Dave Karpf
@davekarpf.bsky.social
Political Communication Professor at GWU. I write a lot about the history and future of tech and politics. Best known for that one time I made fun of Bret Stephens.
Davekarpf.substack.com
Davekarpf.substack.com
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Excited to announce GOLLUM, an app that helps you focus on your most precious possession!
Sauron is appearing on the scene as concerns rise about crime among the most wealthy.
Sauron, the high-end home security startup for "super premium" customers, plucks a new CEO out of Sonos | TechCrunch
Sauron is appearing on the scene as concerns rise about crime among the most wealthy.
techcrunch.com
December 29, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Excited to announce GOLLUM, an app that helps you focus on your most precious possession!
Reposted by Dave Karpf
New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
The NYT Recruiting Brochure for New College
A failing Ron DeSantis higher ed experiment gets a boost
donmoynihan.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:50 PM
New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Remember:
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
i don’t see how any of the benefits of chatgpt and other consumer-facing LLMs can possibly outweigh their incredible ability to induce suicides
Adam Raine’s life hurtled toward tragedy soon after he began talking with ChatGPT about homework. Analysis of his ChatGPT account shows how the chatbot became a confidant as he planned to end his life.
December 28, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Remember:
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Reposted by Dave Karpf
"And I never say no"
We need to have a serious talk about the way "AI companion" apps not only prey on the vulnerable, but are priming their users to ignore consent and to conflate love with control.
We need AI regulations across so many sectors, but this area is particularly horrifying.
We need to have a serious talk about the way "AI companion" apps not only prey on the vulnerable, but are priming their users to ignore consent and to conflate love with control.
We need AI regulations across so many sectors, but this area is particularly horrifying.
December 28, 2025 at 6:20 PM
"And I never say no"
We need to have a serious talk about the way "AI companion" apps not only prey on the vulnerable, but are priming their users to ignore consent and to conflate love with control.
We need AI regulations across so many sectors, but this area is particularly horrifying.
We need to have a serious talk about the way "AI companion" apps not only prey on the vulnerable, but are priming their users to ignore consent and to conflate love with control.
We need AI regulations across so many sectors, but this area is particularly horrifying.
Reposted by Dave Karpf
perfect metaphors don’t exis—
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 6:35 PM
perfect metaphors don’t exis—
My dad just told me about the half-hour video he watched, starring Sanjay Gupta, hawking some new medical product. He looked it up after watching. Gupta never did the video. It was all AI.
Burn it alllllll down, folks. Salt the fucking earth.
Burn it alllllll down, folks. Salt the fucking earth.
December 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
My dad just told me about the half-hour video he watched, starring Sanjay Gupta, hawking some new medical product. He looked it up after watching. Gupta never did the video. It was all AI.
Burn it alllllll down, folks. Salt the fucking earth.
Burn it alllllll down, folks. Salt the fucking earth.
“Stop making jokes with wordplay!”
-the 8yo, absolutely murdering me.
-the 8yo, absolutely murdering me.
a group of men are carrying a coffin while dancing .
ALT: a group of men are carrying a coffin while dancing .
media.tenor.com
December 28, 2025 at 2:54 AM
“Stop making jokes with wordplay!”
-the 8yo, absolutely murdering me.
-the 8yo, absolutely murdering me.
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Some ~personal news~
Yes, I'm being sued by Matt Taibbi
Does that make me the realest free speech warrior?
open.substack.com
December 27, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Some ~personal news~
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Barely a blip in the news. 🦗from the New York Times editorial and opinion pages. Compare with days of Hunter Biden Hysteria about unprecedented abuse of the pardon power.
December 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Barely a blip in the news. 🦗from the New York Times editorial and opinion pages. Compare with days of Hunter Biden Hysteria about unprecedented abuse of the pardon power.
Reposted by Dave Karpf
i am decidedly obsessed with this game
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 7 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 7 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
cluesbysam.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
i am decidedly obsessed with this game
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 7 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 7 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Here’s to 2026
December 27, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Here’s to 2026
Reposted by Dave Karpf
I do not fear the Menswear Guy. what's he going to tell me about myself that I am not already acutely aware of. "you dress like you don't respect yourself" good eye ace
The fact the Menswear Guy is actively dunking on the Bsky user base now instead of just cross-posting the threads where he does that to Twitter users should terrify all of us.
true. that's bc you've allowed your sense of style to be narrowly defined by fashion brands, instead of thinking about it in terms of cultural history. over the course of the 20th century, many groups have dressed well, even if they didn't conform to fashion trends or bourgeois respectability
December 26, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I do not fear the Menswear Guy. what's he going to tell me about myself that I am not already acutely aware of. "you dress like you don't respect yourself" good eye ace
Reposted by Dave Karpf
I did not understand this: one of the five Europeans the US has barred from traveling to the United States...is a permanent resident who lives with his family in the US.
