Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood considers the antitrust scrutiny Nvidia has recently attracted, and how those efforts, which have largely stalled, are now potentially jeopardized by the ambitions of various countries to build out AI infrastructure and get ahead in the so-called “AI race.”

An analysis of X posts from the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology suggests it is overwhelmingly pro-AI. I analysed the sentiment of every X post from DSIT that mentioned "AI" this year. Of 122 posts, 110 were positive about AI, and only 7 mentioned its downsides. 🧵 1/2

"The Irish case has seen a consistent pattern: tech-sector growth is treated as inevitable, while climate obligations are accommodated around it. Managing the strained infrastructure comes at the cost of rising emissions and deferred decarbonization" algorithmwatch.org/en/ireland-d...

Layla Moran, health select committee chair: “The only thing more surprising than Trump’s tween-level temper tantrums is the UK government’s naive belief that his administration is a good faith actor." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

In the second in her series on Nvidia, Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood considers how the company is both vertically integrating while expanding its relationships across a wide range of industries and pursuing partnerships with governments around the world in a bid to maintain its dominance.

The second of my three-part deep dive into Nvidia has dropped! This installment looks at how the company is both vertically integrating while expanding its relationships across a wide range of industries and pursuing partnerships with governments around the world in a bid to maintain its dominance.

Tech sovereignty isn’t about swapping US hyperscalers for local monopolies, writes David Eaves. That just recreates dependency. Real agency comes from interoperability, de facto standards, and procurement that makes switching cloud providers simple, says Eaves.

"British officials on Monday confirmed the US suspended the deal last week, with one saying the Trump administration was pushing for UK concessions in areas of trade outside the tech partnership."

Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.

🚨 THE BATTLE BEGINS 🚨 Your favorite year-end contest is back. It’s time to choose who will be this year’s Worst Person In Tech for 2025! Each day of this week new matchups will drop until we choose the winner on Friday. 🗳️ Cast your ballot: twsu.forms.app/worst-person...

This has popped up on my feed again so your occasional reminder that, if your business cannot turn a profit when acting within the law, you don’t have a legitimate business

"...the false positive rate ... was far lower for white people, at 0.04 per cent. This rose to 4 per cent for Asian people and 5.5 per cent for Black people. ... False positives were highest for Black women, at 9.9 per cent, but close to zero for white men."

blog.rebeltechalliance.org/the-big-tech... Love this!

It's not only in the US that the far right and tech monopolies have a strongly aligned agenda. We're watching a direct replay of the cartel playbook leading up to WWII.

Really insightful breakdown on the Netflix-Warner Bros Discovery merger

Netflix’s bid to swallow Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming business is a raw deal for viewers, writers, creators, theaters. Our full statement is here: www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...

Meta-what? Never get it, never will, and I was right about not getting it. Meta’s Zuckerberg Plans Deep Cuts for Metaverse Efforts www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

If it was a waste of time and compute (and environmental and power resources) to make useless videos anyway, it’s good that people get tired of it. Enthusiasm for OpenAI’s Sora Fades After Initial Creative Burst www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Note that none of these fines are related to X’s content policies. Even before the decision was announced, politicians in the US were screeching about “censorship.” That’s either pure ignorance or outright lies. 2/

In the first in a series of three planned posts on Nvidia’s position in the AI market, Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood considers the company’s rise to dominance and the ways it has expanded to become an “AI factory.”

Back on the old campus @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social

Our research on data centres in Scotland picked up by @heraldscotland.bsky.social here: "data centres use huge amounts of electricity. And if you're using huge amounts of electricity and drawing it from the grid, then it comes with climate emissions.” www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/2566...

"At present Data centres are saying they are ‘Green’ because they use Scotland’s grid electricity. Under that definition every household and business in Scotland is green." If you don't laugh, you cry.

Two more candidates for DMA designation to assess during the coming weeks:

As EU authorities launch investigations targeting cloud services under the Digital Market Acts, Megan Kirkwood looks at why the Commission is reassessing its approach, how market concentration and switching barriers factor into the probes, and what the inquiries could mean for digital sovereignty.

We're in Berlin this week with @eurosky.social and many others for #EuroskyLive, a conference on digital sovereignty, media independence, startup opportunities, and the future of social technology being built and governed in Europe. free-our-feeds.ghost.io/free-our-fee...

The EU has opened a new probe into Google’s search spam policy under the Digital Markets Act, zeroing in on its “site reputation abuse” policy. Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood breaks down what’s behind the case.

The EU has opened a new probe into Google’s search spam policy under the Digital Markets Act, zeroing in on its “site reputation abuse” policy. Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood breaks down what’s behind the case.

@openrightsgroup.org just released a new report (authored by me), "Making Platforms Accountable: Empowering users and creating safety", diagnosing the problem of social media market concentration, providing examples of alternative visions, and recommendations to improve the online environment

UK government simultaneously replaced expert advice on technology with tech company “consultants” and displaced their civil servants’ experience and expertise into AI models… It’s a disaster & an absolute gift to the tech vendors…

"One proposed change would allow companies to claim that their AI training data is legal [...]. This permissiveness would allow Google, Meta, OpenAI and Microsoft to legitimise years of ill-gotten data gains, and make it utterly impossible for European competitors to catch up."

Excellent winter reading lined up

www.opendemocracy.net/en/podcasts/... -Found this really succinct and insightful

Sheffield Hallam University complied with Beijing demand to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project on supply chains and forced labour being dropped. It was reinstated after threat of legal action but chilling effect remains www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The UK Ministry of Justice’s £6.75m OpenAI deal raises sovereignty concerns, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood, part of a continued trend in the UK government to outsource important public infrastructure to US Big Tech. buff.ly/oiEaztE

"Deputy PM David Lammy will announce a new deal with OpenAI that will see thousands of officials get their hands on its tech at a closed-door event in London." Mere months after the sweeping agreement between the UK and OpenAI, the company is implementing its tech through UK public institutions

From Mexico to Ireland, Fury Mounts Over a Global A.I. Frenzy www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/t...

“Enforcing laws is keeping the promises you gave,” EU's former competition chief Margrethe Vestager said at a conference in Brussels this week. Tech Policy Press is publishing an "Ideas for Europe’s Future" series to explore how Europe can act decisively. @ramshajahangir.bsky.social with more:

Studies are beginning to reveal fissures in the argument that AI boosts productivity, writes Tech Policy Press fellow @eryk.bsky.social. Nonetheless, companies and governments are pouring investments into speculative growth without ample evidence.

Google search has been designated under the UK's new competition law, but the "CMA continues to consider possible interventions and expects to begin consultations later in the year."

'Solve'. If this technology was really so great, you wouldn't have to force people to use it. Cannot wait for this bubble to pop.

NVIDIA and OpenAi: Concerns that their “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“ @bloomberg.com $NVDA 👀 www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

Great article by @megafreda.bsky.social! Thanks for the shoutout for my cloud work w/ @openmarkets.bsky.social (w/ @maxvonthun.bsky.social and @danielahanley.bsky.social)

The European Commission is weighing whether the Digital Markets Act adequately covers integrated AI or if explicit inclusion is needed. Tech Policy Press fellow @megafreda.bsky.social explores the growing push to bring these systems firmly under its scope.

The European Commission is weighing whether the Digital Markets Act adequately covers integrated AI or if explicit inclusion is needed. Tech Policy Press fellow Megan Kirkwood explores the growing push to bring these systems firmly under its scope.

What are the arguments for and against designating generative AI under the Digital Markets Act? Should the EU concentrate instead on designating cloud computing? I had a look at the different arguments in my latest: www.techpolicy.press/will-the-eu-...