Paris Marx

critic of tech futures | host of tech won’t save us | writer of disconnect | my book “road to nowhere” is out now! | he/they

Website: https://parismarx.com
Podcast: https://techwontsave.us
Newsletter: https://disconnect.blog
Book: https://roadtonowherebook.com

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npub157rhhk6qgt4lwe4uyktun2pp6vs9wslqg9lp098ep3f5urs3kw7szq8pny

NIP-05 Address

parismarx_at_mastodon.online@momostr.pink

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nprofile1qqs20pmmmdqy96lhv67zt97f4qsaxgzhg0syzlshjnusc56wpcgm80gl7lvy7

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npub157rhhk6qgt4lwe4uyktun2pp6vs9wslqg9lp098ep3f5urs3kw7szq8pny

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Last Notes

2024-09-01 14:10:19

OpenAI is close to closing a funding round that will value the company at over $100 billion.
Sam Altman wants to use it to further restructure the company to remove the shackles of non-profit status, while Nvidia may plow some of its profits from the bubble into keeping the bubble alive. Apple might get in too, as a further sign Tim Cook has no vision for the company other than “line go up.”
https://disconnect.blog/roundup-what-the-openai-funding-round-reveals-about-tech/
#tech #ai #openai #samaltman #nvidia #generativeai #genai

2024-06-20 12:54:12

As the rivalry between the United States and China escalates, can Europe chart its own course on tech?
This week @tante joins @npub157r…8pny to discuss Europe’s tech struggles and why we need to rethink what we mean by innovation. I was thrilled to finally have him on the show!
https://techwontsave.us/episode/225_can_europe_chart_its_own_path_on_tech_w_tante
#tech #ai #europe #france #germany
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/649/042/994/921/716/original/e2316c6a6066fefd.png

2024-06-15 04:32:26

This is cool: Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand are building out a distributed storage network with eight sites built on Māori land to give “iwi and hapū the power to control and make decisions over their own data.”
https://waateanews.com/2024/06/04/world-first-data-storage-infrastructure-solution-built-by-iwi-maori-for-iwi-maori/
#tech #nz

2024-06-13 14:38:38

After Saudi Arabia dismembered a journalist in 2018 with help from the United Arab Emirates, Silicon Valley distanced itself from them.
On #TechWontSaveUs, I spoke to @npub1zjs…xsq5 about how tech CEOs are now courting brutal Gulf dictatorships to fund their AI ambitions.
https://techwontsave.us/episode/224_silicon_valley_is_courting_gulf_monarchies_to_fund_ai_w_nitasha_tiku
#tech #ai #samaltman
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/609/808/394/196/855/original/a85ad1dcb46a893e.png

2024-06-12 21:30:14

Farmers in Bastrup, TX were hopeful when Elon Musk bought land nearby, but now he’s turning the area into “an environmentally hazardous industrial park.” Authorities won’t do anything because they’re understaffed and “intimidated by their powerful new neighbor.”
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/elon-musk-vs-organic-farmers-bastrop/
#elonmusk #spacex #tech #texas #boringcompany

2024-06-11 13:49:11

After months of media anticipation, Apple finally showed off its generative AI features yesterday.
The mundane additions showed AI hype is waning, so Apple is hoping to use it to engineer an upgrade supercycle when it releases new iPhones in the fall. It’s far from a groundbreaking new era for the company.
https://disconnect.blog/apple-hopes-ai-will-make-you-buy-a-new-iphone/
#ai #apple #tech #iphone

2024-06-10 15:32:09

The photo of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang signing a woman’s chest in Taiwan will be the image of peak AI hype. More on that in the Disconnect Roundup, along with recommended reads, labor updates, and other news you might have missed!
https://disconnect.blog/roundup-is-this-peak-ai-hype/
#tech #ai #nvidia #aihype

2024-06-09 22:32:09

Germany’s AfD is so extreme it was kicked out of the far-right grouping in the European Parliament last month, but Elon Musk thinks their policies “don’t sound extremist.” That’s because he’s also a fascist.
#tech #elonmusk #politics
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/589/029/616/117/787/original/89f56f6b4141a61f.png

2024-06-01 17:57:19

In 1922, Thomas Edison predicted motion pictures would “revolutionize our educational system.”
I can’t get over how Muskian he sounds (particularly on “efficiency” claims) and how — a hundred years later — we still haven’t learned not to fall for this kind of tech boosterism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/04/books/chapters/the-flickering-mind.html
#tech #education #film
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/542/649/513/133/537/original/f5894966edae47cc.png

2024-06-01 15:32:13

never thought i’d find so much agreement with the wsj editorial board
#climate #media #environment
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/542/077/959/579/230/original/271cfb1cd62235c5.png

2024-05-27 22:14:32

I gave a talk at @npub1yyz…a6kf in Berlin earlier today on the growing backlash to data centers.
As tech companies build more hyperscale data centers around the world, they demand even more energy and water — and some communities are fed up.
Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5xbjhYpklo
#tech #ai #datacenter #google #microsoft #openai #amazon

2024-05-23 20:14:41

African AI workers, mostly from Kenya, released an open letter to Joe Biden this week asking him stop US tech companies from “systemically abusing and exploiting African workers” and to end the “modern day slavery” they’re subjected to.
https://www.wired.com/story/low-paid-humans-ai-biden-modern-day-slavery/
#tech #labor #ai #africa #workers

2024-05-20 00:32:14

“I have seen the extremely restrictive off-boarding agreement that contains nondisclosure and non-disparagement provisions former OpenAI employees are subject to. It forbids them, for the rest of their lives, from criticizing their former employer.”
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/5/17/24158478/openai-departures-sam-altman-employees-chatgpt-release
#openai #tech #ai

