AI is betting big on the 2026 midterms Ads funded by the AI industry are starting to flood the 2026 midterm elections. Super PACs from two factions of the AI industry are pumping millions of dollars into 2026 primaries, backing and attacking candidates based on where they stand on AI regulation.

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Our newsletter this week explores what Meta and YouTube’s loss in a landmark California trial on social media means for our digital future. Scroll down for more! And here’s Issue 41 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

A new report from the Project Liberty Institute, Social Web Foundation, Public AI, & @modalfoundation.eurosky.social stresses the importance of continued dialogue to create shared problem definitions, priorities, and identify next steps across research, standards development, and gov communities.

New work! Asking who controls the infrastructure of our social lives online—and what happens as AI agents mediate Co-authored with @mallory.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy @thelastjosh.bsky.social sh.bsky.social Sarah Nicole and Jessica Theodule @projectliberty.io www.projectliberty.io/news/ai-agen...

How do we know when we’re at a tipping point? Last week, a California jury might have answered it. It found Meta and YouTube legally liable for harming a young woman through addictive product design—the first verdict of its kind. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/t...

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Our newsletter last week and this week explored the much-feared AI jobs crisis – and everything we know about AI’s impact on the labor market. Scroll down for more! And here are Issues 39+40 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Tuesday from Project Liberty! Last week’s newsletter is on interoperability: the secret sauce that keeps the internet open and accessible across platforms – now at an inflection point in the AI revolution. Scroll for more! And here’s Issue 38 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

We believe in an AI that serves and empowers people rather than replacing or diminishing them. That's why we signed the The Pro-Human AI Declaration alongside other colleagues and leaders in the AI industry. Read the full declaration: lnkd.in/eAxEZGFp

Technologists can build an alternative AI tech stack There is a growing movement of technologists, like ours, and civil society organizations interested in building an alternative tech stack that affirms that humans, not AI agents or LLMs, are the owners of their data.

Individuals can exercise agency now. Here are a few solutions: 🧳Move between platforms. Explore tools that talk to each other. 🔍 Know your data. Download your data & understand what was collected. 🧠 Practice cognitive sovereignty. Use AI in ways that extend your thinking, not replace it.

"Interoperability": the word that could save the internet Read more in this week's newsletter: projectlibertynewsletter.substack.com/p/is-ai-work...

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! This week’s newsletter explores the dangers of outsourcing our cognition to “thinking machines” – AI agents that go far beyond Frank Herbert’s worst fears. And here’s Issue 37 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

⏰ New report: Building Digital Infrastructure for the AI Era: Insights from Middle Power States Featuring key findings from 13 government interviews on digital infrastructure www.projectliberty.io/news/buildin...

At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, we convened governments and global partners for a timely discussion on Steering DPI & AI Innovation toward Public Value Maximisation. Photo Credit: Christopher Dunker

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! This week’s newsletter tackles a new study by The Collective Intelligence Project outlining 5 “paradoxes” around how people are using AI – and how they’re trusting it. And here’s Issue 36 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

Something strange is going on ​ 🚫 People trust their AI more than elected representatives, civil servants, and faith leaders. 🚫 People trust their AI more than the companies that built them. 🚫 People consider AI part of their emotional support system but hide how much they use it

Your data feeds AI's memory. This week's newsletter examines how AI memory works, the tradeoffs it introduces for privacy, and the steps individuals can take to manage their data. email.projectliberty.io/your-data-is...

Is it too late to apply hard-earned lessons to Agentic AI? Before, “free” services cost consumers their privacy, their attention and their autonomy. Now, Frequency enables humans to control their data, personhood and attention via a decentralized, open alternative to Big Tech AI. Learn how:

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Here’s Issue 35 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

From #MSC2026 in Munich: Project Liberty Founder Frank McCourt joined @gzeromedia.com to discuss how we can rebuild the internet for democracy, arguing for people-centered design over exploitative platforms. 🔗 Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUqZ...

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Here’s Issue 34 of our Week in Review series -- with AI cloud sovereignty a major theme this week, let’s dive in 👇

Our founder, Frank McCourt, writes in POLITICO on the urgency of building a better foundation for AI that embeds Western values and protects future generations -- and how our personal data is fueling the fight to shape our digital futures. 🗽 www.politico.eu/article/pers...

