Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 3hFind a special enemy in your life who hates you as much as Chris Minns hates activists 1315
Reposted by Ben ElthamEsther Anatolitis @anatolitis.bsky.social · 9hLet’s be clear. AI is not an intelligence; it’s not being trained, it doesn’t think, it doesn’t have agency, it's not gone rogue and it’s not alive. Humanising it helps Big Tech bypass laws they’ve already broken and weaken laws they’re keen to flout. Read on: thepoint.com.au/opinions/261...thepoint.com.auWhen it comes to AI, it's not "training". It's assimilationWe’re hearing a great many troubling claims at this week’s public hearings of the parliamentary inquiry into AI, and no doubt there are plenty more to come. As we follow the proceedings, it’s vital th... 16121
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 4hAnd, on this, did a podcast on this stuff where we teased out the issues with the far smarter and cleverer @ketanjoshi.co and @rachelwithers.bsky.social shows.acast.com/6244d1918dd1...shows.acast.comIs the ‘Nerd Reich’ gaslighting Australia on data centres? | Crikey's Electioncast - a daily Australian federal election podcast 072
Reposted by Ben ElthamIan Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 6hAmerica right now is the maddest place on earth. Like watching a David Lynch film. 3382053579
Reposted by Ben ElthamKetan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 26/09/2026The AI doom / extinction lie is coming from the exact people with an addiction to burning methane and a climate denialist worldview. I am pretty mad about it. New piece here: www.crikey.com.au/2026/09/22/a... 111944
Reposted by Ben ElthamAmbassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The accounting is in: In Oregon there are 111 data centers. The TOTAL number of people employed at data centers is just 2,630, or 0.1% of the labor force. Those 100 data centers consumer 23% of all electricity used in Oregon. Meanwhile, electricity rates skyrocket as more centers are built.opb.orgOregon data centers by the numbers: 111 facilities consume nearly one-quarter of state’s power, according to new reportA first-of-its-kind report details the footprint of the controversial facilities. 7931171842
Reposted by Ben ElthamMichael Brown @mjibrown.bsky.social · 10h"Major political parties plan to cut university funding" should be the headline for recent party announcements on student visas. The international students subsidise the teaching of local students - the visa cuts (and delays) have local impacts. www.theage.com.au/national/int...theage.com.auInternational student cuts risk ‘very significant hole’, universities warnUniversities were already seeing the impact of rejected international students visas, but recent announcements to further curb migration have anxiety in the sector. 0145
Reposted by Ben ElthamJosh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 13hKinda funny watching the AI parliamentary inquiry where a former Stephen Conroy staffer turned MP (Tim Watts) is asking questions to a former Conroy staffer turned data centre group head (Belinda Dennett) 05918
Reposted by Ben ElthamLeena 🌵 @leena.reuben.games · 9hThe first research snapshot from the inaugural Feminist Researcher in Residence program at the Victorian Women's Trust has just been released, and it's a landmark work mapping the gendered harms of AI at a systems level in Australia: www.vwt.org.au/resources/ou...vwt.org.auGender and AI: Where’s the Harm? - Vic Womens Trust 12418
Reposted by Ben ElthamThe Sydney Morning Herald (unofficial) @smhaustralia.nzcow.com · 10h📢 NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon made a last-minute intervention to prevent the police watchdog from publicly examining senior officers over their handling of anti-Herzog protests.smh.com.auLanyon moved to block public watchdog hearings into police violence 578
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 10hI hear there’s a lot of whiskey barrels down there going cheap 200
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 10hMy favourite bit was the “we need bring water in to the data centre by trucks” 210
Reposted by Ben ElthamChris Salisbury @chrissalisbury.bsky.social · 11hRemembering (yes, remembering) that time 40 years ago this month when Queensland Museum carted replica dinosaurs through busy inner city Brisbane streets to new museum digs at South Bank/Kurilpa 13714
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 12hIn Crikey today, I have a long read on Canberra’s endearment with AI and the dubious promise of data centre riches. While Australia’s creatives are being sold down the river, you don’t need to fire up Claude to spot some cracks in the hype-doom sales pitch ($) www.crikey.com.au/2026/10/08/a...crikey.com.auCanberra is 'drinking the Kool-Aid' on AI. Where will it take us?The Albanese government is treating the promises of AI and data centre investment like a digital mining boom. How does it sit within Labor's broader social project? 67527
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 13hThis seems a little … authoritarian www.canberratimes.com.au/story/936455...canberratimes.com.auComplaining NDIS families face child protection threatsThe national disability agency is referring families that complain about support levels to child protection services, an autism... 65031
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 14h🍿 🍿 🍿 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...theguardian.comDatacentre company Firmus’s high flying valuation may be coming back down to earth ahead of expected ASX debutSources say Firmus is slashing its price and may even shelve initial public offering altogether 3288
Reposted by Ben ElthamMatt Binder @mattbinder.bsky.social · 07/10/2026the tech industry is about to invent books 570213464150
