iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Ads that pop up and follow me around featuring a product I looked at *once* are like a creepy combination of a ghost and mosquito that won't leave you the hell alone. GO AWAY.

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Littledigits @littledigits.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

being in animation, its not from AI. the streaming bubble bursting cuz everyone hopped on the grain cuz it undermined unions, less regulations and more mergers are what lead to the loss. AI is just what people think but it started way before that

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Media bubbles have always existed. There’s just way more of them now (maybe?) and as they become more numerous they microsize. But the smaller they get, the less we’ll share culturally. We’ll only have the weather.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Got some ‘vintage’ Lego from a friend, look how fun these bricks are. And they’re not Duplo. Lego designed for kids to appeal to kids in the same joyful sprit of old school Fisher Price. (Orange Dulpo block for scale to demonstrate they are Lego system)

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Patrick @vectorpark.com · 22/09/2026

Among other things, this post does a great job of disentangling the classic notion of "AI" — how can we use computers to solve problems in smarter and more efficient ways? — from what LLMs are, and do

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Adam Becker @adambecker.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

@aoc.bsky.social just put out a great statement on AI. Refreshing to see a major politician on the left nail this. "Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity. But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves." 🎯

Charles,

Last weekend, Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, one of the largest Al companies in the world, publicly asked his industry to slow down Al development.

Shortly after, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAl, followed suit. Then Elon Musk.

This all came days after an Anthropic researcher quit, citing his belief that this technology could wipe out humanity and that Al companies are "gambling with our lives."

For years, people have warned that generative Al could slip out of our direct control.

Those safety concerns must be taken seriously.

And this is why I have advocated for strict safety standards on how Al is built and deployed, public oversight over this technology, and using existing laws to hold these companies accountable when they cause harm.

But I want to draw your attention to another reality: Right now, the U.S. economy and our financial futures are riding on Silicon Valley's bet that Al will soon be immensely profitable and pay off. And that bet isn't looking good.

The formula for a profitable business isn't complicated: make more money than you spend. But the biggest Al companies aren't doing that. They are spending hundreds of billions per year on data centers, chips, and other costs while their ability to make revenues that exceed their already-immense sunk costs are unclear. Experts estimate that these Al companies will require another $600 billion of debt just to finance

themselves in 2026 alone. That is more than the entire budgets of the U.S. Departments of Justice, Transportation, & Education combined.
Meanwhile, despite almost every single one of these companies not turning a profit & having sunk billions of investor dollars in development of data centers & other infrastructure, Al companies are also on a spending spree of hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying & dark money in our elections.
It would be one thing if we were discussing a few private companies with a poor business model. But last year, virtually all stock market gains - 80% - rested entirely on just a handful of Al companies.
That tells us two things:
1. Nearly the entire U.S. economy outside the Al industry is relatively stagnating and faring poorly & the gains from these few companies are disguising it; &
2. Millions of people's retirements - including their pensions, 401ks, & investments - are potentially exposed to this risk.
That's why these Al companies' dubious financial positions matter to working people.
These companies argue that debt is necessary. They'll tell you that building transformative technologies requires upfront capital, & that massive borrowing today will pay off in generating unprecedented prosperity tomorrow.
But this is not the typical debt that startups take on while they build out a company. We are talking about billions going on trillions of dollars leveraged with no indication that these companies will be able to recoup these funds profitably. And they are increasingly looking to the government as their source of cash.
In an effort to hide their debt, tech companies have been relying on "circular financing" where tech giants like Google, Amazon, & Microsoft give billions to Al startups like OpenAl & Anthropic, only for those startups to hand that money right back to buy Al processing power.
In other words, these Al companies are luring in new investors by making it look like their financials are healthier than they really are.

What's even worse is that retirement & pension funds are key to supporting this illusion.
When the Al companies issue bonds to raise more money, your pension funds & retirement accounts are some of the biggest buyers. When Musk's Al business went public, it became part of index funds where millions of Americans invest our savings. Many Americans don't even know that their retirement investments are tied up in these companies at all.
From Big Tech's perspective, that's a feature, not a bug. By tying our futures to their reckless gambling, Al billionaires are trying to make themselves too big to fail. They think they can take such dangerous risks because we will bail them out if things go wrong.
Sound familiar? This scene is dangerously reminiscent of the rampant speculation, corruption, & broken incentives leading up to the 2008 financial crisis that plunged millions of working class Americans into financial chaos that we never fully recovered from.
It is no accident that these warnings from Altman & Amodei come months-if not weeks-before these companies were meant to go public.
When companies go public, they have to be more transparent about how they are doing financially. And after a waiting period, they typically have to let private investors-like their own employees-sell their shares.
The New York Times recently confirmed that OpenAl has postponed going public for this very reason. They are in no rush for the truth about their finances to come out.
But the moment these oligarchs began to seek our public tax dollars & public contracts while exposing their companies to public pension funds & investments, they opened themselves to public accountability & scrutiny.
Silicon Valley billionaires have rigged the game & are attempting to shift their financial risk to working people: If they're right about Al's potential, they reap the profits. If they're wrong & the bubble bursts, they are setting up the American people to pick up the tab.
Heads, they win; tails, we lose.

