Nick Srnicek
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
đ€ 6602
đ„ 486
đ 89
Author of 'Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI':
https://amzn.eu/d/aZKYWsA
pinned post!
Today is the official UK publication day for Silicon Empires! I'm excited to have it out and hear what people think. There's an enormous amount happening every day in AI, and it's difficult to gain a stable perspective. I wrote the book to try and get some secure hold on that constant flux. đ§”
4 months ago
5
94
31
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Doug Henwood
4 days ago
fresh audio product: âąÂ Tessa West on what kept the Epstein gang together âą Nick Srnicek on AI
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
âą Wanda Bertram on the costs of mass incarceration
@prisonpolicy.org
www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#S...
2
19
7
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Will Davies
19 days ago
This is a really insightful and informative episode with
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
particularly for how it pushes back against the leftist urge to dismiss AI as politically old hat and philosophically irrelevant
thedigradio.com/podcast/sili...
loading . . .
Silicon Empires w/ Nick Srnicek
Featuring Nick Srnicek on Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI. A deep exploration of the political economy of AI: the fulcrum of the authoritarian tech oligarchyâand of global contests for...
https://thedigradio.com/podcast/silicon-empires-w-nick-srnicek/
1
24
9
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Polity
19 days ago
"Charting AIâs development within its proper economic and geopolitical context...Srnicekâs guide can help us maintain a long-term, realistic perspective of the technologyâs likely trajectory.â
@jacobinmag.bsky.social
review
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
's 'Silicon Empires'
jacobin.com/2026/02/ai-b...
loading . . .
How Big Tech Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bombs
Until quite recently, many Big Tech firms opposed the militarization of AI, but that now seems like ancient history as they move to sign partnerships with arms companies. The prospect of lavish Pentag...
https://jacobin.com/2026/02/ai-big-tech-military-china
2
12
11
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Ben Wray
24 days ago
My review of
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
's new book on AI, 'Silicon Empires', in Jacobin đ
bsky.app/profile/jaco...
add a skeleton here at some point
1
8
3
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Quinn Slobodian
about 1 month ago
Very much looking forward to this - Silicon Empires by
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
is the best book I've read on the political economy of AI
add a skeleton here at some point
3
58
20
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
makena kelly
about 1 month ago
SCOOP: Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers. More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
loading . . .
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
âIn my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,â one worker wrote on Slack.
https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-ice-dhs-alex-pretti-killing-workers-slack-minneapolis/
224
2936
1674
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Cominsitu
about 1 month ago
studying the enemy
5
114
10
The Dig is one of my favourite podcasts, so it was a real honour to be able to chat with Daniel about all things AI
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
1
62
17
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Data & Society
about 1 month ago
In an excerpt from his new book "Silicon Empires,"
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
looks at how Anthropic, Google, Meta, and OpenAI â once united in opposition to military use of their AI tools â came around to working with the Pentagon.
www.wired.com/story/book-e...
loading . . .
How AI Companies Got Caught Up in US Military Efforts
Two years ago, companies like Meta and OpenAI were united against military use of their tools. Now all of that has changed.
https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-silicon-empires-nick-srnicek/
0
9
6
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
The Autonomy Institute
about 1 month ago
EVENT |
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
on Silicon Empires | | Fri 13th Feb, 18:30 | | Newspeak House, London |
loading . . .
Nick Srnicek on Silicon Empires: what is the economy of AI and where is it leading us?
Weâre excited to kick off our 2026 CADA event series by welcoming Nick Srnicek to discuss his most recent book Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI. Since the emergence of ChatGPT,âŠ
https://buff.ly/K6fFJOV
0
4
1
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Félix Tréguer
about 2 months ago
Yesterday, we held the first session of the âAI critiqueâ seminar, welcoming two scholars whose work has profoundly shaped critical debates on the political economy of AI:
@ceciliarikap.bsky.social
&
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
. Here is a short overview of the session:
www.felixtreguer.fr/en/2026/01/1...
loading . . .
Two Post-Marxist Takes on The Political Economy of AI · Félix Tréguer
https://www.felixtreguer.fr/en/2026/01/13/aiseminar-ecopol/
1
11
4
Silicon Empires is out today in the US! For anyone interested, I'm resharing this thread outlining some of the key arguments of the book.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
1
21
9
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Niels van Doorn
about 2 months ago
Just picked up
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
âs new book. Congrats Nick, it looks great and Iâm excited to dig in!
