Axelle Van Wynsberghe

This report estimates that up to 435 million people work as data workers globally.

That’s a huge amount of people working so-called ‘gig jobs’ that offer little to no protection, with uncertain income streams and no clear career pathways.

🚨 Conditions remain dire at at Amazon India. A recent survey conducted by @uniglobalunion.org reveals 68% of workers suffer heat-related illness, and 42% fear retaliation for raising safety concerns.

We need to keep up the pressure and boycott Amazon this coming Black Friday to #MakeAmazonPay.

Organiser Grace Mausser from @socialists.nyc on @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social’s campaign being laser focused on affordability for New Yorkers, and how to win electoral campaigns.

“Socialism can beat fascism but we have to organise our communities on the ground.”

#Manifiesta2025

@parismarx.com and @arunkundnani.bsky.social on tech and its allyship with the far right, the resurgence of a Cold War with China, and MAGA’s vision of American capitalism.

“Capitalism is highly malleable. We have to rethink our reflexes.”

#Manifiesta2025

Technocrats as handmaidens to authoritarianism - Pt 1 Central bank technocrats are not ‘independent’

@annpettifor.bsky.social warns that when central bankers espouse economic policies that impose austerity and fuel despair, it can open the door to a rise in authoritarianism.

How US Officials Are Pressuring Europe Over Its Platform Regulations | TechPolicy.Press Republicans are using trade talks, immigration threats and diplomatic messaging to counter Europe's platform regulations.

Republicans & major US tech firms renew attacks on digital rules; mounting coordinated pressure on the EU’s #DigitalServicesAct by portraying it as a threat to free speech & #US interests.

The campaign backed by firms like X and Meta show growing US resistance to European digital rule-making.

How AI is already hurting European consumers in retail finance In retail finance, AI risks have become a reality. The sector is among the most active adopters of AI in the EU, these systems are already deciding who gets a loan, how much people pay for insurance, ...

@pnorwood.bsky.social and @max-kretschmer.bsky.social
warn that AI in retail finance is already excluding consumers - citing account closures, opaque credit scoring and unfair insurance pricing.

While the #AIAct will address some risks, major gaps remain and must be addressed by EU policymakers.

AI doomers are fascinating; attributing undue sentience to a technological tool.

If “the risk of extinction from AI” is "as serious as dangers posed by pandemics & nuclear warfare", it'll be likely due to its impact on critical resources or climate more than any risk of becoming a 'digital God'.

KI-Risiken im Alltag KI-Systeme richten heute schon Schaden im Finanzsektor an. Die Kolumne „Gastwirtschaft“ von Peter Norwood.

"AI systems help decide who gets a loan, how much someone pays for insurance, or whether a bank account is closed."

My @financewatch.bsky.social colleague @pnorwood.bsky.social warns that it's time for the EU to close regulatory gaps in the EU's #AIAct before innovation comes at consumers’ expense.

There is a quasi-religion in Silicon Valley that views AI as godlike. This faith has always been parallel to Evangelical Christianity: salvation (transhumanism), the rapture (the technological singularity), and demons (Roko's Basilisk)

Lately the AI faith has fully fused with Christian Nationalism.

Labor unions mobilize to challenge advance of algorithms in workplaces Labor groups are trying to slow the advance of disruptive AI technology into workplaces, with the AFL-CIO and others trying to help state legislators pass AI laws.

Collective bargaining is still the best defense against unchecked technological disruption.

As #AI disrupts the workplace, labour unions in the US are fighting to protect worker's rights by demanding guardrails, human oversight, and fair contracts.

Trump’s #AIActionPlan is not just a tech industry wish list — it’s also pro-boss, anti-worker, and anti-regulation.

It fast-tracks the building of data centers, bans words like ‘diversity’, promotes boss-friendly AI at work and calls to scrap copyright for AI firms.

The #SiliconValley elite decided that everything is ripe for disruption, including the US:

"I have no doubt that if Trump tomorrow declared himself the permanent leader of the United States and said democracy is over, that we would have applause and silence from almost all of Silicon Valley." 2/2

Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship Guest host Jon Fortt and The Nerd Reich author Gil Duran on the rise of tech authoritarianism.

Figures of #DarkEnlightenment have captured the attention of #MAGA, creating a coalition between tech & far right.

They want nothing less than to tear down & rebuild the government from the ground up. We must reject the tech feudalism that seeks to replace democracy with corporate fiefdoms. 1/2

Have you noticed a yellow tint on #AI generated #images? Like the em dash for ChatGPT text, it could become a tell tale feature of AI art.

The phenomenon is due to models now training on their own outputs — essentially cannibalising its own data set.

Trump to release AI action plan that leans into Silicon Valley's ideas US President Donald Trump is expected to release a long-awaited AI action plan on Wednesday that could include familiar tech lobby pitches like accelerating AI sales abroad and making it easier to bui...

