complacent."

Europe’s taking a leading role because US big tech & “government” are destroying society. Truly “social” media are fighting this from elsewhere. Join in, reverse the big tech train wreck, rebuild this sorry scheme of things nearer the heart’s desire. #FreeOurFeeds! open.substack.com/pub/newpubli...

🇪🇺🌐 The future of social media may be decided in Europe

A survey of European AT Protocol projects, including 4 mini case-studies

open.substack.com

Can it be that the real savior of American democracy against ICE thuggery is not constitutional checks and balances, but popular outrage bred by 250 years of life under the Bill of Rights? (...unlike how Weimar Germans accepted brownshirt thuggery)

The Economist@economist.com · 8mo ago

Thousands of city residents in Minneapolis have organised to exchange information about ICE raids. Their tactics appear to be hampering federal agents

Conservative, liberal, or head in the sand - if you value your freedom, you need to read this, look around (beyond your echo chambers and comfort zones), and act - before it is too late! Via @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social.

David French@davidfrenchjag.bsky.social · 8mo ago

President Trump is stress-testing American law, and the law is failing the test. The health of the American experiment rests far more on the integrity of any given American president than we realized. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/o...

The real AI extinction threat, and far more imminent — the extinction of society. Yes, “absolutely everyone should read.” Via @hartzog.bsky.social and @jessicasilbey.bsky.social, via @garymarcus.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/garymarc...

How Generative AI is destroying society

An astonishingly lucid new paper that should be read by all

open.substack.com