Lora Kolodny
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lorak.bsky.social
Lora Kolodny
@lorak.bsky.social
55K followers 4.8K following 10K posts
reporter at cnbc.com. email: lora.kolodny@versantmedia.com - ex-wsj, techcrunch & all over. i cover: elon musk cos. mostly tesla (some climate tech startups). my posts here are my own. optimistic on the inside. dm me on signal: lorakolodny.55
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lorak.bsky.social
take me back to the weekend
blue & white delphinium flowers in bright sunlight dark magenta roses with yellow centers a street lamp lights up a corner in san francisco’s upper haight neighborhood near the corner of stanyan & frederick street
November 11, 2025 at 5:06 AM
lorak.bsky.social
Read the letter:
“Dear President von der Leyen, We, experts in artificial intelligence (Al) and its societal impacts, are deeply concerned about your unscientific and inaccurate statement that Al is nearing human reasoning. You claimed in your budget speech in May "we thought Al would only approach human reasoning around 2050. Now we expect this to happen already next year." We understand from Commission disclosure, which followed a lengthy process to obtain this information, that you relied on the statements of Dario Amodei, Jensen Huang and Sam Altman as the basis for your statement about Al nearing human reasoning. These are marketing statements driven by profit-motive and ideology rather than empirical evidence and formal proof. In short, these tech CEOs claims concerning "superintelligence" and "AGI" are manifestly bound with their financial imperatives and not rigorous science. 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. This is particularly so amidst a significant speculative bubble to which baseless Al hype is contributing. It also undermines the ability of Commission staff to evaluate the claims of Al vendors at a time when the Commission regulates them and procures Al services. The Commission has the duty to diligently assess claims made by industry and to determine with impartial and scholarly analysis where best the objectives of the Union should be pursued. The scientific development of any potentially useful Al is not served by amplifying the unscientific marketing claims of US tech firms. We call on you to: 1. retract your statement on Al approaching human reasoning next year; 2. diligently evaluate other such marketing claims about Al products; and 3. ensure you have the benefit of the necessary impartial scientific advice in future.”
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
lorak.bsky.social
general vibe:
201R長編映画R復 ^！？ 独占密着！知 700日 “I strongly feel that this is an insult to lite itself.”
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 AM
lorak.bsky.social
not really but i snuck in time to look at flowers
November 10, 2025 at 2:24 AM
lorak.bsky.social
this is like some crossover ep. of pimp my ride & great british baking… “we put a cookie in your cookie so now you can nom while you nom, dawg…”
a large brown cookie (in a plastic bag) has an oreo style cookie smashed into the top middle of it. cookie sold at jagalchi bakery.
November 9, 2025 at 8:43 PM
lorak.bsky.social
like ok to this - but where could you actually have greater effect?
“When I became a senior judge in 2013, my successor was appointed, so my resignation will not create a vacancy to be filled by the president.”
November 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
lorak.bsky.social
this anti racist, anti war song is just over one minute but it goes hard… music.apple.com/us/album/und...
Under All Flags by Patrick Sky (lyrics excerpt) “For what I mean they should quarantine States below the Mason-Dixon And I'd like to pee on Robert E. Lee With his goddamn great black brass on For the rebel flag is a filthy rag That a Yankee wipes his ass on”
November 9, 2025 at 3:58 AM
lorak.bsky.social
posted about your genius & this song. added that people consider new facts contradicting their views of certain celebs, ceos or politicians to be punishment for dreams- one reason they have a hard time moving past the myths. (love the laura jean grace cover too) music.apple.com/us/album/the... ♥️
The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton by The Mountain Goats (lyrics snippet) “When you punish a person for dreaming his dream Don't expect him to thank or forgive you”
November 9, 2025 at 3:48 AM
lorak.bsky.social
In case you were not familiar, here was what USAID budget looked like in 2024. the total budgetary resources for the agency represented just
0.4% of FY 2024 U.S. federal budget. mission was to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing US security & prosperity
usaspending.gov AGENCY PROFILE Agency for International Development (USAID) Fiscal year 2024 Summary Data through 9/29/2024 How much funding was available to this agency? $44.20 Billion in budgetary resources this was 0.4% of the FY 2024 U.S. federal budget AGENCY PROFILE US AID (US Agency for International Development) Agency Mission: We partner to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing our security and prosperity.
November 8, 2025 at 10:47 PM
lorak.bsky.social
i sometimes forget, when i put them on, that these flowery socks have an appropriate slogan on them…
a person puts her feet, in black low top converse sneakers & light blue socks with a flowery pattern on them, to rest on an ottoman. one ankle is crossed over the other. under frayed jeans, the socks are peeking out. in black script, among the white & blue & red flowers, is a slogan that says, “bitch I AM relaxed”
November 8, 2025 at 5:34 PM
lorak.bsky.social
i don’t mean to sound like third way about it but… i’m a mostly cake person who makes room for certain pies.
November 8, 2025 at 5:23 PM
lorak.bsky.social
in case you missed it, here was my story on the pay plan vote: www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/t...
