Matteo Wong
@matteowong.bsky.social
đ€ 21338
đ„ 237
đ 121
Staff writer on science, tech, and health at The Atlantic covering AI. Signal @matteowong.52
pinned post!
For the Atlantic's April issue, I go deep in the race to power the AI boom: Elon Musk's gas turbines, the data center capital of the world, the underbelly of a nuclear reactor. Before bots can remake civilization, AI firms must reshape our planet in their technology's image. Call it terraforming.
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Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of AI Data Centers
The race to power AI is already remaking the physical world.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/04/ai-data-centers-energy-demands/686064/
13 days ago
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Thatâs right and itâs the best. (But cube your potatoes donât cut them in rounds, thatâs weird and small chunks are the ideal textural and fork experience!!)
add a skeleton here at some point
about 14 hours ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Lila
about 15 hours ago
I wrote about OpenAIâs ongoing identity crisis:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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OpenAIâs Identity Crisis
The companyâs sudden decision to pull the plug on Sora is a sign of deeper trouble.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/sora-openai-identity-crisis/686544/?gift=z9ybaencGpLU1lhvDrrW8vCPWPdpgvRCpoqHJ3g-6pA
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"Itâs because the U.S. Constitution has failed that Claude has a constitution"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
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Does A.I. Need a Constitution?
A new set of precepts is meant to make the chatbot Claude wise, decent, and safe. It also marks a striking transfer of public responsibility from constitutional government to private tech firms.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/03/30/does-ai-need-a-constitution
about 18 hours ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
about 19 hours ago
Lovely little piece by
@matteowong.bsky.social
about Anthropic's sponsorship of a Claude Monet exhibit, and the greater meaning of "interaction" that the company (and its technology) misses
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Claude Takes On Monet
Why is Anthropic sponsoring an exhibition about Monet?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/claude-monet-ai-typewriter/686535/?gift=iWa_iB9lkw4UuiWbIbrWGQ4rV3RivNqr8IroMucQWlI&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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"I thought they'd be a nice durable cardboard," the owl-eyed man says of Gatsby's library. Anyway, Anthropic made a Claude AI typewriter to go alongside an exhibition about Claude Monet. I tried it.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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Claude Takes On Monet
Why is Anthropic sponsoring an exhibition about Monet?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/claude-monet-ai-typewriter/686535/
about 19 hours ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
about 19 hours ago
Our story on Meta's legal woes by
@kait.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
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www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
âWe wonât know the harm fully until itâs too late.â
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Trumpâs Reckless Gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
As the cost of living continues to spiral upward, the White House is dismantling the government agency built to protect Americans from financial ruin.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/03/16/the-zombie-regulator
8 days ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Ian Bogost
8 days ago
AI services are kind of weird. They're not like web browsers, operating systems, social networks, or even smartphones. They are becoming more like commoditiesâfacial tissues, catered slop-bowl trays, or electricity. I wrote something about this:
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The Myspace Dilemma Facing ChatGPT
Inventing a market is less important than perfecting one.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/openai-economy-competition-anthropic/686420/?gift=xg-ooB7bz_Y1iPLiLEmPNgtddzELPkaaMrJQ9Wi7s1Q&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
9 days ago
"Sam Altman has predicted that large language models will soon be capable of 'fixing the climate, establishing a space colony, and the discovery of all of physics" â but, "might be able to extrude only something equivalent to 'a real poetâs okay poem'"
@jasmine.bsky.social
on what sets writing apart
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The Human Skill That Eludes AI
Why canât language models write well?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/ai-creative-writing/686418/?gift=iWa_iB9lkw4UuiWbIbrWGb11x07uLMkrNAorpAm82a8&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Charlie Warzel
12 days ago
I wrote about everything happening too much in 2026 and the rise of âmonitoring the situation. How total bombardment is partly a surrender to the internet and its logic and algorithmsâa kind of attentional death
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One Situation After Another
Doomscrolling is over. Now, everyone is âmonitoring the situation.â
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/world-monitor-situation-meme/686389/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZAa2i3j-oWrv2i7hciKpN3P4
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For the Atlantic's April issue, I go deep in the race to power the AI boom: Elon Musk's gas turbines, the data center capital of the world, the underbelly of a nuclear reactor. Before bots can remake civilization, AI firms must reshape our planet in their technology's image. Call it terraforming.
loading . . .
Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of AI Data Centers
The race to power AI is already remaking the physical world.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/04/ai-data-centers-energy-demands/686064/
13 days ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
14 days ago
Read the hilarious
@kait.bsky.social
on the Grammarly kerfuffle. Stay for the amazing kicker. God damn.
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The Worst Writing Advice of All Time
A short-lived AI tool promised to help users write like the greatsâand a bunch of other random people, including me.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/grammarly-ai-expert-bad-advice/686343/?gift=iWa_iB9lkw4UuiWbIbrWGfkfjzsOdgAS-NYT8rIv-q0&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
16 days ago
"The guy pouring my beer in Anchorage told me that he knew there was no truth to decades-old rumors about a research facility 200 miles to the northeast. Nobody was up there talking to aliens or controlling peopleâs minds. 'They just do the aurora,' he said"
@kait.bsky.social
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A Never-Ending Conspiracy Theory in Remote Alaska
Why are some people convinced that nefarious experiments are happening at HAARP?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/haarp-weather-conspiracies/686264/?gift=iWa_iB9lkw4UuiWbIbrWGYHJu5gVrKDMvsLuW1fP8B0&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Something like the PentagonâAnthropic standoff was inevitable due to a much deeper problem: Nobody will claimâand actually, nobody has to claimâresponsibility for the consequences of generative AI.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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The Unaddressed Problem With the Pentagonâs AI Dispute
Who will take responsibility for the technology?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/pentagon-anthropic-dispute/686307/?gift=9i9YvITFD4FquxfKS3JYHYB-LTrgfcZ_Zc2JsJ5Brdc&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
17 days ago
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"I recently learned that Wiles ordered Waltz to turn his phone over to Elon Muskâat the time a kind of one-man Genius Bar for White House officialsâwho reported back to Wiles that my phone number did not get âsucked inâ to Waltzâs phone."
add a skeleton here at some point
17 days ago
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Talked to contract, national-security, and technology legal experts about OpenAI's deal with the Pentagon. They had concerns.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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OpenAI Is Opening the Door to Government Spying
Whether it means to or not
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/openai-pentagon-contract-spying/686282/
20 days ago
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Ugh this is gut wrenching
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
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The Impossible Predicament of the Uninsured
My aunt couldnât afford to go to the hospital. She ended up there anyway.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/04/health-care-affordability-uninsured-americans/686053/
21 days ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Charlie Warzel
21 days ago
Wrote about the central lie of prediction markets. How they are the perfect technology for a low-trust society, simultaneously exploiting and reifying an environment in which believing the motives behind any person or action becomes harder.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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The Central Lie of Prediction Markets
Polymarket and Kalshi promise the wisdom of the crowds. They deliver something very different.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/central-lie-prediction-markets/686250/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZASgVPFhb6zjGY2Wcisb79vs&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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omg charles yu in the atlantic!!!(!!) "Voice encodes experience, loss, pain, joy. We donât acquire voice in spite of failure, but through it. Because of it."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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Donât Call It âIntelligenceâ
Humans are question machines. AI is an answer machine.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/intelligence-concept/686121/
21 days ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
The Atlantic
23 days ago
Dean Ball, a former AI adviser to Donald Trump, tells Matteo Wong that the administrationâs standoff with Anthropic is a dire sign for America:
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A Dire Warning From the Tech World
Dean Ball, Trumpâs former AI adviser, warns that the targeting of Anthropic is just one piece of a much larger political breakdown.
https://bit.ly/4rPNS5v
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Canât recommend this enough, especially as an intellectually stimulating reprieve from intellectually sad times:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
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How Metrics Make Us Miserable
Podcast Episode · Plain English with Derek Thompson · February 27 · 1h 4m
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plain-english-with-derek-thompson/id1594471023?i=1000751900044
25 days ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Ross Andersen
25 days ago
NEW: The reason that Anthropic wasnât okay with simply confining its models to the cloud
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An update here, perhaps the terms are not truly the same, working to figure this out. If you want to chat Iâm on signal @matteowong.52
add a skeleton here at some point
26 days ago
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OpenAI just swooped in and agreed to a contract with DOD⊠with the exact same terms DOD was protesting with Anthropic. The mess only piles higher:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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What Happens to Anthropic Now?
