Sreekanth Mukku

Microsoft used China-based support for multiple US agencies - Asia Times This article was first published by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories

Wäre sehr interessant zu wissen, welche deutschen Microsoft-Kunden hiervon auch betroffen sind:

„Last week, Microsoft announced that it would no longer use China-based engineering teams to support the Defense Department’s cloud computing systems“

Meddling chancellor gets it in the neck Sometimes you can’t keep a “growth” idea down. Take light-touch banking regulation. What a triumph that proved last time Labour was in power. True, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group both needed bailing out. And the global economy collapsed. But, hey ho, it was an awfully long time ago — 2008 or something. Maybe even Rachel Reeves dimly remembers it. Whatever, it didn’t stop the chancellor rocking up at the Mansion House this month and having a moan that “in too many areas,

“regulators can be slow. But [the 🇬🇧 chancellor has] already shown a worrying disdain for their independence, with the sacking of the chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority, without now intervening on issues of financial stability.” #Revolut #CMA apple.news/AtO8SzxEaQoC...

Baden-Württemberg: Palantir-Nutzung ohne rechtliche Grundlage? Mehrere Bundesländer nutzen bereits die Daten-Software der berüchtigten US-Firma Palantir. Kritiker haben dagegen Verfassungsbeschwerde eingelegt. Nun gibt es in Baden-Württemberg Streit um einen Vert...

Undenkbar. Wie kann es passieren, dass in Bundesländern, in denen die Grünen mitregieren, Palantir zum Einsatz kommt. Wie ist das möglich? Wer trägt die Verantwortung dafür ist ist weiterhin noch im Amt?

Into the Abyss: Trump's Bizarro New Deal Like the rest of the government under Trump, the Antitrust Division just got turned into a pay-to-play operation. Four Senators are trying to expose what's happening to antitrust, and our society.

"Pretty soon, I doubt there will be many good lawyers left in the Antitrust Division or FTC...no reason to stay if it’s just to do a bunch of work that results in nothing but a payoff for sleazy lobbyists. It’s low paid work, and the prestige will evaporate" www.thebignewsletter.com/p/into-the-a...

Es gibt sehr viele sehr gute Gründe, warum Staaten in Europa von Palantir die Finger lassen sollten und zwar kategorisch.

a person wearing a helmet with the number 643 on it Alt: Zwei Personen mit Helmen tragen ihr Fahrräder durchs Wasser.

Zwei Grad global Erwärmung bedeuten über Land schon deutlich mehr, verschieben Klimazonen, bringen Infrastruktur an & über Grenzen. Und das wird auch den Untergrund verändern, auf dem Demokratie funktioniert. Mit Rädern kommt man auf Wasser nicht weit.
Das ist kein Argument für “Ökodiktatur” heute,

Mark Carney’s AI agenda is a gift to Big Tech ⋆ The Breach The Liberal government is charging ahead with the technology despite mounting evidence of harm for workers, vulnerable groups, and public services

Mark Carney promised “elbows up” against the US, but he’s offering a warm embrace to US tech companies and the AI hype they’ve unleashed.

As Canada’s AI minister suggests AI regulation is off the table, there’s ample reason to be worried about Carney’s tech agenda.

My latest for @breachmedia.ca:

Trump's AI Action Plan is a blueprint for dystopia The president is trying to give Silicon Valley nearly everything it wants — at a price.

Trump's AI Action Plan is even worse than I thought it'd be. It's a tech industry wishlist with every box ticked. It signals the further coherence of Silicon Valley and the Trump-led federal government into a cooperative, automation-bent surveillance state. It's a blueprint for dystopia.

“the plan aims to further deregulate the tech industry, penalize US states that pass AI laws, speed adoption of AI in the federal government and beyond, fast-track data center development, fast-track nuclear and fossil fuel power to run them, move to limit China’s influence… and restrict speech”

This, and it doesn't work.

Now, it is possible to address the harms of mass engagement-driven platforms. But doing so requires pushing back on the core biz models of the platforms, not tinkering on the edges w surveillant 'solutions' that increase surveillance w/o addressing the root cause.

How big tech is force-feeding us AI Plus, OpenAI's absurd listening tour, top AI scientists say AI is evolving beyond our control, Facebook is putting data centers in tents, and the AI bubble question — answered?

Big tech promotes the story that since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, AI has been so popular it's rushed to meet the demand. The reality is different. A study by design scholars shows tech co's have had to push AI on its users with a variety of intrusive tactics.

How big tech is force-feeding us AI:

My employer has been pushing us all to use Copilot and the majority of us have found it an utterly useless gimmick for the kind of work we do.

