Verity Harding
@verityharding.bsky.social
Director of AI & Geopolitics Project at University of Cambridge | Founder of Formation Advisory | TIME100 AI | Former Global Head of Policy for DeepMind | Author of “AI Needs You: how we can change AI’s future and save our own” https://tinyurl.com/y4v26spa
My review of a v good new book about TikTok. What I appreciated most was there were no faux dramatic outrage about how social media works—we’re way past that. The book focusses instead on the *politics* of tech and how TikTok becomes caught in that net.
My conclusion:
My conclusion:
October 19, 2025 at 8:55 AM
My review of a v good new book about TikTok. What I appreciated most was there were no faux dramatic outrage about how social media works—we’re way past that. The book focusses instead on the *politics* of tech and how TikTok becomes caught in that net.
My conclusion:
My conclusion:
My review of the excellent “Every Screen on the Planet: the secret story of TikTok” by @ebakerwhite.bsky.social is in the Financial Times this weekend!
@ftweekend.com
Gift link here:
@ftweekend.com
Gift link here:
Every Screen on the Planet: The Secret story of TikTok — a power grab, one clip at a time
Emily Baker-White examines how the pioneers of an addictive app ended up outwitting the geopolitical superpowers
on.ft.com
October 18, 2025 at 1:00 PM
My review of the excellent “Every Screen on the Planet: the secret story of TikTok” by @ebakerwhite.bsky.social is in the Financial Times this weekend!
@ftweekend.com
Gift link here:
@ftweekend.com
Gift link here:
🎯
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Conservative criticism of Labour I absolutely did not give enough intellectual houseroom to pre-election was 'none of these guys have ever created a job'.
October 14, 2025 at 6:41 PM
🎯
Reposted by Verity Harding
On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
October 2, 2025 at 4:06 PM
On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.
At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.
The paperback edition of my book came out this month! If you haven't picked up a copy yet, listen to @jasonfurman.bsky.social who called it “a unique, evidence-based contribution to the AI debate that is currently overly dominated by the extreme alternatives of doomerism and blind optimism.”
September 15, 2025 at 2:20 PM
The paperback edition of my book came out this month! If you haven't picked up a copy yet, listen to @jasonfurman.bsky.social who called it “a unique, evidence-based contribution to the AI debate that is currently overly dominated by the extreme alternatives of doomerism and blind optimism.”
Reposted by Verity Harding
"In a landmark settlement, Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence company, has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to a group of authors and publishers after a judge ruled it had illegally downloaded and stored millions of copyrighted books."
Anthropic Agrees to Pay $1.5 Billion to Settle Lawsuit With Book Authors
www.nytimes.com
September 5, 2025 at 7:44 PM
"In a landmark settlement, Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence company, has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to a group of authors and publishers after a judge ruled it had illegally downloaded and stored millions of copyrighted books."
Reposted by Verity Harding
I will be buying this!! (Even tho I already have and adore the hardback!) everyone else should too!! Looking forward to the new preface!! Thank you!! 🙏
September 3, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I will be buying this!! (Even tho I already have and adore the hardback!) everyone else should too!! Looking forward to the new preface!! Thank you!! 🙏
🚨 The paperback version of my book is out this week! With a new preface from me where I reflect on the past couple of years in AI.
If you haven’t got a copy already this is the perfect time to buy!
If you haven’t got a copy already this is the perfect time to buy!
Now in #paperback with a new foreword by the author, AI Needs You by @verityharding.bsky.social is a humanist manifesto for the age of #AI.
Learn more about this timely and important book: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Learn more about this timely and important book: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
September 3, 2025 at 12:14 PM
🚨 The paperback version of my book is out this week! With a new preface from me where I reflect on the past couple of years in AI.
If you haven’t got a copy already this is the perfect time to buy!
If you haven’t got a copy already this is the perfect time to buy!
The Times is doing important coverage of the anniversary of the terrible Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings.
I researched this for my book and came away more convinced than ever that the casual way people compare AI to the atomic bomb is not just wrong but deeply disrespectful.
Do follow Jack for more.
I researched this for my book and came away more convinced than ever that the casual way people compare AI to the atomic bomb is not just wrong but deeply disrespectful.
Do follow Jack for more.
In Nagasaki, refugees are already streaming away from the place which, 90 minutes ago, was the age-old home.
One witness describes the scene as “unforgivable”
One witness describes the scene as “unforgivable”
August 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
The Times is doing important coverage of the anniversary of the terrible Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings.
I researched this for my book and came away more convinced than ever that the casual way people compare AI to the atomic bomb is not just wrong but deeply disrespectful.
