This John J. Lennon essay offers a searing look at how fragile, tightly controlled tech access shapes life behind bars. Please do give it a read. www.fastcompany.com/91399196/wri...

"Large data centers, many devoted to researching artificial intelligence, are expected to use more than 150 billion gallons of water across the U.S. over the next five years, according to the advocacy organization Alliance for the Great Lakes."

Imagine if Congress had an office dedicated to laying out the risks and benefits of emerging technologies. Turns out, it once did! But then Newt Gingrich defunded it 30 years ago. My latest @fastcompany.com: www.fastcompany.com/91378299/off...

After a secret lobbying effort, Trump’s Justice Department ousted staff and reversed course on Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s proposed megamerger. www.levernews.com/how-big-tech...

NEW: ChatGPT allows Google to index chats users share using the Share functionality - presumably misinterpreting "make this chat discoverable". The result? Frank admissions about sex lives and drug dependencies. My latest for @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91376687/goo... tip @techmeme.com

This @fastcompany.com article about the legacy of Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker is well worth a few minutes of your time.

NEW: Despite having an office of hundreds of attorneys, Ken Paxton is frequently opting for private lawyers — many to whom he has personal or political ties — to argue on behalf of Texas. One attorney cost taxpayers more than $24,000 for a day’s work. With @texastribune.org

thanks for the follow charlize theron

I wrote about a former FBI agent who spent decades chasing art forgers, and why he’s now using tech to try to stop fakes before they’re made. www.fastcompany.com/91364175/ron...

This year, Tesla’s lobbyists publicly advocated against only two bills. Both died. One would have required public hearings if a collision involving an autonomous vehicle — like the robotaxis Musk is rolling out — resulted in a fatality. With @kutnews.bsky.social & @texastribune.org

Drones are hampering recovery efforts in Texas from unexpectedly harsh floods - as they hampered wildfires in California in January, and many others. What's going on? My latest for @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91363994/tex...

Anthropic's AI copyright "win" might not actually be a win, unless they want to pay billions of dollars. My latest for @fastcompany.com www.fastcompany.com/91357755/ant...

Bolloré's businesses seem to “prey on countries with weak governance standards... Their relative impunity is made possible by the control they have over the media," Chanez Mensous, advocacy and litigation manager at Sherpa.  @clintrainey.bsky.social reports on Bolloré's corruption allegations 👇

DOGE is racing to digitize federal retirements—with a system built under Biden, not Trump. Insiders tell @fastcompany.com it's a prototype not ready for prime time. www.fastcompany.com/91332785/dog...

New one from me on @fastcompany.com: This California bill could redefine digital consent by requiring opt-in approval before companies collect or share your location data www.fastcompany.com/91333177/cal...

guilty as charged

DOGE guy at the CFPB owned verboten stocks. He was explicitly warned by ethics lawyers that he wasn’t permitted to take any action that could benefit those companies — and him. He then helped fire workers anyway. Including the ethics lawyers who warned him. www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...

New from me: Critics warn that DOGE’s rushed use of AI could lead to wrongful firings, mishandling of sensitive data, and lasting damage to core public services. www.fastcompany.com/91324480/dog...

New from me: Critics warn that DOGE’s rushed use of AI could lead to wrongful firings, mishandling of sensitive data, and lasting damage to core public services. www.fastcompany.com/91324480/dog...

You can use the most secure encrypted messaging app in the world, but it's the dumb human in the loop that'll reveal your plans to bomb Yemen to the world. My latest for @fastcompany.com on that ridiculous Signal breach and its ramifications www.fastcompany.com/91305043/tru...

I talked to Age of Disclosure director Dan Farah about how he managed to get Marco Rubio, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jim Clapper and dozens of other officials to go on record about alien life. www.fastcompany.com/91301211/dan...

What does a decentralized social network look like when it starts to scale? For @fastcompany.com’s Most Innovative Companies program, I looked at how @bsky.app — and its CEO @jay.bsky.team — are evolving with the shifting social media landscape. www.fastcompany.com/91271080/blu...

For @fastcompany.com, I spoke to federal workers fired as part of Elon Musk's efficiency drive - who have congregated on Reddit as succour www.fastcompany.com/91280346/fed...

