Donald Campbell
@dncampbell.bsky.social
Bears/woods latest: "Finnish center-right lawmaker Aura Salla — who previously led Meta's Brussels lobbying office — said she would “warmly” welcome the proposal" www.politico.eu/article/brus...
Brussels knifes privacy to feed the AI boom
Draft proposals obtained by POLITICO show EU is breaking sacred privacy regime to placate industry.
www.politico.eu
November 11, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Bears/woods latest: "Finnish center-right lawmaker Aura Salla — who previously led Meta's Brussels lobbying office — said she would “warmly” welcome the proposal" www.politico.eu/article/brus...
Reposted by Donald Campbell
"Draft changes would create new exceptions for AI companies that would allow them to legally process special categories of data (like a person’s religious or political beliefs, ethnicity or health data) to train and operate their tech"
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
Brussels knifes privacy to feed the AI boom
Draft proposals obtained by POLITICO show EU is breaking sacred privacy regime to placate industry.
www.politico.eu
November 11, 2025 at 7:59 AM
"Draft changes would create new exceptions for AI companies that would allow them to legally process special categories of data (like a person’s religious or political beliefs, ethnicity or health data) to train and operate their tech"
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
“It is understood that AI could be used to…calculate release dates and sentences.”
Easy to laugh at this but that’s an alarming sentence.
Easy to laugh at this but that’s an alarming sentence.
AI chatbots could help stop prisoner release errors, says justice minister
AI chatbots could help stop prisoner release errors, says justice minister
HMP Wandsworth gets ‘green light’ to use AI after team sent in to find ‘quick fixes’ after spate of mistakes
Artificial intelligence chatbots could be used to stop prisoners from being mistakenly released from jail, a justice minister told the House of Lords on Monday.
Lord Timpson said HMP Wandsworth had been given the “green light” to use artificial intelligence (AI) after a specialised team was sent in to find “some quick fixes”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
“It is understood that AI could be used to…calculate release dates and sentences.”
Easy to laugh at this but that’s an alarming sentence.
Easy to laugh at this but that’s an alarming sentence.
"For the President of the European Commission to repeat the misleading marketing language of US technology firms without independent scientific verification undermines Europe's credibility as a reliable and trusted source of scientific knowledge."
Read the letter:
November 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM
"For the President of the European Commission to repeat the misleading marketing language of US technology firms without independent scientific verification undermines Europe's credibility as a reliable and trusted source of scientific knowledge."
"As references, the EU’s executive pointed to several statements from professionals – including ... the CEOs of AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as the chief exec of AI chipmaker Nvidia."
The credulity of governments towards the marketing claims of tech CEOs is really worrying.
The credulity of governments towards the marketing claims of tech CEOs is really worrying.
November 10, 2025 at 11:33 AM
"As references, the EU’s executive pointed to several statements from professionals – including ... the CEOs of AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as the chief exec of AI chipmaker Nvidia."
The credulity of governments towards the marketing claims of tech CEOs is really worrying.
The credulity of governments towards the marketing claims of tech CEOs is really worrying.
The UK's (privately-owned) National Grid is holding an event on data centres at #COP30.
Concerning that the title doesn't seem to make any reference to the huge electricity consumption & emissions that result from large-scale data centres.
www.nationalgrid.com/responsibili...
Concerning that the title doesn't seem to make any reference to the huge electricity consumption & emissions that result from large-scale data centres.
www.nationalgrid.com/responsibili...
November 10, 2025 at 11:24 AM
The UK's (privately-owned) National Grid is holding an event on data centres at #COP30.
Concerning that the title doesn't seem to make any reference to the huge electricity consumption & emissions that result from large-scale data centres.
www.nationalgrid.com/responsibili...
Concerning that the title doesn't seem to make any reference to the huge electricity consumption & emissions that result from large-scale data centres.
www.nationalgrid.com/responsibili...
Reposted by Donald Campbell
🔴Project 2025, Europe Edition - one to keep a beady little 👀on (including but by no means only re the tech enforcement wars)
The Heritage Foundation, the intellectual engine behind the 922-page blueprint that has become the key policy manual for Donald Trump’s second term, is partnering with a constellation of European nationalist far-right movements to export its playbook.
The Heritage Foundation goes from MAGA to MEGA — Make Europe Great Again
On the agenda: pro-natalism, freedom of expression, opposing trans rights and fighting Chinese influence.
www.politico.eu
November 10, 2025 at 9:20 AM
🔴Project 2025, Europe Edition - one to keep a beady little 👀on (including but by no means only re the tech enforcement wars)
See also: Jensen Huang demanding the uk build more fossil fuel generation to power data centres full of his chips.
🔴 NEW - Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, flogged its tech to the oil industry in Brazil on the eve of the COP30 summit
📝 Great scoop by @rtakver.bsky.social for @desmog.com 👇🏻
📝 Great scoop by @rtakver.bsky.social for @desmog.com 👇🏻
Nvidia Flogged AI for Brazilian Oil and Gas on Eve of COP30
As world leaders prepared to descend on the small city of Belém in the Brazilian Amazon for the COP30 climate summit, artificial intelligence (AI) chip-manufacturer Nvidia was instead peddling its ene...
www.desmog.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:30 PM
See also: Jensen Huang demanding the uk build more fossil fuel generation to power data centres full of his chips.
