“This isn’t the America I know” Black People:

If you're upset about Jimmy Kimmel being "canceled," I'm sure you were just as furious when you heard about Joy Reid and Tiffany Cross or Amber Ruffin or Karen Attiah or Jemele Hill Because Kimmel might still have a job if you were

The cobblestones in Heidelberg: 1 Me: 0 😅

Spotted in Heidelberg, Germany 🍊

When two of the books I’ve been waiting for are both available to check out on Libby 🙌🏾 Looking forward to some great reading over the next week!

"The Nigerian government justifies the use of surveillance technologies under the guise of national security. However, substantial evidence indicates that these technologies are also used to suppress dissent and control political opposition." www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph-de...

"By amassing such concentrated power, AI companies have assumed control over many aspects of our lives, subjecting us to coercive practices designed to maximize their own profit-making potential." ainowinstitute.org/publications...

I conducted a lot of research on Chinese government AI capacity-building efforts for a recent project, and will honestly admit that the level of documentation on their government websites is impressive.

"Epistemic rigor, however, does not necessarily require specific epistemological commitments or choices but rather that those commitments and choices be made explicit." www.arxiv.org/abs/2506.14652

"...discourse around ‘AI ethics’ is similarly shaped by the moral anxieties of the Global North...reinforcing colonial era stereotypes, data sovereignty, and the disproportionate impact of automated decision making on marginalised populations." twailr.com/twailing-ai-...

Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.

Insightful report examining how human rights defenders across Africa use digital security tools to protect themselves in high-risk political and digital environments. huridocs.org/2025/07/how-...

Fascinating paper that mineralized GPU components to uncover their mineral composition and conducted an environmental impact assessment of AI model training: arxiv.org/abs/2509.00093

"Meta blocked several security efforts by Mr. Baig’s team, according to the lawsuit, including a proposed feature that required additional login approval for account recovery and one that prevented profile pictures from being downloaded from the service." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/t...

"Health isn’t just for beautiful people, and healthy choices do not happen in a vacuum. Regulation, policy, science and culture work together to produce healthy choices." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

"Regional AI experts and industry leaders, however, urge caution, saying Africa could become a testing ground for AI models and a vast source of data collection in the U.S.-China tech rivalry, making the continent dependent on foreign-owned systems." restofworld.org/2025/africa-...

Grateful for my past two years at Brookings and looking forward to sharing my next steps soon! It was an honor to begin my career at the world’s most prestigious think tank, and I look forward to returning when the time is right.

I recovered my dad’s hacked WhatsApp account earlier this week and he keeps telling my twin brother “this is why I sent her to Cornell” 🤣

Enjoyed reading this story on important archival work happening at the Dikan Center in Ghana. www.okayafrica.com/paul-ninson-...

Gradually considering going on the academic job market...I think I just need one more year to get everything together and start outlining ideal faculty positions + institutions.

More than 300k Black women being pushed out of the labor market while white men gained 365k more jobs is what we mean when we refer to racism as systemic.

This person is a charlatan. Why is there so much uncritical coverage of this obvious nonsense? Where is the actual journalism?

Exactly a year ago today, I was officially named as one of the world’s most influential people in AI on the 2nd edition of the TIME 100 AI list! Receiving the news was quite unexpected, and I’m grateful for all of the opportunities that have come since. time.com/7012894/chin...

"Policy work often fails because of bad design, timid recommendations, or a lack of realism...Too often, companies or think tanks publish a PDF, hold a roundtable, secure a desultory media or newsletter reference, and decide it’s mission accomplished." www.chalmermagne.com/p/death-by-a...

Spotted in Dupont Circle ✊🏾

One of the best pieces I've read on voluntary isolated indigenous communities in the Amazon. english.elpais.com/internationa...

Just learned that the Cherokee Nation implemented an AI policy last month. Very cool! www.cherokee.org/media/fo4pcq...

I really enjoy vacationing in South Carolina ☀️

Just saw a man being quite assertive with the National Guard outside of Dupont Circle station, and then someone taking a photo with them in Metro Center station…the duality is interesting, to say the least.

After months of collaboration, I’m pleased to share "AI Safety Governance, The Southeast Asian Way,” a new report from @brookings.edu and AI Safety Asia (AISA)! Our report outlines recent AI governance developments in 11 Southeast Asian countries. www.brookings.edu/articles/ai-...

Black people are not a societal problem. Racism against Black people is.

After doubling the federal budget from 2024 to 2025, the Nigerian government has refused to publicly disclose how the money is being spent. Completely outrageous. www.zikoko.com/citizen/tinu...

I point this out for clarity. I also have a long-term interest in how my crafting of ideas is sometimes confused for the very serious idea being crafted. So to be clear: AI is political attack on labor with few limited cases for social value and an absolute ecological disaster.

the fight to end and abolish modern AI is at the intersection of everyone's basic rights. from the invasive and totalitarian surveillance, to the theft of both labor & private data, to the destruction of human knowledge, to the militarized use of it, to the environmental and public health harm.

I literally laughed out loud when I read this. The tech giants are getting desperate, huh? 🤣 thehill.com/policy/techn...

Science is hard. You gotta prove it, test it, and reproduce the results. Pseudoscience is easy. You make it up, add some fear, and watch ignorant people spread it.

I've deleted/consolidated over 100 internet accounts and duplicated passwords over the past month and still have an infinite number to go. I'm trying to close at least 2 unused email accounts and it's been quite a tedious process 😅

This week, I learned that "OnlyFans chatbot companies" are actually a thing. What in the world!? restofworld.org/2025/onlyfan...

"...it’s very likely that inference sovereignty will not be a viable goal for many countries, and might not be so attractive for a lot of them either." writing.antonleicht.me/p/datacenter...

"...the majority (72%) of postdoctoral researchers at federally funded R&D centers are temporary visa holders...by not opening applications for federally-funded fellowship programs to temporary visa holders, valuable intellectual contributions are being overlooked." ifp.org/maximizing-t...

On my flight to Panama City yesterday, I brainstormed a few names for my future research lab. Now I just need to find the ideal university (or universities) to house it 👀

Colombian breakfast is definitely in my top 3 types of breakfasts I’ve had globally.

Thank you to EL TIEMPO, the most widely read newspaper in Colombia, for featuring me in an article for Cumbre del Jaguar, which is being held today! This is my first time (to my knowledge) appearing in a mainstream Latin American news outlet. www.eltiempo.com/cultura/cumb...

I landed in Medellín earlier today and have already spotted interesting billboards, posters, etc. about or using AI. Here’s a shirt I saw on the Metro:

“Out of the context of the Nigerian Civil War emerged a new form of neo-humanitarianism that sought to not only provide aid but also challenge political structures that perpetuated suffering.” retrospectjournal.com/2025/04/13/t...

It seems like the Netherlands (and most other countries) should stop trying to leverage predictive AI for social services. www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/11/1...

"AI sovereignty is motivated not just by profits or the geopolitical chess match surrounding AI; it’s also a direct response to the need for cultural preservation and protection." www.lawfaremedia.org/article/on-t...

"Unfortunately, the typical profile of African entrepreneurship is based more on survival and a dependence on supplying government and big businesses, than on innovation and growth." developmentekko.substack.com/p/africas-yo...

"Why would other countries buy our stuff and take our side when the US government is publicly undermining them? And why would countries tighten their export controls when we’re relaxing ours?" www.techpolicy.press/trumps-ai-st...

I will never forget when I attended a workshop at the University of Pretoria last summer (South African winter), and the university held a reunion event for alumni over 60, and there were no Black people present. I stayed in South Africa for almost a month...it really changed my mindset.