*scoop* @fastcompany.com: Instagram’s AI Studio can create characters that range from bizarre to borderline illegal. www.fastcompany.com/91276645/ins...

For @fastcompany.com, I wrote about Trump's firing of the Archivist of the United States and its larger potential consequences for American governance www.fastcompany.com/91277620/tru...

Google Maps has become dangerously distracting. The app now issues alerts – with loud chimes – prompting users to confirm incidents like stalled cars. The alerts direct drivers to look away from the road, and there’s no way to turn them off. That’s reckless UX. Me in @fastcompany.com 🧵

States are using AI to determine whether someone should get public benefits, how much they should get, whether they should stay on, and if they committed fraud. What could go wrong. www.fastcompany.com/91265363/sta...

The justices seem to want this to be a narrow ruling based on the specifics of TikTok's ownership, but how much water does this hold going forward? “A law targeting any other speaker would by necessity entail a distinct inquiry and separate considerations." www.fastcompany.com/91262252/sup...

As the L.A. Fires burned, I watched the sky fill with smoke and couldn't find a bit of helpful info on social media. We were sold the idea of the Citizen Journalist; instead, we’re living in an era of the Citizen Pundit. It sucks. ❤️ Watch Duty + local news www.fastcompany.com/91258156/la-...

Great, deeply reported piece by @clintrainey.bsky.social on the dark side of working for Trader Joe's. www.fastcompany.com/91240535/wha...

The move to end Meta’s fact-checking program is a nod to the political party in power—yes. But it's also a reflection of the incredibly sad state of affairs on the Facebook platform—filled with ads, AI slop, and irrelevant content. My latest column for @fastcompany.com:

THREAD: In 2023, I received an envelope with no return address. Inside was a flash drive containing tens of 1000s of secret files. It came from a vigilante with a tumultuous past, who'd conducted a years-long undercover operation. He didn’t tell the FBI or his family. He only told me.

"The only clue that users seemingly had of Siri's alleged spying was eerily accurate targeted ads that appeared after they had just been talking about specific items like Air Jordans or brands like Olive Garden"

i'm biased bc i work with @pranshuverma.bsky.social & @cqzakrz.bsky.social and they are great, but i found this a really useful straight-news treatment of the musk v. MAGA tiff, with tons of relevant context on trump's precarious alliances with big tech www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

telling the Benihana chef he's made a powerful enemy today but it's drowned out by laughter as he flicks a 7th shrimp into my shirt pocket

Tried my hand at writing a fake story (i.e. fiction). This one features a large snowstorm, bottomless drinks, and an unexpected acquaintance. Many thanks to @hazlitt.bsky.social for publishing it. hazlitt.net/longreads/ni...

I've spent the past year interviewing Hannah Byrne, a former Counterterrorism policy manager at Meta who quit the company after coming to believe she helping build a racial profiling censorship machine. She shares her story today for the first time. theintercept.com/2024/12/04/m...

As the writer of this piece, I was as surprised to be put in touch with Virgil Texas (it wasn't my idea) as you are to see him pop up here.

Every year, Fast Company shares an annual list of technological breakthroughs that will help define the future of the industries they serve. Among thousands of exciting new developments, the 138 honorees for the 2024 Next Big Things in Tech stand out for their ingenuity. #FCTechAwards

What does efficiency look like in Elon Musk's world? For @fastcompany.com, I asked people who used to work for him www.fastcompany.com/91229950/how...

Robby Starbuck's crusade against DEI taps into centuries-old anxieties, and shows that many of the companies in question were never serious about those commitments in the first place. www.fastcompany.com/91214494/rob...

Washington Post: Influential activist Leonard Leo helped fund media campaign lionizing Clarence Thomas https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/07/20/leonard-leo-clarence-thomas-paoletta/ h/t @dahlialithwick.bsky.social

A judge in Texas is arguing the Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative means they can refuse to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/12/texas-judge-gay-weddings-supreme-court/

New on @fastcompany.bsky.social: the Texas homeowner whose video of a DoorDash worker cursing at her over a $5 tip went viral this week — says she's learned "how screwed up" DoorDash workers' pay model is, and wants the gig company to start paying them better.

take me back

Before Horizon Worlds, Decentraland, or even Second Life, there was Bowie World, David Bowie’s quirky online universe.