'The math superpowers of quantum computers are likely to help in only a few areas like making possible rigorous digital simulations of complex physics & chemistry. In one area, though, they're certain to make a world of destructive difference: cracking encryption.' www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

It is past time to upgrade to post-quantum encryption

When the quantum breakthrough comes, data being harvested today will be exposed

economist.com

From @wfp.org's statement following its recent cyber incident: "Recent reports indicate the [humanitarian] sector is now the second most targeted globally with increasingly sophisticated attacks." docs.wfp.org/api/document... [pdf] Does anyone know where this data originates from?

"Two companies—Guowang & Thousand Sails—are each planning to deploy 10k+ satellites in space, putting them in direct competition w/ SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. This comes as China is pushing to build LEO broadband networks w/ dual civilian & military applications." www.ft.com/content/fedc...

"Imagine an employee inside an American company who was smart and hard-working and whose goal in life was to promote the interests of a foreign government. We would call that person a foreign agent. We are now hiring millions of them through the use of Chinese AI." 🤔 www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/o...

Opinion | The Hidden Cost of China’s Free A.I.

Whoever supplies the world’s A.I. will shape how the world thinks.

nytimes.com

"As of early this month, SpaceX’s Starlink alone comprised about 65% of all active satellites in low-Earth orbit—over 10,700 out of around 16,200 operational satellites—giving a single firm a near-monopoly presence beyond the stratosphere." phenomenalworld.org/analysis/orb...

Fulya Apaydin | Orbital Enclosure

How the US's long push to deregulate outer space led to SpaceX's dominance of the skies

phenomenalworld.org

Outer space has emerged as a new frontier of intense commercial activity, with SpaceX now commanding much of the low-Earth orbit launch and satellite market. Our essay of the week examines the deregulation of outer space. By @fulyaapaydin.bsky.social in @phenomenalworld.bsky.social buff.ly/uOx1akP

To add: why would humanitarian actors sacrifice their values by using his satellite connectivity?

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · last wk.

Well done article on Elon Musk’s dehumanizing people—“racist” and “fascist” very much apply—by @polphilpod.bsky.social and @gregsargent.bsky.social. So why do states think this is a reliable defense contractor to partner with? Why do public figures promote his views by being active on his website?

"I didn’t want to talk about Claude. I wanted to talk about the user, about addiction & dehumanization, about power & accountability. But there was resistance. I worried that behind this wish to draw attention to Claude’s “status” there was a hope for a kind of baptism." www.ft.com/content/bdb3...

From this week's @economist.com: "Mr. Musk thinks the best way to ensure that the technology is safe is for AI pioneers such as himself to keep tabs on one another, with the government as a back-up." www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

Very interesting that China's "unified regulatory framework" is cited as one of the reasons Chinese tech talent prefers to return home to launch AI start-ups www.ft.com/content/0c77...

Why the US is losing Chinese AI stars

More entrepreneurs from China believe there are now greater opportunities at home than in Silicon Valley

ft.com

Just lost 300+ Safari tabs. Life goes on, right?

"As some trusts make greater use of the Palantir platform, more data flows onto it, leaving the NHS more reliant on the firm. If the contract were to be terminated, NHS staff would lose access to everything. Even supporters admit this 'vendor lock-in' is problematic." www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Peter Geoghegan and Lucas Amin · ‘This looks absolutely rubbish’: Palantir and the NHS

A decade ago Palantir was largely unknown in the UK. It now holds public contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds...

lrb.co.uk

“It’s increasingly clear that in places like Virginia, AI is an inflationary pressure. That’s one reason why people are worried about this.” — @adamtooze.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/5DwR...

The AI Arms Race

Ones and Tooze · Episode

open.spotify.com

Resistance to data centres – which are vital for AI – is growing. But these social justice efforts mostly operate at a local level. So what happens if data centres are put into space? Quito Tsui & @sixfouronea.net explore in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog

What the AI space race means for inequality on earth

Resistance to data centres is rising due to intense resource demands, pollution and wider social impacts. What happens, then, if data centres are put into space?

blogs.lse.ac.uk

We just launched a new pilot for Assured Enrollment in our BSDS program here at the University of Virginia School of Data Science. More info: datascience.virginia.edu/degrees/bsds...

"Many [Anthropic] engineers run several Claude Code agents simultaneously, giving them tasks to complete overnight so that someone — human or machine — is always on the clock. They muse about the postwork future while pulling 80-hour workweeks." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/o...

"An essential quality of money is singleness—meaning a dollar must always equal a dollar no matter when, where or with whom it's used. By contrast stablecoins move through proprietary, fragmented infrastructures. They don’t exhibit singleness." www.wsj.com/finance/curr... h/t @margchee.bsky.social

Stablecoins Are Private Money. That’s Why They’re a Risk to the Economy.

