I'm a Senior Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, writing in my personal capacity. More than 600 colleagues and I signed an open letter asking Sundar Pichai not to put our AI models on classified networks. The deal was signed anyway. I learned about it from the press.

I work at Google DeepMind. This won't make me popular. But it's all public reporting: 2014: DeepMind reportedly sold to Google on conditions: no military use, independent oversight 2026: a Pentagon contract for "any lawful government purpose" Not one safeguard survived intact

"No slavery whatsoever" is a very strong statement I only bring it up to remind us that in 2026, many government entities in America still use slave labor, and we all just pretend that it's not, which makes me wonder what historians will say about 21st century America in a few thousand years

Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 4w ago

I adore you Leon, Egyptologist here, they were built by a largely volunteer force (corvée labor) of 25,000. The builders were very well fed, paid in bread and beer, and received excellent medical care. There was no slavery whatsoever, it is a common misconception.

In addition to being illegal and immoral, this is also how you get increasingly radicalized and disruptive protests. If an entirely legitimate and peaceful protest gets punished anyway, no reason not to go further.

Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 4w ago

“A group of students sat in the audience while FIU President Jeanette Nuñez held an on-campus event with Alex Rodriguez. “A half hour into the program, students stood up and unveiled shirts that said ‘ICE OFF FIU’ and stood silently for a few minutes. They then left” www.wlrn.org/government-p...

"RPP reinforces the notion that vehicle owners have a primary claim to the curb space in their neighborhood." If this is true, and you have big plans to reclaim street space, then go for it. It's really hard to apply any type of rationality to Car Brain tho. The same people will be angry both ways

Streetsblog NYC@nyc.streetsblog.org · 4w ago

Mayor Mamdani's DOT came out forcefully against residential parking permits in a new report. Plus the news. buff.ly/slSh8Z7

BREAKING: in June 2026, *every single one* of the 1,062 refugees admitted in the U.S. were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 7,727 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November), and nobody else. For reference, the U.S. admitted 100,060 refugees in 2024.

Alex Ip 葉清霖@alexip718.com · 2mo ago

BREAKING: in May 2026, *every single one* of the 599 refugees admitted in the U.S. were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 6,665 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November 2025), and nobody else. For reference, the U.S. admitted 100,060 refugees in 2024.

Anyway, if the USMNT ever want to be world class we need MLS academies to be much bigger and have way more openings for lower- and middle-class children. It's true but makes you a bore at parties so it's the perfect fact for Bluesky.

oh so it's like rocket league but with people

always hearing terrible news about that platner guy. at this point i wouldn't be surprised if it came out that he had an actual nazi tattoo on his chest. i bet everyone would immediately cease supporting him to avoid embarrassing themselves, if that happened

bro we're really bad at this soccer stuff

Can you guess what song was playing when my laptop froze and created this hip remix?

Reminder: we are war crime-ing Cuba right now because Trump and Rubio want to collapse their government. Not a major part of the media discourse but it should be.

The Associated Press@apnews.com · last mo.

An island-wide blackout hit Cuba as fuel reserves dwindle and its electric grid continues to crumble.

BREAKING: Man With Nazi Tattoo Turns Out To Not Be Such A Nice Guy Afterall

Woke up today still angry at Ferrari stupidity and I'm not even a Ferrari or Hamilton fan

Billy@wavdl.blog · last mo.

Pitting to give up 2nd place with 3 laps to go is just mind boggilingly stupid, like, fire the entire put wall collosal fuck up, what the fuck are you thinking you fucking imbeciles stupid. Give me the damn job level stupid. Hire Air Bud to be your strategist level stupid

It's time to tax people being mean to me and invest in hanging out with the boys

People who spiral out overusing LLM chatbots are really just experiencing the kind of brain-damaging stream of unconditional validation that’s always been the norm for the hyper-wealthy, which explains a lot.

Jon Hendry@jonhendry.bsky.social · last mo.

Worse than Twitter, private discussions (text, email, whatever) among like-minded wealthy lunatics who are all surrounded by yes-men who talk like ChatGPT in maximum ass-kissing mode.

“He then put her license plate details on a surveillance “hotlist,” meaning he would get a notification in real time anytime she drove by an AI-powered license plate surveillance camera.”

404 Media@404media.co · last mo.

A Florida police officer met a woman on a TV set, surveilled her for weeks, stalked her, and nearly caused a head-on collision while chasing her to pull her over.

I think this might be one of the most incredible, unsettling and symbolic photos of today’s America I’ve ever seen. I can’t stop looking at it. From Reuters, published on the Guardian website.

Don't sleep on Bugdom

Brendel@brendelbored.bsky.social · last mo.

Time for more games about bugs. Silksong, SimAnt, the two best videogames ever made, time to make a third

"Cubic executives—all of whom have a background at major weapons manufacturers—signed a partnership late last year with Palantir"

Tech Industry Transit Systems Endanger Immigrants, Advocates Fear - The American Prospect

Transit systems across the country are collecting information about the movement of riders via a company doing business with ICE contractor Palantir.

prospect.org

Previous to Trump's recent meddling, I didn't really buy into the "you need to root against USMNT because the U.S. government is evil" but now they're explicitly linked so yeah

*sharing a screenshot from an article that cites another article quoting one (1) “New York financier” who says his firm prefers humanities grads to STEM* this is because the humanities teaches you critical thinking

Pitting to give up 2nd place with 3 laps to go is just mind boggilingly stupid, like, fire the entire put wall collosal fuck up, what the fuck are you thinking you fucking imbeciles stupid. Give me the damn job level stupid. Hire Air Bud to be your strategist level stupid

Oh god, I don't think I'd heard the British national anthem sung before? Its just "we love our big beautiful king who is a king, god save the king"? How embarrassing

A $3 @mta.info subway fare and some good Q train timing can buy you one hell of a view of the July 4th fireworks and the Brooklyn Bridge light show! Huge shoutout to the train operator for slow rolling over the Manhattan Bridge and the conductor for announcing it.

Thinking of the most romantic places to get married. Madison Square Garden, of course, Bank of America, one of those cable company storefronts that’s totally empty except for an iPad on a podium that’s bolted to the floor, the streaming service Fubu

Nice argument, but it’s too late. I’ve already depicted myself as the calm under pressure, cheerful, and suave Pico Lopes while you are the shocked and fearful Lionel Messi

This was slapped on a bus station and I’ve been laughing at it all morning

I'll summarize this: Mamdani asked NYers to keep air conditioning at 78 degrees. A wave criticism hit online. A MSNBC broadcast pointed out the US Department of Energy recommends that 78 degree figure. Immediately after, the US Department of Energy deleted 6,000 web pages related to energy saving.

I am quite comfortable with my AC at 78° #Communism #Mamdanistan