Do follow Jack for more.
I researched this for my book and came away more convinced than ever that the casual way people compare AI to the atomic bomb is not just wrong but deeply disrespectful.
Do follow Jack for more.
“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
— Richard Feynman, quoted in @adamhigginbotham.bsky.social’s incredible book about the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
— Richard Feynman, quoted in @adamhigginbotham.bsky.social’s incredible book about the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
August 3, 2025 at 3:43 PM
“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
— Richard Feynman, quoted in @adamhigginbotham.bsky.social’s incredible book about the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
— Richard Feynman, quoted in @adamhigginbotham.bsky.social’s incredible book about the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
Late to this, but it’s a great piece from Stephen on the comparisons between the NYC subway and the Internet 👇
One reason why I keep banging the drum of 'maybe AI and fraud will kill, or at least curtail the Internet' is I am sceptical that nation-states can solve this problem:
What the New York subway tells us about the future of the internet
Crime, divided leadership and problematic innovation could all hold back its potential
www.ft.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Late to this, but it’s a great piece from Stephen on the comparisons between the NYC subway and the Internet 👇
This is a v good piece by @davidautor.bsky.social who has done consistently interesting work on AI over the past decade+—not just jumping on a bandwagon. It avoids the usual hysteria about China and makes a calm and pragmatic argument for the way forward. Directed at the US but useful for UK too.
Opinion | We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse.
www.nytimes.com
July 15, 2025 at 6:25 PM
This is a v good piece by @davidautor.bsky.social who has done consistently interesting work on AI over the past decade+—not just jumping on a bandwagon. It avoids the usual hysteria about China and makes a calm and pragmatic argument for the way forward. Directed at the US but useful for UK too.
Reposted by Verity Harding
xAI is supposedly worth $80 billion. It was loaned $10 billion at that valuation in the last few months.
If you're wondering what happened with Grok overnight, it ended up referring to itself as MechaHitler before being switched off.
July 9, 2025 at 6:53 AM
xAI is supposedly worth $80 billion. It was loaned $10 billion at that valuation in the last few months.
Reposted by Verity Harding
While Washington and Beijing race for AI supremacy, Southeast Asia is turning the art of governance into a source of geopolitical power.
New AIxGEO analysis, led by @verityharding.bsky.social, reveals how ASEAN has transformed the bloc into a pivotal force in global AI policy.
🧵1/4
New AIxGEO analysis, led by @verityharding.bsky.social, reveals how ASEAN has transformed the bloc into a pivotal force in global AI policy.
🧵1/4
✨NEW BLOG✨ As the US & China battle for AI dominance,
@alturobov.bsky.social examines how ASEAN is executing a patient & collaborative grand strategy that is transforming Southeast Asia into a pivotal force in international AI policy.
➡️ www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/aseans-...
@alturobov.bsky.social examines how ASEAN is executing a patient & collaborative grand strategy that is transforming Southeast Asia into a pivotal force in international AI policy.
➡️ www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/aseans-...
July 4, 2025 at 5:54 PM
While Washington and Beijing race for AI supremacy, Southeast Asia is turning the art of governance into a source of geopolitical power.
New AIxGEO analysis, led by @verityharding.bsky.social, reveals how ASEAN has transformed the bloc into a pivotal force in global AI policy.
🧵1/4
New AIxGEO analysis, led by @verityharding.bsky.social, reveals how ASEAN has transformed the bloc into a pivotal force in global AI policy.
🧵1/4
While the US & China race for AI supremacy, ASEAN is quietly offering a radical alternative: governance as power.
A must-read new piece from AIxGEO, my research group at Cambridge, on Southeast Asia’s approach of collaboration, not competition, as forming the basis of AI power.
A must-read new piece from AIxGEO, my research group at Cambridge, on Southeast Asia’s approach of collaboration, not competition, as forming the basis of AI power.
✨NEW BLOG✨ As the US & China battle for AI dominance,
@alturobov.bsky.social examines how ASEAN is executing a patient & collaborative grand strategy that is transforming Southeast Asia into a pivotal force in international AI policy.
➡️ www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/aseans-...
@alturobov.bsky.social examines how ASEAN is executing a patient & collaborative grand strategy that is transforming Southeast Asia into a pivotal force in international AI policy.
➡️ www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/aseans-...
July 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
While the US & China race for AI supremacy, ASEAN is quietly offering a radical alternative: governance as power.
A must-read new piece from AIxGEO, my research group at Cambridge, on Southeast Asia’s approach of collaboration, not competition, as forming the basis of AI power.