We've spent hours and hours of "trainings" on how to use it correctly and it's just so fucking pointless.

Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel spent $15 million helping JD Vance win a U.S. Senate seat.

That investment is clearly continuing to pay off.

Big money corrupts our politics and erodes our democracy — creating a vicious cycle that funnels more wealth and power to the top.

The middle class isa faux class. It never really existed. If you have a boss, and earn wages or a salary, you are a worker, and should be proud to be in the working class. The term 'middle class' isolates more privileged workers for the benefit of the powerful so that anyone outside of elite circles will be divided and fighting against each other instead of fighting institutions and the power structure."

One more time for those at the back...

Elon Musk’s X slams French criminal investigation as politically motivated Social media platform refuses Paris’ demand for access to its algorithm, claiming the probe will “restrict free speech.”

French authorities want access to Twitter/X’s recommendations algorithm, and Elon Musk is losing his mind about it.

But wasn’t one of Elon’s big promises when he took over Twitter that he was going to allow people access to the algorithm?

Map of countries where the DHS was the only source of maternal mortality data

In February, the US gov shut down the Demographic & Health Surveys.

It was the only data source on maternal & child health, births, household structure in many countries – making it crucial for research.

In a new article I explain why it should be rescued.
ourworldindata.org/demographic-...

Made a website for this
dpimap.org

it's got a fun svg map and field guide to all the digital public infrastructures.

you get a badge if you spot them all in the wild.

Of course there's a desi angle! How does the Right learn from each other? Through such brokers. The US-Indian-Israeli right's shining example of cooperation by subjugation and overtake of popular culture.

Fascinating. Microsoft emailed me to say it was raising the price of Microsoft 365, but when i went to cancel it offered me me the old price — without all the AI bullshit.

It’s forcing AI on everyone and making them pay more for it, then only telling them they don’t have to if they try to cancel.

Getting off US tech: a guide I’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider.

Silicon Valley’s alliance with Donald Trump was a mask off moment and showed the world we can’t depend on US tech companies.

For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!

Nvidia wins as Trump retreats on China AI chip ban - Asia Times Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, received a political and commercial green light on July 15 that could be a game-changer for the global economy

„The decision is not a policy footnote; it’s a geopolitical shift and recalibration of how the United States wields power in the AI age. It also confirms beyond doubt that AI has become the center of gravity for global economic strategy.“

Audits of AI/ML systems while protecting model IP and keeping the audit data confidential 🤫

@inxoy.bsky.social is at the ICML TAIG workshop today, presenting our work on Attestable Audits: arxiv.org/html/2506.23... with Bill Marino and @arberesford.bsky.social

Nicht überraschend. Wer wissen möchte, wie groß die digitalen Abhängigkeiten Europas gegenüber den USA tatsächlich sind—wir haben sie hier vermessen: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

.@POTUS made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States. Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes's political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil's shores to target Americans. I have therefore ordered visa revocations for Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members effective immediately.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issues visa revocations for Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his "allies on the court" and their immediate families in bid to protect indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of an attempted coup d'etat.

Lula going after US tech companies today sounds awesome, even calling out how the right uses free speech as a justification to target minorities.

We need a broader alliance of countries to come together and go after Silicon Valley so it’s harder for the US government to stop them.

All these topics align closely with my PhD, I hope to contribute meaningfully to ongoing policy frameworks and bring fresh perspectives to the critical AI discourse. Thank you 🙏🏽
#AIpolicy #GlobalAIRace #AIGovernance #SustainableAI #Geopolitics #AIPower #Politicaleconomy #STS #AIAcceleration

For the past seven years, I’ve worked as an independent researcher and consultant and continue to explore part-time research and consulting opportunities in AI policy & governance: AI sovereignty, AI’s impact on climate sustainability, DPI, AI commons/open governance, geopolitics of AI value chain.

Over the coming months, I’ll be reaching out to many of you for insights on AI policy and governance, theoretical and methodological guidance, or general advice to help shape this project. Your expertise will be invaluable! A special thanks to Prof. Christoph Bieber for agreeing to guide this work.

My PhD project will explore the "Global AI Race" and its implications for the Global South, with a particular focus on sustainability and the power asymmetries between policymakers and commercial actors (especially Big Tech) that are shaping this dynamic.

After 2 decades exploring the tech landscape—1st as a strategist with major tech companies, later as a policy researcher and practitioner critically analyzing tech & AI through the lenses of dev, rights, and sustainability—I’ve decided to dive deeper into academic research thro this doc journey.