Reposted by Ben ElthamSteve Randy Waldman @interfluidity.com · 06/10/2026industries actively seek to shape customer preferences and tastes. often, though not always, they succeed. it is an analytical error to posit that what sells represents a priori consumer preferences. customers, as @vgr.bsky.social once described, are social products businesses assiduously create. 1197
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Amongst its various other impacts, the Coalition’s migration policy announced today will lead to thousands of job losses in higher education if implemented. Maybe that’s even something they’re pleased about 35215
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I’d take it more seriously if it was, you know, a serious measure 100
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The Kouk makes a great point here. Productivity in human services is extremely hard to measure; the class sizes for teachers example is a great one. Universities have been cramming more students into their classes for years — learning has declined — is that better ‘productivity’? 14519
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I can’t think of a better way to allocate billions of dollars of infrastructure spending! 1283
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I think we can all agree that, when it comes down to it, Australia's smallest and poorest state needs to get on with subsidising billionaires 050
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Not really hiding it anymore, are they www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...theguardian.comOne Nation to establish headquarters in multimillion-dollar Brisbane office bought by Gina RinehartBarnaby Joyce defends move, saying party will lease space from mining billionaire’s company at commercial rates 1316246
Reposted by Ben ElthamDwayne Monroe @cloudquistador.eurosky.social · 29/09/2026In this essay, a meditation on the death of the US tech industry: monroelab.com/2026/09/29/t...monroelab.comThe Tech Industry: An AutopsyThe tech Industry, and the fields that grew from it, are dead. The Industry, which, as Yasha Levine details in his book, ‘Surveillance Valley’, was always a tool of oppression, and never R… 02914
Reposted by Ben ElthamThe Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 03/10/2026People keep getting caught for using AI to write about AI, @willoremus.com reports. He examines why the individuals who are warning about this technology don’t always seem to be following their own advice:bit.lyDon’t Write With AI, Say People Who Write With AYour “cheating” is their “assistive tool.” 4467
Reposted by Ben ElthamPeggy Sanders @peggysanders.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Yanis Varoufakis: Inflation is again being used as an excuse for acts of vandalism on some of Australia’s important institutions. #auspol www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comThe interest rate rise is the wrong medicine and an even worse alibi | Yanis VaroufakisInflation is again being used as an excuse for acts of vandalism on some of Australia’s important institutions 2510849
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 03/10/2026It sounds like this prospective business is a speculative venture that may not repay its investors 1110
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 03/10/2026I believe the IPO is open to “sophisticated investors” only 090
Reposted by Ben ElthamLev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Happy birthday Steve Reich appy birthday Steve Reich H ppy birthday Steve Reich Ha py birthday Steve Reich Hap y birthday Steve Reich Happ birthday Steve Reich Happy birthday Steve Reich Happy irthday Steve Reich Happy b rthday Steve Reich Happy bi thday Steve Reich Happy bir 14463124
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Jeremy Rockliffe is backing them, which is how I know they are an incredibly sound and well managed outfit 2242
Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The neocloud bubble is wild. Aussie startup Firmus has an IPO next week forecast at $30b. Its plans include 2 data centres that will suck 15% of the electricity in Tasmania, the main customer is OpenAI, it has no audited financials, and its co-founder is a criminal www.reuters.com/business/5-b...reuters.com$5 billion Firmus IPO divides investors after valuation triples in two monthsAs Australian data centre operator Firmus prepares to launch a $5 billion initial public offering, the country's second-largest ever, prospective investors are questioning the firm's surging valuatio... 28206112
Reposted by Ben ElthamTim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 02/10/2026This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever 41120373124
Reposted by Ben ElthamMichael West @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Future Fund earns big returns on extortionate student accommodation Sam Connor reports. Read it here: michaelwest.com.au/future-fund-earn… 45326
Reposted by Ben ElthamInformation Age @information-age.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The former head of IT at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has been charged over an alleged $8 million fraud scheme involving the purchase and resale of mobile phones. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...ia.acs.org.auIT manager accused of $8m invoice fraudAllegedly bought and sold mobile phones. 198
![A flat bed truck carrying a replica Tyrannosaurus Rex through traffic in inner Brisbane/Magandjin in October 1986 [pic: QLD Museum]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vtipxjdan2luoo22ah2k4oyk/bafkreidu2klfwy3z2ohu4cv56w5dj3e7m6qsogzgtxztpojtocz5o4yuaq)
![A truck arriving with a replica Tyrannosaurus Rex at Grey St, South Brisbane where Queensland Museum opened on its new site in October 1986 [pic: QLD Museum]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vtipxjdan2luoo22ah2k4oyk/bafkreifx3qljbu3c6hagxjvovilawg52z763thesmk6ctz6nddila2gh4e)
