How the United States Used Tariff Deals to Weaken Tech Regulation Around the World At least ten countries signed off on deals or frameworks that benefit American tech companies in 2025, according to an investigation led by Agência Pública.

The Trump administration used tariff threats to pressure countries into gutting their own tech regulations. From Indonesia to Brazil, Big Tech's wish list became US trade policy, according to an investigation led by Agência Pública as part of the series The Invisible Hand of Big Tech.

This morning I’ve seen Olly Robbins’s appearance before the select committee described as ‘box office’, while a commentator flagged up another key political moment with the words ‘bring the popcorn’.

That’s one of our main problems right there.

Things I will not be embracing:

- massive environmental damage

- mental ill-health exacerbated by weird AI interactions

- taking my work without consent or remuneration

because these are not huggable things.

Liz Kendall urges UK public to embrace AI as government makes first £500m fund investment Technology secretary plays down fears over jobs and cyber security as stake taken in British startup

I find this bizarre.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I don't recall any previous transformative technologies that had to be sold to the public so hard. No one in 1999 was going, "Guys. Cell phone? It's coming, whether we like it or not. I think it's important, FOR WOMEN ESPECIALLY, to learn about cell phone. So that we're not left behind!!"

This thread is required reading...

A critical moment for the #AssistedDyingBill. Join our protest at 09:00–12:00, Parliament Square, 22 April, and send a clear message to peers: stop using delay tactics to block one of the most important pieces of legislation to pass through the Commons in a generation. humanists.uk/events/prote...

A priest once told me of another priest, famously not lacking in self regard, who began a sermon with 'As Jesus said - and, I think, correctly ...'

Well, this has been an uplifting reminder of the positive side of social media. Thanks for the great suggestions, everyone. And particularly @iandunt.bsky.social for the repost. 😀

I've never even heard of that/him, thanks!

Some total bangers on that new album, eh?

Nice idea, ta!

Oh, these are new ones, thanks!

We're here a fair bit, but you've reminded me that there quite a few Classics we've not done yet/ for a while!

Superb! Ta!

Oh, nice! Ta!

We totally are! Thanks!

Anthropic Opposes the Extreme AI Liability Bill That OpenAI Backed Anthropic and OpenAI are clashing over a proposed Illinois law that would let AI labs largely off the hook for mass deaths and financial disasters.

Anthropic and OpenAI are clashing over a proposed Illinois law that would let AI labs largely off the hook for mass deaths and financial disasters. www.wired.com/story/anthro...

We saw an ad recently for a fkat in Hampstead that is 'approaching 600 sq feet.' What, is it growing?

Heading into Capital City for gig (Kim Gordon), show (Inter Alia) and talkie thing (with @iandunt.bsky.social and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social). Free day tmrw with no plans yet. What's great to do in London daytime right now?

BBC News leading all its bulletins on demands by former Government advisor Lord Robertson for more defence spending, without at any point mentioning his current paid senior role for US defence lobbyists

I will be abundantly clear for legal reasons that it is illegal to throw a Molotov cocktail at anyone, as it is morally objectionable to do so. I explicitly and fundamentally object to the recent acts of violence against Sam Altman. It is also morally repugnant for Sam Altman to somehow suggest that the careful, thoughtful, determined, and eagerly fair work of Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz is in any way responsible for these acts of violence. Doing so is a deliberate attempt to chill the air around criticism of AI and its associated companies. Altman has since walked back the comments, claiming he “wishes he hadn’t used” a non-specific amount of the following words: A lot of the criticism of our industry comes from sincere concern about the incredibly high stakes of this technology. This is quite valid, and we welcome good-faith criticism and debate. I empathize with anti-technology sentiments and clearly technology isn’t always good for everyone. But overall, I believe technological progress can make the future unbelievably good, for your family and mine. While we have that debate, we should de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally. These words remain on his blog, which suggests that Altman doesn’t regret them enough to remove them. I do, however, agree with Mr. Altman that the rhetoric around AI does need to change. Both he and Mr. Amodei need to immediately stop overstating the capabilities of Large Language Models. Mr. Altman and Mr. Amodei should not discuss being “scared” of their models, or being “uncomfortable” that men such as they are in control unless they wish to shut down their services, or that they “don’t know if models are conscious.” They should immediately stop misleading people through company documentation that models are “blackmailing” people or, as Anthropic did in its Mythos system card, suggest a model has “broken containment and sent a message” when it A) was…

