The front and back cover of this week's New Yorker. Says the BofA ad on the back: "You didn't come this far just to come this far." Just what the front cover dude cozily tucked away under the $-bill was thinking before he dozed off. A bit of cognitive dissonance, seeing them next to each other...

"Waar blijft het Ministerie voor Digitale Zaken om de regie over tech in de samenleving terug te pakken?" vragen @marleenstikker.bsky.social en ik in NRC. #AI raakt zo ongeveer alle facetten van de samenleving. Uitermate slecht idee dus om het aan Big Tech over te laten. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

What's the state of play around #AI sovereignty in Latin America? Natan Amado picks it apart in this RegulAite working paper. Spoiler alert: without push-back, AI dependency will only entrench LA's peripheral position in the global economy. www.regulaite.eu/images/pdf/A...

A deeply personal deep dive into #AI & politics with the Ivory Tower podcast. 🙏 to Tadey Luka Sadovyi for being such a gracious and erudite host 😃 Here's the Spotify link: open.spotify.com/episode/7f5n...

As Europe considers its options to achieve digital sovereignty, it is time for a sober assessment of the prevailing innovation narrative, writes Daniel Mügge.

📢 Postdoc job alert 'Politcal Masculinities and Young Voters. The position is part of my NWO-VICI-project Political Masculinities in Europe . Please, share with potentially interested candidates with survey skills and expertise in quantitative methods. werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

A year ago, Brussels uncorked champagne after the #AI Act adoption. Now, the "regulatory superpower"-story is dead; it's all about "AI competitiveness". @leevisaari.bsky.social and I ask: is this bowing to US pressure, or does the EU finally step up to the plate? www.techpolicy.press/the-eu-ai-po...

Gender vote share gap among young Germans. Massive. Among women, the left, greens and social democrats have a comfortable majority; among men, AfD, CDU/CSU and FDP score 50%. Thanks to @lizamugge.bsky.social for pointing me to this; the German original is here: www.tagesschau.de/wahl/archiv/...

Maybe the EU losing the AI race against US tech on Trump steroids is good news? www.linkedin.com/pulse/losing...

With the US #AI executive order rescinded on Day One of Trump's 2nd act, here's my take on the divergence of American and European visions for AI - and the need for the EU boldly to chart its own course. youtu.be/vgTvtVxw7wM?...

Why it's time to resist invasive digitization... www.linkedin.com/posts/daniel...

For better or worse, a realistic take on #AI in military affairs: connecting dots, and fast. With this, EU's vulnerability - defense split along borders - becomes only more acute. For independence from foreign tech, genuine integration is the only option. www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/10/1...

In the meantime, some things I found interesting: @dmugge.bsky.social writes about lessons from Trump's win for EU's digital transformation: "If Europe wants digitalisation to bring genuine societal progress, the lodestar should not be a competitive race with the US" www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

The #EU "digital sovereignty" push concentrates too much on beating US Big Tech at its own game. Instead, it must harness digital technologies for social progress much more forcefully - w/foreign companies where possible; with its own #Eurostack where necessary. www.hertie-school.org/en/digital-g...

What does Trump win mean for #EU tech policy? It not only turns digital sovereignty into a live issue. But also: the EU should rethink whether USA really is the digitization-example to follow. (Spoiler: it's not...) (Article posted on LinkedIn; sorry for out-link.) www.linkedin.com/posts/daniel...

New paper out with International Studies Quarterly 🎉 Outsourcing Empire: International Monetary Power in the Age of Offshore Finance. #openaccess #polsky #politicsofmoney academic.oup.com/isq/article/...

📣 Out on #FirstView 📣 In ""Politics without Presence?"" Anne Louise Schotel & @lizamugge.bsky.social pair qualitative text analysis with in depth interviews to understand trans symbolic representation in 🇩🇪 & 🇳🇱. Available 🌟 #OpenAccess 🌟 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

What's the point of "AI made in Europe", a key plank of the EU's digital sovereignty agenda? It could be used to extract the EU from a delirious "AI race" - or to try to get ahead in it. What does EU strategy itself have to say? My two cents in the LSE Europe blog 👇 blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

Digital sovereignty is a big thing in Brussels - also in #AI. But what are the politics behind the "EU AI sovereignty" ambition? Who needs it, and why? For the Journal of European Public Policy, I've dissected 6 yrs of Commission strategy to find out. Now OA here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

My VICI proposal 'Political Masculinities in Europe' has been awarded by the Dutch Research Council! I am over the moon. A very, very, very happy day. www.nwo.nl/en/researchp...

