Sign in

Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

@itsmichael.bsky.social
1.2K followers 625 following 124 posts

Boston & Provincetown based human rights defender, web guy, music lover, writer. Expressed views and opinions are obviously mine and not those of my employer or affiliates unless clearly designated as such.

PostsRepliesMedia
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"When AI risk ... [is] framed as a technical problem to be solved, the conversation privileges technical interventions over questions of rights, accountability, and remedy. This shapes which harms are prioritized and deferred, and how responsibility for addressing them is understood and assigned."
techpolicy.press
Who Is AI Risk For? Centering People in the AI Risk Conversation
Jenny Domino and Jen Weedon write that a human rights approach to AI risk demands a global, ecosystem-wide perspective.
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
There's a key distinction here. If the argument is "the AI industry should not be in charge of regulating itself," then I am all on board. But if the argument is "the AI industry should be regulated according to the wise dictates of the AI industry," then we know how this will end up.
822429
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
You really cannot *neutrally* read this essay. It is an intervention by the head of Anthropic, a company still racing towards IPO. Your reaction to the essay really depends on whether you view Dario as The Good AI Guy.
414412
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Alright. Time to read the new Amodei essay.
static.klipy.com
Alonzo Mourning Reacts to Miami Heat Loss
ALT: Alonzo Mourning Reacts to Miami Heat Loss
723943
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Which are you?
npr.org
The AI safety debate is confusing. Here's our guide to the different factions
The battle over AI's promise and perils is not a clash between two opposing sides, but a debate among a range of competing voices and ideologies. Here is a guide to who's who in that debate.
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Is Neoliberalism Dead?
open.substack.com
Is Neoliberalism Dead?
Branko Milanović on National Market Liberalism, Inequality and the Rise of a New Elite.
001
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I personally struggle with this pivot away from long-term poverty reduction work and investment to AI as some kind of panacea. The tech is far from proven, and to go all in without even some trials of how it can help (to say nothing of imposing this on communities experiencing poverty) is suspect.
philanthropy.com
Gates closed down a half billion anti-poverty effort and instead banked on AI
The philanthropy giant ended a broad approach and now will focus on tech fixes to put more money in people’s pockets.
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Of course, incompetent chatterbox Pete Hegseth doesn't want factual news coming out of the Pentagon. That might interfere with his deceitful underreporting of casualties and lying about the significant damages inflicted by Iran.
601113319
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
techpolicy.press
What Policymakers and the Public Need to Know About the Cult of AI
Nathalie Maréchal asks, why are we betting the economy and the future of democracy on cult-like beliefs?
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor are intellectual powerhouses with a dire social and political warning for our shared present and future tenses AND they are the “we saw you across the bar and like your vibe” final bosses
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor in black and white
18714
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Ma$on @masonfromtwitter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
www.thepinknews.com/2022/10/10/d...
thepinknews.com
Dolly Parton quietly funded Black school bands: 'The woman is a national treasure'
Dolly Parton paid for band uniforms and instruments for kids at majority Black high schools with zero publicity, a writer has revealed.
132571719
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Is Really Bad
We can no longer pretend that A.I. is safe.
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
"How much people make in their jobs, and how protected their jobs are, isn’t something that happens without intervention like union contracts and new employment laws to help workplaces and people adapt to changes." @monicapotts.bsky.social
newrepublic.com
A New Report Reveals Why Robots Aren’t Taking Your Job Anytime Soon
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has been researching the adoption of AI in the workplace—and found that the reality doesn’t match the industry’s puffery. For now.
023
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Free Speech For People @fsfp.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
🚨END BIG TECH’S MONOPOLY ON OUR PRIVACY🚨 A handful of corporations shouldn't control modern communication and commerce. Demand Congress pass the Big Tech Accountability Act right now 👇
14267114
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Johan Stub 🌹🇳🇴🇸🇪🇺🇦 @johanstub.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
12914
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Next time someone wants to lecture you on "freedom" or "liberty" and "the importance of law enforcement" at the same time, be sure to show them this.
wired.com
This Is Flock’s AI Search Tool for Cops
WIRED rebuilt Flock’s latest search tool from code the company sends to a police officer’s browser. Its AI can keep watch across multiple cameras for anyone fitting a written description.
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
New Gallup polling finds 71% of people in the U.S. approve of unions, continuing the highest period of favorability in over 60 years. This coincides with the greatest number of workers represented by a union in 16 years. It also showed that unions are favorable across generations and party lines.
epi.org
Unions are extremely popular: 56 million workers would join a union if they could
New Gallup polling finds that 71% of people in the U.S. approve of unions, continuing the highest period of favorability in over 60 years. This coincides with the greatest number of workers represente...
