Really good piece on Sama's COIs. His tenure seems more precarious than (well, almost) ever.

Gift: www.wsj.com/tech/ai/cha...

Speaking of books that will piss off Silicon Valley elites, my book, Obsolete: The AI Industry's Trillion-Dollar Race to Replace You—and How to Stop It, is also avail for preorder (l*nk in bio).

Nothing like responding to allegations of fascism with a speech ban. Also incredible free advertising for the book and real time evidence for its thesis packaged together. Preordered.
x.com/sf_mills/st...

Obsolete A deep dive into the Silicon Valley hivemind and a wake-up call for those who don’t register artificial intelligence as a real threat, Obsolete offers a rare perspective on the AI industry’s goals, its psyche, and how we might rein it in.

🎁:
www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/...

And preorders go out in June for Obsolete: The AI Industry's Trillion-Dollar Race to Replace You—and How to Stop It:
orbooks.com/catalog/obs...

The AI industry is trying to posture as responsible stewards of a powerful technology, all while it hires crypto and sports gambling lobbyists to fight exceptionally hard and dirty against any regulation (from my forthcoming book Obsolete.)

It's the power to make order out of the chaos of 50 state legislatures and leverage it to your advantage."

Kudon's partner webpage at his law firm currently says that his team is "on the frontlines of the national battles over AI frontier model regulation, clean energy, sports betting, and the future of communication services... this isn't government affairs...

One of the sponsors of the legislation told the NYT "I didn't think of the consequences... maybe we need fix that" when told of how small the revenue ended up being.

In Kansas, there were $350M in bets in the two months after sports betting was legalized. Kansas ending up collecting less than $271K in taxes, with none of that money going to combat gambling addiction.

One of the main pitches that Kudon made on behalf of the industry was that legalization would bring the state massive tax revenues. But thanks to provisions which allowed companies to write off "free wager" promotions, this sometimes proved to be illusory.

phones), this shouldn't be considered an expansion of gambling under the state constitution (in NYS).

His team presented arguments that sports betting should appropriately be classified as a "game of skill" rather than gambling (in MA), and that as long as computer servers placing bets were physically located in casinos (regardless of whether users could place bets on their...

Kudon did not shy away from using incredibly aggressive arguments to advance his clients interests.

Kudon is best-known for his efforts to rapidly legalize and get tax breaks for sports betting companies. His law firm's webpage proudly links an article from the NYT describing his role, with the title "Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Betting Ubiquitous."

The "American Innovators Network" — an a16z backed lobbying coalition that has been aggressively lobbying to block state AI regulations to regulate catastrophic risk and protect kids online — recently hired Jeremy Kudon as its new executive director.

complying with constitutional protections and local laws.My bill would also freeze ICE’s Clearview AI contract until Congress gets clear assurances that bystanders, observers, and protesters are not being swept into a mass surveillance dragnet."

That is exactly why I introduced the Stop ICE Intimidation Act, which would block funding for expanded ICE surveillance tools and staffing until the agency fully discloses how it uses databases and facial recognition, who it targets, how long it retains data, and whether it is

We are already seeing ICE rapidly expand its use of surveillance technologies, including AI, in ways that raise profound constitutional and civil liberties concerns.

@chelliepingree: "I have serious concerns about what happens when you combine warrantless surveillance authorities with AI-powered analysis tools.

@RepChuyGarcia's spox: "The role that AI has played in supercharging this Administration's mass surveillance and persecution of immigrants and anyone the President dislikes further underscores the necessity of reforming this provision and preventing further abuses."

More on AI specifically:

@RepDeSaulnier: "The stakes have only grown as the Trump Administration is now actively working to fuel AI surveillance systems with our constituents’ personal information — purchased from data brokers, without any independent judicial check."

For more on the current fight: www.theverge.com/policy/9092...

And here's more from the book:

I cover Section 702, how AI enables truly unprecedented and terrifying levels of mass surveillance, and what to do about it in my forthcoming book Obsolete: orbooks.com/catalog/obs...

TAP also reported the ranking Dem on Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes @jahimes, has been quietly whipping votes for clean reauth.

The vote is likely to happen this week, maybe as early as tomorrow.

prospect.org/2026/04/13/...

A number of offices said they were still considering whether to support a "clean reauth," i.e. w/o reforms. The American Prospect reported that the Congressional Black Caucus is supporting clean reauth following pressure from @RepGregoryMeeks.

repeal the shockingly overbroad immigrant vetting provision that was included in the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act in 2024."

@RepChuyGarcia's office: "he believes that, at minimum, any reauthorization must include provisions that require a judicial warrant for searches related to U.S. citizens in the FISA 702 database, prohibit the purchasing of Americans' personal data from third-party brokers, and

@rep_grijalva's office: "she remains deeply concerned about the Trump Administration using the program to spy on everyday Americans. This concern is underscored by the emergence of unregulated AI technologies, increasing the risk of misuse without strong, enforceable safeguards."

@RepZoeLofgren wrote to colleagues that the FBI searched Americans' data "more than one million times" w/o a warrant during Trump's first term.