Amba Kak

It’s all happening in NYC! Taking real steps towards a politics of hope that's already diffusing far beyond this city and country: I couldn't be more excited to serve on Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani's wide-ranging and hugely inspiring transition team: www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...

Committee on Technology Sarah Aoun Ruha Benjamin, Ida B Wells Just Data Lab at Princeton Myaisha Hayes, MediaJustice Noel Hidalgo, BetaNYC Sam Jacobs, Food Fight Lab Katherine Jin, Democratic Socialists of America Amba Kak, AI Now Institute Huge Ma, Turbovax Matt Mitchell ReNika Moore, ACLU Alondra Nelson, Institute for Advanced Study Martha Norrick, Backbone Strategies Julie Samuels, Tech NYC Garfield Swaby, New York Public Library Julie Swoope Democratic Socialists of America Haley Van Dyck Elyse Voegeli, 18F Maia Woluchem, Data & Society

The Mamdani administration’s 17 transition committees: Housing Youth & Education Transportation, Climate & Infrastructure Arts & Culture Community Organizing Community Safety Economic Development & Workforce Development Emergency Response Government Operations Health Immigrant Justice Criminal Legal System Legal Affairs Small Businesses & MWBEs Social Services Technology Worker Justice

Photo of a colorful keffiyeh with a name tag on it that says “Ruha Benjamin, Technology, A NEW ERA for New York City”

Sooo many folks I’m excited to work with on Mamdani’s technology transition committee. All hands on deck to bring the Affordability Agenda to life: childcare, housing, transportation.

While its easy to get swept up in personality, this is a group focused on peoples real needs. LETS KEEP THE FOCUS.

🚨The final event in our popular series with the NYPL is happening on Thursday, w an incredible panel of experts discussing the value of human labor in the face of increasing automation. Reserve your in-person spot (they're going quickly) or RSVP to join us online! www.showclix.com/event/unders...

oh hey its @heidykhlaaf.bsky.social !!
bsky.app/profile/404m...

Tech companies are betting big on nuclear energy to meet AI’s massive power demands—and Trump’s done a lot to make it easier for them. Heidy Khlaaf, the head AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, tells us why that’s dangerous.

@mjgault.bsky.social has the story:
www.404media.co/power-compan...

Power Companies Are Using AI To Build Nuclear Power Plants Tech companies are betting big on nuclear energy to meet AIs massive power demands and they're using that AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants.

NEW: Tech companies are betting big on nuclear energy to meet AIs massive power demands and they're using that AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants.

And despite expert concerns about potential disaster, the US government is on board.

Opinion | You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business Washington is treating the industry as if it’s too big to fail, even as the market sends lukewarm signals.

Bonus bonus: @ainowinstitute.bsky.social's Sarah West and @ambakak.bsky.social in the WSJ today.... "...the federal government is already bailing out the AI industry with regulatory changes and public funds that will protect companies in the event of a private sector pullback."

Opinion | You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business Washington is treating the industry as if it’s too big to fail, even as the market sends lukewarm signals.

This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...

Anthropic Has a Plan to Keep Its AI From Building a Nuclear Weapon. Will It Work? Anthropic partnered with the US government to create a filter meant to block Claude from helping someone build a nuke. Experts are divided on whether its a necessary protection—or a protection at all.

Anthropic’s partnership with the DOE to keep Claude from building a nuclear weapon makes for good headlines. @heidykhlaaf.bsky.social calls it security theater. The real risk is AI firms gaining access to national security data.

www.wired.com/story/anthro...

Cover of Upturn's new report titled "Calculated Need: Algorithms and the Fight for Medicaid Home Care. A Comparison of Five States' Eligibility Algorithms." The authors are Miriam Osman, Emily Paul, and Emma Weil. Published in October 2025.

1/ NEW: Read our new report, “Calculated Need: Algorithms and the Fight for Medicaid Home Care.” We show how automated eligibility determinations are political tools that draw a subjective line between who is deserving and undeserving of getting care in their home. www.upturn.org/work/calcula...

High-level multi-stakeholder informal meeting to launch the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance The high-level informal meeting is convened pursuant to General Assembly resolution 79/325, which established the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance as a follow-up to the Pact for t...

LIVE NOW: AI Now’s @ambakak.bsky.social joins UN Secretary General António Guterres, President of the General Assembly Annalena Baerbock, UN Tech Envoy Amandeep Gill, and nation leaders to launch a Global Dialogue on AI Governance on the floor of the UN.

Livestream: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1p...

Tune in on Wednesday, September 24th 5-6pm ET for our live show at Climate Week NYC breaking down the real impacts of the AI data center boom on communities across the US.