“At the meeting, Musk claimed that Optimus robots "will eliminate poverty," "give everyone amazing medical care," and will be "bigger than cell phones, bigger than anything." He also said the robots could be used for "containment of future crime" by following criminals around and stopping them from "doing crime." There's currently no Optimus robot on the market, and Musk didn't provide a target date for reaching those goals.” - Lora Kolodny reporter, CNBC
November 8, 2025 at 4:58 PM
lorak.bsky.social
in general, and especially now…
They want you to feel powerless and surrender and let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving.— REBECCA SOLNIT
November 8, 2025 at 3:23 AM
lorak.bsky.social
after all this time… how kara swisher sees elon musk:
wired.com - q&a - drummond asks swisher about who among tech ceos she would not want to be stuck with in an elevator & the discussion meanders… Swisher: “Most of them do not try to be a better man, but in general, Zuckerberg is at the top of the list. Elon Musk obviously, but I think he's plagued by other issues. …That's not an excuse, that's just an explanation. I think there's a lot going on there that is really, um, I don't want to say tragic, because he kind of brings it on himself. But it's sad. It's really sad.”
November 4, 2025 at 2:36 PM
lorak.bsky.social
yes - including talking points where he said things that musk says ie about the left being too much about “identity” & about human drivers having (pete’s words) a “murderous” track record but robotaxis being already in his view (citing no data) better than humans
pete buttigieg on all in podcast (with elon musk pals as hosts): “So, human drivers have a murderous track record…”
November 2, 2025 at 12:14 AM
lorak.bsky.social
san francisco halloween scenes
two rows of glowing jack o lanterns on a garden wall & the sidewalk below. they have a variety of designs including faces, the number “6-7” and some animals (a spider, snake and owl) an inflatable decoration showing a ghost with sunglasses riding a motorcycle a view up at the san francisco ferry building clock tower with a V formation of pelicans flying past it in the pale grey sky a view of a chinatown street in san francisco on a sunny day - red lanterns strung on lines across the street, a green streetlight with red decoration and a red lantern on the sidewalk.
November 1, 2025 at 10:58 PM
lorak.bsky.social
About 7 years ago, Elon Musk hyped a next-generation Roadster, basing the name of Tesla’s debut car from 2008. It still isn't here. And yet...
Joe Rogan asking Elon Musk "are you still doing the Roadster" on 10/31/2025 Elon Musk on Joe Rogan -- "Yes...we're getting close to demonstrating the prototype." 10/31/2025 in response to a question about the Roadster refresh that Tesla first promised about 7 years ago.
October 31, 2025 at 9:18 PM
lorak.bsky.social
“…quantification of the Musk effect on vehicle sales. Our primary result is that Elon Musk's polarizing and partisan actions had a dramatic effect on Tesla sales, and this effect grows over time starting in October 2022. The results are remarkably similar between the linear and triple DiD analyses, despite the fact that both approaches rely on different identification strategies. By the first quarter of 2025, we find that without the Musk partisan effect, Tesla monthly sales would have been about 150 percent higher. When the effect is aggregated over the entire period from October 2022 through April 2025, we find that Tesla lost between 1 and 1.26 million vehicles in sales! amounts equal to between 67% and 83% of the actual number of Teslas sold over the same period. What is more, the Musk partisan effect increased the vehicle sales of competitors. In the first quarter of 2025, we find that without the Musk partisan effect, monthly sales of other electric and hybrid vehicles would have been around 25% lower, and when aggregated back to October 2022, Musk's partisan activities increased sales of EV and hybrid competitors by between 17% and 22%.”
October 28, 2025 at 1:31 PM
lorak.bsky.social
Trampoline (lyrics) by Joe Henry …And if I really thought I could I'd give up your ghost for good But I'm not sure it isn't you That keeps my ghost from leaving too But I don't miss you half as much As who you made me think I was When I could see myself the way you do…”
October 25, 2025 at 6:06 PM
lorak.bsky.social
took a nice walk in the rain
picture of prescription glasses on a wooden kitchen table. the lenses are covered in drops of water.
October 25, 2025 at 4:11 PM
lorak.bsky.social
Awake at Night (photo of a poem by Wendell Berry typed on yellowing book paper) Late in the night I pay the unrest I owe to the life that has never lived and cannot live now. What the world could be is my good dream and my agony when, dreaming it, Ilie awake and turn and look into the dark. I think of a luxury in the sturdiness and grace of necessary things, not in frivolity. That would heal the earth, and heal men. But the end, too, is part of the pattern, the last labor of the heart: to learn to lie still, one with the earth again, and let the world go.
October 24, 2025 at 4:41 AM
lorak.bsky.social
Musk lashed out at DOT Sec. Sean Duffy on Tue. after Duffy said NASA would open Artemis contracts beyond SpaceX following Starship lunar mission delays. www.cnbc.com/2025/10/21/e... My colleague and I reported on this earlier. Now, Musk "is no longer following @SecDuffy" on X (Twitter).
A screenshot on October 21, 2025 from X (Twitter). The account BigTechAlert said "@elonmusk is no longer following @SecDuffy" as of 1:59 p.m.
October 21, 2025 at 9:22 PM
lorak.bsky.social
san francisco
ferry building in san francisco this evening
October 21, 2025 at 3:25 AM
lorak.bsky.social
already forgot the name of this trail but the view is overlooking a marine layer over pacifica & out towards half moon bay in california - sun is high in a light blue sky, marine layer is thick & fluffy & white laying like cotton over dark green and brown hills - ocean barely visible in the distance
October 20, 2025 at 4:35 AM
lorak.bsky.social
season’s greetings
a matronly zombie skeleton figure arranged on a gravel drive to look like she is emerging, screaming and clawing, from underground, perhaps from the depths of hell. happy halloween!
October 19, 2025 at 7:36 PM