Reposted by Donald Campbell
Did you know a former White House climate advisor flipped a GOP stronghold in Virginia by running entirely on putting a stop to more AI data centers?
For @heatmap.news I profiled John McAuliff and a campaign that will be a roadmap for all future anti-AI politicians moving forward.
For @heatmap.news I profiled John McAuliff and a campaign that will be a roadmap for all future anti-AI politicians moving forward.
This Virginia Election Was a Warning for Data Centers
John McAuliff ran his campaign almost entirely on data centers — and won.
heatmap.news
November 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Did you know a former White House climate advisor flipped a GOP stronghold in Virginia by running entirely on putting a stop to more AI data centers?
For @heatmap.news I profiled John McAuliff and a campaign that will be a roadmap for all future anti-AI politicians moving forward.
For @heatmap.news I profiled John McAuliff and a campaign that will be a roadmap for all future anti-AI politicians moving forward.
FT reports today that the EU is watering down its AI regulation, under pressure from US Big Tech and Trump. www.ft.com/content/af6c...
Also today:
apnews.com/article/open...
Also today:
apnews.com/article/open...
OpenAI faces 7 lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide, delusions
OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues.
apnews.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:38 AM
FT reports today that the EU is watering down its AI regulation, under pressure from US Big Tech and Trump. www.ft.com/content/af6c...
Also today:
apnews.com/article/open...
Also today:
apnews.com/article/open...
Struggling to understand how on the one hand, there are London Councils, Assembly etc saying data centre connections are a risk to building housing - but on the other, councils are still nodding through data centres which will use colossal amounts of energy.
New: a London council has approved a data centre that would use four times more electricity than all the homes in the borough:
www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/11/07/l...
www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/11/07/l...
London council approves data centre using power for half a million homes - Foxglove
The council of Ealing has approved plans for a data centre which would use four times as much electricity as …
www.foxglove.org.uk
November 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Struggling to understand how on the one hand, there are London Councils, Assembly etc saying data centre connections are a risk to building housing - but on the other, councils are still nodding through data centres which will use colossal amounts of energy.
Reposted by Donald Campbell
New: a London council has approved a data centre that would use four times more electricity than all the homes in the borough:
www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/11/07/l...
www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/11/07/l...
London council approves data centre using power for half a million homes - Foxglove
The council of Ealing has approved plans for a data centre which would use four times as much electricity as …
www.foxglove.org.uk
November 7, 2025 at 9:18 AM
New: a London council has approved a data centre that would use four times more electricity than all the homes in the borough:
www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/11/07/l...
www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/11/07/l...
Weird how consistent the tech obsession with the Romans is. And a strange set of names for projects north of the wall(s).
“The projects...are located in Fife, called Cato, East Ayrshire, called Rufus, and North Lanarkshire’s Aurelius." www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559548...
“The projects...are located in Fife, called Cato, East Ayrshire, called Rufus, and North Lanarkshire’s Aurelius." www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559548...
Plans for 'one of world's largest' data centre clusters in Scotland lodged
The £15 billion project 'will stand among the largest hyperscale data centre clusters globally'
www.heraldscotland.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Weird how consistent the tech obsession with the Romans is. And a strange set of names for projects north of the wall(s).
“The projects...are located in Fife, called Cato, East Ayrshire, called Rufus, and North Lanarkshire’s Aurelius." www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559548...
“The projects...are located in Fife, called Cato, East Ayrshire, called Rufus, and North Lanarkshire’s Aurelius." www.heraldscotland.com/news/2559548...
Meta has invented a scam flywheel, apparently. Great work. www.reuters.com/investigatio...
November 6, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Meta has invented a scam flywheel, apparently. Great work. www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Another astonishing @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social piece showing that Meta is, almost unbelievably, an even worse company than you think.
'On average, [Meta] shows its platforms’ users an estimated 15 billion “higher risk” scam advertisements – those that show clear signs of being fraudulent – every day. Meta earns about $7 billion in annualized revenue from this category of scam ads each year"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.
www.reuters.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Another astonishing @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social piece showing that Meta is, almost unbelievably, an even worse company than you think.
'On average, [Meta] shows its platforms’ users an estimated 15 billion “higher risk” scam advertisements – those that show clear signs of being fraudulent – every day. Meta earns about $7 billion in annualized revenue from this category of scam ads each year"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.
www.reuters.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:36 PM
'On average, [Meta] shows its platforms’ users an estimated 15 billion “higher risk” scam advertisements – those that show clear signs of being fraudulent – every day. Meta earns about $7 billion in annualized revenue from this category of scam ads each year"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Edinburgh Council will be reviewing its decision on a data centre which - despite being set to produce the same quantity of climate pollution as the city's airport - had not been required to go through an environmental impact assessment:
www.thenational.scot/news/2559606...
www.thenational.scot/news/2559606...
