Brian Merchant
@bcmerchant.bsky.social
author of Blood in the Machine, tech writer, luddite
newsletter: https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/
books: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/brian-merchant/
kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/brianmerchant
newsletter: https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/
books: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/brian-merchant/
kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/brianmerchant
This is a landslide. The last NYC mayoral candidate to clear 1 million votes was John Lindsay—over 50 years ago. It will be dismissed by pundits saying it can only happen in New York. That's garbage. Think pledging to freeze rent and offer childcare won't resonate in Nevada? Wisconsin? Texas?
November 5, 2025 at 5:17 AM
This is a landslide. The last NYC mayoral candidate to clear 1 million votes was John Lindsay—over 50 years ago. It will be dismissed by pundits saying it can only happen in New York. That's garbage. Think pledging to freeze rent and offer childcare won't resonate in Nevada? Wisconsin? Texas?
From an Amazon Employees for Climate Justice statement:
“They’re pushing this narrative that AI is transformative and that’s why they’re making these cuts. But leadership is spending 100 billion this year alone on the new data centers; they have to find that money elsewhere,” said one AWS engineer.
“They’re pushing this narrative that AI is transformative and that’s why they’re making these cuts. But leadership is spending 100 billion this year alone on the new data centers; they have to find that money elsewhere,” said one AWS engineer.
October 28, 2025 at 6:21 PM
From an Amazon Employees for Climate Justice statement:
“They’re pushing this narrative that AI is transformative and that’s why they’re making these cuts. But leadership is spending 100 billion this year alone on the new data centers; they have to find that money elsewhere,” said one AWS engineer.
“They’re pushing this narrative that AI is transformative and that’s why they’re making these cuts. But leadership is spending 100 billion this year alone on the new data centers; they have to find that money elsewhere,” said one AWS engineer.
This one is currently climbing the charts at WIRED, thanks for reading everyone
And kept out of the top slot by @lmatsakis.bsky.social's report on OpenAI being uniquely horrible for the umpteenth time this month
And kept out of the top slot by @lmatsakis.bsky.social's report on OpenAI being uniquely horrible for the umpteenth time this month
October 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
This one is currently climbing the charts at WIRED, thanks for reading everyone
And kept out of the top slot by @lmatsakis.bsky.social's report on OpenAI being uniquely horrible for the umpteenth time this month
And kept out of the top slot by @lmatsakis.bsky.social's report on OpenAI being uniquely horrible for the umpteenth time this month
Honestly a little insulted I didn't get a name check here
October 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Honestly a little insulted I didn't get a name check here
Turns out when @hypervisible.blacksky.app called OpenAI a "social arsonist" last week, he had no idea just how accurate that was.
October 8, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Turns out when @hypervisible.blacksky.app called OpenAI a "social arsonist" last week, he had no idea just how accurate that was.
Been experimenting with Sora a bit
October 8, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Been experimenting with Sora a bit
1) This is some pretty remarkable shade thrown at the big AI companies by a startup that's hiring away their researchers
2) That those researchers are giving up millions to do this indicates a rising level of discomfort with OpenAI/Meta/Google/etc's moral standing
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
2) That those researchers are giving up millions to do this indicates a rising level of discomfort with OpenAI/Meta/Google/etc's moral standing
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
October 1, 2025 at 2:46 AM
1) This is some pretty remarkable shade thrown at the big AI companies by a startup that's hiring away their researchers
2) That those researchers are giving up millions to do this indicates a rising level of discomfort with OpenAI/Meta/Google/etc's moral standing
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
2) That those researchers are giving up millions to do this indicates a rising level of discomfort with OpenAI/Meta/Google/etc's moral standing
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
It's pretty wild. To kill a bill that would restrict AI companies from selling chatbots to children, a Silicon Valley front group called American Innovators Network is claiming the law will take away children’s futures.
“Students deserve every chance to succeed,” its Facebook ads say.
“Students deserve every chance to succeed,” its Facebook ads say.
September 26, 2025 at 7:54 PM
It's pretty wild. To kill a bill that would restrict AI companies from selling chatbots to children, a Silicon Valley front group called American Innovators Network is claiming the law will take away children’s futures.
“Students deserve every chance to succeed,” its Facebook ads say.
“Students deserve every chance to succeed,” its Facebook ads say.
