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alondra.bsky.social
Alondra Nelson
@alondra.bsky.social
44K followers 1.8K following 870 posts
Scholar, author, policy advisor
alondranelson.com

Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab
https://www.ias.edu/stsv-lab
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alondra.bsky.social
Also launching today, @macfound.org's next Big Bet: AI Opportunity >> expanding who creates, uses, and benefits from artificial intelligence.
www.macfound.org/programs/big...
October 14, 2025 at 5:44 PM
alondra.bsky.social
Looking forward to joining Shoshana Zuboff and Cathy O'Neil this week at the Harvard Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights for a conversation on democratic resilience in the age of AI and tech power concentration.

Join us October 16, 5-6pm ET. You can register here: www.hks.harvard.edu/events/surve...
Social card for the event: Surveillance Capitalism, Power, and our Democratic Future Speakers and Presenters Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and architect of the "Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights."; Cathy O'Neil, Data Scientist and Author of Weapons of Math Destruction; Mathias Risse, Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy and Director of the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights; Shoshana Zuboff, Charles Edward Wilson Professor Emeritus and Co-Director of the Human Rights and Technology Fellowship Date and Location October 16, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET Starr Auditorium
October 11, 2025 at 9:06 PM
alondra.bsky.social
On Thursday, I'll join Megan Molteni at the 2025 @statnews.com Summit for a fireside chat on the future of science, technology, and research policy--from AI governance to public trust, from access to human rights. And how to ensure science serves the public good. www.statnews.com/stat-summit-...
Thu Oct 16, 11:50 AM - 12:15 PM EDT (25 min) Staying Human in the Age of AI How do we build technologies in ways that expand opportunity, improve human life, and strengthen democracy? A wide-ranging interview that will span genomics, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, and Silicon Valley’s growing influence on American sociopolitics. Speakers Alondra Nelson Former Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden & Director White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Speaker Megan Molteni Science Writer STAT Moderator
October 11, 2025 at 9:02 PM
alondra.bsky.social
Out now! Summary Report: Workshop on the Geopolitics of Critical Minerals and the AI Supply Chain www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...

The report highlights how AI’s expansion is tied to critical minerals, energy, water, land, and labor—and why interdisciplinary approaches are essential for AI governance.🧵
August 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
alondra.bsky.social
On Capitol Hill, I joined Sen. Bill Nelson @gretchentg.bsky.social @adamconner.bsky.social @cdelawalla.bsky.social to sound the alarm about the systematic dismantling of the US research infrastructure. The question isn't whether we can afford to invest in research. It's whether we can afford not to.
July 22, 2025 at 11:18 PM
alondra.bsky.social
Our latest newsletter focuses on the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab's work bridging academic research and policy. From contributing to global AI governance to empirical studies of technology's impacts, we examine how science and tech expand or limit civic life.
mailchi.mp/21acb01058a0...
The header of a newsletter reading Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab Institute for Advanced Study June 2025
July 1, 2025 at 2:29 AM
alondra.bsky.social
GAO confirms ICE deported 70 US citizens.

A coincidence that Congress is trying to claw back GAO funding? (via @bbkogan.bsky.social)
House Republicans are seeking at 48% cut in GAO funding as part of their FY2026 Legislative Branch appropriations bill. This is the independent accounting arm of Congress. Democrats are strongly opposed. Republicans also seeking a 10% cut in Library of Congress funding
June 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
alondra.bsky.social
ICYMI

RARE/EARTH: The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals + the AI Supply Chain w/ @triofrancos.bsky.social @katecrawford.bsky.social @tamigraph.bsky.social @hofrench.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxVM...

Opening remarks albert.ias.edu/server/api/c...