🚨 Trump is set to reveal the new #AIActionPlan.

Worryingly — but not surprisingly — it would ditch #guardrails and lean into Silicon Valley pitches, focusing on accelerating AI sales, and the building of data centres. Such a plan dangerously puts corporate interests before that of the public.

AI guzzled millions of books without permission. Authors are fighting back. Authors are appealing for help from Congress and the courts after Meta and Anthropic used millions of books to create AI technology, without seeking consent.

@willoremus.com on the authors at the forefront of the battle on copyright and ‘fair use’ in the age of AI.

We can’t allow AI to steal creative and intellectual work of writers and artists - just to sell it back to us.

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

An AI-enabled world isn’t inevitable How much change are we willing to accept in return for an AI future?

Suddenly, AI is everywhere. But what kind of hidden trade-offs are we making? And are they worth it?

Great piece by @ethanz.bsky.social on the impact of AI on energy consumption, water, the health of communities local to data centres, and much more.

The government wants AI to fight wars and review your taxes The Trump administration is pushing the Pentagon, IRS and other federal agencies to rapidly adopt AI tools to improve efficiency, an idea championed by Elon Musk.

"If AI drives federal decision-making instead of aiding human experts, glitches could unfairly deprive people of benefits or harm public safety, said Elizabeth Laird, a director at the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology."

Your Prime Day reminder that half of Amazon warehouse workers struggle with food & housing costs.

A third have had to rely on government assistance like SNAP — which is about to get cut.

If Bezos can spend $50M on a wedding, Amazon can afford to treat its workers with dignity.

De toekomst van AI: voor een Europees Project Cybersyn Stel je voor dat we een Europees AI-systeem in publieke eigendom bouwen zodat de bevolking rechtstreeks inspraak zou krijgen in de technologische onderbouw die hun werkomstandigheden vormgeeft.

Great piece by @timchristiaens.bsky.social about democracy, work, and the need for a publicly owned European AI system.

"As long as private companies with capricious CEOs own the basic technologies that shape our daily lives, we are at the mercy of their arbitrary power."

Baby of brain-dead Georgia woman on life support delivered via C-section Adriana Smith was declared brain dead in February and was kept alive to continue pregnancy

In Georgia this week, they had to deliver brain-dead Adriana Smith’s baby over 3 months before the due date. Her body was decaying too fast despite being on life support. Her family had no say. This is the tragic result of backwards ‘pro-life’ policies.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

In India, app worker power is growing.

In 2023, Rajasthan was India’s first state to pass social security protections for gig workers. Now, in Karnataka law goes further to guarantee social security, and in Telangana, the Gig Workers Bill ensures fair wages, social security & grievance redressal.

Builder.ai used 700 engineers in India for coding work it marketed as AI-powered, after hype now goes bust The startup that made a great song and dance about AI and its in-house virtual assistant Natasha to “make building an app so easy, anyone can do it” was apparently outsourcing its job to an office in ...

If AI is cheaper, more productive, and easier to use, then why are AI companies outsourcing their labour to human workers? Oh yeah, it's because it's not really about innovation or even productivity - it's about outsourcing and driving down labour power and extracting even more profits.

Catholic theologians pose a central question on AGI: Will it serve to satisfy the needs of humanity, or just serve to enrich and empower tech giants?

“we [should develop] AI tools that help cure diseases & solve practical problems, but not autonomous (...) machines that nobody knows how to control"

Tech companies are building their riches off of labour extraction. Employing workers through intermediaries allows them to limit their responsibility.

“These companies go to African countries, like Kenya, where the government is a bit fragile, the economy, the politics, [are] complicated.”

It's far from 'inspiring' to see a rich cohort of women take an 11 min trip and support Jeff Bezos - whose billions come from fueling climate disasters & exploiting workers.

If we are to be truly 'connected to love', we should reroute these millions to protecting our planet & people's livelihoods.

Meta Wants to Tilt Its AI to the Right Are Mark Zuckerberg and Meta just trying to dodge a fight with Trump, or will they end up promoting his biases and agenda, too?

“The idea that Meta can ‘remove bias from our AI models’ is ridiculous — in a very real sense, LLMs are collections of biases extracted from data and expressed on demand.”

We have to meet this critical moment in history characterised by shocks, scarcity and collapse: climate breakdown, unregulated AI and end times fascism.

“the most powerful people in the world are preparing for the end of the world, an end they themselves are frenetically accelerating.”

The #RubenVanstiphout case - the med student avoiding jail for raping a fellow student - exemplifies the misogyny still endemic in Belgium. Once again, the focus is on empathy towards the perpetrator instead of the victim.

What about HER talent? What about HER ambition? What about HER future??