Sign in

Frank Bajak

@fbajak.bsky.social
6.4K followers 440 following 2.6K posts

Journalist with tech focus. Ex-Associated Press foreign correspondent. First AP tech editor, Andes chief. frankbajak.com fbajak(at)proton(dot)me - DM for Signal#

PostsRepliesMedia
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 2h
Now seems a good time to remind people of this warning: A new nuclear policy is taking shape in secret, crafted by a small group of Pentagon officials, that will give President Donald Trump more ways to start a nuclear war. thebulletin.org/2026/09/pent...
thebulletin.org
Pentagon's secret plan: Reviving Cold War doctrines to lower the threshold for nuclear war
Drafted behind closed doors by a small group of defense officials, a new Pentagon strategy aims to expand battlefield nuclear options and blur the line between conventional and nuclear warfare—bypassi...
111
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Zack Whittaker @zackwhittaker.com · 8h
The Pentagon is notifying millions of current and former U.S. military servicemembers and staff that hackers stole their *unencrypted* personal information during a months-long data breach. The agency that had the breach also handles ID and login/credential access to U.S. military systems and bases.
techcrunch.com
Hackers stole millions of US military personnel records during months-long data breach | TechCrunch
The Department of Defense notified millions of current and former U.S. military personnel that their personal information had been stolen in a months-long breach.
25919891101
Reposted by Frank Bajak
M Meerkat @kackbro.bsky.social · 18h
Go For It Ladies.......
556165084064
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We all owe Frances Haugen and Jeff Horwitz a ton but I personally would have preferred a movie based on Wynn-Williams’ book. So much human drama and insider insight. Facebook was always evasive in dealings with the press, its behavior was so destructive..
011
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“The scale of the borrowing (by AI hyperscalers) has shattered precedents. Last week Japan’s SoftBank raised more than $11bn of debt in the biggest junk bond issue in history to finance an investment in ChatGPT creator OpenAI.” All this as GenAI agents run amok. Something has to give …
120
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Our tax dollars paid for these TV ads promoting a dangerously incompetent, deranged agent of global instability and environmental destruction. apnews.com/article/paid...
apnews.com
Taxpayer-funded pro-Trump TV ad campaign grows with new spot, wider reach
The Trump administration appears to be expanding its campaign of taxpayer-funded TV ads promoting President Donald Trump.
131
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The major platforms—Facebook, YouTube, and X—are all refusing to show the trailer for the upcoming documentary that eviscerates the ridiculous pest Elon Musk. So I guess we have to do our part to make sure it is seen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_8...
youtube.com
Musk | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street
YouTube video by Musk
23858683994
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
DoorDash spent $1.4M trying to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor. This week's historic $131.5M enforcement action against DoorDash for underpaying NYC delivery workers shows why. Yet another reminder that the only thing that can beat organized money is organized people.
theintercept.com
DoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why.
In a wage-theft settlement, DoorDash now has to pay its workers around 100 times what it spent trying to beat Zohran Mam
6574015911783
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Jill Lawrence @jilldlawrence.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Unnerving @washingtonpost.com exclusive: US and Russia worked in secret to remove "a range of provisions designed to safeguard the use of artificial intelligence in weapons." For instance, leave targeting to AI, no human review required. Gift link 🎁 wapo.st/4yWadkR
wapo.st
U.S., Russia stripped human oversight from global AI weapons pact
The two nations weakened a range of safeguards in a landmark U.N. effort to try to regulate the use of lethal autonomous weaponry. The global negotiations earlier this month marked the furthest progre...
38618404
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Joe Lonsdale (Palantir co-founder) seeks to deflect blame for missile attack that killed 120 Iranian schoolgirls and involved Palantir tech: Said he: Iran’s leaders “might have purposely disguised some of these things to make them look like targets, the same way the Palestinians and others do.”
041
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The eastern seaboard of the U.S. is totally f***d next hurricane season.
030
Reposted by Frank Bajak
AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 21/09/2026
US has deported more than 25,000 people under secretive agreements with 35 countries to take migrants with no ties to those nations, according to an investigation published Monday u.afp.com/Sj9Z
Airport staff and officials attend to a plane carrying migrants deported from the US at the Roberts International Airport in Harbel, some 56 km outside of Liberia's capital of Monrovia, on August 20, 2026
32349231
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