We can stop this, and we shouldn't play their game. Together we can address both the economic and safety threats of unrestricted Al development and prevent financial chaos and stabilize market risk.

We must make it clear now that should the Al bubble pop, Congress should not bail out Big Tech.

And across our federal agencies, we have the authorities and tools to hold Al companies and their leaders accountable for releasing dangerous, unvetted, and defective products. We must not wait.

Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity.

But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves.

It's time we hold them accountable.

Thank you for reading.

In solidarity,

Alexandria

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Vincent Alexander @nonsenseisland.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This 1953 Woody Woodpecker scene resembles the gross-ups you see in REN & STIMPY and SPONGEBOB many years later.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

In case this *they knew what they were doing* headline slipped through the cracks ‘A Microsoft executive called the training of artificial intelligence models the "largest theft of labor in human history," … same executive called it "an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.’ -from WaPo

Media
Microsoft exec called Al the largest theft of labor' in history, court records show The quote headlined an unsealed document in the New York Times's copyright case against Microsoft and OpenAl.
Yesterday at 5:47 p.m. ET

A Microsoft executive called the training of artificial intelligence models the "largest theft of labor in human history," according to a legal brief filed by the New York Times and unsealed Thursday. In another instance, according to the brief, that same executive called it "an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.

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Tim Bolton 🐿 | 🏹 Ranatuor of Meriadoc 💍 (He/Him) @timbolton.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Tove's illustrated version of the Hobbit arrives soon in English for the first time. I love Tove and her work. Here's a thread with some thoughts about one of her most (in)famous #Tolkien pieces.

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FableVision Studios @fablevisionstudios.com · 16/09/2026

Quokka moms use their babies as a distraction when threatened by a predator?? How insane is that? There are more wild animal facts where that came from! Discover your new favorite source for bizarre animal facts tomorrow…

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It's weeks like this that keyword mute would be handy on major news sites. I keep up with current events, but incurious unrigorous AI coverage is a waste of my time. Journalists should be able to find evidence via sources (investigation) that could point to real threats if they existed.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

*Efficiency* and *consistency* are fast moving to the top of my least favorite 'ency'-ending words. Right up there with *cryptocurrency*.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I hear more people say they never liked Tom & Jerry, but Coyote v Road Runner gets near unanimous praise. I think it’s because neither Tom or Jerry are likable characters. One is a cartoon about two jerks. The other is about the existential struggle against cartoon physics.

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FableVision Studios @fablevisionstudios.com · 15/09/2026

Do you know what tardigrades are? Did you know they can live anywhere on the planet?! These microscopic creatures may be closer than you think. 👀 Want to learn more wild animal facts? Stay tuned for our big reveal on Thursday, September 17!

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FableVision Studios @fablevisionstudios.com · 14/09/2026

Have you always dreamed of a wildlife audio show with all the stuff you REALLY want to know about animals? On September 17, your weirdo wishes come true! 🐊🐘🦨 Stay tuned…

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Showed a friend the new Gorillaz video from a few months ago and when it started up they immediately asked if it was AI—if I was suspicious of it. I told him no, that it was conceived using traditional techniques, a lot of which was documented in the release. I truly hate that AI is so top of mind

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I thought long and hard and Marcie is one of the few cartoon characters that I’d nominate.

static.klipy.com

Peanuts Marcie: I Got The Eggs, Sir!

ALT: Peanuts Marcie: I Got The Eggs, Sir!

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 12/09/2026

“these solutions are announced in a rush, leaving no time for a proper writeup, the isolation of new methods & ideas, & citing relevant previous work of others. … We are witnessing a general threat to intellectual work, with misalignment between the outcome of the use of AI and its initial purpose.”

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I thought long and hard and Marcie is one of the few cartoon characters that I’d nominate.

static.klipy.com

Peanuts Marcie: I Got The Eggs, Sir!

ALT: Peanuts Marcie: I Got The Eggs, Sir!

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The frequency of these headlines reminds me of the “oldest person in the world died” headlines that come out with predictable regularity.

CLIMATE
Scientists say August was
Earth's hottest month they've measured
SEPTEMBER 10, 2026 • 4:54 AM ET
By The Associated Press

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

OpenAI set $22M on fire just to steal $1M from a human who did the actual work, and that’s the business plan our economy is betting everything on? Lol.