They must stop discussing threats to jobs without actual meaningful data that is significantly more sound than “jobs that might be affected some day but for now we’ve got a chatbot.” Mr. Amodei should immediately cease any and all discussions of AI potentially or otherwise eliminating 50% of white collar jobs, as Mr. Altman should cease predicting when Superintelligence might arrive, as Mr. Amodei should actively reject and denounce any suggestions of AI “creating a white collar bloodbath.” Those that defend AI labs will claim that these are “difficult conversations that need to be had,” when in actuality they engage in dangerous and frightening rhetoric as a means of boosting a company’s valuation and garnering attention. If either of these men truly believed these things were true, they would do something about it other than saying “you should be scared of us and the things we’re making, and I’m the only one brave enough to say anything.” These conversations are also nonsensical and misleading when you compare them to what Large Language Models can do, and this rhetoric is a blatant attempt to scare people into paying for software today based on what it absolutely cannot and will not do in the future. It is an attempt to obfuscate the actual efficacy of a technology as a means of deceiving investors, the media and the general public. Both Altman and Amodei engage in the language of AI doomerism as a means of generating attention, revenue and investment capital, actively selling their software and future investment potential based on their ownership of a technology that they say (disingenuously) is potentially going to take everybody’s jobs. Based on reports from his Instagram, the man who threw the molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s house was at least partially inspired by If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, a doomer porn fantasy written by a pair of overly-verbose dunces spreading fearful language about the power of AI, inspired by the fearmongering of Altman…

I need to be clear that this act of violence is not something I endorse in any way. I also need to be clear that people feel like they’re being fucking tortured every time they load social media. Their money doesn’t go as far. Every time they read something it’s a story about ICE patrols or a near-nuclear war in Iran, or that gas is more expensive, or that there’s worrying things happening in private credit. Nobody can afford a house and layoffs are constant. One group, however, appears to exist in an alternative world where anything they want is possible. They can raise as much money as they want. They can build as big a building as they want anywhere in the world. Everything they do is taken so seriously that the government will call a meeting about it. Every single media outlet talks about everything they do. Your boss forces you to use it. Every piece of software forces you to at least acknowledge that they use it too. Everyone is talking about it with complete certainty despite it not being completely clear why. And these companies are, in no uncertain terms, coming for your job. That’s what they want to do. They all say it. They use deceptively-worded studies that talk about “AI-exposed” careers to scare and mislead people into believing LLMs are coming for their jobs, all while spreading vague proclamations about how said job loss is imminent but also always 12 months away. Altman even says that jobs that will vanish weren’t real work to begin with, much as former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati said that some creative jobs shouldn’t have existed in the first place. These people who sell a product with no benefit comparable on any level to its ruinous, trillion-dollar cost are able to get anything they want at a time when those who work hard are given a kick in the fucking teeth, sneered at for not “using AI” that doesn’t actually seem to make their lives easier, and then told that their labor doesn’t constitute “real work.” At a time when nobody living a nor…

Here's the conclusion of my free newsletter going out tomorrow, on the dangerous rhetoric spread by Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Demis Hassabis.
wheresyoured.at

Headline on Hollywood Reporter that reads ”Paddington 4, Escape From New York' Reboot in the Works”

I misread the headline as one movie and got very excited for a moment…

Happy Birthday ruled out of copyright The copyright to Happy Birthday To You is ruled invalid by a US judge, meaning an end to royalty payments for public performances of the song.

If they'd just held off a few months ... BBC News - Happy Birthday ruled out of copyright - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-u...

Back on the BBC All four seasons now available again

www.pleasantgreen.co.uk/back-on-the-...

Armageddon is terrible, but our only other option was diversity trainings at work.

Aha, I had a similar experience in Ljublhana, trying to order 1/4 kg of sauerkraut in halting Slovene. With predictably hilarious consequnces.