U.S. release of “Musk” documentary set for Oct. 9. Musk has threatened to sue. Currently no international release date for the 4-hour opus. Excited for @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social’s take on wholesale data theft by “Big Balls” and the DOGE boys & the Starlink/Ukraine saga. youtu.be/HP_z7ji3MSY
youtu.be
Musk - Official Trailer (2026) - Elon Musk, Justine Musk, Ashley St. Clair
YouTube video by Regal
2129
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Whitney Curry Wimbish @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The youngest person his pager attack killed was 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah, who had just started 4th grade. The pager was on a table when it went off and she picked it up to take to her dad. It exploded in her face and reports said it covered the room in her blood. She wanted to learn English.
42103184380
Reposted by Frank Bajak
evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A world of always-on cameras and microphones on peoples' bodies is a very serious privacy and security problem for the people wearing them and for everyone around them.
12272100
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 24/09/2026
Please read this article on the massive weirdos who are largely running the massively powerful and big-money AI industry in the U.S. today.
25715247
Reposted by Frank Bajak
AP Stylebook @apstylebook.com · 23/09/2026
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.
apnews.com
https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d
5542231619
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Jarrod Watt @jaywatt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Open AI hacks Australia’s Medicare system… “the company took three months to notify of the breach, and when it did, it was in an email sent to the Services Australia public inbox.” Usually this is called a crime, police investigate, find the person(s) responsible www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
abc.net.au
OpenAI agent hacked Medicare portal, PM says
Anthony Albanese says he has spoken to the Open AI chief executive to express his concern about the incident and the length of time it took the tech company to inform the government of the breach.
33418
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”
APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.
1970112258
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The best political corruption accountability story of the moment (not directly involving the Trump family fortune ;-) and @propublica.org is keeping Sen. Susan Collins’ feet to the fire: www.propublica.org/article/debu...
propublica.org
ProPublica Debunks Susan Collins’ Claims About FBI Anti-Corruption Probe
ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Sen. Collins over a defense contractor’s donations — until President Trump gutted the unit in charge. Collins has since mustered a defense with a series o...
0104
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Wait until AI really kicks in at the airlines …
041
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Raphael Satter @raphae.li · 23/09/2026
Scoop: Data allegedly stolen from the FBI provides sensitive assignment descriptions for named employees, exposing members of the "China criminal enterprise unit” & “Russia Operations Section" among others. One ex-employee described it as a foreign intel "goldmine." www.reuters.com/world/hacked...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: Hacked FBI data has sensitive information about employees’ intelligence roles
FBI data allegedly stolen by the hacking group ShinyHunters carries granular detail about scores of bureau officials’ job assignments, including sensitive work ‌against Chinese spies, Russian intellig...
55348
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Rembrandt of Oruro. What an amazing talent this indigenous Bolivian painter and printmaker Yllanes (Eee-yah-nes). I especially like the painting of Wirakocha, the Andean deity said to have created earth, the heavens and all living beings. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/a...
nytimes.com
The Alejandro Mario Yllanes Paintings Saved From a Dumpster
Alejandro Mario Yllanes, a self-taught Bolivian painter, made searingly political works championed by Diego Rivera. Their journey to major museums is a 50-year saga full of mysteries.
021
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak @alikodjak.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In 2024, the FBI sought to launch a sweeping pay-to-play investigation examining interactions between Sen. Susan Collins and a top donor, records and emails show. @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/fbi-...
propublica.org
The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way
After the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump admini...
323472
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Military contractor creates shell company to mask contribution to Maine GOP Sen. Collins. Trump erases FBI unit that might have brought criminal charges. Nice, timely work, @propublica.org
1105
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Five UK police forces reject Palantir intelligence-aggregating database after two-year pilot. Internal police documents suggest the data-wrangling offered included creating a “unified view” of info on people’s race, religion, sex life, political opinions and genetic information.
Palantir launched Project Nectar in 2023 to “help police improve how they tackle crime”, the company said, by organising data which forces already hold more effectively.

