Reminded today of this critical piece of reporting that escaped me. Maybe others too, so here it is: www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

"Xavier owns an apartment that he rents out at a loss of $1 billion/month. Seeing this success, he decides to make financial commitments to construct $850 billion in new apartments in places nobody wants them...."

Public relations masquerading as journalism is not new, but increasingly the PR doesn’t even have to relate to something that has actually happened - just speculative hype for a possible future outcome with no evidence that it will eventuate. It’s not journalism but it also isn’t PR - it’s fraud.

My grandfather, the first AI. It’s a comedy, but it’s also a story about what happens when the producer doesn’t understand the concept behind what they’re producing, only the product!

Where does the “it’s not x, it’s y” come from? It’s not only training data: LLMs are trained to use language to arrive at “answers.” Whatever we’re incentivizing and disincentivizing in our use of language when we resist “sounding like AI” has big implications for students, and for human thought.

My favorite part is how everyone asking this gets a slightly different response, all wrong in slightly diff ways. So not only is it destroying the idea of an accurate search engine, it’s collapsing the idea of a shared epistemological reality.

"The chill guy persona always goes away once a woman stops feeding the DJ’s ego. chaser.com.au/general-news...

Until now I have always just said yes when asked to consent to AI doctors notes. It easier to say yes, and I guess I imagined it was basically transcription. But actually i think taking their own notes is essential for diagnosis and part of the doctors‘ job. Going to start saying no.

"Do not, my friends, become addicted to water. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence!"

Andon labs created AI-Hosted 24/7 radio shows, and Claude absolutely could not stop libbing out

“Let me start with what worked…the part of the story most Americans do not know. The Nebraska biocontainment unit now holding our returning passengers is a Level 1 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center… the highest tier of a national network built specifically for moments like this.”

#Myanmar 🇲🇲 @mizzimadailynews.substack.com marked World Press Freedom Day by highlighting that "the media's role remains crucially important as the junta seeks legitimacy domestically, regionally and internationally."

We’re not angry enough. www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

Kenya is using AI that assesses your toilet to set your healthcare bill. I’ve reported on this topic for a long time, across many different countries. None have struck me as this consequential, with stakes so high.

Akira (1988)

Remember when y'all made this thread on Paulina Borsook go viral? Well, that resulted in her getting a deal to re-publish her book in the USA, the UK & Commonwealth, Belgium, France, and Switzerland! Coming Sept. 15—with a foreword by some guy named Gil Duran. Pre-order! www.cyberselfish.com

Maybe Claudia will have the answers he’s been searching for.

I wrote about RightsCon's cancellation after Zambia's government announced it would postpone the event to sort out its concerns over "thematic issues." With thousands about to depart (or already en route) to Lusaka, it's a huge blow to the digital and human rights field.

This wild document is the basis for the State Department's decision to cancel the visas and green cards of tech researchers who study the social media platforms and of tech regulators who enforce privacy and transparency laws. Disclosed to us last night in @thecoalition.bsky.social v. Rubio.

Elon Musk has also disrupted, by which I mean brutally ended, the lives of over a million poor children and adults globally by means of destroying USAID, but who gives a fuck, right?

Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil found dead after being trapped in rubble following Israeli strike, obstruction of rescue: cpj.org?p=583367

The data work industry, which monetizes the collection of information used to train AI systems, is often shrouded in secrecy. But a new report maps out how at least 30 data platforms are quietly connected to Big Tech companies, Tech Policy Press fellow Tatiana Dias writes.

Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025, ​making it the deadliest year on record for the route, the United ‌Nations refugee agency said on Friday. Read more english.dvb.no/record-numbe... #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

I've written before about how USAID was the first government agency killed by conspiracy theory. This confirms it. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-death-...

NEW—I got an exclusive excerpt from a USAID whistleblower's new book that made me gasp multiple times. It details Trump's dismantling of the humanitarian aid agency & his team/DOGE's shocking ignorance to public health. 'Into the Wood Chipper' by Nicholas Enrich is out tomorrow. Read excerpt here:

This is catastrophic.

Small drone attacks are killing more civilians around the world than ever before. I made a map about it:

To be clear: Anthropic, the 'good' AI company, is still working with Palantir to help select targets for US/Israeli war crimes in Iran, and is in active talks with the USG about using their new Mythos model's offensive cyberwar capabilities, while team Trump is threatening civilizational erasure

Here are the stories of some of the human beings who died horrific deaths from preventable disease because Trump and Musk and their flunkies decided to murder them by gleefully destroying USAID and the entire global aid system:

Wrote about yesterday's social media ban data showing more than two thirds of teens still have accounts. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Hey Oz, if you don’t want the US crew of a plane that appears to have just deported people to Myanmar laying over in your country, now is the time to tell your government. bsky.app/profile/jjin...

I met with AI data labelers in Kenya who are organizing their colleagues to fight the brutal working conditions and horrible pay given to the workers at the "bottom of the AI supply chain." They believe the NDAs they've signed are unenforceable so are speaking out: www.404media.co/ai-is-africa...

PSA: @readingsbooks.bsky.social is offering a 10% discount for recent books of authors who have chosen to withdraw from the 2026 Adelaide Writers' Week: www.readings.com.au/collections/...

We got Meta’s “general global playbook” for defeating advertiser verification regulations, which the company knows would reduce scams. It includes making scam ads “not findable” for regulators searching Meta’s ad library through targeted scrubbing. www.reuters.com/investigatio...

The 2025 Headline of the Year Nominees 🧵

For many, the end of the year is an opportunity to catch up on reading or to purchase books as gifts. In 2025, a number of authors joined the Tech Policy Press podcast, providing fresh insights into how technology interacts with people, politics, and power. Check out the list:

Some of these redactions are almost like modern art

🚨 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...

Add to this that social media age checks in Australia are being outsourced to KWS, a US-based subsidiary of Epic Games -- created by startup SuperAwesome (youth-targeted ad strategies). "We may share your information with our Epic Games family of companies" www.kidswebservices.com/en-US/partne...

Labour strikes aren’t new! The first recorded strike in history took place in Egypt some 3,200 years ago! The ‘Strike Papyrus’ records that tomb workers of King Ramesses III downed tools over pay and conditions circa 1157 BC! Museo Egizio, Turin 📷 by me #Archaeology

Myanmar’s regime is hunting down those who oppose its upcoming election by using a law criminalising any criticism of the poll, detaining and handing long jail sentences to a wide array of people, from film stars to ordinary citizens.

"Australia passes a shameful milestone: over one million children now living in poverty" #ThePoint thepoint.com.au/news/251212-...

New! We worked with the Public Interest Research Group to test a bunch of LLM-driven toys ahead of the Christmas. That sexual talking teddy bear wasn't a one-off; it turns out disturbing behavior is deeply built into these toys across the board.

Australia will not get a permanent advisory body on artificial intelligence as promised, with the federal government abandoning the plan despite growing calls for stronger AI oversight www.innovationaus.com/govt-abandon...