Engineers want their work to be an extension their autonomy as users, and their bosses want it to extend the will of capital.
Whether tech is a tool or a muzzle comes down to its mode of production. The freedoms afforded by open source for example are attributable to worker empowerment.
If AI has a future in a free and equitable society, it will be built by engineers and scientists. Models offered by capital, often explicitly to disempower or replace workers, will only give us better muzzles.
cyberpunk 2027: Prompt injecting 911 dispatcher agents for an in-network ambulance.
Subscription model with extra steps. #stopkillinggames
AI watermarking wasn't just here already, it was staring us in the face.
Hey friends and conspirators, hope to see you at #DEFCON.
The slop era will be studied for centuries
The ends are their means.
I periodically poke AI capabilities, and one of my tests is ASCII art. ChatGPT got some sort of "egg man" update along the way
Trillion dollar industry
While not totally confirmed yet, killing your smartphone for missing a lease payment is unacceptable.
The core function of a phone varies from person to person. Yes you can still make a call, but clocking in to work? Shit outta luck
https://www.tomsguide.com/phones/iphones/leaked-ios-27-code-hints-apple-can-completely-lock-down-leased-iphones-over-missed-payments #apple #ios
Just saying "install linux" is a band-aid when we really need regulation to cure the ailment of surveillance advertising...
but also, install Linux? There are games now!
No sympathy for Google here, which bungled its search to the point it is useless without `site:reddit.com`.
But Reddit seems all to happy to kill the open web for licensing deals.
https://www.techspot.com/news/113199-reddit-major-publishers-consider-blocking-google-ai-search.html #reddit #threadiverse
"Bullfrog can't decide to kill someone entirely on its own, at least not yet. But it demonstrates how close military AI is moving toward the point at which the decision to end lives is made by a machine."
Which, uh, _is bad_, in case it needs stating.
https://www.techspot.com/news/113197-us-marines-new-anti-drone-ai-gun-turret.html
"If the DOJ can’t do their fucking job they shouldn’t be throwing people into jails, detainment centers, concentration camps, or anything of that nature."
And to be clear, China's models have their own problems. But these shortcomings are /also/ remedied with more transparency and a more scientific and pro-social means of production.
Big AI companies are stirring up panicking because China producing more efficient open-source models which undermine their moat.
The lesson shouldn't be giving them the TikTok app-nationalism treatment, but to put AI back where it belongs — in the hands of scientists instead of scammers.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/arcee-a-us-open-source-ai-lab-says-chinese-models-are-not-inherently-dangerous/ #ai
Money money everywhere but not a dime for security. Extremely normal practices for a business that expects to be around in 2 years.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/openais-ai-spending-spree-has-ballooned-to-750b/
Every blunder is a marketing opportunity.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/how-an-openais-human-mistake-led-to-the-ai-powered-hack-on-hugging-face/ #openai