The Trump administration is severing all ties with the âwokeâ AI firm.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/pentagon-anthropic-contract/686188/
26 days ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
The Atlantic
27 days ago
The Trump administration has suspended federal agenciesâ access to Anthropic,
@matteowong.bsky.social
reports, in an escalation that signals a potentially seismic shift in relations between Silicon Valley and the federal government.
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Donald Trump Declares War on Anthropic
Their fight will shake the entire tech industry.
https://bit.ly/4aXGPAk
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
27 days ago
NEW: Documents viewed by
@michaelscherer.bsky.social
and
@kait.bsky.social
give a candid look at how Meta approaches the issue of child safety. For years, it dragged its feet on features that would help prevent groomers from targeting kids, explicitly prioritizing growth and engagement instead.
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Meta Says It Cares About Kids. New Documents Tell a Different Story.
For years, employees acknowledged a problem with potential child groomers, but prioritized growth over fixes.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/meta-child-safety-documents-instagram/686163/?gift=iWa_iB9lkw4UuiWbIbrWGdKxkMOyEYN8nHGY7WriR3Y&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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I checked with Terence Tao about all the excitement around AI for mathematics research:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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The Edge of Mathematics
Terence Tao, the legendary mathematician, explains the promise of generative AI.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/ai-math-terrance-tao/686107/
30 days ago
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Del Bigtree, who has been a close adviser to RFK Jr, is "more than anti-vaccine: Heâs pro-infection."
www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
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âI Genuinely Am Upset That Your Kids Are Vaccinatedâ
Del Bigtree, the longtime ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., isnât just anti-vaccine. Heâs pro-infection.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/02/del-bigtree-pro-infection-polio-measles/686092/
30 days ago
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Did you "train a human" today?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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Sam Altman Is Losing His Grip on Humanity
You donât âtrain a humanâ
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/sam-altman-train-a-human/686120/
about 1 month ago
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www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
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The Trump Administration Is Ending Aid That It Says Saves Lives
The State Department will let lifesaving projects expire because âthere is no strong nexus between the humanitarian response and U.S. national interests,â according to an internal email.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/02/trump-state-department-ending-aid-seven-african-countries/686106/
about 1 month ago
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absolute gem:
www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
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Letâs Talk About RFK Jr.âs Workout Pants
Our health secretary is a jeans guy, and he knows it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/02/rfk-jrs-workout-pants/686071/
about 1 month ago
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Essential essay from
@cwarzel.bsky.social
: "Nihilism is now the lingua franca of the internet."
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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This Is What It Looks Like When Nothing Matters
Welcome to the internetâs nihilism crisis.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/internet-nihilism-crisis/686010/
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
The Atlantic
about 1 month ago
RFK Jr. has talked up the promise of infusing his department with AI for monthsâbut the full extent of his AI push is just now becoming clear, Matteo Wong and Nicholas Florko write:
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Drink Whole Milk, Eat Red Meat, and Use ChatGPT
What Robert F. Kennedy Jr.âs âAI revolutionâ really looks like
https://bit.ly/4twD1yF
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www.newyorker.com/science/elem...
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Is the Rat War Over?
In New York, a rat czar and new methods have brought down complaints. We may even be ready to appreciate the creatures.
https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/is-the-rat-war-over
about 1 month ago
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Nobody can readily discern irony from sincerity anymore in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and perhaps anywhere. As for The March for Billionaires? Well, you had to be there...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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The March for Billionaires Was a Funeral for Irony
âTip your landlord.â
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/march-for-billionaires-silicon-valley-ai/685957/
about 1 month ago
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Moltbook is weird and fascinating and scary. It's also a signal about the present-day internet as much, if not more than, a glimpse into its future
about 2 months ago
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"One student came up to me after the first flash essay, a little frustrated and worried that he wasnât meeting the mark. He felt like he was writing into the complete unknown, rather than with a plan in mind. I said that was exactly the point."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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Stop Meeting Students Where They Are
What I learned when I finally started assigning the hard reading again.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/youth-reading-books-professors/685825/
about 2 months ago
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From this morning:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
about 2 months ago
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The end of the AGI consensus:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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Do You Feel the AGI Yet?