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"...a virtuosic account of the intersecting lives of four missing young men and their loved ones across decades. Part murder mystery, part ode to lost youth, part love story, Last Seen delivers a master class in structure and escalation."
deaddarlings.com
Interview with Chris Castellani about his latest novel, Last Seen
Chris Castellani’s latest novel, Last Seen, offers a virtuosic account of the intersecting lives of four missing young men and their loved ones across decades.
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Middlebury strikes again. These PC kids…
0407
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Center for Countering Digital Hate @counterhate.com · 26/08/2026
As CEO @imranahmed.bsky.social put it: “This is a genuine victory for the AGs that belongs to all the parents and survivors who have spent years demanding action. That matters, but let’s also acknowledge that this is a static list of fixes to products that are already out there.” Read more 👇
counterhate.com
Leading Expert on Social Media Harms Reacts to $17.1B Meta Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims — Center for Countering Digital Hate | CCDH
Meta has settled for 17.1 billion dollars with 51 state AGs over claims around addictive platform design for children. Read our CEO Imran Ahmed's statement.
031
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Center for Countering Digital Hate @counterhate.com · 26/08/2026
Meta agreed to settle its lawsuits with 51 state attorneys general for $17 billion and make changes to improve safety for kids on its platforms, including limiting screen time and removing beauty filters. This is a win for online safety, but we still need stronger accountability for Meta.
193
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/08/2026
Annie Andrews: "What she [Darline Graham] said there was that her healthcare plan is, 'you should work hard until you die' ... I believe Darline's parents deserved better."
627122163230
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 20/08/2026
This is all because JK Rowling is using her vast wealth and influence to engage in lawfare and censor anything that criticizes her. I won't stand for it. bsky.app/profile/esqu...
133101727
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 20/08/2026
In the meantime, you can access the censored Amnesty reports on gender critical groups here. Make sure they cannot erase these documents from the internet. Like a snowball. dn711306.ca.archive.org/0/items/amne... A growing threat. archive.org/download/rep...
dn711306.ca.archive.org
3935311443
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 20/08/2026
I've never seen such an effort to censor a document as I have the Amnesty International report on gender critical groups because of JK Rowling. They removed the report from the Wayback Machine and now I got a DMCA strike on my Google Drive for having it. It was deleted and removed from my account.
A screenshot of an email viewed in dark mode with the subject line "Google DMCA Violation." The email from Google informs the recipient that they have received a notification under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that some of their materials allegedly infringe on copyrights. It explains the removal process, mentions that notice details will be posted on Lumen, warns against repeated violations, and lists one affected Google Drive URL at the bottomA nearly identical mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. It shows a search for the same Amnesty International UK resources URL, resulting in the same message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."A mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. A URL for an Amnesty International UK resources page is entered in the search bar, but the page displays the message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."
229114145342
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
"Without any explicit statutory authority from Congress, and in near-total secrecy ... Trump has assumed control over the release of powerful new frontier AI models through the functional equivalent of a licensing regime."
americanprogress.org
The Trump Administration Has Created a De Facto Licensing System for Frontier AI Models
The administration’s new framework for frontier AI models is “voluntary” in name only.
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
While tax policy isn't the "hammer for every nail," it remains one of the few effective tools lawmakers have for balancing the excesses of the few with the needs of the many. The rise of #AI is no exception, and serious policy approaches - including tax policy - are sorely needed.
itep.org
How Federal Tax Policy Can Address AI
Congress could use its taxing power to ensure a fairer distribution of the fruits of labor, innovation and investment, address the specific harms (the negative externalities) of AI specifically, and a...
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
theguardian.com
Experts are warning: our AI arms race is putting humanity at risk | Stuart Russell
A recent letter signed by 1,367 researchers and engineers at frontier AI labs – mainly OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Deepmind – points to a dangerous moment
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Felipe De La Hoz @felipedlh.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
For @newrepublic.com I wrote about ICE's recent campaign of airport arrests, and the intentional vagueness about who is or isn't potentially subject to detention as part of the administration's broader narrative campaign of fear, intended to drive immigrants from public life
newrepublic.com
ICE’s Airport Crackdowns Are Designed to Spread Fear
The agency is snatching and grabbing travelers without any regard for their immigration status—and with no effort to be transparent about what they’re up to.
312870
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Micah @rincewind.run · 11/08/2026
*shouting until I am hoarse* LAND DOESN'T VOTE
523116413
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
brennancenter.org
Does AI Fight or Fuel Election Disinformation?
As the midterms approach, our tests reveal that popular chatbots challenge conspiracy theories. Still, they offer users the ability to create deceitful images, audio, and video.