Financial innovations often lead to upheaval and instability. Despite new regulations, those risks persist with stablecoins.

wsj.com

"Unlike Palantir’s contract with the UK’s NHS, [which] has prompted unionized, legal, political and patient oriented organizing by multiple groups – WFP's partnership has so far largely escaped sustained mobilization – despite it being the 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥." techforbad.com

Homepage - Tech For Bad

End big Aid complicity with big tech world food programme: drop palantir Palantir and the World Food Programme: The egregious partnership at the heart of the world´s largest humanitarian supply chain....

techforbad.com

The antithesis of #scale... "After withdrawing from the WHO and losing access to its global network that tracks and combats disease outbreaks, the US is attempting to obtain the information necessary to address potential pandemics through a patchwork of deals..." www.propublica.org/article/trum...

“Digital Colonialism”: U.S. Demands to Access Africans’ Data Raise Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns

The United States is requiring access to health data as part of lifesaving aid deals with African countries. The U.S. says the data will be aggregated and anonymized, but privacy experts fear the info...

propublica.org

"[Rwanda's] immigration service, with the support of the Ministry in charge of refugees and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is currently conducting a [biomretric] registration campaign in all refugee camps as well as in urban centers." www.sosmediasburundi.org/en/2026/06/1...

Rwanda : the biometric card that could change refugees' lives - SOS Médias Burundi

SOS Médias Burundi Mahama, Rwanda, June 16, 2026 – Rwanda is continuing its digital transformation with the gradual rollout of a new biometric identity card for all its citizens and residents. This la...

sosmediasburundi.org

In a new privacy policy, Anthropic says Claude will soon require you to upload your driver's license or passport for a variety of reasons. The ID checker is Persona, a firm funded by Trump ally Peter Thiel. As a U.S. company, Persona is also subject to gov't demands for people's verification data. 👀

Anthropic says Claude may want to see your ID | TechCrunch

Claude's chatbot may ask to verify your age and identity "in certain circumstances," such as with a passport or driver's license, according to a privacy policy change.

techcrunch.com

“Humanitarian organizations need to rethink their relationship to tech, be less deferential to corporate execs pitching their wares, and recover their duties as a platform for human dignity.”

Undoing Platform Humanitarianism - Public Books

If humanitarian aid organizations embrace tech, they will only be powering the surveillance empire opposed to their goals.

publicbooks.org

This week, as the UN holds its annual Humanitarian Affairs Segment in New York, Aaron Martin (@sixfouronea.net) & Quito Tsui urge humanitarian organizations to break away from their reliance on private technology.

Undoing Platform Humanitarianism - Public Books

If humanitarian aid organizations embrace tech, they will only be powering the surveillance empire opposed to their goals.

publicbooks.org

ᴜɴᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴘʟᴀᴛꜰᴏʀᴍ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴɪᴛᴀʀɪᴀɴɪꜱᴍ A critical reflection qua book review on the state of datafication and digital dependence in the humanitarian sector Written with Quito Tsui for @publicbooks.bsky.social 📚 www.publicbooks.org/undoing-plat... Thanks to @monasloane.bsky.social for the opportunity ❤️

Undoing Platform Humanitarianism - Public Books

If humanitarian aid organizations embrace tech, they will only be powering the surveillance empire opposed to their goals.

publicbooks.org

"Commercially gained bulk intelligence, ADINT (advertising intelligence), is now one of the major sources of government surveillance, according to a survey of 11 European intelligence agency regulators by German security academics." www.ft.com/content/758a...

We strongly condemn the cyberattack on the World Food Programme (WFP) exposing the personal data of 600,000 Palestinian households in Gaza, putting vulnerable people at further risk. We call on the WFP to be transparent and act NOW to prevent further harm. ⬇️ www.accessnow.org/press-releas...

Access Now - Surveilled, targeted, and now hacked: WFP must protect Palestinians in Gaza after massive data breach

The undersigned civil society organizations and experts, condemn in the strongest possible terms the cyberattack on the World Food Programme

accessnow.org

“There’s evidence that WFP and Palantir staff cooperate closely… Knowledge transfer, from WFP’s global humanitarian operations, to Palantir, is indicated by the movement of [at least two former WFP] staff… and through the description of Palantir roles that interface with WFP.” techforbad.com

"Sovereign power came from controlling hydrocarbons, but in the 21st century, it will be from increasingly controlling compute..." restofworld.org/2026/uae-qui...

The UAE’s OPEC exit frees up oil wealth as it bets big on AI

More oil revenue means deeper pockets for the UAE’s AI investment funds, and more gas means more electricity for its data centers.

restofworld.org

"Regardless of how Big Tech dreams of space data centers end, the prospect should generate greater scrutiny of what precisely resistance movements are trying to target." My op-ed with Quito Tsui in @policyr.bsky.social policyreview.info/articles/new...

The earthly limits of data centre resistance

Whether or not data centres make it to space, the possibility itself exposes the limitations of resistance hinged only on proximate material experience, thus beckoning a wider and deeper movement.

policyreview.info

"Muskism" is a 21st-century political economy in which private firms sell sovereignty through infrastructure. This piece traces its roots to apartheid South Africa's self-sufficient "fortress futurism." With @quinnslobodian.com and @bentarnoff.com on @publicseminar.bsky.social buff.ly/8eYY5bG

Sovereignty Through Technology - Public Seminar

Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, in their conversation with L. Zhang, discuss the political-economic model they call "Muskism."

publicseminar.org