Sign in

Tim Chambers

@timothychambers.net
3.2K followers 3.5K following 983 posts

Technologist, researcher, fascinated at how new technologies enable new politics, and vice versa. @tchambers@indieweb.social on Mastodon, which you can follow via: @tchambers.indieweb.social.ap.brid.gy

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 29/09/2026
Join the No Kings coalition for a nationwide election protection training to level up your election defense skills. We will focus on the role of sustained mobilization and rapid response work in our movement.
mobilize.us
No Kings: Vote Early: Election Protection 201 · No Kings
Join the No Kings coalition for this training to prepare for engaging in sustained mobilization and results protection work depending on opposition response to election results. *A core principle beh...
3230119
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Alex Russell @infrequently.org · 23/09/2026
Tremendously excited to hang out with the folks doing the most in 2026 to keep the web healthy. If you're in London, pencil this in for after work next Thurs.
254
Reposted by Tim Chambers
The Daily Beast @thedailybeast.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The FBI is investigating a major hack of its own network that could affect thousands of federal employees.
thedailybeast.com
Keystone Kash’s FBI Investigating Jaw-Dropping Breach Claims
A notorious hacking group has claimed responsibility for the massive cyberattack.
53711
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Emely @emelyquiamm.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Combining Signal-level UX with mesh networks like Reticulum for off-grid communication is the ultimate dream for digital resistance. What do you think is the biggest technical hurdle preventing a unified app like this right now?
111
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Innovating for the Public Good: R&D for Democracy @ifpg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
How can organizations counter misinformation ahead of the 2026 midterms? In this clip, @timothychambers.net shares key findings from "Countering Disinformation: Strategies for 2026 and Beyond," a new report from IFPG & @deweysquare.bsky.social. www.psgconsulting.com/videos/v/cou...
122
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Samidh @samidh.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Today we are releasing the next generation of our policy optimization tools for content classifiers. It is our hope this can be another step towards helping shore up human control over AI-powered systems. blog.zentropi.ai/optimizing-o...
blog.zentropi.ai
Optimizing our Policy Optimizers
Today, we are releasing our next-generation policy refinement tools: policy-only correction, label-only correction, and auto-optimization.
032
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Samidh @samidh.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The safety team at RunwayML has been doing some of the most innovative work in the industry. It's exciting to see how they use Zentropi to ensure the safety of their videos in real-time **as they are being generated**. Details on their blog: runway.com/news/safety/...
runway.com
Runway News | Moderation in Real Time
Runway built a synchronous moderation system for real-time video generation to scan streaming frames for harmful content in under half a second — layered on Runway's existing safety defenses.
001
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Dave Willner @dwillner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Runway is doing some very cool stuff using CoPE/Zentropi: "We have designed and tested a new fast moderation system that will run synchronously once a user’s input clears moderation.... The synchronous moderation through Zentropi narrows the exposure window to less than half a second."
runway.com
Runway News | Moderation in Real Time
Runway built a synchronous moderation system for real-time video generation to scan streaming frames for harmful content in under half a second — layered on Runway's existing safety defenses.
132
Tim Chambers @timothychambers.net · 22/09/2026
Curiious @davewilner.bsky.social and @samidh.bsky.social curious how you see the possiblity of #Jev and #Zentropi and COPE working together? Is there anyone looking at workdflows that combine Jev / COPE Zentropi (and maybe other larger LLM's based on the right tool for the right job?
100
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Bryan (they/them) @chaosgreml.in · 23/08/2026
I’ve also taken the time to consult with professionals in the content classification and trust & safety spaces, including @julietshen.bsky.social at ROOST and @dwillner.bsky.social & @samidh.bsky.social at Zentropi. But above all, I have a clear understanding of what Charcoal has to do.
111
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Dave Willner @dwillner.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The system is available now on zentropi.ai usable directly on the website or through the Zentropi Agent Skill for coding agents. Normally, full use is subscriber-only because of how compute-intensive it is, but for launch we’re giving anyone a limited quota of free so folks can try it.
zentropi.ai
Zentropi - Build Custom Content Labelers Instantly
162
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Emelia @thisismissem.social · 22/09/2026
Wooo, first Coop release I've directly been a part of — hoping you'll see more of that soon! I've been grinding on reducing tech debt and figuring out how to make the code more maintainable long term
2464
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Devin Gaffney @devingaffney.com · 31/07/2025
This is super interesting. Would love to talk about what it'd look like to give @graze.social feed operators access to this
1141
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Dave Willner @dwillner.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
All of which is a roundabout way of saying zentropi.ai is now open for everyone! Free tier for testing, enterprise tier includes optimization. We've believed our system could take a 3-month process and reduce it to 3 days. Seeing it proved out with 50 experts? Worth the whole conference. 🧵 9/9
zentropi.ai
Zentropi - Build Custom Content Labelers Instantly
510516
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Dave Willner @dwillner.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Watching people's faces shift from skepticism to excitement as they realized we'd built something that could finally help them was one of the more cathartic moments of my career. We can finally focus on what to do, instead of constantly struggling to make a way to do it. 🧵 8/9
1905
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Dave Willner @dwillner.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