1
6
1
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
The Syllabus
2 months ago
Who owns the future of artificial intelligence? Our video of the week argues that the true struggle is not just over technological prowess, but over the capture and organization of value across a multi-layered AI âstack.â Feat.
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
buff.ly/A0doDoI
0
9
5
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Nils Gilman
3 months ago
âStrategic incoherency is the imperial expression of domestic contestations.â -
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
0
5
1
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
New post from me, trying to understand the various deals being made to build out AI infrastructure. Plus some news and research I thought was interesting recently.
siliconempires.substack.com/p/financing-...
loading . . .
Financing AI Compute
Financing AI Compute
https://siliconempires.substack.com/p/financing-ai-compute
3 months ago
0
10
6
New post from me, trying to understand the various deals being made to build out AI infrastructure. Plus some news and research I thought was interesting recently.
siliconempires.substack.com/p/financing-...
loading . . .
Financing AI Compute
Financing AI Compute
https://siliconempires.substack.com/p/financing-ai-compute
3 months ago
0
10
6
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Digital Humanities @ King's College London
3 months ago
Joint book launch at Kingâs đ Featuring: âą
@jwyg.bsky.social
, Public Data Cultures âą
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
, Silicon Empires âą
@mayameme.bsky.social
, Auto-Correct In conversation with
@noortjem.bsky.social
&
@joannazylinska.bsky.social
đ 3 Dec, 19:00-21:00
www.tickettailor.com/events/kings...
loading . . .
free ticket đïž â joint book launch đ Silicon Empires x Auto-Correct x Public Data Cultures đâš â Macadam Building - MB 4.2
joint book launch đ Silicon Empires x Auto-Correct x Public Data Cultures đâš â Macadam Building - MB 4.2, Wed 3 Dec 2025 - Join us for a book launch event for Nick Srnicek's Silicon Empires, Maya Gane...
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/kingscollegelondoncentrefordigitalculture/1937359
0
9
7
I've started up a newsletter to try and collect together my incipient thoughts and notes on the intersection of AI, geopolitics, and capitalism. I'm unlikely to post often, but feel free to subscribe and get updates here:
siliconempires.substack.com
loading . . .
Silicon Empires | Nick | Substack
A newsletter about AI, geopolitics, and capitalism. Click to read Silicon Empires, by Nick, a Substack publication.
https://siliconempires.substack.com/
4 months ago
0
8
2
Most of the discussion around America's AI strategy abroad has focused on the AI Action Plan - but perhaps more important was the Executive Order on exporting the AI stack. đ§”
4 months ago
2
10
9
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
jonathan w. y. gray
4 months ago
đđâš yay - joint book launch for
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
's Silicon Empires,
@mayameme.bsky.social
's Auto-Correct and my Public Data Cultures, in discussion with
@joannazylinska.bsky.social
&
@noortjem.bsky.social
on 3rd Dec, 7-9pm đ
www.tickettailor.com/events/kings...
@politybooks.bsky.social
1
10
7
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Pete Wolfendale
4 months ago
Obligatory pinned post: my new book, The Revenge of Reason, is now available to buy:
www.urbanomic.com/book/the-rev...
5
73
18
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Today is the official UK publication day for Silicon Empires! I'm excited to have it out and hear what people think. There's an enormous amount happening every day in AI, and it's difficult to gain a stable perspective. I wrote the book to try and get some secure hold on that constant flux. đ§”
4 months ago
5
94
31
Today is the official UK publication day for Silicon Empires! I'm excited to have it out and hear what people think. There's an enormous amount happening every day in AI, and it's difficult to gain a stable perspective. I wrote the book to try and get some secure hold on that constant flux. đ§”
4 months ago
5
94
31
Two big changes to the precarity of the AI industry in the last year: (1) more and more companies are turning to debt to finance AI capex (see Meta, xAI, Oracle), and (2) OpenAI's flurry of deals in the past month are tying major companies to the fate of this startup
5 months ago
3
34
19
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
The Autonomy Institute
5 months ago
NEW clip from our new video essay with
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
. Essential viewing for understanding the AI economy. Full video here:
youtu.be/2vN7vr0qwMo?...
loading . . .
