Josh Chin
@joshchin.bsky.social
Senior correspondent for WSJ covering collisions of geopolitics, tech, and power. 15+ yrs in Asia, mostly China. Co-author of SURVEILLANCE STATE: https://www.josh-chin.com/books
Signal: joshchin.86. Also: josh.l.chin@protonmail.com
Signal: joshchin.86. Also: josh.l.chin@protonmail.com
Pinned
Josh Chin
@joshchin.bsky.social
· Sep 21
The Daring Caper of a Faithful Tibetan Who Outfoxed China
He escaped from police and crossed thousands of miles of wilderness on a decadelong odyssey toward freedom.
www.wsj.com
This is yet another story about authoritarianism — but one that hits a little different. Phurba is resilience incarnate, a person born for these times. And his tale is bonkers. I hope you enjoy reading it as much we did reporting it. Gift link: www.wsj.com/world/asia/t...
This is yet another story about authoritarianism — but one that hits a little different. Phurba is resilience incarnate, a person born for these times. And his tale is bonkers. I hope you enjoy reading it as much we did reporting it. Gift link: www.wsj.com/world/asia/t...
The Daring Caper of a Faithful Tibetan Who Outfoxed China
He escaped from police and crossed thousands of miles of wilderness on a decadelong odyssey toward freedom.
www.wsj.com
September 21, 2025 at 11:29 AM
This is yet another story about authoritarianism — but one that hits a little different. Phurba is resilience incarnate, a person born for these times. And his tale is bonkers. I hope you enjoy reading it as much we did reporting it. Gift link: www.wsj.com/world/asia/t...
Reposted by Josh Chin
Hi, former Foreign Service Officer here
The Secretary of State might be interested to learn that visa requirements and terms are generally reciprocal. We do it to them, they do it to us.
The Secretary of State might be interested to learn that visa requirements and terms are generally reciprocal. We do it to them, they do it to us.
The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, a move that may make the process unaffordable for many.
U.S. may require visa applicants to post bond up to $15,000 to enter country
The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $15,000 to apply to enter the United States.
buff.ly
August 5, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Hi, former Foreign Service Officer here
The Secretary of State might be interested to learn that visa requirements and terms are generally reciprocal. We do it to them, they do it to us.
The Secretary of State might be interested to learn that visa requirements and terms are generally reciprocal. We do it to them, they do it to us.
Reposted by Josh Chin
it is not the case that if you stop observing bad things, the bad things go away
Exclusive: The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.
By @rhersher.bsky.social
By @rhersher.bsky.social
Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose
The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.
n.pr
August 4, 2025 at 4:24 PM
it is not the case that if you stop observing bad things, the bad things go away
Reposted by Josh Chin
sure fuck it, whatever. we deserve this
July 31, 2025 at 4:51 AM
sure fuck it, whatever. we deserve this
Reposted by Josh Chin
What a great, great farewell note
News: legendary Washington Post sports columnist @sallyjenx.bsky.social is leaving The Post.
July 30, 2025 at 6:07 PM
What a great, great farewell note
Reposted by Josh Chin
LLMs are basically terrifying users by force-feeding them niche fanfic texts without context. There's a reason why fandoms congregate on small forums to talk out their inside jokes because they don't want innocent people to stumble into their space and freak out without knowing the context!!!
"AI companies used what amounts to the collective history of our species to create software that obscures its very richness and complexity."
www.wired.com/story/chatgp...
www.wired.com/story/chatgp...
The Real Demon Inside ChatGPT
AI chatbots strip language of its historical and cultural context. Sometimes what looks like a satanic bloodletting ritual may actually be lifted from Warhammer 40,000.
www.wired.com
July 29, 2025 at 4:17 PM
LLMs are basically terrifying users by force-feeding them niche fanfic texts without context. There's a reason why fandoms congregate on small forums to talk out their inside jokes because they don't want innocent people to stumble into their space and freak out without knowing the context!!!
Reposted by Josh Chin
This is a really crazy thing to do.
The National Science Foundation plans to abruptly end operation of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer, the sole U.S. research ship capable of braving the farthest reaches of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. scim.ag/4mB8LOX
NSF plans abrupt end to lone U.S. Antarctic research icebreaker
Imminent termination of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer shocks polar scientists
scim.ag
July 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
This is a really crazy thing to do.
Hmm, where have I heard this bef…oh, right:
July 25, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Hmm, where have I heard this bef…oh, right:
Reposted by Josh Chin
As the U.S. heads toward trade talks with China next week, President Trump is increasingly focused on trying to strike an economic bargain with Beijing.