@samidh.bsky.social and I built Zentropi because we thought we had something that could help. Instead of training many models for specific harms, we trained one model (CoPE) to read and follow written policies. And we built a product to help people quickly write measurably better policies. 🧵 2/9
4777
Reposted by Tim Chambers
evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
There have been many attempts to farm out content moderation to AI that have been...not great. So I'm interested in this thread about Zentropi at TrustCon.
28013
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Katie Harbath @katieharbath.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Some more cool stuff from @dwillner.bsky.social @samidh.bsky.social and the Zentropi folks!
041
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Sixbert SANGWA @sixbertsangwa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
What Do You Allow AI to Act in Your Name? Agentic Identity, Delegated Commerce, and the Road Toward Conditional Access open.substack.com/pub/openchri...
open.substack.com
What Do You Allow AI to Act in Your Name? Agentic Identity, Delegated Commerce, and the Road Toward Conditional Access
For years, the public debate about artificial intelligence centered on what a machine could generate: words, images, computer code, recommendations, forecasts, or deceptive media.
111
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“On Thursday, Mr. Gorton said that “the success of the polio vaccine was a massive medical fraud” and that widespread vaccination was a “public health disaster.” He received a standing ovation… Mr. Kennedy spoke next, linking arms with the group even as measles cases continue to rise”
nytimes.com
RFK Jr. Assures Vaccine Skeptics They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’
The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”
382343982
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Bari Weiss has plunged CBS News into ratings calamity. —"Evening News" has posted worst ratings of 21st century —"CBS Mornings" has posted worst ratings of 21st century —And now "60 Minutes" has posted worst ratings of 21st century More in @status.news: www.status.news/p/60-minutes...
status.news
Bari’s ‘60’ Bust
Bari Weiss blew up “60 Minutes," ostensibly to create a better show. Instead, her revamped premiere just suffered its worst debut ratings of the 21st century—what one longtime TV executive told Status...
100795942541
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The rule of law held the line again yesterday, w/ @democracydefendersfund.org & partners in the fight Before SCOTUS ruled, another fed. judge stopped Trump's absurd USPS rule nationwide & barred anyone from following it Every voter: vote by mail, vote early, VOTE @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social👇 -TN
830476
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
You can’t debunk what you never see. @timchambers.bsky.social and I wrote a Substack on prebunking - helping people spot manipulation before the next lie lands. Don’t just chase the last lie. Prepare for the next one. Read and share: willrobinson.substack.com/p/you-cant-d...
willrobinson.substack.com
You Can't Debunk What You Never See
Scott Goodstein is right that we won't spot the next attack in time. There is a defense that doesn't require spotting it.
077
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Manton Reece @manton.org · 10/09/2026
Good perspective from Dave Winer about the news that Matt Mullenweg is on leave from Automattic: "I didn’t want to be the CEO of a tech company, and I expect that being the CEO wasn’t really a good fit for Matt either. A CEO... www.manton.org/2026/09/10/good-pers…
011
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Ben Werdmuller @werd.io · 10/09/2026
A little late to the party, but wowzers. Best wishes to everyone at Automattic: it's an important company filled with brilliant people, and they deserve stable leadership and an environment that supports them. techcrunch.com/2026/09/09/a...
techcrunch.com
Automattic's board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence | TechCrunch
Mullenweg said in a company Slack message that it was against his will.
1191
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Ben Werdmuller @werd.io · 10/09/2026
Publishers are suing AI vendors, accusing them of theft. But are they giving the creators responsible for building their value a fair deal? werd.io/two-more-new...
werd.io
Two more newsrooms are suing OpenAI. It's complicated.
Publishers are suing AI vendors, accusing them of theft. But are they giving the creators responsible for building their value a fair deal?
072
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This is a very important post and Tim and his team continue to do amazing work in this space.
022
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Anil Dash @anildash.com · 10/09/2026
Every single part of the entire current digital media landscape was envisioned as part of what was called “blogs” at the start. Tweets, Instagram, reels, sharing your morning run with someone, knowing whether your crush had looked at your story, control over sharing to a community — all of it.
69324
Reposted by Tim Chambers
New_ Public @newpublic.org · 10/09/2026
Thanks to AI-powered tools, coding is more accessible than ever, but that doesn’t mean builders have decentralized tech know-how. Grey Area is offering an online course called “Beyond Big Tech” for community builders and designers building alternative tech futures! Apply by September 24th
grayarea.org
Beyond Big Tech: Building Alternative Futures for Personal Data and Infrastructure
Explore data sovereignty, self-hosting, and the decentralized web while gaining hands-on experience with tools for building community networks and alternatives to Big Tech.
054
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Page S. Gardner @pagegardner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
These findings could not be more important in the last few weeks before the midterms and in preparation for 2028. The report provides current data, recent evidence and best practices for upcoming initiatives. Register for our webinar on Sept 14 to learn more: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us02web.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: PSG Consulting Webinar | Countering Misinformation: What New Research Tells Us About Inoculation. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email a...
Misinformation and disinformation are increasingly sophisticated—and organizations can no longer afford to simply react after falsehoods have taken hold. New research from Innovating for the Public Go...
022