0
4
3
I'm excited to share the final cover for Silicon Empires and very grateful for the kind words that others have offered. Pre-order here:
www.amazon.co.uk/Silicon-Empi...
6 months ago
2
55
11
This is one of the core questions I try to answer in my upcoming book. Research has shown it's incredibly difficult for GPT producers to capture much, if any, of the downstream value. But big AI firms are all making a play to do precisely that - fuelling a series of different expansionary logics.
6 months ago
2
10
2
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Kean Birch
7 months ago
I have a new article out: "Do artifacts have political economy?" It's a riff on an old argument by Langdon Winner about the embedding of politics in technology
#STS
#sociology
#technoscience
#technology
#innovation
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
loading . . .
Do Artifacts Have Political Economy? - Kean Birch, 2025
Harking back to Langdon Winner's now classic essay âDo artifacts have politics?,â my aim in this article is to ask a very similar questionânamely, do artif...
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01622439251352167
13
123
42
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Jamie
7 months ago
Announcing the new journal: "Historical Materialism: Workers and Capital" We've launched a new Historical Materialism project with a CfP for the first issue. Abstracts due 31st of October Full details and the new website here:
workersandcapital.historicalmaterialism.org/index.php/jo...
loading . . .
Historical Materialism: Workers and Capital
Historical Materialism: Workers and Capital is a Marxist journal based in London.
https://workersandcapital.historicalmaterialism.org/index.php/journal
0
29
14
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
The Syllabus
7 months ago
AI's immense requirements for data, computation, and talent entrench the power of existing tech monopolies. Our podcast of the week frames AI as a general-purpose technology whose primary role is consolidating capital. With
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
on
@smartcookies.bsky.social
buff.ly/Nzoi8um
0
15
5
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Rafael Grohmann
9 months ago
Happy to be part of this amazing speaker series organized by Utrecht University, especially
@fabianlferrari.bsky.social
. I'll talk about Latin American Critical AI studies. I'll be in such great company with
@nsrnicek.bsky.social
and
@anavaldi.bsky.social
cdh.uu.nl/event/cdh-on...
0
11
4
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Riccardo Bellofiore
9 months ago
A second collection of essays on
#Michael-Heinrich
#Science-of-Value
is out, eds S. Breda & me for. The special issue of
#Dialettica-e-Filosofia
can be downloaded at the link below. The table of contents is attached.
www.dialetticaefilosofia.it/index.html
#Marx
#value
#capital
#money
#crisis
1
16
10
This event is tomorrow and will be a great platform for the British left to build on
autonomy.work/forum-2029/
loading . . .
Forum 2029
Find out more about our Forum 2029 series of events.
https://autonomy.work/forum-2029/
9 months ago
0
2
1
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
AI Now Institute
9 months ago
NEW REPORT: Artificial Power, our 2025 Landscape Report, is out. Todayâs AI isnât just being used by us, itâs being used on us. We urgently need to reclaim public power over the future trajectory of AI. Another path is possible. Read the report:
ainowinstitute.org/2025-landscape
12
364
195
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Stuart White
9 months ago
What would an anti-oligarchic, republican economy look like? UBI? Wealth tax? Workplace democracy? Strong trade unions? Investment democracy? I explore a radical republican economics in my new book, 'The Wealth of Freedom', which is now out online.
academic.oup.com/book/60075
loading . . .
The Wealth of Freedom: Radical Republican Political Economy
Abstract. What is an economy for? The republican tradition in political thought offers a compelling way of exploring this question. The economy is for the
https://academic.oup.com/book/60075
6
48
31
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
SĂžren Mau
9 months ago
I wrote a review of
@brunoleipold.com
's brilliant book:
add a skeleton here at some point
4
79
25
AI becoming more prone to blackmailing users, just as companies start giving AI access to our digital histories - what could go wrong?
9 months ago
1
23
10
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Kai Heron
10 months ago
The complete and utter depravity of this. There are no words.
mondoweiss.net/2025/05/isra...
loading . . .
