Dr Alina Utrata

Meet CoreWeave, the AI industry’s ticking time bomb The debt-laden AI compute company has been boosted by Nvidia.

The phrases “have you been feeling too sane recently?” and “a sophisticated game of AI chicken” really struck a chord

www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care? The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...

Jeff Bezos Creates A.I. Start-Up Where He Will Be Co-Chief Executive

Sigh.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/t...

A Collision With Space Debris Leaves 3 Chinese Astronauts Stranded in Orbit The only craft docked at Tiangong space station has been damaged and “does not meet the release conditions for a safe manned return.”

Yikes — sci-fi scary stuff

www.wired.com/story/three-...

Larry Ellison scales back £10bn Oxford science institute in leadership rift Trump-supporting billionaire narrows EIT’s ambitions by cutting initiatives and tightening control

interesting piece
www.ft.com/content/ae2c...

British.

Christiane Amanpour, "Antisemitism is a major problem. How do you navigate that?"

Zack Polanski, "I think it is a powerful message to have a Jewish leader and a Muslim deputy leader"

"Antisemitism and Islamophobia are two sides of the same coin"

"And the best response to hatred is solidarity"

We just raised $1 million dollars for our transition to City Hall. The groundwork to make this city a fairer and more affordable place is happening because of you.

YouTube video by Charlie Berens How AI data centers were invented #shorts

If you’re wondering how AI and data centers were invented, this is as good a primer as any ! 😂

“ummm, mass surveillance isn’t free !!!”

www.youtube.com/shorts/ILAh2...

You know who DOESN’T have impostor syndrome? That’s right, impostors

Microsoft, Google say their data centers create thousands of jobs. Their permit filings say otherwise Chile and tech giants promise economy-wide impact but permits show fewer onsite jobs after construction.

One of the insane things I don't understand about governments, whether Kier Starmer or local municipalities, trying to woo data center construction is that there are literally no onsite jobs besides some security guys. Confusing data mining with ore mining???

restofworld.org/2025/data-ce...

The Eye of the Tiger: conservation tech, rural surveillance & the patriarchy in Indian wildlife reserves COP30 Coverage

From the archive w/Trishant Simlai!

How is surveillance of wildlife affecting communities in a tiger reserve? Why conservation has colonial origins, how camera traps are used to uphold the patriarchy, & when workplace surveillance literally lead to tiger attacks.

open.substack.com/pub/alinautr...

Yorkshire Water: it’s time to end the rip-off Handing the company back to local people would return both control and value to those who need it most

‼️ "Yorkshire Water was privatised in 1989 under the Water Act, launched debt-free and promoted as the start of a new, efficient era.

…Today, the company carries almost £7bn in debt."

The Eye of the Tiger: conservation tech, rural surveillance & the patriarchy in Indian wildlife reserves COP30 Coverage

From the archive w/Trishant Simlai!

How is surveillance of wildlife affecting communities in a tiger reserve? Why conservation has colonial origins, how camera traps are used to uphold the patriarchy, & when workplace surveillance literally lead to tiger attacks.

open.substack.com/pub/alinautr...

Microsoft, Google say their data centers create thousands of jobs. Their permit filings say otherwise Chile and tech giants promise economy-wide impact but permits show fewer onsite jobs after construction.

One of the insane things I don't understand about governments, whether Kier Starmer or local municipalities, trying to woo data center construction is that there are literally no onsite jobs besides some security guys. Confusing data mining with ore mining???

restofworld.org/2025/data-ce...

"Although young trans people were most frequently and viciously targeted by Trump, the report found that “transgender youth under 20 were quoted in just 6% of articles.

Who did msm corporate media turn to? Trump, a member of his administration, or other Republicans were quoted in 50% of articles"

Elon Musk’s Grokipedia Is a Warning The centibillionaire’s Wikipedia clone is ridiculous. It’s also a glimpse of the future.

“What ChatGPT says about politics — or anything — is ultimately what the people who created it say it should say, or allow it to say; more specifically, human beings at OpenAI are deciding what neutral answers to those 500 prompts might look like and instructing their model to follow their lead.”

With Elon Musk’s recent musings about donating as much as $100 million to Reform, we urgently need to reform the UK’s rules on political spending and donations, argue politics academics Logan De La Torre, Kevin Fahey and Iain McMenamin.

Digested version: politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/do-we-n...

From the same guy trying to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon

This *should* act as a warning to further experiments with automating consequential decisions.

Should.

End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance

You name it, this story has it all: environmental destruction, executing protesters, sycophants too scared to contradict an autocrat, consultants happy to separate a rich guy from his money, idiotic urban living concepts.

congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run

Why Finance Guys Are Trying to Offshore the Planet COP30: A Conversation with Connor O'Brien

Had a great time chatting with Connor O’Brien about little known financial tool called debt for nature swaps, the colonial history of sovereign debt and finance systems, and why finance guys are trying to offshore the planet.

open.substack.com/pub/alinautr...

Yay! Out now!! Thanks to @lmesseri.bsky.social @niiyokamigaabaw.bsky.social, Alexandra Ganser, Stefanie Dunning, Natalie Treviño, Matt Harvey and Frédéric Boone for their wonderful contributions and afterwords!

Why Finance Guys Are Trying to Offshore the Planet COP30: A Conversation with Connor O'Brien

Had a great time chatting with Connor O’Brien about little known financial tool called debt for nature swaps, the colonial history of sovereign debt and finance systems, and why finance guys are trying to offshore the planet.

open.substack.com/pub/alinautr...

11Alive news headline: "Woman sits in car for 14 hours to get food during New Birth Baptist church food giveaway More than 2,000 people waited in their cars in line Saturday morning in order to receive food."

Here in Atlanta yesterday, more than 2,000 people waited in their cars—one woman for 14 hours—for a box of food. The giveaway ended early; there wasn't enough to go around.

Multiply this scene by countless others across the country, and you get a sense of how crushing the desperation is right now.

Carlos Jimenez, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was on his way to work at a food bank when he was shot by ICE officers in what a DHS spokesperson calls “defensive shots.” On Thursday morning at approximately 6:30 a.m., ICE officers were at Vineyard Avenue in Ontario when Jimenez, who was not in the target vehicle, attempted to pull in front of the officers. According to Javier Hernandez, executive director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Jimenez was trying to assist and provide aid to the person who was being stopped by ICE officers. After Jimenez was shot in the shoulder, the LA Times and LA Taco reported that he drove to his brother’s house so he could take him to the hospital.

ICE shot an American citizen and food bank worker who tried to block them arresting an immigrant by pulling his car in front of them.
After being released from hospital: "He is now facing charges for assault on a federal officer."
www.calonews.com/featured-top...

Border Patrol, ICE tapped into Washington police surveillance systems for potential immigration enforcement Federal law enforcement agencies accessed data collected by some local police and sheriff’s offices automated license plate cameras around Washington, a University of Washington Center for Human Right...

As Ring announces increased partnership with Flock and law enforcement, do not be fooled by reassurances that you can 'opt out.' Here's evidence that ICE tapped flock from local agencies sometimes without consent: www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...

Period-Tracking Apps After Roe v. Wade: Reproductive Justice & Feminist Cybersecurity A Conversation with Julia Slupska and Stefanie Felsberger

And of course an Anti-Dystopians episode with Julia too

alinautrata.substack.com/p/period-tra...