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Scott MacFarlane @macfarlanenews.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Rep. Dave Min (D-CA): Trump's primetime speech "will once again try to rewrite the history of the 2020 election, the latest salvo in a sustained, coordinated 'Big Lie' to undermine Americans' faith in our democracy and, perhaps, to lay the groundwork for trying to steal the 2026 & 2028 elections"
421058344
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16/07/2026
Ossoff: "Here's what's going to happen tonight: the world's most famous sore loser will deliver a prime-time presidential sour grapes address to pursue his 6-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control & the cost of living continues to rise.."
10303267210168
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
BREAKING: Judge Angel Kelley (Biden/MA) blocks Interior Secy. Doug Burgum's "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" order at nat parks nationwide. Feds must restore race, climate & LGBT mentions www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...
documentcloud.org
NPCAInteriorOrd061226.PDF
291393448
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
paulkrugman.substack.com
Money and Machismo are Undermining America
Fragile MAGA egos are rejecting the future, from energy to drones
070
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
openmarketsinstitute.org
Who Do AI Agents Work For? New Report Warns of Potential for Exploitation — Open Markets Institute
A report from Open Markets Institute Senior Fellow Sally Hubbard argues policymakers must ensure either that AI agents work on behalf of users, or that users understand when AI agents are working on b...
070
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 02/06/2026
Free newsletter: The dawn of token-based-billing has shown that generative AI doesn’t have a return on investment. It's too unpredictable, too unreliable, you can't easily measure the cost of tasks, and organizations are already pulling back. www.wheresyoured.at/ai-doesnt-have-roi/
wheresyoured.at
AI Doesn't Have ROI
If you liked this piece, you should subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $70 a year, or $7 a month, and in return you get a weekly newsletter that’s usually anywhere from 5,000 to 18,000 words, in...
281036291
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
New from 404 Media: we've seen internal documents that show Microsoft is explicitly planning to "make people addicted" to its new AI assistant 'Scout' which the company just announced. It is a clear goal according to the documents, with addiction being the first phase www.404media.co/microsoft-wa...
404media.co
Microsoft Wants to 'Make People Addicted' to its New AI Assistant, Internal Documents Reveal
Planning documents for "Scout" say the plan is to "make people addicted" to the tool before adding new features.
50533300
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Because that’s a SUPER regular thing for anyone to do, right? I know I love going to the doc just for the fun of the results, don’t you? The White House is an assisted living facility.
010
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
This is not only profoundly well-written and argued, it's pretty much on the money as far as I'm concerned. #AI www.owenmcgrann.com/p/the-dead-e...
owenmcgrann.com
The Dead Economy Theory
We can laugh at them but we have to take this seriously
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
prospect.org
Tax AI to Create Jobs - The American Prospect
We face potential unemployment on par with the Great Depression. We need a mass employment program to get through it. AI can pay for it.
000
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
wired.com
US Law Enforcement Warns of ‘Anti-Tech Extremism’ as AI Hatred Grows
As Americans stew over the looming risk of job-stealing AI and data centers in their back yards, the feds are raising the alarm about a new category of threat, documents obtained by WIRED show.
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 26/05/2026
Trump: “I’ve studied this a long time” We have a country being run by people who think memes and social media conspiracies are peer-reviewed research.
3171804558
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The best way to honor fallen soldiers is to avoid careless reasons to create more of them.
200131222858
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
theguardian.com
US workers overwhelmingly support union-backed policies on AI, poll says
Nine out of 10 workers express support for policies on artificial intelligence that labor unions may fight for
000
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
So you CAN get reparations you just have to be a reactionary white person who tries to overthrow the government because black votes shouldn’t count
313198835312
Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @itsmichael.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Amazing grift. No admin has weaponized gov’t against Americans like this one. It’s not even close. But bullshit’s gonna bullshit.
010
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Jules⚖️📨 @northjules.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
www.cnbc.com/2026/05/18/t... The filing did not say what led to the surprising move, which came on the heels of controversy over reports that the DOJ was negotiating a settlement with Trump that could see the government pay $1.7 billion toward a fund that could be used to compensate allies of Trump.
cnbc.com
Trump drops $10 billion lawsuit against IRS
Trump sued the IRS in late January over the leak of his tax information by an IRS employee Charles
1412183
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 17/05/2026
this is such a great encapsulation of what the various factions of the reactionary right want. i might add that they envision themselves as slave masters and the rest of us, in one way or another, as their slaves. betterdonkey.substack.com/p/the-vra-wa...
207110453977
Reposted by Michael Borum 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️
Heidi Pitlor @heidipitlor.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
People who are quick to sing the praises of AI as a democratizing force and are skeptical about progressive politicians: just no.
011