Adam Becker
@adambecker.bsky.social
Journalist & astrophysicist. New book out now: MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER, about horrifying & broken futures pushed by tech billionaires. Words in the Atlantic, NPR, NYT, the Guardian, BBC, SciAm, Quanta, Fortune, &c. He/him. Signal: adambecker.84
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Adam Becker
@adambecker.bsky.social
· Apr 23
More Everything Forever
This "wild and utterly engaging narrative" (Melanie Mitchell) shows why Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions—with escaping death,...
www.hachettebookgroup.com
Today's the day! My new book MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER is finally out! If you want to understand why tech billionaires are so obsessed with impossible ideas about space and AI — and why that's dangerous — this book is for you. #MoreEverythingForever www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adam-...
Reposted by Adam Becker
“ These people came along and decided that they wanna build a machine God, and then they end up stealing data, killing the environment, exploiting labor in that process.”
- @timnitgebru.bsky.social
- @timnitgebru.bsky.social
February 11, 2026 at 11:01 PM
“ These people came along and decided that they wanna build a machine God, and then they end up stealing data, killing the environment, exploiting labor in that process.”
- @timnitgebru.bsky.social
- @timnitgebru.bsky.social
Reposted by Adam Becker
Also, Joe has spent even more time on this particular claim than I have, and this short thread of his makes good sense.
I served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme on AIs consequences for development, the report is here and spends considerable time evaluating the claim that ai will necessarily erode labor demand.
hdr.undp.org/content/huma...
hdr.undp.org/content/huma...
Human Development Report 2025 | Human Development Reports
The 2025 Human Development Report explores the implications of artificial intelligence for human development and the choices we can make to ensure that it enhances human capabilities. Rather than atte...
hdr.undp.org
February 11, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Also, Joe has spent even more time on this particular claim than I have, and this short thread of his makes good sense.
Exactly right. ❤️
“Space travel is the setting, but that isn’t the heart of the franchise’s story, which is about humanity bettering itself through cooperating with each other, reckoning with hard philosophical questions and imagining a socialist-inspired socioeconomic system“ 🖖🏽
www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Why Elon Musk has misunderstood the point of Star Trek
As Elon Musk and Pete Hegseth talk about wanting to make Star Trek real, long-time fan Chanda Prescod-Weinstein says they've misconstrued the heart of the story
www.newscientist.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Exactly right. ❤️
Reposted by Adam Becker
As an established writer, I'm not really worried by AI, because AI can't do what I do. It can only pretend. And I've cultivated the kind of audience that can spot the difference.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
February 11, 2026 at 6:30 PM
As an established writer, I'm not really worried by AI, because AI can't do what I do. It can only pretend. And I've cultivated the kind of audience that can spot the difference.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
Reposted by Adam Becker
Good News: Paulina Borsook's "Cyberselish" will be reissued by Tin House books with a new introduction by....me!
I'll post the link when it's ready for pre-orders.
Never underestimate the power of a humble BlueSky thread!
I'll post the link when it's ready for pre-orders.
Never underestimate the power of a humble BlueSky thread!
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
February 11, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Good News: Paulina Borsook's "Cyberselish" will be reissued by Tin House books with a new introduction by....me!
I'll post the link when it's ready for pre-orders.
Never underestimate the power of a humble BlueSky thread!
I'll post the link when it's ready for pre-orders.
Never underestimate the power of a humble BlueSky thread!
Reposted by Adam Becker
I spent a *lot* of time thinking seriously about this and researching it for my book. It's just not true. We don't need to spend more time giving air to AI doom cultists or AI hype hucksters. They have captured enough of the public imagination already. Here's something shorter I wrote on this:
The Useful Idiots of AI Doomsaying
Those who predict that superintelligence will destroy humanity serve the same interests as those who believe that it will solve all of our problems.
www.theatlantic.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:23 PM
I spent a *lot* of time thinking seriously about this and researching it for my book. It's just not true. We don't need to spend more time giving air to AI doom cultists or AI hype hucksters. They have captured enough of the public imagination already. Here's something shorter I wrote on this:
Reposted by Adam Becker
Don't give anything an Emmy until it's as good as this.
February 11, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Don't give anything an Emmy until it's as good as this.