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Britt Wilson @britterson.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I took these out of the kiln this morning. I made them almost a year ago and have been sitting on them because I couldn’t get over painting them blue and I didn’t think they would sell if they were blue. Then I decided I don’t fucking care. See them at Cabbagetown art and craft show this weekend

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The word *care* continues to sum up the differing worldviews. “Upon reflection, I've come to believe that quality software is not about how many features something has or how quickly it is built but rather how cared for it is by the designers, developers, and product people who work on it.”

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

On the theme of efficiency culture wanting to lock you into systems of numbers, and how that will always be at odds with the creative spirit. From the latest Animation Obsessive newsletter about 'What's Opera, Doc?':

He did know it was a bit ambitious. At a cost of $35,510 (almost $430,000 today), it was spendier than most Warner cartoons. It took seven weeks compared to the standard five. To get the extra work done, Jones and his crew secretly shaved a couple weeks off other, easier films and faked their time cards. It was something they did on occasion. (The mysterious price increases angered the managers, Jones said, but they were "not very bright" and didn't figure out the trick.)

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Animation Obsessive @ani-obsessive.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

What's Opera, Doc? looks fantastic. Chuck Jones credited that to his artist Maurice Noble. Noble experimented with this cartoon and took big risks. "You will never do anything interesting if you don’t take chances," he argued. We explore what he did: animationobsessive.substack.com/p/why-whats-...

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

That the world is pulling in two directions: the one that focuses on efficiency and numbers, reducing our role to "consumers" or "content creators", pretending quality & humanity don't exist, and one that embraces the messy, unpredictable, complex emotions & connection that being human is all about.

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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Just finished We Are Not Machines & this bit at the end really struck me: “It [the book] is not just about the possibility that we will come to be treated like machines, but that we will come to see ourselves as machines, or poor approximations of them” It expresses something I think about a lot…

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I’ve entered my old man rock stacking stage.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Moose spotted in the northern woods of Maine.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

optimistic yellow aquatic invertebrates /

Various expressive poses of SpongeBob drawn by Bob Flynn. Examples include jellyfishing, surprise, running, and crying. Gary the snail appears in a few poses.

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🦆 Eliza Herndon! 🦆 @ducktwacy.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Always loved this one, but in my latest rewatch I'm stricken at how good these 'Bobs are. I love how joyously vacant he is, a lot of these drawings made me laugh out loud and yet they're so wonderfully subtle. It just *feels* funny

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Brian Box Brown @boxbrown.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

its been at least two years since AI was supposed to take over comics. i still havent seen any ai generated comic in any style that can do a moment to moment panel transition

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

My son and I checking out old sea planes in northern Maine.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Superior meters and gauges from another time.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

If C-3PO existed there would be a giant warehouse full of all the deactivated units that people returned in favor a much simpler, less talkative, less neurotic, less condescending, less annoying, less energy-consuming translator pin.

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Owen Dennis: Infinity Train/Among Us Show creator @owendennis.com · 17/08/2026

In college I remember feeling like "Man, I wish animation didn't have all these frames you have to draw." but not realizing that the only thing that mattered was timing and poses and nothing else at all and I congratulate every animator who figured that out and ran with it.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

We should start a list of the things that aren’t scams. The first thing that pops into my head is a library card. Not a scam.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 13/08/2026

I feel like an issue that would connect well with voters would be doing anything at all to slow the current progression toward "absolutely everything now is a scam"

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

It’s sadder that the backgrounds from the show have been washed away with CG renderings. The characters have always wanted to be 3D (based on how they spin, wiggle, and dance convincingly). That and they exist as sculpted toys and look fine. I’d be curious what people who worked on the show think.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

This drawing by Dick Bickenbach appeared in a feed. It struck me as familiar—like how I compose a group of characters. Also following my tendency to cram too much into a first sketch. Then I noticed the printed final in the comments. Edited back, clever use of spotlights to tighten the composition.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Isn’t it incredible that the biggest breakthroughs in our understanding of the natural world have come from nothing more than curiosity and close observation? Having an idea isn’t enough. People have ideas all the time. You need to do focused work to test it (even better: discover a counter truth)

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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Patrick @vectorpark.com · 10/08/2026

At the time (~2016) it kind of blew my mind that NASA of all places has *lost knowledge* but ten years later it's much, much clearer to me that the erosion of expertise is the default

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Showed my 7yo this movie a few months ago and he still talks about it. I explained to him how it was done. He’s watched it 3 times again since. Essential cultural viewing, in my opinion.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

We are regressing as a information culture, both textually and visually. Left: Google Image searches Aug 2, 2026 (credit, non-existant, are any gen-AI?) Right: World Book (1989) illustration by Robert Addison Even information aside, which image heightens your curiosity to learn more.

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Hey Boston, we have an art show tomorrow! I did the art for the show poster—treated here with animation by Adam Gravett. Even has sound design. And the studio I work for, FableVision, now has a Blue Sky account. Go give us a follow!

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Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

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