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Mike Roberts

@miker66.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.6K following 511 posts

Settler on Wangal land, researcher in renewable energy integration & just transition, anti-genocide leftard. My employer definitely doesn't agree with all my views. (he/him)

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Reposted by Mike Roberts
Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 17h
Such rare integrity and bravery, and in such contrast to so many who've opted to stay silent on the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians because their personal careers might suffer. www.rte.ie/entertainmen...
rte.ie
Sally Rooney books: Faber to end supply in the UK
Faber has confirmed it will stop supplying Sally Rooney's books in the UK, but says copies already held by retailers will not be removed from sale.
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🌎🐎John Hyphen🎮🤠 @johnhyphen.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Greenpeace activists on top of the European Parliament in Brussels this morning, calling for the EU to stop fossil fuels
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 13/10/2026
40% of *everything being shipped everywhere on Earth* is fossil fuels Just an absolute laughing-stock clown-show of an energy source. This is laughably absurd, why do we treat this like it's normal and good Fossil fuels are a satirical fuel www.irena.org/-/media/File...
Global shipping transports fossil fuels and runs on oil: 40% of shipped products are fossil fuels or derivatives, while 99% of international shipping’s energy demand is met by oil-based fuels.
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Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Ireland: Member of European Parliament says this poster asking for the law to be upheld is being refused by poster site owners on political grounds.
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dutchgal.bsky.social @dutchgal.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
substack.com/@naomiklein/...
substack.com
Naomi Klein (@naomiklein)
I just saw a film about the AI-enabled apocalypse. Only it's not science fiction. It's not even in the future. It's in the present. The film is called NAZA. See it.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar @repilhan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
The Office of Congresswoman Omar released the following statement:

“This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies. For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back. Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies.”
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
This is a disaster. The ethics committee in Denmark that approved the Guinea-Bissau study which will withhold the birth dose of HepB vaccine “had never considered medical studies before but it changed the rules in order to vote on this one”. Four members of the committee have resigned in protest.
theguardian.com
Controversial vaccine trial touted by RFK Jr gets go-ahead in Guinea-Bissau
Recommended dose of hepatitis B vaccine will be withheld from thousands of newborns by Danish researchers
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Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Ford Granada
Harrison Ford visiting the Alhambra
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Reposted by Mike Roberts
elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Netanyahu is doing everything he can to bury and punish all those involve in the Naza documentary as it interviews Israeli soldiers who admit to being explicitly told they could kill civilians www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oc...
theguardian.com
NAZA: Netanyahu orders identification and prosecution of film’s interviewees
Israeli PM calls for criminal investigation into soldiers and officers interviewed in Guardian-produced documentary
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Reposted by Mike Roberts
Kyoko Kitamura @kyokokitamura.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
NAZA will soon be available for streaming on the Guardian website. Meanwhile, Oscar-winning documentary by the same director, now streaming. Journalism has changed so much since I used to be on the field, but some things remain the same. #YuvalAbraham www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWlx...
youtube.com
No Other Land | Official Trailer | Academy Award Winner | On Digital and On-Demand 1 April
YouTube video by Front Row Filmed Entertainment
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Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Recommend everyone go and watch Naza. It’s an extraordinary and important piece of filmmaking. Released across Australia this week. Gives a hint of why Israel needs to install a propagandist in the Australian state government www.madman.com.au/naza/
madman.com.au
NAZA - In Cinemas October 15
Shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, the film reveals in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
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Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Everyone should go and watch Naza for yourself. It’s an extraordinary and important piece of filmmaking. Released across Australia this week www.madman.com.au/naza/
madman.com.au
NAZA - In Cinemas October 15
Shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, the film reveals in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
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Reposted by Mike Roberts
Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 12/10/2026
On this day: bombing continues in Gaza Three years on, and the bombing continues northeastbylines.co.uk/news/world-n...
northeastbylines.co.uk
On this day: bombing continues in Gaza
Three years on, and the bombing continues
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Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
The best way to support these truth -tellers is to go and watch Naza for yourself. It’s an extraordinary and important piece of filmmaking. Released across Australia this week www.madman.com.au/naza/
madman.com.au
NAZA - In Cinemas October 15
Shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, the film reveals in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
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Reposted by Mike Roberts
Pandymonium @pandymonium.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Here are the #GazaGenocide sites of protest against #Israel today, 11 October 2026: #Sydney #Canberra #Melbourne #Hobart #Adelaide #Perth #Darwin #Brisbane and a number of regional centres.
gaza genocide sites of protest today , 11 October 2026 : sydney canberra melbourne hobart adelaide perth darwin brisbane and a number of regional centres
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Matt Golding @goldingcartoons.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Clothes make the man. Today’s @theageaustralia.bsky.social @sydmorningherald.bsky.social cartoon
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Jonathan Cook @jonathan-cook.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
There’s a reason why so few truly leftwing politicians are visible in public life. Because the media’s role is to weed them out, discredit them, place them beyond the pale. Read my latest here: jonathancook.substack.com/p/how-the-bb...
jonathancook.substack.com
How the BBC sets a trap to make sure leftwing politicians never get a fair hearing
There’s a reason why so few truly leftwing politicians are visible in public life. Because the media’s role is to weed them out, discredit them, place them beyond the pale
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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
At times like this, the mask really comes off the British media. There is no pretence - at all - about their impartiality or objectivity towards the Green Party. It is a blatant naked partisan cross-media assault against the Greens.
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Elias Greig @eliasgreig.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
When Matt Canavan puts on high vis, he is not, in fact, a worker. Hanson is a media clown turned operative for fossil capital. One Nation is not, in fact, a party of the poor — though its cross-class appeal is being built for it by liberal pundits — it's a morbid symptom of the dominance of capital.
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Elias Greig @eliasgreig.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
This is an extraordinary example of a liberal writer laundering far right politics. The property the author drives past is notorious for far right messaging — the banner 'Centrelink is Evil' likely refers to the belief, spread by the Telegraph, that "Muslims" are rorting it to fund terrorism.
theguardian.com
A banner along the Pacific Highway speaks volumes about why some communities are turning to One Nation
‘Centrelink is evil’ isn’t a call to slash welfare payments – it’s a sign people are frustrated about the ability to access government support
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Dr Tom Pickerell @tomolamola.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
It’s not that people haven’t been told about climate change. It’s that we’ve barely started explaining what happens when the systems we depend on start failing together. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Britons kept in dark about scale of climate crisis, say viewers of ‘first-of-its-kind’ emergency briefing
Nine out of 10 people felt motivated to act after watching film outlining threats to food security, economy and public health
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Osbert Lancaster @osbert.org · 10/10/2026
Thinking of belonging in the vernacular, in Orkney someone might say “[So & so] belongs to [farm or parish name]”, “John belongs to Grimbister”. Messes with the idea that people owning land is the only way of thinking.
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marque lawyers @marquelawyers.com.au · 08/10/2026
We don’t think the case for this has been made. One constant in the global history of policing is that every weapon given to cops, they will eventually use. Therefore, every force escalation requires compelling justification.
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Dr Ingrid M🪁 @ingridm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
there is no evidence that giving police assault rifles can deter an active shooter. There is vast evidence that police with assault rifles will kill more people than police with guns and tasers and barons and pepper spray already kill and injure people.
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Crikey @crikey.com.au · 07/10/2026
Opinion | The University of Sydney is cracking down on students’ intellectual freedom. Anthony Albanese, the once proud student protester, is encouraging it. www.crikey.com.au/2026/10/07/a...
crikey.com.au
Dear Albo of 1983, what do you make of yourself now?
The University of Sydney is cracking down on students' intellectual freedom. Anthony Albanese, the once proud student protester, is encouraging it.