Event brief www.ias.edu/stsv-lab/aig...
Poster reading Rare/Earth The geopolitics of critical minerals and the AI supply chain, with pictures of Thea Riofrancos, Providence College Tamara Kneese, Data and Society Howard French, Columbia University (Only attending Public Panel) Kate Crawford, University of Southern California and Microsoft Research Alondra Nelson, Institute for advanced study
June 19, 2025 at 11:51 PM
alondra.bsky.social
I was honored to have the opportunity to address the Amherst College community with an address titled "Questioning Code: Courage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence." albert.ias.edu/server/api/c...
Questioning Code: Courage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Alondra Nelson Amherst College Commencement Amherst, MA May 24, 2025 As Prepared for Delivery
June 2, 2025 at 11:41 AM
alondra.bsky.social
"Audra McDonald Is Our Greatest Living Stage Actor"
time.com/7285826/audr...
June 1, 2025 at 12:28 AM
alondra.bsky.social
Deeply humbled to receive an honorary degree from Amherst College among incredible company, including Vint Cerf. Grateful to the Trustees and President Michael Elliott, whose powerful commencement speech, "The Courage to Ask Hard Questions," boldly met the moment. Special thanks to Stefan Bradley!
a photo of Amherst College honorary degree recipients, seated: Vinton G. Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google David Hixon ’75, former Amherst head men’s basketball coach Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Chair and head of the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab at the Institute for Advanced Study Andrew Nussbaum ’85, attorney and former chair of the College’s board of trustees Michael Witmore, former director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, which Henry Folger, class of 1879, placed in trust of Amherst College Rebecca Zeigler Mano, director of Education Matters Africa Standing: Amherst President Michael Elliott and members of the College faculty, including Professor Stefan Bradley. pictured: Alondra Nelson stands to receive a honorary doctor of human letters degree from Amherst President Michael Elliott. Alondra Nelson stands on the stage during the Amherst College Commencement Alondra Nelson stands with Vint Cerf
May 28, 2025 at 5:14 PM
alondra.bsky.social
We face active campaigns to discredit research that challenges economic interests or social hierarchies.

For 50 years, the field of bioethics has focused on laws, regulations & norms but failed to adequately grapple with issues of power.
Screen shot from STAT News: “Perhaps the greatest challenge to cosmopolitan bioethics today is the deliberate fracturing of our knowledge ecosystems along ideological lines,” said Alondra Nelson, who served as acting director of the Office of Science And Technology Policy under President Biden. “We face not just passive disinvestment from science, but active campaigns to discredit research that challenges particular economic interests or social hierarchies.” This is something of a fundamentally new challenge for those who study and advocate for bioethics, she continued, which for most of its history has mostly dealt in laws and regulations and norms and failed to adequately grapple with issues of power. In the U.S., the past 50 years have been characterized by a compact between universities and the government, which have driven economic and social development, described in the 1990s as “the triple helix model of innovation.” The problem, Nelson said, is that most people assumed that the actors in those ecosystems all shared equal power. That was never really the case, and the Trump administration’s wielding of the government’s power to cancel research grants, lay off thousands of federal health agency workers, and scrub mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion from the scientific landscape now is making the case clear."
May 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
alondra.bsky.social
RARE/EARTH The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals and the AI Supply Chain Kate Crawford Howard W. French Tamara Kneese Alondra Nelson Thea Riofrancos The global AI ecosystem is deeply dependent on critical minerals—primarily sourced from countries in the Global South—that are essential to hardware production, energy infrastructure, and the deployment of AI systems. As the tech economy rapidly expands, so too does its appetite for natural resources: critical minerals, energy, land, and water. The emergence of generative AI has not only introduced new geopolitical dynamics but also intensified long-standing tensions over access to the natural resources that power its extensive supply. A growing contest over critical minerals—described by some as the next “critical mineral supercycle”—is reshaping global power relations and heightening geopolitical tensions, particularly between China and the United States. Join leading scholars in AI, geopolitics, infrastructure, and resource extraction as they explore this pivotal moment. Together, they will examine the intersections between the AI value chain and the extractive economies on which it relies, offering insight into how this evolving terrain is shaping the future of technology and international relations.
May 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
alondra.bsky.social
Register to join this timely discussion on June 2, in person or on line, with @katecrawford.bsky.social @hofrench.bsky.social @tamigraph.bsky.social and @triofrancos.bsky.social, hosted by my Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab at the Institute for Advanced Study www.ias.edu/events/raree...
May 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
alondra.bsky.social
The report published yesterday by the US Copyright Office noted the emergence of compensation plans and licensing regimes for use of copyrighted works to train AI systems as well as the still unsettled legal cases about AI and fair use www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright...
May 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
alondra.bsky.social
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
White Document Cover that reads "National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws, A Report of the Domestic Policy Council, MARCH 2025"
April 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
alondra.bsky.social
An honor to speak at the @innocenceproject.bsky.social’s annual Innocence Network Conference and to meet my personal hero, Robert Williams, who had the clarity and courage to challenge the city of Detroit when he was wrongly arrested based on facial recognition technology misidentification.
Alondra Nelson stands with Robert Williams panelists on stage: Mike Semanchik, Mary Fan, Robert Williams, Alondra Nelson and Brian Hofer, all standing and smiling
April 6, 2025 at 1:04 AM
alondra.bsky.social
#HandsOff #Seattle
Sign: Ignore history you’re doomed to repeat; ignore science you’re doomed Sign: vaccines cause adults Sign: hands off democracy Sign: the only minority destroying this country are the billionaires
April 5, 2025 at 10:26 PM
alondra.bsky.social
Seattle has spoken.
Photograph of graffiti on the train tracks in Seattle that says: Elon would you kindly f off” . The sky is blue /!: the Space Needle is in the distance
April 4, 2025 at 8:21 PM
alondra.bsky.social
The 2025-2026 Members of the Institute for Advanced Study School of Social Science.