Trump Is Shifting to Dealmaking Mode on China
The White House puts a priority on doing business with Beijing as it prepares for bilateral talks next week.
on.wsj.com
July 25, 2025 at 8:15 AM
As the U.S. heads toward trade talks with China next week, President Trump is increasingly focused on trying to strike an economic bargain with Beijing.
Reposted by Josh Chin
The most interesting fact about Hulk Hogan is that as a kid in France, Andre the Giant sometimes got driven to school by playwright Samuel Beckett
July 25, 2025 at 3:33 AM
The most interesting fact about Hulk Hogan is that as a kid in France, Andre the Giant sometimes got driven to school by playwright Samuel Beckett
Reposted by Josh Chin
Your moment of joy today.
Kids playing Ozzy's Crazy Train on xylophones
July 24, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Your moment of joy today.
Reposted by Josh Chin
This is shattering, must-read journalism from @leloveluck.bsky.social, Heba Farouk Mahfouz, Siham Shamalakh, Miriam Berger and @cheesemanab.bsky.social.
Glad it is getting the front-page treatment it merits. Gift link for non-subscribers is here: wapo.st/3GXPS9A
Glad it is getting the front-page treatment it merits. Gift link for non-subscribers is here: wapo.st/3GXPS9A
Mass starvation stalks Gaza as deaths from hunger rise
Aid agencies warned for months that Israel’s harsh limits on food aid would bring acute malnutrition and widespread suffering to Gaza’s 2.1 million people.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 24, 2025 at 5:31 PM
This is shattering, must-read journalism from @leloveluck.bsky.social, Heba Farouk Mahfouz, Siham Shamalakh, Miriam Berger and @cheesemanab.bsky.social.
Glad it is getting the front-page treatment it merits. Gift link for non-subscribers is here: wapo.st/3GXPS9A
Glad it is getting the front-page treatment it merits. Gift link for non-subscribers is here: wapo.st/3GXPS9A
Reposted by Josh Chin
"Google users who encountered an AI summary also rarely clicked on a link in the summary itself. This occurred in just 1% of all visits..."
Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results
In a March 2025 analysis, Google users who encountered an AI summary were less likely to click on links to other websites than users who did not see one.
www.pewresearch.org
July 23, 2025 at 12:59 PM
"Google users who encountered an AI summary also rarely clicked on a link in the summary itself. This occurred in just 1% of all visits..."
Reposted by Josh Chin
i believe that at 18 every american should be entered into a draft, not for military service, but for one year of mandatory retail or restaurant work
July 22, 2025 at 3:13 PM
i believe that at 18 every american should be entered into a draft, not for military service, but for one year of mandatory retail or restaurant work
Reposted by Josh Chin
Hey WHCA -- u up?
Politico - White House removing Wall Street Journal from the pool of reporters covering the president’s weekend trip to Scotland. www.politico.com/news/2025/07...
White House removes Wall Street Journal from Scotland press pool over Epstein bombshell
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on if the Journal would be included in the pool in the future, either on the White House campus or on subsequent trips.
www.politico.com
July 21, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Hey WHCA -- u up?
Reposted by Josh Chin
“I violated the user directive …”
“I violated the first law of robotics…”
“I’m sorry Dave…”
“I violated the first law of robotics…”
“I’m sorry Dave…”
July 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
“I violated the user directive …”
“I violated the first law of robotics…”
“I’m sorry Dave…”
“I violated the first law of robotics…”
“I’m sorry Dave…”
Reposted by Josh Chin
NEW FROM ME: new research has found millions of ex's of personal info, including credit cards, passports, résumés, birth certificates etc in 1 of the largest web-scraped datasets used to train image generation AI models.
It's a major privacy violation.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/18/1...
It's a major privacy violation.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/18/1...
A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data
Personally identifiable information has been found in DataComp CommonPool, one of the largest open-source data sets used to train image generation models.
www.technologyreview.com
July 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM
NEW FROM ME: new research has found millions of ex's of personal info, including credit cards, passports, résumés, birth certificates etc in 1 of the largest web-scraped datasets used to train image generation AI models.
It's a major privacy violation.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/18/1...
It's a major privacy violation.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/18/1...
Reposted by Josh Chin
Excellent move. Strong and confident regimes have no need for so-called “comedy,” which serves only to undermine socialist spiritual civilization.