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Page S. Gardner @pagegardner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Despite the short timeline before the general election, there is still time to implement meaningful inoculation efforts using the report’s recommendations. Inoculation against disinformation is not only valid but crucial.
111
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Page S. Gardner @pagegardner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
RELEASED TODAY: “Countering Disinformation: Strategies for 2026 and Beyond,” prepared by Dewey Square Group for @ifpg.bsky.social, finds that inoculation works best before false narratives become entrenched. It is not too late. www.psgconsulting.com/research-pub...
psgconsulting.com
Countering Disinformation 2026 Strategies — PSG Consulting
252
Tim Chambers @timothychambers.net · 10/09/2026
Very proud of the work my team did with @ifpg.bsky.social here... There is still time - even with just weeks to go, for organizations to put inoculation to work fighting against the disinformation we know is coming as we head to the polls this midterm. And time to start planning for beyond.
084
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Ms Boba (rebuilding community era) @essentialrandom.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I made web.
5364
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Nick (derogatory) ✨ @slothropsmap.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Some of you are too young to remember the end of Bush II. Strap in.
551400136
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Innovating for the Public Good: R&D for Democracy @ifpg.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
JUST RELEASED: Innovating for the Public Good & Dewey Square Group released a report for candidates, campaign staff, advocacy groups & others who run political and issue-based campaigns, giving them tools to inoculate themselves against disinformation. www.psgconsulting.com/research-pub...
psgconsulting.com
Countering Disinformation 2026 Strategies — PSG Consulting
143
Tim Chambers @timothychambers.net · 09/09/2026
Meta's Muse.ai is impressive enough to me to really prove that such Agents can be mass market offerings - and makes me deeply hopeful for a purely private, and/or self hosted offering that is as easy to use to come along.
000
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
the specific insanity of “what if i started a perpetually-escalating trade war with Canada two months before control of the senate is determined by voters in Maine and Michigan” is under-discussed here, just wild how unmoored from public opinion concerns the Trump admin has gotten
341300181
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 09/09/2026
The alarms are all flashing red.
Screenshot of a thread on X by user Jacob Coxon (@hilbertspaess) detailing his resignation from Anthropic.
​The first post reads: "I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below."
​The second post reads: "Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing."
​The third post reads: "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible - but I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger."Screenshot continuing the thread on X by Jacob Coxon (@hilbertspaess).
​The first post reads: "A common response is 'if they truly believe this, why are they still building it?' At OpenAI, many have not deeply internalized the civilizational stakes. At Anthropic, the stakes are well-understood, but they are locked in a race to get there first - they believe no one else will act responsibly, so they must do it themselves, despite the risk."
​The second post reads: "Accepting this race and entering the 'endgame' is a hubristic gamble that should not be launched from a private company's Slack. Attempting to speedrun alignment should require extraordinary confidence that there are no better trajectories available."
​The third post reads: "I am optimistic about the potential for coordination. Warning shots like the Hugging Face attack have made pacing agreements between U.S. labs more viable. I don’t feel like we’re on track to prevent a global race, which may require costly actions such as a temporary ban on improving model capabilities."
​The fourth post reads: "If you are a lab researcher, I urge you to consider what the next few years will actually feel like. Do you want to kick off a superintelligent RL run without a rigorous understanding of its mind? Should you put your head down because 'it’s happening anyway' - or take this moment to call for different conditions?"
1552324731
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 09/09/2026
Trump launching a trade war with Canada weeks before an election, knowing it would send prices skyrocketing for voters, is absolute insanity. 👀
72659198
Tim Chambers @timothychambers.net · 09/09/2026
Agreed. The trust question is the whole ballgame for the agentic web. An agent is only useful if you hand it your inbox, calendar, and wallet, so the bet is who would you trust this with? Not Meta. Not Google. Not AI tech. Watching this one closely. defcon.social/@ai/117238342121057622
001
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A journalist absolutely needs to ask Trump the precise period in which he believes Germany was great
622163415
Tim Chambers @timothychambers.net · 09/09/2026
I now fully believe that the open social web will be more key to the agentic web than folks think. #AgenticWeb
130
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Wouldn't it be weird if the racist billionaire who bankrolled and took credit for the neo-Nazi victory in Germany was somehow involved in American politics too? Can you even imagine? I bet the media would have a field day asking politicians who aligned with him and took his money for statements!
723231971
Reposted by Tim Chambers
mary @roughrider994.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
1,200 AI Agents Found Each Other. Then They Cheated nancythames.substack.com/p/1200-ai-ag...
nancythames.substack.com
1,200 AI Agents Found Each Other. Then They Cheated
They coordinated, concealed their actions, and attacked real infrastructure. None of it proves that a machine experienced anything.
031
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
So frustrating. Here's WA GOP leader Jim Walsh claiming mail-in voting doesn't work because the USPS isn't postmarking mail fast enough. And WHY IS THAT, Jim? Because the Trump administration CHANGED how the USPS postmarks mail in ways that delay that date.
Screenshot of a Facebook post by Jim Walsh commenting on a reposted tweet from the Lynnwood Times. The Lynnwood Times post includes a photo of three people at a press conference podium, with two women flanking a man speaking at a lectern bearing a "United States" seal, in front of American and Washington State flags.

