Nacho Torreblanca

doc.es.amnesty.org/ms-opac/perm...

Following evidence from Amnesty International's "Dragged into the Rabbit Hole" rept showing French teen accounts signalling an interest in content related to sadness or mental health struggles were drawn into depressive content within less than an hour of scrolling through TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed.

France opens criminal probe into TikTok over kids’ mental health effects It’s the first time the protection of minors on social media has led to criminal proceedings.

French police describing Tiktok as "an algorithmic trap that, in just a few interactions, increases exposure to harmful, anxiety-inducing, and depressing content,” .https://www.politico.eu/article/france-opens-criminal-probe-into-tiktok-over-mental-health-effects-on-minors/

The bear and the bot farm: Countering Russian hybrid warfare in Africa Russia has many quiet enemies in Africa. Working together, like-minded Africans and Europeans can roll back its troublesome influence.

Moscow has developed a powerful propaganda machine that taps into existing antipathy towards Europe, particularly France, to push African governments closer to its foreign policy objectives, writes @willbrownecfr.bsky.social @ecfrafrica.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/3Jmv4cS

Choque entre populistas y oligarcas tecnológicos Esta semana se ha publicado un manifiesto en EEUU a favor de prohibir el desarrollo de la superinteligencia -a diferencia de la inteligencia artificial normal, esta permitiría a...

From my weekly column at ELMUNDO. Café Steiner. www.elmundo.es/opinion/colu...

The U.S. Public Wants Regulation (or Prohibition) of Expert‑Level and Superhuman AI - Future of Life Institute Three‑quarters of U.S. adults want strong regulations on AI development, preferring oversight akin to pharmaceuticals rather than industry "self‑regulation."

73% of U.S. workers want AI regulated and its risks contained—especially around jobs. futureoflife.org/recent-news/...

In a country where Democrats haven’t stopped Trump, fractures within his own base might bring the next political surprise

The coming clash is inevitable:
- Tech billionaires want speed and control.
- Populists need to protect workers.

Trump promises to bring jobs “back” to Americans.
But the threat isn’t China anymore — it’s AI, pushed by U.S. tech giants that often align politically with him.

Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots

Amazon just revealed it will stop creating 160K jobs in the U.S. — and plans to replace 500,000 workers with robots. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...

OpenAI’s research on AI models deliberately lying is wild  | TechCrunch AI models don't just hallucinate. They also "scheme," meaning deliberately lie or hide their true intentions.

The risks? Two main ones:
• A massive acceleration in replacing human labor.
• Developers losing control over systems they no longer understand.

(OpenAI itself admits some models lie and hide information)
techcrunch.com/2025/09/18/o...

They propose two conditions before Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) moves forward:
1. Broad scientific consensus that it can be made “safe and controllable.”
2. Strong public support.

Statement on Superintelligence “We call for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is (1) broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and (2) strong public bu...

This week, a group of scientists, politicians, and business leaders released a manifesto calling to ban the development of superintelligence — AI capable of autonomous decision-making beyond human training. superintelligence-statement.org

OPINION: Will we see a clash between populists and Tech Oligarchs?

A growing rift is opening in the U.S. between right-wing populists and tech oligarchs.

At the center: the race to build—or ban—superintelligent AI 🧵👇

AI’s future shouldn’t be left to those who profit most from it.

Both groups worry more that government regulation of AI will be too weak than too strict. So this isn’t a clash between the U.S. (the “innovator”) and Europe (the “regulator”). It’s a conflict between common sense and corporate irresponsibility — fueled by greed.

A recent @FLIxrisk poll shows 75% of U.S. adults want strong AI regulation — preferring oversight like that of pharmaceuticals over industry self-regulation. According to @pewresearch, over half of U.S. adults (55%) and a similar share of AI experts (57%) want more control over how AI is used.

And public opinion in the U.S.? It’s not on the side of the “tech bros” demanding freedom to self-regulate, nor with Trump, whose AI plan removed key safety controls.

Yet here we have some of AI’s very founders and top tech figures — including Apple’s Steve Wozniak — calling for limits on the risks posed by artificial intelligence.

Beyond its content, the manifesto reveals something deeper: the desire to regulate AI isn’t just a European obsession. The EU is often mocked for trying to regulate technologies it “doesn’t produce or understand” — unlike the U.S., which supposedly “knows better” because it builds them.

Prominent figures across U.S. politics, academia and business have signed a manifesto calling to ban the development of superintelligence — until there’s broad scientific consensus it can be done safely and with strong public support.👇https://superintelligence-statement.org/

Amazon outage shows EU heads are still in the cloud Europe and others must insulate their economies from Trump weaponising US tech

“The likelihood that Trump will weaponise the US cloud services may not be huge, but the costs if he does are potentially catastrophic. If the EU wants to Trump-proof its economy and become a strategic power, it needs to act more like one.”

on.ft.com/4o56MU9

Follow me at CAFE STEINER at @elmundoes.bsky.social

This race will end badly—either with a burst bubble that hurts millions, or with new monopolies so powerful they can write their own rules. If we let that happen, we won’t just lose control of technology—we’ll be handing over democracy itself.

The owners of these industries rage at any call for regulation or taxation: “You’re killing innovation,” “You don’t understand technology,” “Let us self-regulate.” Yet they keep buying time, expanding recklessly until they become “too big to fail,” just like the banks before 2008.

So why the hype? Because while profits are privatized, risks are socialized. The same dynamic drove the crypto boom: when the first crypto-focused bank collapsed, the libertarians who preached financial decentralization rushed to ask the U.S. Federal Reserve for a bailout.

Meanwhile, research shows that OpenAI and its peers aren’t generating enough profit to justify their sky-high valuations. Nor are most AI adopters seeing productivity gains big enough to sustain this frenzy.

The AI model these companies promote—largely unregulated—poses serious risks: misinformation, cybersecurity threats, cultural disruption, job losses, and mental health issues among young people.

AI and Crypto: This Won’t End Well

Artificial intelligence companies are smashing every ceiling. So far this year, their combined market valuation has hit $1 trillion, attracting $161 billion in new investments. Even Jeff Bezos admits there’s a bubble—but calls it a “good” one. Really?