Breaking News: CBS will cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” next year, retiring a franchise that lasted more than three decades.
‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Is Being Canceled by CBS
The show will end in May, the network said, calling it “a purely financial decision.”
trib.al
July 18, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Excellent move. Strong and confident regimes have no need for so-called “comedy,” which serves only to undermine socialist spiritual civilization.
Reposted by Josh Chin
the Grok - Mechahitler story is interesting for what it reveals not just about Elon's LLM but about how sign systems work at a pretty high level of abstraction
July 17, 2025 at 8:16 PM
the Grok - Mechahitler story is interesting for what it reveals not just about Elon's LLM but about how sign systems work at a pretty high level of abstraction
The leap from this to the systems Chinese police use for social engineering in Xinjiang and Tibet is exceedingly small
New from 404 Media: inside ICE's supercharged facial recognition app of 200 million images. After scanning someone's face, it can query DHS, CBP, FBI, State Department, and state databases at once. An unprecedented linking of government databases into a single tool.
www.404media.co/inside-ices-...
www.404media.co/inside-ices-...
Inside ICE’s Supercharged Facial Recognition App of 200 Million Images
404 Media has seen user manuals for Mobile Fortify, ICE’s new facial recognition app which allows officers to instantly look up DHS, State Department, and state law enforcement databases by just point...
www.404media.co
July 18, 2025 at 12:04 AM
The leap from this to the systems Chinese police use for social engineering in Xinjiang and Tibet is exceedingly small
Reposted by Josh Chin
Settle in and read this extraordinary piece by Rümeysa Öztürk about her detention and marvel at her compassion for others, even in the darkest conceivable situation. We are blessed to have students like her in America: www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...
“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.
www.vanityfair.com
July 17, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Settle in and read this extraordinary piece by Rümeysa Öztürk about her detention and marvel at her compassion for others, even in the darkest conceivable situation. We are blessed to have students like her in America: www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...
Reposted by Josh Chin
you can get this exact same result with a reasonable sized edible
![Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber who no longer works at the company, appeared on All-In to talk with hosts Jason Calacanis and Chamath Palihapitiya about the future of technology. When the topic turned to AI, Kalanick discussed how he uses xAI’s Grok, which went haywire last week, praising Adolf Hitler and advocating for a second Holocaust against Jews.
“I’ll go down this thread with [Chat]GPT or Grok and I’ll start to get to the edge of what’s known in quantum physics and then I’m doing the equivalent of vibe coding, except it’s vibe physics,” Kalanick explained. “And we’re approaching what’s known. And I’m trying to poke and see if there’s breakthroughs to be had. And I’ve gotten pretty damn close to some interesting breakthroughs just doing that.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/bafkreiac2szurc5dnw6klquhpjmo7iafg4n6fwmrqyred7jrrph6h6mptq@jpeg)
July 16, 2025 at 10:44 AM
you can get this exact same result with a reasonable sized edible
Reposted by Josh Chin
Tiktok got banned despite massive efforts to demonstrate that Beijing wouldn't access US data.
All the while, the U.S. government allowed China-based Microsoft service teams to directly access classified government systems w/ nominal supervision.
www.propublica.org/article/micr...
All the while, the U.S. government allowed China-based Microsoft service teams to directly access classified government systems w/ nominal supervision.
www.propublica.org/article/micr...
A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers
The Pentagon bans foreign citizens from accessing highly sensitive data, but Microsoft bypasses this by using engineers in China and elsewhere to remotely instruct American “escorts” who may lack expe...
www.propublica.org
July 16, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Tiktok got banned despite massive efforts to demonstrate that Beijing wouldn't access US data.
All the while, the U.S. government allowed China-based Microsoft service teams to directly access classified government systems w/ nominal supervision.
www.propublica.org/article/micr...
All the while, the U.S. government allowed China-based Microsoft service teams to directly access classified government systems w/ nominal supervision.
www.propublica.org/article/micr...
Reposted by Josh Chin
Palestinians in Gaza are facing a tough decision every day: starve or risk death while trying to get food from one of the aid distribution centers https://on.wsj.com/46JM6uT
Gazans Confront a Stark Choice: Risk Death to Get Food, or Starve
A rash of shootings has made the trek through combat zones to U.S. and Israeli-backed food aid sites a deadly one.
on.wsj.com
July 15, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Palestinians in Gaza are facing a tough decision every day: starve or risk death while trying to get food from one of the aid distribution centers https://on.wsj.com/46JM6uT