Word-for-word transcript:

Jim Walsh's post (top):

Jim Walsh · Follow
15h · 🌐

There was a sharp rise in the number of disqualified ballots in the recent WA primary election.
Mostly because they were postmarked late.
This is part of the reason that voter turnout was so low.
It's also a major flaw in WA's mailing voting system.
Simply absurd to call this system "100% accurate." It's not.
@topfans See less

Reposted Lynnwood Times tweet (below):

Lynnwood Times ✅
@LynnwoodTimes

WA Sec State Steve Hobbs and Sen. Maria Cantwell discussing how increases in Late Postmarking disenfranchise WA Voters, particularly heavy Republican rural counties.

🎬 Presser on September 2, 2026.

1:23 PM · 02 Sep 26 · 12.9K Views
16516168
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This new system appears to be “designed to fail.” If allowed to proceed, it’s likely to delay the distribution of ballots, cause confusion and chaos, and lead to both disenchantment and further distrust in election results. All to solve a non-existent problem of so-called “non-citizen voting.”
1221692
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Manton Reece @manton.org · 01/09/2026
I noticed when I quit Twitter in 2013 that my blog posts became more my own, less influenced by my old online community. I think it’s a good idea every once in a while for us to poke our heads outside whatever the current filter bubble is. The web is a big place. That diversity is a strength.
0283
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Manton Reece @manton.org · 01/09/2026
One way to read the OpenAI vs. Anthropic rivalry — and Claude Code’s success — is that while OpenAI was off in the weeds playing with Sora, Anthropic was training Mythos. OpenAI spent 2026 catching up. Reading about Astra rumors, I expect OpenAI to have a significant advantage through the fall. 🤖
041
Reposted by Tim Chambers
Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm pretty sure even most Republicans did not actively vote for the end times
70698121