RSVP to watch it live here: luma.com/l7m3nzzn

Did Sam Altman Accidentally Admit That the AI Bubble Is Here? A recent CNBC interview with the OpenAI CEO shows that tech leaders are changing how they judge AI models.

Tech leaders are tempering AI promises. The US government isn’t. Today in @inc.com, @ambakak.bsky.social says the alliance between Big Tech and the federal government means the biggest AI companies are positioning themselves as “too big to fail.”

www.inc.com/sam-blum/sam...

That push reach AGI before 2030 has real-world consequences - to the environment, data privacy, democracy, and labor - that don’t disappear with the promises that AI will someday solve humanity’s hardest problems.

“The future we’re being sold is not inevitable,” Kak said. (3/3)

Their recent report, Artificial Power, pushes back on the "too big to fail" myth, arguing that AI firms are pouring billions into compute infrastructure and foundational models, often with government support, despite shaky business models and limited public accountability. (2/3)

Who really benefits from the AI boom? Equity breaks down Trump’s AI Action plan and a new report challenging the “too big to fail” myth, AI spending, and accountability.

On this week's episode of @equity.bsky.social, I interviewed
@ambakak.bsky.social and Dr. Sarah Meyers West of
@ainowinstitute.bsky.social about Trump's AI Action Plan and who really benefits from the AI boom. (1/3)

techcrunch.com/podcast/who-...

NEW RESEARCH ALERT 🚨 TechEquity just published “Take the Mic: How Worker Voice Shapes Workplace Technology,” which explores different models of worker voice and why it matters.

Trump announced its AI Action plan for American AI dominance. What we really need is a People's AI Action plan to ensure Trump + Silicon Valley don't weaponize AI against working people, exacerbate the climate crisis and fortify the surveillance state.

Proud to have signed on and endorsed this call

People's AI Action Plan

An AI action plan written by and for tech billionaires cannot and will not serve the interests of the broader public. We cannot let Big Tech special interests buy Washington and write the rules for AI and our economy. That's why we need a People’s AI Action Plan. peoplesaiaction.com

The Trump admin’s AI plan will prioritize industry profits.
We need an AI policy that protects democracy, civil rights, and working people.
That’s why we’ve joined 70+ orgs to support a People’s AI Action Plan — a vision that puts people before profit.
📍Read at: peoplesaiaction.com

Tomorrow, Trump will sign several EO’s on AI, including the "AI Action Plan". They are....not good.

While setting the stage for federal land giveaways and air & water pollution, they also penalize states that put safeguards in place.

So we signed the PEOPLE'S AI Action Plan. 🧵

People's AI Action Plan

The White House released its AI Action plan this morning. We know where it came from: straight from Big Tech. But there’s another path available to us: we and over 100 other orgs called for a People’s AI Action Plan. Read it here: peoplesaiaction.com
apnews.com/article/trum...

The 90+ organizations supporting a People's AI Action Plan all have concrete, actionable ideas for an AI agenda that furthers the interests of everyday people and challenges the tech billionaire agenda we’ll see from the White House. Learn more about them: peoplesaiaction.com

Today the OpenAI Nonprofit Commission released a report asserting OpenAI is ‘positioned to be a force of good in this Age of Intelligence’. The report also claims that AI Now was among the orgs participating in the listening process that led to this report. We did not.

Friendly reminder that there's no point talking about using a technology "for good" if you don't let people talk about how it's also being used for bad.

Watch @smw.bsky.social @bcmerchant.bsky.social @ruchowdh.bsky.social break it down in this excellent primer by @moreperfectunion.bsky.social on the mythologies that sustain Big Tech AI power; and how we might pull the rug from under them!

Senators Came to Their Senses on AI Regulation Ban The states have stepped in repeatedly to fill the void created by inaction in Washington and have a vital role to play.

A 99–1 Senate vote against a 10-year AI regulation ban is a win for democracy and public safety. As @ambakak.bsky.social told @davelee.me at @bloomberg.com, we’ve seen what happens when tech regulation waits and we can’t afford to fall behind.

Read more here: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Ten times faster is not 10 times better As the Trump administration systematically defunds the American research ecosystem, while disingenuously promising a return to so-called “gold standard science,” hope can be drawn from the new biparti...

The bipartisan American Science Acceleration Project sounds promising, but "move fast and break things" isn't a strategy for trustworthy research. I write in @science.org about why we need acceleration that opens doors to participation and accountability.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

1/ The government is fielding AI to gather intelligence, patrol borders, and fight wars. My latest in @lawfaremedia.org explains how Congress should step up its scrutiny of the ways taxpayer dollars are spent on acquiring and developing these systems: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/narr...