One of these things is not like the others. (But literally none of them will happen.)
AI satellite factory on the moon? Giant space catapult? Self-sustaining city on the moon? A billion daily active users on X?
Elon Musk made all these predictions in an internal meeting with xAI employees last night. We listened in.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/t...
Elon Musk made all these predictions in an internal meeting with xAI employees last night. We listened in.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/t...
Elon Musk Wants to Build an A.I. Satellite Factory on the Moon
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:38 PM
One of these things is not like the others. (But literally none of them will happen.)
Reposted by Adam Becker
These guys are so normal.
February 10, 2026 at 9:07 AM
These guys are so normal.
Elon having a normal one over here
February 10, 2026 at 5:48 AM
Elon having a normal one over here
Have fun with that, Elon. A city on the Moon in ten years is somewhat less absurd than a city on Mars in twenty, but neither one is going to happen.
The tone here is interesting, though. Almost as if he heard someone criticizing his Mars plans recently…I wonder how that might have happened? 😁
The tone here is interesting, though. Almost as if he heard someone criticizing his Mars plans recently…I wonder how that might have happened? 😁
February 9, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Have fun with that, Elon. A city on the Moon in ten years is somewhat less absurd than a city on Mars in twenty, but neither one is going to happen.
The tone here is interesting, though. Almost as if he heard someone criticizing his Mars plans recently…I wonder how that might have happened? 😁
The tone here is interesting, though. Almost as if he heard someone criticizing his Mars plans recently…I wonder how that might have happened? 😁
🙄
It's so interesting to me that people like this always say I'm being "pessimistic" rather than making any kind of actual case for living off this planet. What's pessimistic about acknowledging the reality that Earth is a wonderful place where we get to live out our future?
It's so interesting to me that people like this always say I'm being "pessimistic" rather than making any kind of actual case for living off this planet. What's pessimistic about acknowledging the reality that Earth is a wonderful place where we get to live out our future?
February 8, 2026 at 4:50 AM
🙄
It's so interesting to me that people like this always say I'm being "pessimistic" rather than making any kind of actual case for living off this planet. What's pessimistic about acknowledging the reality that Earth is a wonderful place where we get to live out our future?
It's so interesting to me that people like this always say I'm being "pessimistic" rather than making any kind of actual case for living off this planet. What's pessimistic about acknowledging the reality that Earth is a wonderful place where we get to live out our future?
I talked with the BBC World Service this morning about why AI data centers are a silly idea promoted by deeply unserious people. They're not going to happen, no matter what ignorant fascists like Elon Musk say. You can hear me starting at 39:15 here: www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...
BBC Audio | Newshour | Britain’s former PM calls for ethical reforms in public life
Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Peter Mandelson as a cabinet minister
www.bbc.com
February 7, 2026 at 10:21 PM
I talked with the BBC World Service this morning about why AI data centers are a silly idea promoted by deeply unserious people. They're not going to happen, no matter what ignorant fascists like Elon Musk say. You can hear me starting at 39:15 here: www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...
Reposted by Adam Becker
With the awful WaPo layoffs and the state of journalism more broadly, if it's useful for any writers and reporters considering going indy, @molly.wiki, @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social of Aftermath, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social of 404 Media, @edzitron.com and me will do a little workshop next week.
February 5, 2026 at 12:09 AM
With the awful WaPo layoffs and the state of journalism more broadly, if it's useful for any writers and reporters considering going indy, @molly.wiki, @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social of Aftermath, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social of 404 Media, @edzitron.com and me will do a little workshop next week.
This is TONIGHT, Oakland! Tech billionaires don't want you to read books. Be a rebel. Go to the library. 📚 #booksky
this coming Wednesday, Feb 4th come hear @adambecker.bsky.social talk about how we're gonna wrestle power away from a buncha guys who think science fiction dystopias are cool.
February 5, 2026 at 12:07 AM
This is TONIGHT, Oakland! Tech billionaires don't want you to read books. Be a rebel. Go to the library. 📚 #booksky
I have seen both of these movies (and full disclosure, I was interviewed for the first one), and Emily is spot on as usual. "The AI Doc" is manipulative, shallow, and shockingly bad.