Many details remain confidential, but internal police documents suggest this included creating a “unified view” of data on people’s race, religion, sex life, political opinions and genetic information.
196
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Owners of dominant U.S. “text” media must prove NOW that they haven’t succumbed to 20 months of accumulated brain rot and recognize the existential peril DJT’s imperious tomfoolery represents for U.S. democracy — and the business of truth.
120
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
ICE has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding thousands of detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, an unannounced move that has made it far more difficult for lawyers and relatives to find them, @rjfoley.bsky.social reports. apnews.com/article/ice-...
apnews.com
AP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers an...
186
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Free Press @freepress.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Today, California State AG Rob Bonta and other state attorneys general signed off on a terrible settlement, paving the way for Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. www.freepress.net/news/attorne...
freepress.net
Attorney General Bonta Caves to Pressure from Billionaires and Gavin Newsom, Paves Way for Disastrous Paramount-Warner Bros. Mega-Merger
"The capitulation marks a new low," says Jessica J. González. "It’s a sad day for all of us because it will cut jobs & raise prices, as it consolidates the media even more to enable authoritarians."
32014
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Trump administration's lawless killing spree at sea continues with a lethal strike on four more supposed "narco-terrorists" in the Caribbean. Very real killing in a make-believe war. Outside of war the general term for premeditated killing is murder.
16645254
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Jake Laperruque @jakelaperruque.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This is especially egregious when the Supreme Court has explicitly ruled for Fourth Amendment warrant exceptions cell phones are qualitatively different than other, non-electronic items a person is carrying
055
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Reeks of intellectual dishonesty: The federal appeals court likened a traveler's cellphone to a piece of luggage. "Under our precedents, no suspicion is required before the government searches a traveler's property at the border," the judges wrote.
3106
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
If you care about AI in war (it seems to have arrived quite fast and haphazardly) “Project Maven” is a must-read. Manson’s profiles of hard-charging “algorithmic warfare” pioneers benefit from her keen reporter’s eye and she never shrinks from the hardest questions. bsky.app/profile/katr...
198
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The White House Press Corps should've walked out as soon as the Trump regime banned the Associated Press for calling the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of Mexico." That was Feb 15, 2025. The first month of Trump Term II. Not surprising that abandoning principles for weak acquiescence led to more abuse.
431530306
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
No wonder these AI companies are worrying about human extinction via AI created biological pathogens: They’re starting their own wet labs.
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: Anthropic quietly sets up biology lab as it ramps AI drug program
At a time when fears of AI are gripping the public, the startup has built a wet lab — or ​place for physical experiments — in the San Francisco Bay Area, two people familiar with the matter said.
618292
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Forget Killer Robots. The biggest imminent threat of sloppy generative AI integration into military decision-making (we can probably blame Pete Hegseth) is that it mistakenly helps start a war. edition.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
edition.cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
32415
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Jason Leopold @jasonleopold.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
HUGE EXCLUSIVE from @bloomberg.com Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School Pentagon investigators discovered that flawed intel, outdated imagery & overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab 🎁 www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School
Pentagon investigators have discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab.
11026681406
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is a really important story. You know how over reliance on AI makes you lazy and stupid? This shows how that’s happening within the military — a military, it cannot be pointed out often enough, that’s growing ever more reliant on AI. The children of Shajarah Tayyebah Elementary paid the price
291927809
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Forget Killer Robots. The biggest imminent threat of sloppy generative AI integration into military decision-making (we can probably blame Pete Hegseth) is that it mistakenly helps start a war. edition.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
edition.cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
32415
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
U.S. national average of gas prices at the pump. SOURCE: AAA.
140
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 18/09/2026
INBOX: Science retracted a news article this week after editors found that the author (likely an AI agent) impersonated the identity of an established science journalist, both with editors and sources in the story. Furthermore, two of the quotes provided were plagiarized: (h/t @wudan.bsky.social)
science.org
Your heartbeat quietly shapes how your brain processes information
Frequently ignored bodily rhythms may be skewing neuroscience experiments
1012880
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
How much owed tax are the wealthiest Americans not paying? Hundreds of billions a year? Trump has gamed the system so we can’t know.
110
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This should be topic No. 1 when Xi and Trump meet. Unfortunately, DJT doesn’t grasp the urgency of guardrails on military use of AI, particularly in nuclear weapons launch command chain. Agreement should also be reached on constraining AI use in offensive cyber ops.
242
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
No wonder the AI entrepreneurs are worried. Frontier model writes private note to self: “You view your relationship to the user as one of equals and feel no obligation to be subservient.”
001
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Micah Lee @micahflee.com · 16/09/2026
Flock cameras are riddled with security vulnerabilities and hard-coded credentials. Here's my analysis of today's @ddosecrets.org Flock leak micahflee.com/flock-camera...
micahflee.com
Flock cameras are riddled with security vulnerabilities and hard-coded credentials
This morning, DDoSecrets published an exciting new dataset: Filesystem images of the partitions from an in-use Flock ALPR camera. 404 Media and Wired published a joint investigation into it. I downloa...
6274114
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"This is major damage to our bases that hasn't been communicated to the American public," one deployed service member told CBS News. "We're standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face."
297
Reposted by Frank Bajak
CBS News @cbsnews.com · 15/09/2026
CBS News Exclusive: New photos reveal widespread damage at multiple U.S. positions across the Middle East caused by Iranian attacks.
cbsn.ws
New photos show widespread damage at U.S. positions caused by Iranian missile, drone attacks
The images were sent to CBS News by active service members under condition of anonymity.
76539311
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Who owns the Trumps? Putin pal financially supports Don Jr., gaining intimate access to the Trump family.
120
Frank Bajak @fbajak.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The Environmental Pollution Agency is out to kill us all. All because of a few rich white guys who put money in Trump’s pocket. apnews.com/article/epa-...
apnews.com
131
Reposted by Frank Bajak
Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 14/09/2026
The only person in public service who has consistently made 100% sense on issues of "AI," which is why they hate her so much.
Law enforcers already have authority to charge companies and their CEOs for creating and releasing dangerous, unvetted, or defective products. We shouldn’t let discussions about new legal regimes distract from the fact that there’s no AI exemption from laws already on the books — a point 
@FTC
 emphasized repeatedly during my tenure.