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Judge Blocks Detention of British Researcher Who Scrutinizes Online Hate
www.nytimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:55 AM
I did not understand this: one of the five Europeans the US has barred from traveling to the United States...is a permanent resident who lives with his family in the US.
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Reposted by Dave Karpf
This quote is from a piece that’s 8 years old now.
Thinking about that time I got quoted in the National Review about Bari Weiss
December 26, 2025 at 2:51 AM
This quote is from a piece that’s 8 years old now.
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Hilarious new selling angle. Anyone who's worked in a creative field for 5 mins knows there is not and never has been "a lack of ideas."
You can't watch MEGALOPOLIS and go "this needed more ideas."
You can't watch MEGALOPOLIS and go "this needed more ideas."
America, you have spoken loud and clear: You do not like AI. But what if AI is the way to restart the world’s idea machine?
We’re running out of good ideas. AI might be how we find new ones.
What if the best use of AI is restarting the world’s idea machine?
www.vox.com
December 25, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Hilarious new selling angle. Anyone who's worked in a creative field for 5 mins knows there is not and never has been "a lack of ideas."
You can't watch MEGALOPOLIS and go "this needed more ideas."
You can't watch MEGALOPOLIS and go "this needed more ideas."
Reposted by Dave Karpf
trump stealing my one family Christmas tradition, launching a series of air strikes against Nigeria, is a step too far even for him
December 25, 2025 at 11:25 PM
trump stealing my one family Christmas tradition, launching a series of air strikes against Nigeria, is a step too far even for him
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Happy holidays, Bluesky! I got you a megathrust earthquake, soil liquefaction, spine-tingling papers about the way our networks confound knowledge, and a PDF in a pear tree. It's my wrap on a year of trying to make sense of how we make sense of what's happening to us.
www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-...
www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-...
Landslide; a ghost story
On March 27, 1964, a converted liberty ship named the SS Chena brought a shipment of supplies to the port of Valdez, Alaska. Valdez, which I need you to know is pronounced “valDEEZ,” sits at the end o...
www.wrecka.ge
December 23, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Happy holidays, Bluesky! I got you a megathrust earthquake, soil liquefaction, spine-tingling papers about the way our networks confound knowledge, and a PDF in a pear tree. It's my wrap on a year of trying to make sense of how we make sense of what's happening to us.
www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-...
www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-...
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Time for the best Christmas post
December 25, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Time for the best Christmas post
Reposted by Dave Karpf
June 2018. I'm in court defending a woman in her late 30s, who was charged with possession of marijuana
School's out for the summer, so she has her high school-aged son with her
1/
School's out for the summer, so she has her high school-aged son with her
1/
What's an insult you'll never forget?
December 25, 2025 at 1:53 AM
June 2018. I'm in court defending a woman in her late 30s, who was charged with possession of marijuana
School's out for the summer, so she has her high school-aged son with her
1/
School's out for the summer, so she has her high school-aged son with her
1/
Reposted by Dave Karpf
a lot of people don't realize that Christmas carols and traditions are actually folk memories of suppressed pre-Christian events, namely the end of the Third Age and the Fall of Sauron.
December 24, 2025 at 10:05 PM
a lot of people don't realize that Christmas carols and traditions are actually folk memories of suppressed pre-Christian events, namely the end of the Third Age and the Fall of Sauron.
Reposted by Dave Karpf
staffer: you talked to the little girls?
trump: sure did, real fuckin creepy just like you asked
staffer: what
trump: sure did, real fuckin creepy just like you asked
staffer: what
Trump: I am fine. You sound beautiful and cute. How old are you?
Caller: I am eight
Caller: I am eight
December 24, 2025 at 11:10 PM
staffer: you talked to the little girls?
trump: sure did, real fuckin creepy just like you asked
staffer: what
trump: sure did, real fuckin creepy just like you asked
staffer: what
Reposted by Dave Karpf
it requires an absolutely staggering lack of self awareness for chatterton to complain that he has lost elite opportunities because he has anti-woke views.
The Other Way the ‘Super Woke’ Left Discriminates
Race and gender aren’t the only categories that determine who gets special treatment.
www.theatlantic.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
it requires an absolutely staggering lack of self awareness for chatterton to complain that he has lost elite opportunities because he has anti-woke views.
Reposted by Dave Karpf
Former head of trust and safety at Twitter, Yoel Roth, demonstrating the intellectual dishonesty of “In Covid’s Wake” by showing how they distorted his own words to make them say the opposite of what he was arguing.
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Former head of trust and safety at Twitter, Yoel Roth, demonstrating the intellectual dishonesty of “In Covid’s Wake” by showing how they distorted his own words to make them say the opposite of what he was arguing.