According to some predictions, 2026 is the year that an all-powerful AI will arrive.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/do-you-feel-agi-yet/685845/
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
The Atlantic
about 2 months ago
Artificial general intelligence was supposed to have been imminentâbut âthe broad agreement on what AGI even is and the immediate value it could provide humanity have been scrubbed away,â
@matteowong.bsky.social
reports:
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Do You Feel the AGI Yet?
According to some predictions, 2026 is the year that an all-powerful AI will arrive.
https://bit.ly/4rxEe77
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
The Atlantic
about 2 months ago
What does Anthropic really stand for? The AI company âcomes across as more sincerely committed to safety than its competitors, but it is also moving full speed toward building tools it acknowledges could be horrifically dangerous,â
@matteowong.bsky.social
reports:
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Anthropic Is at War With Itself
The AI company shouting about AIâs dangers canât quite bring itself to slow down.
https://bit.ly/4sWSeIS
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Anthropic wants to be the AI industry's superego, but is caught between the pressures to be safe and fast, rigorous while being commercially successful. I profiled the company and its leadership, who seem earnest but torn, anxious but at times hubristic:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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Anthropic Is at War With Itself
The AI company shouting about AIâs dangers canât quite bring itself to slow down.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/anthropic-is-at-war-with-itself/684892/
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Charlie Warzel
2 months ago
Given the grok horrors of the past few weeks and the crisis of impunity weâve got on our hands, todayâs pod is with the excellent
@sophiegilbert.bsky.social
on the ways that misogyny has been coded into these platforms and shaped our culture
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The Problem Is So Much Bigger Than Grok
The internet was built to objectify women.
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/01/the-internet-was-built-to-objectify-women/685652/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZAYKzXPdMYUiV-0Hg-0f1aBU&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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2025 saw the most AI child sex abuse in historyâand likely the least amount of it for years to come:
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Charlie Warzel
2 months ago
look at these responses for yourself and see that few people can even be bothered to even respond (one investor rep seemed confused about whether they had actually invested?). they are banking on everyone moving on. cowardice as a crisis comms strategy.
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Charlie Warzel
2 months ago
There is a crisis of impunity. The Musk/Grok stuff is just one f many examples of people who are counting on there never being any consequences. And it all makes me just incandescently mad.
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Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/elon-musk-cannot-get-away-with-this/685606/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZARPUD5FicQUDwrnSCQCdUjM
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Musk and xAI enabled widespread sexual harassment on X.
@cwarzel.bsky.social
and I asked xAI's key investors, as well as Google, Apple, Nvidia, and more: Do you endorse the use of Grok to undress people? If not, will you cut ties with xAI? Few replied; none answered our actual questions.
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Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/elon-musk-cannot-get-away-with-this/685606/?gift=9i9YvITFD4FquxfKS3JYHcob3kIRG43zZT1e5BqeMS4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
2 months ago
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
2 months ago
We are not letting this go If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists. by
@cwarzel.bsky.social
and
@matteowong.bsky.social
loading . . .
Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/elon-musk-cannot-get-away-with-this/685606/?gift=iWa_iB9lkw4UuiWbIbrWGfy7jRKs9szeymuVzywQ_kU&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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đđđ
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
0
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reposted by
Matteo Wong
Damon Beres
3 months ago
New from
@garymarcus.bsky.social
and meâ Chatbots are: 1. Bad at providing info during breaking news events 2. Used by many people to find that info anyway 3. Making it harder for journalists to get their material seen online 4. Great vectors for manipulated media and propaganda Not great!
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@Grok, Did Venezuela âDeserve Itâ?
The information war will be fought through chatbots.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/01/grok-did-venezuela-deserve-it/685506/?gift=iWa_iB9lkw4UuiWbIbrWGfEp2aaVnmT-A3WVDIRAdww&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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