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Michael @therightarticle.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Israel ‘progressively asphyxiating’ #Gaza, continues genocide: Doctors Without Borders www.middleeastmonitor.com/20261005-…
middleeastmonitor.com
Israel ‘progressively asphyxiating’ Gaza, continues genocide: Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Monday that Israel was continuing its genocide in Gaza and was “progressively asphyxiating” the region, urging governments to take immediate action…
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David Timoney @fromarsetoelbow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
c) All the evidence indicates that antisemitism is a problem across society, albeit with a small but clear bias towards the right. The continued insistence that it is a problem specific to the left (or Palestinian solidarity) means that we continue to fail to confront it in these wider terms.
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Jewish Council of Australia @jewishcouncilau.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
NAZA - the film Netanyahu doesn't want you to see - is coming to Australia. We're partnering with @madmanfilms.bsky.social for special preview screenings on 11 October in Sydney and Melbourne, featuring @sarahschwartz.bsky.social and Antony Loewenstein. Grab tickets here: www.madman.com.au/naza/
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Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Australia needs to do this
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National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
What if the whole country saw the full picture? This is a national emergency. The impacts are already here. But the solutions exist. Communities are watching the People’s Emergency Briefing and discussing what to do next with neighbours and MPs #EarthDay Screenings www.nebriefing.org/screening-map
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Michael West @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Sydney Uni. Kickin’ the free speech can down the road Kim Wingerei reports. Read it here: michaelwest.com.au/sydney-uni-kicki…
Michael West Media story graphic
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Amy Remeikis @amyremeikis.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
House prices falling by a percentage not seen in 40 years does not mean house prices have fallen to affordable levels - it is just that we have seen them increase so much year on year, that falls seem significant BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE HOUSING AFFORDABLE IT JUST MEANS THE HOUSING MARKET HAS BEEN BROKEN
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Mike Roberts @miker66.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
aje.news
What we know about RAF Fairford ‘bomb plot’
A police alert turned into a potential Iranian “bomb plot” against a British military base used by the US.
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Reposted by Mike Roberts
NTEU Victoria @nteuvictoria.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Six months of enterprise bargaining at Federation University but little progress so NTEU members are taking action today. Crushing staff workloads are adversely affecting students and the VC must act - you can tell him now: www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/fa... #HigherEducation #AcademicSky #HigherEd
megaphone.org.au
Students stand with staff at Fed Uni
If Fed Uni wants to be a genuine leader in cooperative education, it must start by cooperating with its own staff. We urge you to support our educators in their efforts to secure fair treatment and wo...
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Reposted by Mike Roberts
Esheru @esherukweku.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.” - James Baldwin. @theguardian.com you reported gleefully that Ed Millburn said the UK Labour government fell short, this is nothing to be gleeful about. This also isn’t falling short, it’s a derelection of duty
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Becca Harrison @beccaeharrison.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
If I were running a university where staff spent weeks and weeks of time putting grant proposals together only for UKRI to feed them into LLMs without informed consent—effectively theft of the time and work—I’d be taking serious action to defend those staff. But I’m not running a university, so
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⤵️ @bryce.lol · 27/09/2026
If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend: if you pardon, we will mend; And, as I am an honest Puck, Show is over, off you fuck.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
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Foz Meadows @fozmeadows.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Just like an abusive husband smashing up his wife's possessions, the tech industry likes to act as if it's breaking things at random, as a chaotic byproduct of raw innovation, when it fact it's very clearly and systematically targeting human rights, worker protections and social safety networks.
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leon @leyawn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
ceo of burger king: our burgers have gone rogue again and infected people with e coli
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Happy Kicked In The Head By A Horse Day, to all who celebrate. It's the 7th anniversary of this absolute banger.
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Cat Hobbs @cathobbs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Here's how and why Andy Burnham must bring water and other key public services and natural monopolies into PUBLIC OWNERSHIP (6/6) weownit.org.uk/research-and...
weownit.org.uk
How and why Andy Burnham should deliver public ownership
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Cat Hobbs @cathobbs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
What an absolutely ridiculous conversation England is having about its extreme ideological experiment with privatisation It's really not that complicated 9 out of 10 water systems worldwide are in public ownership (1/6) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham talks about ‘public control’ of the utilities but it’s a minefield. We can lead him through it | Will Hutton and Andy Haldane
Nationalisation is not the ultimate answer for companies like Thames Water – but they could be run for the public benefit, say journalist and economist Will Hutton and former chief economist of the Ba...
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Dylan McConnell @dylanjmcconnell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
New record (..that probably won't last long): 80.4% instaneous penetration of RE in the NEM over the weekend. More than half it coming from behind the meter (..rooftop solar) 🔌💡 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Screen cap from openElectricity showing the generation profile on Sat 19th, where new record for instantenous generation (80.4%) was set around lunch time 

Rooftop solar supplied more than half of load at the time
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downunder 🇦🇺 @sabrinanotowar.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
#auspol 🇦🇺
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The 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.org
Oregon data centers by the numbers: 111 facilities consume nearly one-quarter of state’s power, according to new report
A first-of-its-kind report details the footprint of the controversial facilities.
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Dylan McConnell @dylanjmcconnell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
“It’s an extremely challenging task. The rate of renewable energy rollout that is now required to hit that target is unbelievable” As in, not believable. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Australia’s renewables transition is well under way – but meeting its 2030 target will be ‘extremely challenging’
A gap looms between the Albanese government’s goal of 82% renewable energy and planned solar and wind projects
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Dylan McConnell @dylanjmcconnell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"... the first stage of the project could be powered by gas, with three major gas power plants within two kilometres of the proposed site" www.smh.com.au/national/que...
smh.com.au
Anthropic inks deal for $32 billion mega data centre in Queensland
It is the first deal signed in Australia by the maker of Claude, which is hoping to publicly list the company with a valuation of $2.8 trillion.
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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 financethemselves 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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