I was interviewed for two documentaries about "AI" that both premiered at Sundance this year: @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social ("Ghost in the Machine") and "The AI Doc: How I Became an Apocaloptimist". As a pair, these films are a study in contrasts.
Another long 🧵>>
Another long 🧵>>
February 4, 2026 at 6:52 AM
I have seen both of these movies (and full disclosure, I was interviewed for the first one), and Emily is spot on as usual. "The AI Doc" is manipulative, shallow, and shockingly bad.
I spoke with @manjaselva.bsky.social at @marsdd.bsky.social about why Silicon Valley billionaires think technology is the answer to all of humanity's problems, and why they're wrong. You can listen to our conversation here: solveforx.simplecast.com/episodes/inf...
February 4, 2026 at 4:43 AM
I spoke with @manjaselva.bsky.social at @marsdd.bsky.social about why Silicon Valley billionaires think technology is the answer to all of humanity's problems, and why they're wrong. You can listen to our conversation here: solveforx.simplecast.com/episodes/inf...
Tomorrow at @oaklibrary.bsky.social! This one will be fun. There's no better way to make a libertarian cry than to go to your local public library.
See you there!
See you there!
this coming Wednesday, Feb 4th come hear @adambecker.bsky.social talk about how we're gonna wrestle power away from a buncha guys who think science fiction dystopias are cool.
February 4, 2026 at 4:33 AM
Tomorrow at @oaklibrary.bsky.social! This one will be fun. There's no better way to make a libertarian cry than to go to your local public library.
See you there!
See you there!
Reposted by Adam Becker
Reposted by Adam Becker
Abolish ICE.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
February 2, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Abolish ICE.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
Reposted by Adam Becker
Just heard Daniel Roher, director of this new documentary about AI, speak on a panel.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
Focus Features Announces The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist Arriving in Theaters March 27, 2026
Academy Award®-winning filmmakers behind Everything Everywhere All at Once and Navalny produce
www.focusfeatures.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Just heard Daniel Roher, director of this new documentary about AI, speak on a panel.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
Just heard Daniel Roher, director of this new documentary about AI, speak on a panel.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
Focus Features Announces The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist Arriving in Theaters March 27, 2026
Academy Award®-winning filmmakers behind Everything Everywhere All at Once and Navalny produce
www.focusfeatures.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Just heard Daniel Roher, director of this new documentary about AI, speak on a panel.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
He said "Jazz is to the Black experience as Aspergers is to AI."
(In context, he meant "people who work on AI," but that doesn't make it much better.)
I don't think this is going to be a good movie.
Reposted by Adam Becker
Join this author talk with Adam Becker, an astrophysicist and author of More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity.
Register ➡️ https://bit.ly/3L0FmR6
Register ➡️ https://bit.ly/3L0FmR6
January 21, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Join this author talk with Adam Becker, an astrophysicist and author of More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity.
Register ➡️ https://bit.ly/3L0FmR6
Register ➡️ https://bit.ly/3L0FmR6
Reposted by Adam Becker
This Wednesday at 12pm PT! Come to the book talk I'm hosting with @adambecker.bsky.social & @rezendi.com at @stanfordhai.bsky.social - in-person and Zoom options available! hai.stanford.edu/events/adam-...
Adam Becker & Jon Evans | Book Talk: “More Everything Forever” and “Exadelic” | Stanford HAI
Join HAI Policy Fellow Riana Pfefferkorn for a conversation about the potential future(s) of AI and humanity with Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever, and Jon Evans, author of Exadelic and ...
hai.stanford.edu
January 19, 2026 at 8:11 PM
This Wednesday at 12pm PT! Come to the book talk I'm hosting with @adambecker.bsky.social & @rezendi.com at @stanfordhai.bsky.social - in-person and Zoom options available! hai.stanford.edu/events/adam-...
Reposted by Adam Becker
H/t to @adambecker.bsky.social and his “More Everything Forever” - which I highly recommend.
LLMs are literally hallucination machines.
It’s what they are built to do.
Using them for anything other than throwing random words together is useless.
It’s what they are built to do.
Using them for anything other than throwing random words together is useless.
January 5, 2026 at 8:23 PM
H/t to @adambecker.bsky.social and his “More Everything Forever” - which I highly recommend.