I look forward to thinking with and learning from this extraordinary group of scholars next year, when I will also convene a special collaborative theme seminar on Digital (In)Equality. www.ias.edu/stsv-lab/dig...
April 3, 2025 at 12:05 AM
alondra.bsky.social
It was an honor to deliver the annual Albert Morris Lecture at Boston University today and to end the visit with this poignant reminder from the late, great June Jordan.

Indeed.
A white banner on a brownstone building at Boston University that reads:” We are the ones we have been waiting for.” —June Jordan
March 27, 2025 at 11:17 PM
alondra.bsky.social
Starting my Saturday morning off by giving a talk on "Algorithmic Agnotology" at #AAAI #AAAI25
Standing sign that says: AAAI-25. IAAI-25. EAAI- 25 Schedule of Daily Plenary Sessions Saturday March 1 AAAI-25 Invited Talk: Algorithmic Agnotology, Alondra Nelson AAAI Presidential Addess: AI Reasoning and System 2 Thinking, Francesca Rossi Presidential Panel on the Future of AI Research, Francesca Rossi Annual Meeting of AAAI Members Sunday March 2 AI for Humanity Award: Can AI Benefit Humanity?, Stuart Russell AAAI-25 Invited Talk: Propositional Interpretability in Humans and AI Systems, David Chalmers
March 1, 2025 at 4:42 PM
alondra.bsky.social
What are the benefits and risks of open source AI? How can confronting current AI risks and harms help us develop a toolkit for future ones? Why and how should we pursue “thick alignment” of AI models and uses? Great convo today w/ @yoshuabengio.bsky.social @jakobmokander.bsky.social #AIActionSummit
Yoshua Bengio and Alondra Nelson seated on a stage in discussion behind a black background that reads in white letters: governing in the age of AI. He wears 10 pants, a plum shirt and a navy sports coat. she wears a black suit and a dark gray blouse. She is speaking and gesturing with her hands.
February 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM
alondra.bsky.social
This communication suggests that this negotiation process will no longer be the custom (the law? the regulation?)--or that the elimination of negotiation is what's being attempted by this gesture
Screenshot of X post that reads: Last year, $9B of the $35B that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) granted for research was used for administrative overhead, what is known as “indirect costs.” Today, NIH lowered the maximum indirect cost rate research institutions can charge the government to 15%, above what many major foundations allow and much lower than the 60%+ that some institutions charge the government today. This change will save more than $4B a year effective immediately. Accompanied by a graphic that shows Harvard, Yale and Hopkins current indirect rates of 69%, 67.5% and 73.7% respectively that will now all be reduced to 15%
February 8, 2025 at 1:08 AM
alondra.bsky.social
It was a pleasure to deliver the Lemley Lecture at Brown University yesterday and join my friends and colleagues @prulcarter.bsky.social + @geomblog.bsky.social in conversation. Thank you to Provost Frank Doyle for his introductory remarks and to all who took the time to attend on a snowy evening.
Alondra Nelson and Suresh Venkatasubramanian (Brown Professor and interim Director of the Data Science Institute) seated on a stage with microphones and in front of a banner with the Brown University logo and the words "The Lemley Family Leadership Lecture Series" Alondra Nelson seated on a stage speaking into a microphone and in front of a banner with the Brown University logo and the words "The Lemley Family Leadership Lecture Series" Four people standing and smiling: Brown University Provost Frank Doyle, Brown University Professor Prudence Carter, Alondra Nelson, Brown University Professor Suresh Venkatasubramanian. A selfie with Stéphanie Larrieux, Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University; Alondra Nelson, and Prudence Carter, professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University
February 7, 2025 at 11:45 PM