Is it too late to apply lessons learned the hard way to Agentic AI? Before, “free” web services cost consumers their privacy, attention & autonomy. Now, we're enabling humans to control their data, personhood and attention via Frequency, a decentralized, open alternative to Big Tech AI. Learn how:

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! This week’s newsletter details the rise of surveillance capitalism in the AI age, with personalized ads now entering the world’s leading AI chatbots. And here’s Issue 33 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

In this newsletter, we examined how surveillance capitalism is coming for our intimate conversations, and what we can do about it. email.projectliberty.io/your-chatbot...

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! This week’s newsletter focuses on the victim of the greatest theft in human history: your attention. And here’s Issue 32 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Monday from Project Liberty! Last week’s newsletter asked us a simple but disturbing question: do we need to copyright our own faces in the AI age? And here’s Issue 31 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! This week’s newsletter discusses the proliferation of AI privacy policies – and what’s really in the fine print. And here’s Issue 30 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

Most of us agree to thousands of words of terms & conditions without reading a single sentence. What are we exactly signing?

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! This week’s newsletter discusses the emerging phenomenon of AI children’s toys – e.g. chatbot-powered teddy bears that can talk back to their owners. More on that below. And here’s Issue 29 of our Week in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Friday and Happy New Year from Project Liberty! Here’s the first Week in Review of 2026. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! This week’s newsletter discusses the importance of wisdom in the age of AI. Scroll down for more! And here’s Issue 27 of our Week in Review series. Happy holidays! Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! We’re back with Issue 26 of our Week(s) in Review series. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Issue 25 of our Week in Review series is here. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy early Thanksgiving from Project Liberty! Issue 24 of our Week in Review series is dropping a few days early. Let’s dive in 👇

Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Our newsletter this week asks why cars, restaurants, apartments, and worksites have strict safety standards – but not social media. Scroll down to read! And here’s our Week in Review for November 15-21. Let’s dive in 👇

1/ Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Our newsletter this week asks an increasingly realistic question: are “our” AI systems working against us? And here’s our Week in Review for November 8-14. Let’s dive in 👇

1/ Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Here’s our Week in Review for November 1-7. Let’s dive in 👇

One of the guiding themes of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned was how we can build digital technologies with humans in mind. This question has informed much of Frank McCourt's work, as the Founder of @projectliberty.io and Executive Chairman of McCourt Global. 🧵 #Attention2025

Today at #EmTechMIT, Frank McCourt, the founder of Project Liberty, spoke about his hopes for the future of AI: “Let’s use the technology to get smarter. Let’s use the technology to spread the wealth. Let’s use the technology to revitalize democracy.”

1/ Happy Halloween from Project Liberty! Here’s our Week in Review for Oct 25-31. Let’s dive in 👇

@taylorowen.bsky.social highlighted the online harms component of this conversation, emphasizing the pedagogical challenges in this space that must be addressed to safeguard our democracy in the age of AI.

We wrapped day 1 of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned with a closing keynote from Jim Balsillie (former Chair and Co-CEO, Research in Motion) on "Un-Capturing Democracy," followed by an interview with Centre Founder @taylorowen.bsky.social 🧵 #Attention2025

We kicked off day 2 with keynote address from Nobel Laureate and Co-founder/CEO of @rappler.bsky.social, @mariaressa.bsky.social, on the future of global digital governance. #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025

Another powerful moment from #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned was the day 2 plenary panel: Chatbots as the New Threat to Children Online, moderated by Ava Smithing (Centre Youth Fellow & Advocacy and Operations Director, Young People’s Alliance).

1/ Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Here’s our Week in Review for Oct 18-24. Let’s dive in 👇

I enjoyed moderating this conversation with Frank McCourt from @projectliberty.io at today's Attention Forum in Montreal @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social. We spoke about everything from buying TikTok to building a better digital world.

What if our digital infrastructure put people first, instead of platforms? For @projectliberty.io Founder and Executive Chairman of McCourt Global, Frank McCourt, it is possible to imagine a new digital future where we get to set the terms.

1/ Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Here’s our Week in Review for Oct 11-17. Let’s dive in 👇

SPECIAL REPORT: This past week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a slew of tech accountability and AI governance bills into law, capping a monthslong drama that gripped Silicon Valley and the broader US digital rights movement. 🐻 Let’s review!