Planning bosses forced to review AI data centre plan decision
A SCOTTISH council has been forced to revisit proposals for an artificial intelligence data centre, The National can reveal.
www.thenational.scot
November 5, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Edinburgh Council will be reviewing its decision on a data centre which - despite being set to produce the same quantity of climate pollution as the city's airport - had not been required to go through an environmental impact assessment:
www.thenational.scot/news/2559606...
www.thenational.scot/news/2559606...
Something strangely appropriate about building an insatiable, gluttonous energy-consumer on this site (if you're familiar with 90s ads from the UK)
November 5, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Something strangely appropriate about building an insatiable, gluttonous energy-consumer on this site (if you're familiar with 90s ads from the UK)
"OpenAI's disclosed projects alone would consume 55.2 gigawatts — enough to power 44.2 million households... Datacenters compete with housing and manufacturing for limited grid capacity across the US, UK, and Europe."
Power crunch threatens to derail AI datacenter construction
Power crunch threatens to derail AI datacenter construction
Supply chains also unprepared for liquid cooling demands
A survey of datacenter professionals reveals that supply chain constraints and power availability are hampering the industry's efforts to scale datacenter capacity.…
dlvr.it
November 5, 2025 at 11:58 AM
"OpenAI's disclosed projects alone would consume 55.2 gigawatts — enough to power 44.2 million households... Datacenters compete with housing and manufacturing for limited grid capacity across the US, UK, and Europe."
Would be interested to know whether Ofcom has asked Meta about their dodgy guidance on chatbots and children
www.ft.com/content/b45b...
www.ft.com/content/b45b...
UK regulator threatens tech giants with algorithm audits to protect children
Ofcom chief Melanie Dawes reveals she held meetings with US AI firms over Online Safety Act
www.ft.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Would be interested to know whether Ofcom has asked Meta about their dodgy guidance on chatbots and children
www.ft.com/content/b45b...
www.ft.com/content/b45b...
Total greenwashing from Equinix here about their “100% renewable” data centre. They’ll be taking energy from the grid just like the rest of us. If they’re not adding new renewables then it’s just dodgy accounting and spin: news.sky.com/story/huge-v...
'Huge vote of confidence' as data centre giant announces £4bn British investment
Equinix says it will pump billions into the UK with a new data centre by South Mimms services. The government is betting big on data centres to help with its growth agenda.
news.sky.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Total greenwashing from Equinix here about their “100% renewable” data centre. They’ll be taking energy from the grid just like the rest of us. If they’re not adding new renewables then it’s just dodgy accounting and spin: news.sky.com/story/huge-v...
Reposted by Donald Campbell
The familiar question: do tech barons say this stuff because they believe it, or just want us to? Also: why does the tech press lap it up?
lol no they absolutely will not, for so many reasons
I'd bet everything I own that in 20 years there will never be more than 1000 people in space at any one time. (It'll probably be well under 100.) Nobody will be living there with their kids.
Tech billionaires don't know a damn thing about tech.
I'd bet everything I own that in 20 years there will never be more than 1000 people in space at any one time. (It'll probably be well under 100.) Nobody will be living there with their kids.
Tech billionaires don't know a damn thing about tech.
Jeff Bezos Says He Doesn't Understand Why Anybody Alive Now Would Be 'Discouraged'—Because Soon, 'Millions Of People Will Be Living In Space'
Jeff Bezos says the future is so bright, he "doesn't see how anybody can be discouraged who is alive right now." Speaking at Italian Tech Week 2025 earlier this month with Ferrari and Stellantis chair...
tech.yahoo.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM
The familiar question: do tech barons say this stuff because they believe it, or just want us to? Also: why does the tech press lap it up?
Kind of astonishing that the current Govt has a policy of actively encouraging a hugely energy-intensive industry - data centres - but doesn't feel the need to acknowledge that industry's emissions in its new plans for meeting its carbon budgets: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6901d0...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
October 29, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Kind of astonishing that the current Govt has a policy of actively encouraging a hugely energy-intensive industry - data centres - but doesn't feel the need to acknowledge that industry's emissions in its new plans for meeting its carbon budgets: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6901d0...
Last week, @foxglovelegal.bsky.social wrote to the UK's Energy Secretary to ask whether emissions caused by data centres will be included in the new carbon budget delivery plan: www.foxglove.org.uk/wp-content/u...
October 29, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Last week, @foxglovelegal.bsky.social wrote to the UK's Energy Secretary to ask whether emissions caused by data centres will be included in the new carbon budget delivery plan: www.foxglove.org.uk/wp-content/u...
New carbon budget delivery plan is due to be published by the UK Govt today - will it include the huge expected impact of Big Tech's data centres on emissions? questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Information from UK Parliament on written questions & answers, written statements and daily reports.
questions-statements.parliament.uk
October 29, 2025 at 1:57 PM
New carbon budget delivery plan is due to be published by the UK Govt today - will it include the huge expected impact of Big Tech's data centres on emissions? questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...