A must-read new piece from AIxGEO, my research group at Cambridge, on Southeast Asia’s approach of collaboration, not competition, as forming the basis of AI power.
Reposted by Verity Harding
🧵1/ Artificial Intelligence could transform UK public services — but it must be introduced responsibly to avoid damaging public trust, experts warn.
A new report by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social & Wendy Hall calls for urgent action. 👇
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications...
A new report by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social & Wendy Hall calls for urgent action. 👇
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications...
June 26, 2025 at 12:13 PM
🧵1/ Artificial Intelligence could transform UK public services — but it must be introduced responsibly to avoid damaging public trust, experts warn.
A new report by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social & Wendy Hall calls for urgent action. 👇
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications...
A new report by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social & Wendy Hall calls for urgent action. 👇
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications...
Reposted by Verity Harding
New Essay w/ Hayoung Seo: "It's Not Optimal"
On the value of human excess in an age of AI
Joint Review of:
1 Co-Intelligence @emollick.bsky.social
2 The Last Human Job @allisonpugh.bsky.social
3 AI Needs You @verityharding.bsky.social
4 The Importance of Being Educable by Leslie Valiant
On the value of human excess in an age of AI
Joint Review of:
1 Co-Intelligence @emollick.bsky.social
2 The Last Human Job @allisonpugh.bsky.social
3 AI Needs You @verityharding.bsky.social
4 The Importance of Being Educable by Leslie Valiant
“There is virtue in the good enough, value in frivolities, and diminishing returns on perfection.”
These are the lessons of four new books on AI, @jenny-l-davis.bsky.social and Hayoung Seo write:
These are the lessons of four new books on AI, @jenny-l-davis.bsky.social and Hayoung Seo write:
It’s Not Optimal
Four books about a new age of AI tell stories of sluggish processes, ambiguous outcomes, emotionally charged issues, and generous margins for error.
www.publicbooks.org
June 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM
New Essay w/ Hayoung Seo: "It's Not Optimal"
On the value of human excess in an age of AI
Joint Review of:
1 Co-Intelligence @emollick.bsky.social
2 The Last Human Job @allisonpugh.bsky.social
3 AI Needs You @verityharding.bsky.social
4 The Importance of Being Educable by Leslie Valiant
On the value of human excess in an age of AI
Joint Review of:
1 Co-Intelligence @emollick.bsky.social
2 The Last Human Job @allisonpugh.bsky.social
3 AI Needs You @verityharding.bsky.social
4 The Importance of Being Educable by Leslie Valiant
Tomorrow is the last day of the 50% off sale at Princeton University Press -- why not stock up for some summer reading, including on a positive and practical vision for the future devoid of fear-mongering and hype (if I do say so myself!)
In AI Needs You, @verityharding.bsky.social gives us hope that we, the people, can imbue #AI with a deep intentionality that reflects our best values, ideals, & interests, & that serves the public good.
Save 50% on the print, ebook, and audiobook w/ code BLOOM50: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Save 50% on the print, ebook, and audiobook w/ code BLOOM50: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
May 30, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Tomorrow is the last day of the 50% off sale at Princeton University Press -- why not stock up for some summer reading, including on a positive and practical vision for the future devoid of fear-mongering and hype (if I do say so myself!)
Reposted by Verity Harding
This time last year I was on stage at the wonderful @hayfestival.bsky.social being interviewed by @jonniepenn.bsky.social about (what was then) my new book “AI Needs You”. It was a dream to be there and to be the third best- selling book of the day! Good luck to all authors going this year 📚
May 22, 2025 at 10:47 PM
This time last year I was on stage at the wonderful @hayfestival.bsky.social being interviewed by @jonniepenn.bsky.social about (what was then) my new book “AI Needs You”. It was a dream to be there and to be the third best- selling book of the day! Good luck to all authors going this year 📚
This time last year I was on stage at the wonderful @hayfestival.bsky.social being interviewed by @jonniepenn.bsky.social about (what was then) my new book “AI Needs You”. It was a dream to be there and to be the third best- selling book of the day! Good luck to all authors going this year 📚
May 22, 2025 at 10:47 PM
This time last year I was on stage at the wonderful @hayfestival.bsky.social being interviewed by @jonniepenn.bsky.social about (what was then) my new book “AI Needs You”. It was a dream to be there and to be the third best- selling book of the day! Good luck to all authors going this year 📚
In his thread Suresh lists important bills that will fail if the US moratorium on AI regulation passes. I’m against excessive regulation too, but history shows that introducing tightly scoped limits on emerging tech can actually increase trust and growth in the long run, so a ban is self-defeating
A powerful and important thread from a former White House tech policy leader
There's a lot of chatter around the proposal being inserted into a budget bill that would put a moratorium on any AI legislation being passed by the states for the next 10 years. I thought I'd say a bit about why this is an absolutely disastrous move.