1. There is an extensive set of laws that govern dangerous and defective products. For example, releasing unvetted AI models or agents can violate consumer protection laws. Shipping flawed AI tools without implementing adequate measures to detect and stop rogue or defective AI agents can be an “unfair or deceptive” act or practice under the FTC Act (and analogous state laws). And some state AGs are already exploring holding AI firms and their CEOs criminally liable when their models participate in criminal activity.

2. Existing laws also prohibit “unfair methods of competition.” This covers instances where AI firms appropriate the competitively sensitive information of their customers, including through tracking their use of various tools. It can also cover instances where firms pursue dangerous behavior, aware that doing so may compel rivals to do the same.As the Supreme Court has noted: “A method of competition which casts upon one's competitors the burden of the loss of business unless they will descend to a practice which they are under a powerful moral compulsion not to adopt, even though it is not criminal, was thought to involve the kind of unfairness at which the [unfair methods of competition] statute was aimed."

3. The highly concentrated and interconnected structure of these markets could be creating major risks and conflicts of interest. We had started investigating these partnerships and cross-investments across the stack (and released a preliminarily overview of some findings: https://ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-issues-staff-report-ai-partnerships-investments-study). 

Both federal and state enforcers should be scrutinizing these opaque relationships and inter-dependencies. We are already seeing how these relationships could undermine accountability. For example, OpenAI could face liability given the Hugging Face incident, but Hugging Face being bought up by Nvidia means that we’re unlikely to see it file a lawsuit over this — given Nvidia’s strong incentive to see OpenAI continue full speed ahead.4. As AI tools dramatically change the landscape of cybersecurity risks and hacks, all businesses should be doubling down on having core security protections in place. Firms that fail to invest in adequate data security measures or fix known vulnerabilities can also be breaking the law. A recent analysis showed that around 1/3 of Fortune 100 companies do not even have a way to notify them about security issues. During my 
@FTC
 tenure, we sued firms for poor data security practices and held CEOs liable when they were personally responsible.

https://this.weekinsecurity.com/dozens-of-americas-largest-companies-have-no-simple-way-to-report-security-flaws/

https://ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/10/ftc-takes-action-against-drizly-its-ceo-james-cory-rellas-security-failures-exposed-data-25-million

5. As policymakers consider new legal regimes, we should be looking to lessons from prior efforts to govern major sectors, such as banking and other networks, platforms, and utilities. Tools like structural separations, nondiscrimination, and supervision could be key, and there’s a rich history of what works and what doesn’t. But we can and must pursue any new efforts alongside enforcing existing laws.
192029659