Israel just launched its offensive to permanently âconquerâ Gaza as Trumpâs Arab Gulf tour wraps up
Israel announced the initial phase of âGideonâs chariots,â the expanded ground invasion to permanently âconquerâ Gaza, amid reports that Trump reneged on his deal with Hamas to lift the blockade, and ...
https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/israel-launches-expanded-ground-invasion-to-conquer-gaza-as-trump-gulf-tour-wraps-up/
0
45
32
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Oxford Internet Institute
10 months ago
New paper! Latest work from
@geoplace.bsky.social
@oii.ox.ac.uk
exploring the strategic unknowns embedded in the business models of digital care work platforms, published in Critical Sociology. Co-authors
@fundaustek.bsky.social
and Dr Alessio Bertolini. Read the full paper here:
bit.ly/3F4WAJW
loading . . .
The Strategic Unknowns of Business Models of Digital Care Work Platforms - Funda Ustek Spilda, Alessio Bertolini, Adam Badger, Oguz Alyanak, Mark Graham, 2025
Informed by the scholarship of strategic ignorance (agnotology), this study presents a critical analysis of digital care work platforms and their business model...
https://bit.ly/3F4WAJW
0
5
4
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Gregg Carlstrom
10 months ago
World Central Kitchen has run out of food to serve in Gaza. Its bakery ("recently the last working bakery in Gaza") is out of flour. There are 100,000+ tons of food in staging areas within driving distance of Gaza, and Israel refuses to let them in
wck.org/news/gaza-up...
loading . . .
World Central Kitchen | WCK Forced to Halt Cooking in Gaza as Supplies Run Out
After serving more than 130 million total meals and 26 million loaves of bread over the past 18 months, World Central Kitchen no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza.
https://wck.org/news/gaza-update-5-7
143
4025
3549
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Karen Gregory
10 months ago
A must-read
@platformsnsociety.bsky.social
: Prodexchange: Digitalâindustrial economization in Google Search supply chain Koray Caliskan, Donald MacKenzie, Addie McGowan "search engines are not engines, it examines Google Search as a supply chain..."
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
loading . . .
Prodexchange: Digitalâindustrial economization in Google Search supply chain - Koray Caliskan, Donald MacKenzie, Addie McGowan, 2025
Using Google as a case study, this paper analyzes the online advertising sector's search industry. Arguing that search engines are not engines, it examines...
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/29768624251337868
3
21
9
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
h nn h p
10 months ago
Dossier of four pieces on the life and work of Marina Vishmidt đđđŠđŠ 1. Ray Brassier, âCrystal drillsâ
www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/crys...
1
22
8
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Centre for Digital Culture
10 months ago
Symposium on Information Controls on 16th May, bringing together academic and civil society perspectives on information controls around the world:
www.kcl.ac.uk/events/sympo...
#disinformation
#algorithms
#censorship
#infrastructure
#internetstudies
@kingsdh.bsky.social
@kingsartshums.bsky.social
loading . . .
Symposium on Information Controls
The Symposium on Information Controls brings together academic and civil society perspectives on information controls from around the world.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/symposium-on-information-controls
0
6
4
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Benjamin H. Bradlow
10 months ago
Excellent analysis of BYDâs global expansion, by
@paologerbaudo.bsky.social
.
add a skeleton here at some point
0
19
8
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Andrew Leyshon
11 months ago
With proofs now edited and index completed, The Rise of the Platform Music Industries by
@allanwatson1.bsky.social
and me is all set for publication in June 2025. Phew! Delighted too with
@agendapub.bsky.social
's clever cover design.
www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...
loading . . .
The Rise of the Platform Music Industries
A critical appraisal of the latest round of platform intermediation, centred on MusicTech, social media platforms and user-generated content, live streaming, crowdfunding and gamification, that is res...
https://www.agendapub.com/page/detail/the-rise-of-the-platform-music-industries/?k=9781788218191
0
12
6
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Submitted the final version of my next book on AI, Big Tech, and the geopolitical struggles over them. Now hopefully nothing important happens on those topics before it comes out... Pre-order here:
www.amazon.co.uk/Silicon-Empi...
11 months ago
3
95
20
Submitted the final version of my next book on AI, Big Tech, and the geopolitical struggles over them. Now hopefully nothing important happens on those topics before it comes out... Pre-order here:
www.amazon.co.uk/Silicon-Empi...
11 months ago
3
95
20
reposted by
Nick Srnicek
Matt Zeitlin
11 months ago
add a skeleton here at some point
6
504
79
Load more
feeds!
log in