Wat is jouw p(doom)? Vormt AI echt een existentieel risico? En hoe kan het dat techbedrijven hiervoor waarschuwen en tegelijk krachtige AI ontwikkelen én zichzelf opwerpen als redders in nood? Met oa @dmugge.bsky.social én met handige verklarende woordenlijst www.volkskrant.nl/a-b25d921b

What next for #AI gov now that contours of EU rules have been agreed? Join us to debate these questions with Pegah Maham (SNV), @j2bryson.bsky.social (Hertie School), Lisa Vermeer (Dutch gov't) and Marieke de Goede (UvA) on 26 January, 17:00 in Amsterdam. Registration here: spui25.nl/programma/bu...

A lot of ink has been spilled already on the OpenAI saga this fall. Here, finally, is the New Yorker version of it. Worth the read even if the weekend-long Altman oyster feels so like yesterday's news already. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Politiek Brussel draait vanavond overuren om te kijken of er toch nog akkoord komt over de #AI Act. Ondertussen hebben vijf collega AI-wetenschappers en ik voor de NRC al een keer gefantaseerd hoe de wereld er uit zou kunnen zien als zo'n wet er helemaal niet kwam... www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/...

And while we're at it, last week's by Christoph Niemann

'Coding 101', by Malika Favre, from 2017. Love the artwork. And funny to think how abstract digital still felt then 🤔

Black Thursday

No plans on 7 Dec yet? And wondering how we can make sure not only the powerful benefit from #AI? Check this joint S&D and FEPS conference at the EP that day. I already look forward to contributing my bit to the "New Social Pact for the Digital Society" panel. feps-europe.eu/event/shapin...

8:00. Dageraad, en Nederland kiest z'n koers.

If China somehow features in stuff or narratives you care about - personally, academically, commercially, politically - this deep-dive long read is worth your time. Has me rethinking simplistic conceptions, including about the future of econ and geopol 🇨🇳🇺🇲tension. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Foundation models score poorly on transparency. Among most opaque dimensions: use of human labour to build them, and presumed impact (black boxes in table). Both dimensions maybe don't interest developers too much, but clearly matter to society. Report from Stanford CRFM here crfm.stanford.edu/fmti/

Is the "regulatory race to the bottom" in #AI on? In spite of stark warnings at its AI safety summit, UK gov't sees no need for regulation, offering itself as haven for "adventurous" ends of AI development. AI-version of how secrecy jurisdictions torpedoed global tax governance? on.ft.com/3uhc5sD

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on political trust and skepticism in my ERC-funded research project CRITICALTRUST. vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/Post... Please contact me if you have any questions!

Who's responsible (& liable) when #AI foundation models cause harm? Upstream developers? Downstream app providers? An ex ante legally watertight answer is tricky, frustrating lawmakers and irritating companies. But maybe some ambiguity in AI rules isn't all bad? www.linkedin.com/pulse/case-s...

Just how concentrated is the #AI sector, and why might that be a problem? The OMI (incl. @maxvonthun.bsky.social ) pulls no punches in this report. As Mistral and Aleph Alpha emerge as EU darlings, some arguments to ponder also on this side of the pond. www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...

Globally harmonized econ #statistics that actually measure what they're supposed to are an illusion: stats can't be (1) suitable to domestic conditions, (2) prescriptive enough to prevent tinkering, and (3) harmonized internationally. Now OA in Int'l Politics: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

At Biden-Xi meeting, vague promise for more 🇨🇳🇺🇲 co-op on #AI. Sincerity unclear - but maybe the 2 big kids CAN agree basic rules on the global AI-playground. Net effect: further sidelining of 🇪🇺, currently mired in legislative stalemate and still hoping for an AI Brussels effect.

Call for papers: "The Political Economies of Artificial Intelligence Technologies" Regine Paul and I will host a 4-day intensive small-group workshop at the @ecpr.bsky.social Joint Sessions in beautiful Lüneburg from 25-28 March next year. DL 23 November; all details below. ecpr.eu/Events/Event...

Sometimes I feel tempted to turn on an Out of Office message along the lines of "Sorry for not being able to respond to your message. I actually have to work today." Today that would come in handy 😉

Massive disagreement about policing most powerful AI in EU AI Act - after ~3 yrs of talks & weeks before a deadline. Takeaway 1: real consensus about AI policy remains remote. Work must continue, deal or no deal. Takeaway 2: corporate logics loom large - too large. www.euractiv.com/section/arti...

After days of gray and drizzle, fitting weather for my first day on BlueSky. Hoping that's a harbinger of saner, more constructive and enjoyable, and less overwhelming online exchange 😀🤞