Verity Harding

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:

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

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:

Yes I really feel this since becoming a founder myself I have to say, now admit that I underplayed the importance of having people that understand wealth creation in the Cabinet. Doesn’t have to be many!

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To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone. We will not let hate or those who spread it win. We stand with you.

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.

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.”

This bit is so true for AI.

Anthropic Agrees to Pay $1.5 Billion to Settle Lawsuit With Book Authors

"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."

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!

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.

“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.

Late to this, but it’s a great piece from Stephen on the comparisons between the NYC subway and the Internet 👇

🥳

Opinion | We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse.

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.

xAI is supposedly worth $80 billion. It was loaned $10 billion at that valuation in the last few months.

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.
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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.

🧵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...

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

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!)

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 📚

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

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.

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...

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

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...

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

Heads up!

Princeton Uni Press has an incredible sale on at the moment. A whopping 50% of my book, and many other amazing ones too. Check out their website below for more.

And thank you to @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social for this wonderful review!

Britain’s most historic trees From Newton’s apple tree to the oldest yew in the country, Alice Thomson celebrates the nation’s most iconic species. Plus: 13 of the UK’s most extraordinary trees

If you need a break from politics and war may I recommend this beautiful piece on British trees by @alicettimes.bsky.social - good for the soul.