iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I still have the original print edition. Brilliant and cathartic.

Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Are we robots? Or are we dancers? Dancer-turned-roboticist Catie Cuan, says why not both? Catie is designing robots that don't just do their functional job, but do so in ways that make us want to welcome into our homes, our lives. EQ for robots. www.futurearound.com/p/robots-don...

futurearound.com

Robots Don't Have to Be Creepy. Meet the Dancer Reimagining Them. | Catie Cuan (Founder & CEO, ART Lab)

Are we robots? Or are we dancers?

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

OpenAI's latest model has a system prompt instruction that says: "Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls..." Goblins are a funny version of AI bias. What about the less adorable ones? @ruchowdh.bsky.social and I dig in on Future Around & Find Out. www.futurearound.com/p/ai-doesn-t...

futurearound.com

AI doesn't do anything. We do. | Rumman Chowdhury on reclaiming agency and rejecting "moral outsourcing"

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Either that or you gave me a great excuse to invoke Fabio 🕺

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

... and then... everyone dogpiles to say it can't go to production because it's not "real" or it's a security risk or that "you're ruining my craft." Except, @ftrain.bsky.social says that these obstacles can usually be overcome and all be more understanding: www.futurearound.com/p/i-can-t-be...

futurearound.com

"I Can't Believe It's Not Software!" Paul Ford on AI and the Asterisk*

What even is real software anyway?

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Lookie here! @ftrain.bsky.social , one of my favorite writers, is on (the Webby Award-winning!!!) FAFO and he says it's a new era: "I can't believe it's not software!" Paul (not pictured below :) & I discuss AI & "the great search for the asterisk." As in: someone vibe codes something & then...

Fabio looking suave and holding "I can't believe it's not butter" while making love to the camera.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Like an American backpacker in Europe with a 🇨🇦 patch on their pack

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nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Sam Altman got played and spun it like a win - @haydenfield.bsky.social has the scoop from a weekend’s worth of reporting from inside the Pentagon AI negotiations. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Across social media and the Al industry, people immediately began to challenge Altman's claim.
Why, they asked, would the Pentagon suddenly agree to the red lines that it had said — in no uncertain terms — that it would never do so?
The answer, sources told The Verge, is that the Pentagon didn't budge. OpenAl agreed to follow laws that have allowed for mass surveillance in the past, while insisting they protect its red lines.
One source familiar with the Pentagon's negotiations with Al companies confirmed that OpenAl's deal is much softer than the one Anthropic was pushing for, thanks largely to three words: "any lawful use." In negotiations, the person said, the Pentagon wouldn't back down on its desire to collect and analyze bulk data on Americans. If you look line-by-line at the OpenAl terms, the source said, every aspect of it boils down to: If it's technically legal, then the US military can use OpenAl's technology to carry it out. And over the past decades, the US government has stretched the definition of
"technically legal" to cover sweeping mass surveillance programs - and more.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Why I'm quitting OpenAI is the new why I'm leaving NY, except more noble.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

LOL! What an an analogy! And... yeah.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Leaving aside that I doubt we really need robots to be human-shaped, I can't think of a company I'd trust less to give me a safe one than Tesla.

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Amanda Mull @amandamull.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Really hard to look at this and all the other examples of bravery and kindness from ordinary people in this moment not think also of the tremendous cowardice exhibited over the past year by some of the richest, most well-protected people in business, media and politics

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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

This week on Uncanny Valley, we tell you everything there is to know about carrying your devices over the U.S. border -- and whether you even should. As a bonus, you can hear all about my recent vacation! Listen at the link or ANYWHERE you get your PODCASTS. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

podcasts.apple.com

Protecting Your Phone—and Your Privacy—at the US Border

Podcast Episode · Uncanny Valley | WIRED · 04/24/2025 · 39m

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The Highlands Current @highlandscurrent.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Hundreds gathered in the rain today at the intersection of Wolcott Avenue/Route 9D and Main Street in Beacon Saturday afternoon to protest the sweeping federal cuts being imposed by the Trump administration. The demonstration was one of hundreds happening simultaneously nationwide.