2024-05-17 13:32:32

Remember when tech CEOs whipped us into a frenzy about generative AI changing everything? Those days are long gone.
Google and OpenAI’s latest demos show the bubble is deflating, but they’re still going to seize as much power as they can before the crash.
https://disconnect.blog/ai-hype-is-over-ai-exhaustion-is-setting-in/
#tech #ai #google #openai #chatgpt #artificialintelligence

2024-05-15 18:15:07

I remember the days when people were furious Google was scanning their emails to serve ads. Now we’ve reached the point that everything you send and receive is being filtered through its AI model and you’re expected to love it.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/14/gemini-comes-to-gmail-to-summarize-and-draft-emails/
#tech #google #ai #gmail

2024-05-15 13:53:04

Tesla charging chief Rebecca Tinucci cut 15-20% of her team after Musk demanded it.
She felt that would justify a major Supercharger network expansion, but when she met with Musk he wanted more layoffs. When she pushed back, he fired the whole team.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/inside-story-elon-musk-mass-100216178.html
#tesla #tech #elonmusk #layoffs #ev

2024-05-15 03:25:07

Amazon workers in Laval, Quebec have been granted union accreditation after a majority signed cards to form a union.
Now Amazon isn’t just contesting the decision, but challenging workers’ rights to form a union without an election by signing cards.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/laval-amazon-warehouse-union-accredited-1.7202192
#tech #amazon #labor #canada #union

2024-05-15 03:13:29

Remember all the times Elon Musk said Tesla is so amazing for the environment? The company is being sued for violating the Clean Air Act hundreds of times in recent years by emitting harmful pollutants from its Fremont factory into nearby neighborhoods.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/tesla-sued-over-air-pollution-from-factory-in-fremont-california.html
#tech #tesla #elonmusk #environment

2024-05-13 13:59:45

I keep seeing these stories about huge investments Microsoft, Amazon, and other major tech companies are making around the world. They’re almost always for massive, resource-hungry data centers to power their AI ambitions.
#tech #microsoft #amazon #ai #datacenters
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/434/123/347/299/922/original/04c4030efa400542.png
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/434/123/502/832/760/original/013ae315c61868fc.png
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2024-05-07 15:32:21

Every few months, I take a look at the critical tech books coming soon to give Disconnect subscribers a look at books they might want to check out. Sign up and check out the list!
https://disconnect.blog/a-critical-tech-reading-list-for-mid-2024/
#tech #books #reading

2024-05-01 03:39:09

the united states showing the world it will eagerly erode its own democracy to defend its genocidal colonial outpost in the middle east, regardless of whether democrats or republicans are in power

2024-04-30 14:14:41

Elon Musk is betting Tesla’s future on using self-driving fantasies to boost the share price instead of building a real car business. He just gutted the teams working on the Supercharger network (right as other companies are adopting it!) and new vehicles.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/04/tesla-to-lay-off-everyone-working-on-superchargers-new-vehicles/
#tech #tesla #elonmusk #evs #cars

2024-04-29 02:36:06

Kara Swisher literally helped build up these billionaires to the point where they can threaten us with fascism, and now she’s trying to pretend that she’s the one providing a big warning to the world. It boils my blood.
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/352/174/450/636/934/original/b62398d33e28ad3a.jpeg

2024-04-28 20:50:24

Balaji Srinivasan is calling for a “tech Zionism” that would see “Grays” loyal to the tech industry take over San Francisco by allying with the police to give themselves privileges as they oppress the “Blues” (liberals).
Essential read by [@gilduran](https://journa.host/@gilduran): https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat
#tech #politics #democracy
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/350/811/770/069/299/original/172b14ae71f5dbd3.png

2024-04-25 01:21:28

Meta lost $3.85 billion on the metaverse in the first quarter of 2024 alone. You know, that thing we all laughed about a couple years ago and next to no one actually uses.
It’s burned $45 billion on the metaverse since the end of 2020.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/24/metas-reality-labs-posts-3point85-billion-loss-in-first-quarter.html
#tech #meta #metaverse #vr

2024-04-23 13:40:54

For a decade, Hollywood hasn’t aggressively fought piracy because it saw people would pay if they made them a good deal.
But as streaming has gotten worse and more expensive, consumers turned back to file sharing. Now the industry plans to get Congress to pass new legislation to stop them.
https://disconnect.blog/hollywood-is-reviving-its-war-on-piracy/
#tech #movies #piracy #streaming #hollywood

2024-04-19 19:17:14

Tesla has to recall every Cybertruck it’s shipped. There are only 3,878 of them.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/19/tesla-cybertruck-throttle-accelerator-pedal-stuck/
#tesla #tech #cybertruck #cars

2024-04-04 14:21:05

After AI-generated porn of Taylor Swift spread on Twitter, the issue finally got more attention — but it’s much bigger than celebrities.
On #TechWontSaveUs, I spoke to [@kattenbarge](https://newsie.social/@kattenbarge) about how deepfake nudes are wreaking havoc in women’s lives.
https://techwontsave.us/episode/215_deepfake_abuse_is_a_crisis_w_kat_tenbarge
#tech #deepfake #ai #artificialintelligence
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/112/213/318/261/091/630/original/412ff02dde42bf94.png

2024-03-28 02:20:31

“The field of artificial intelligence has been running through a boom-and-bust cycle since its early days. Now, as the field is in yet another boom, many proponents of the technology seem to have forgotten the failures of the past – and the reasons for them.”
https://theconversation.com/weve-been-here-before-ai-promised-humanlike-machines-in-1958-222700
#ai #tech #artificialintelligence #chatgpt