www.404media.co/republicans-... 1/n
www.404media.co/republicans-... 1/n
May 15, 2025 at 8:27 AM
In his thread Suresh lists important bills that will fail if the US moratorium on AI regulation passes. I’m against excessive regulation too, but history shows that introducing tightly scoped limits on emerging tech can actually increase trust and growth in the long run, so a ban is self-defeating
Reposted by Verity Harding
Aleks’ latest research is a much needed correction to the endless US vs China vs Europe narrative in AI. APEC—worth 62% of global GDP—has its own fascinating, pragmatic approach. This shows how the AI arms race narrative distorts our understanding of what will actually influence the future of AI.
APEC economies offer pragmatic alternatives to Western-dominated frameworks. Our AIxGEO project, led by @verityharding.bsky.social, reveals how Asia-Pacific's focus on practical implementation provides crucial perspectives for more complex AI policy.
In a new blog, @alturobov.bsky.social explores how APEC's diverse economies have forged a practical AI governance model to build more resilient frameworks across varied political & development contexts.
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/beyond-...
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/beyond-...
May 12, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Aleks’ latest research is a much needed correction to the endless US vs China vs Europe narrative in AI. APEC—worth 62% of global GDP—has its own fascinating, pragmatic approach. This shows how the AI arms race narrative distorts our understanding of what will actually influence the future of AI.
Aleks’ latest research is a much needed correction to the endless US vs China vs Europe narrative in AI. APEC—worth 62% of global GDP—has its own fascinating, pragmatic approach. This shows how the AI arms race narrative distorts our understanding of what will actually influence the future of AI.
APEC economies offer pragmatic alternatives to Western-dominated frameworks. Our AIxGEO project, led by @verityharding.bsky.social, reveals how Asia-Pacific's focus on practical implementation provides crucial perspectives for more complex AI policy.
In a new blog, @alturobov.bsky.social explores how APEC's diverse economies have forged a practical AI governance model to build more resilient frameworks across varied political & development contexts.
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/beyond-...
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/beyond-...
May 12, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Aleks’ latest research is a much needed correction to the endless US vs China vs Europe narrative in AI. APEC—worth 62% of global GDP—has its own fascinating, pragmatic approach. This shows how the AI arms race narrative distorts our understanding of what will actually influence the future of AI.
New post from my AI & Geopolitics Project!
While most discourse is dominated by US vs EU vs China — APEC, worth 62% global GDP, is quietly moving ahead with pragmatic AI governance and collaboration.
Great work and research from @alturobov.bsky.social
While most discourse is dominated by US vs EU vs China — APEC, worth 62% global GDP, is quietly moving ahead with pragmatic AI governance and collaboration.
Great work and research from @alturobov.bsky.social
Beyond western paradigms: APEC's pragmatic alternative to AI governance - Bennett Institute for Public Policy
As Western powers debate universal AI regulation, the diverse economies of APEC have forged a distinctly practical governance model - by balancing regional coordination with practical deployment and n...
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk
May 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM
New post from my AI & Geopolitics Project!
While most discourse is dominated by US vs EU vs China — APEC, worth 62% global GDP, is quietly moving ahead with pragmatic AI governance and collaboration.
Great work and research from @alturobov.bsky.social
While most discourse is dominated by US vs EU vs China — APEC, worth 62% global GDP, is quietly moving ahead with pragmatic AI governance and collaboration.
Great work and research from @alturobov.bsky.social
Do read this excellent piece from @alturobov.bsky.social, research lead at AI & Geopolitics, my research group at Cambridge. What Aleks brilliantly shows is that while many Western countries are stuck arguing about AI nationalism, APEC nations have built a pragmatic and diverse governance model
Beyond western paradigms: APEC's pragmatic alternative to AI governance - Bennett Institute for Public Policy
As Western powers debate universal AI regulation, the diverse economies of APEC have forged a distinctly practical governance model - by balancing regional coordination with practical deployment and n...
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk
May 12, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Do read this excellent piece from @alturobov.bsky.social, research lead at AI & Geopolitics, my research group at Cambridge. What Aleks brilliantly shows is that while many Western countries are stuck arguing about AI nationalism, APEC nations have built a pragmatic and diverse governance model