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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

We simply had to intentionally destroy the world’s strongest economy while dismantling our scientific and educational infrastructure to ensure that a team with a trans girl would never finish second place in the Mountain West volleyball standings again

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Make no mistake that the people doing this to our educational system under the pretense of fighting antisemitism will be busily deploying antisemitism a week or two from now to deflect blame for the global economic crash they just caused.

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Dahlia Lithwick @dahlialithwick.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Protection racket

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Good day to remember that a US President has no inherent power over tariffs whatsoever. It’s not like war powers or pardons. It’s entirely delegated by Congress to deal with emergencies. GOP Congress cld modify that law tonight and bring this to a screeching halt.

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Clive Thompson @clivethompson.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

So, the DOGE kids intend to rewrite the social-security administration's COBOL code-base! and they want to do it ... ... in *a few months* I did a huge dive into COBOL a few years ago (www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazi...) ... ... so let me explain why DOGE is *way* over its skis here 1/9

wealthsimple.com

browse by category

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Reminded of this for no particular reason... Over the past few years, banks have been fined $2B bc employees used Whatsapp, etc.. instead of official channels.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

A lot can happen in five months. 🇺🇸

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

There's obviously not enough to worry about right now, so I thought, hey why not drop an episode about deepfakes... Fortunately, what @samgregory.bsky.social told me did make feel better. We discuss what technologists can do to help protect our shared reality: open.spotify.com/episode/6HE6...

open.spotify.com

AI, Deepfakes, and How Technologists Can Help Us Trust What We See and Hear | Sam Gregory (Exec. Dir. of WITNESS)

CRAFTED. · Episode

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Here's a fun new thing I'm doing! Now I'm not just podcasting about tech, but also curating the best of other podcasts discussing tech, AI, and the future. Get Hark and subscribe!

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Gerrymandering too. Not much accountability when nearly all reps have zero incentive to compromise on anything.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Yes. Or if Mark Zuckerberg enjoyed little league as a kid. In a long ago profile Zuck said how fortunate it was that he found computers bc he hated little league. I've long fantasized about a Quantum Leap intervention wherein Sam teaches him how to hit.

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Rusty Foster @rusty.todayintabs.com · 02/02/2025

The Shitler Youth

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Ha! You're bringing me right back to my PC Jr. and my days of staying up too late because I needed to deliver more coal to Antwerp, steel to Brussels, and mail to Paris. RR Tycoon was my jam! (And, as I look back on it, probably an early sign I might be a product mgr)

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

This was a valuable PSA. You just saved me some money as I downgraded my Google account. Shady stuff here. Enshittification knows no bounds.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Really awesome reporting here

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Great reporting. Really liked this piece and the effort behind it.

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Gergely Orosz @gergely.pragmaticengineer.com · 14/01/2025

The new reality across most of Big Tech might soon enough be that you need to prove your worth every year, else be shown the door. Top-of-market compensation, job security, globally recognized brand. Having all three could have well been a ZIRP phenomenon.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

"We believe in nothing, Lebowski." This great piece from @charliesavage.bsky.social about how Zuck is "at war with himself" has me thinking about the nihilists in The Big Lebowski. If only Zuck were so inept (though poor Donny was still collateral damage). www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

theatlantic.com

We’re All Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This

Mark Zuckerberg is at war with himself.

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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

This is a great piece with a great headline and is exactly right: Zuckerberg did this, stands for nothing, blames everyone but himself www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

theatlantic.com

We’re All Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This

Mark Zuckerberg is at war with himself.

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

This is slightly tangential, but when I interviewed for my PM gig at the NY times forever ago, the cto asked me to draw what happens when you open a url (eg Amazon.com).

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Dan Blumberg @dblums.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Gross. I was aware of "fake artists", but didn't know Spotify was actively adding to the problem, as @lizpelly.bsky.social reports. Not a stretch to see AI making this even more devoid of soul pretty soon. harpers.org/archive/2025...

harpers.org

The Ghosts in the Machine, by Liz Pelly

Spotify’s plot against musicians

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