If you're in London, check out Breaking the (G)loom, the only event that pokes at (p)doom and references the original luddites all in one title. *Also* wish I could make this one
luma.com/9ddl2shi
luma.com/9ddl2shi
September 22, 2025 at 7:35 PM
If you're in London, check out Breaking the (G)loom, the only event that pokes at (p)doom and references the original luddites all in one title. *Also* wish I could make this one
luma.com/9ddl2shi
luma.com/9ddl2shi
If you're in New York, join the Silicon Valley tech-rejecting youth, a Palantir whistleblower, activists, writers and critics as they take to the Highline to make some noise.
Really wish I could make this.
Really wish I could make this.
September 22, 2025 at 7:33 PM
If you're in New York, join the Silicon Valley tech-rejecting youth, a Palantir whistleblower, activists, writers and critics as they take to the Highline to make some noise.
Really wish I could make this.
Really wish I could make this.
Man, really sad to hear of the untimely passing of Tomas Lindberg, who fronted At the Gates, one of the best melodeath bands ever to do it. And this is undeniably extremely metal
September 18, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Man, really sad to hear of the untimely passing of Tomas Lindberg, who fronted At the Gates, one of the best melodeath bands ever to do it. And this is undeniably extremely metal
A friend pointed out that right after I published last week's post arguing that the notion that X/Twitter was a "global town square" could finally be laid to rest for good, Elon felt compelled to tweet 'nuh uh.'
Attempts to find his burner BITM subscriber email have so far proved unsuccessful
Attempts to find his burner BITM subscriber email have so far proved unsuccessful
September 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
A friend pointed out that right after I published last week's post arguing that the notion that X/Twitter was a "global town square" could finally be laid to rest for good, Elon felt compelled to tweet 'nuh uh.'
Attempts to find his burner BITM subscriber email have so far proved unsuccessful
Attempts to find his burner BITM subscriber email have so far proved unsuccessful
Thanks also to Susan Oakes, who shared her images as an example of what was being lost, and @roxanelapa.com, who did the same, with here excellent AI protest art.
Find more of their work here:
www.suoakesphotoimaging.com
www.roxanelapa.com
Find more of their work here:
www.suoakesphotoimaging.com
www.roxanelapa.com
September 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Thanks also to Susan Oakes, who shared her images as an example of what was being lost, and @roxanelapa.com, who did the same, with here excellent AI protest art.
Find more of their work here:
www.suoakesphotoimaging.com
www.roxanelapa.com
Find more of their work here:
www.suoakesphotoimaging.com
www.roxanelapa.com
One reason Musk, Vance and Trumpworld are working overtime to manufacture a mass conspiracy that socialists and leftists are the root of all evil when those groups hold little actual institutional power is that this is the reality on the ground
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
September 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM
One reason Musk, Vance and Trumpworld are working overtime to manufacture a mass conspiracy that socialists and leftists are the root of all evil when those groups hold little actual institutional power is that this is the reality on the ground
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Is this abundance
September 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Is this abundance
Every tech CEO 2007-2023 after a shocking act of violence: "Our thoughts are with the victims. We will monitor posts around the topic with an eye to user safety"
Elon in 2025 minutes after an attack in which nothing is yet known about the suspect or his motives:
Elon in 2025 minutes after an attack in which nothing is yet known about the suspect or his motives:
September 10, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Every tech CEO 2007-2023 after a shocking act of violence: "Our thoughts are with the victims. We will monitor posts around the topic with an eye to user safety"
Elon in 2025 minutes after an attack in which nothing is yet known about the suspect or his motives:
Elon in 2025 minutes after an attack in which nothing is yet known about the suspect or his motives:
AI Watchdog is indeed an excellent resource and is, for example, how I know that my books have been ingested into the LibGen dataset and used without my consent to train commercial AI systems
September 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
AI Watchdog is indeed an excellent resource and is, for example, how I know that my books have been ingested into the LibGen dataset and used without my consent to train commercial AI systems
This is a much better piece on what took place, and the implications of the decision, which are extremely depressing
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/a-judge-le...
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/a-judge-le...
September 3, 2025 at 7:03 PM
This is a much better piece on what took place, and the implications of the decision, which are extremely depressing
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/a-judge-le...
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/a-judge-le...
The only explanation I can think of for this NYT oped proclaiming the government "walloped" Google when the decision was so toothless and Google-friendly it sent shares skyrocketing is that it was a pre-write assuming any meaningful action at all would be taken
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/o...
September 3, 2025 at 6:20 PM
The only explanation I can think of for this NYT oped proclaiming the government "walloped" Google when the decision was so toothless and Google-friendly it sent shares skyrocketing is that it was a pre-write assuming any meaningful action at all would be taken
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/o...
Thanks for the reminder!
August 27, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Thanks for the reminder!