Taylor Lorenz’s History of Lies
this week, former wapo reporter taylor lorenz accused us of regularly posting false information, which we categorically deny, and are following up with a list of lies she’s told online
this week, former wapo reporter taylor lorenz accused us of regularly posting false information, which we categorically deny, and are following up with a list of lies she’s told online
controlled by banks, b2b payments account for $120 trillion yearly — compared to stripe’s $1 trillion — with the banks extracting fees every step of the way. what if stripe had a way to disrupt this?
Bridget Harrisa group of anonymous 𝕏 accounts are shaping narratives by influencing industry leaders, public intellectuals, and politicians — we asked them how they got here
Kevin Chaikena powerful group of editors is hijacking wikipedia, pushing pro-palestinian propaganda, erasing key facts about hamas, and reshaping the narrative around israel with alarming influence
Ashley Rindsberghonduras' new government has reneged on its 50-year commitment to charter cities like próspera. now, the city's founders are waiting to find out if their project will be deemed illegal.
Kevin Chaikenwe've known for years from mainstream reporting that british-pakistani men perpetrated some of the UK's worst child grooming gang scandals. why is wikipedia now calling it a moral panic?
Kevin Chaikena cottage industry of wikipedia editing services has emerged since the site's founding, and powerful brands and notable media outlets are some of its biggest clients
Ashley Rindsbergafter making it through california's legislature, effective altruist-backed sb 1047 was defeated after newsom vetoed it on sunday
Brandon Gorrellnew information suggests biden admin regulators deliberately killed off crypto-friendly silvergate in an attempt to decapitate the us crypto industry
Nic Carterinside the quietly growing industry of companies dedicated to fighting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “narrative attacks,” whose primary customers are western governments and global brands
Ashley Rindsberga brief recap of the bangers that you may have missed while you were sunning on your yacht
Mike Solanathe telegram ceo’s arrest embodies the white-hot issues of security, censorship, government interference, geopolitics and the manic competition for all-important eyeballs that is the internet today
Ashley Rindsbergpalmer luckey on defense contracting, anduril's new weapons factory arsenal, the US industrial base, heretical ideas, the media, and more
Mike Solanaour astronauts are stuck in space, anduril's arsenal-1, US manufacturing, tariffs, google, trump, media, our vanishing internet, palmer's most heretical thoughts, and hope for the future
Mike Solanawikipedia editors churn news articles from an overwhelmingly left-leaning list of “reliable sources” into neutrality-emblazoned fact
Ashley Rindsbergin the face of overwhelming resistance to sb 1047, scott wiener continues to defend effective altruists' position, while mischaracterizing opponents as just the "loudest voices"
Dean W. Balla new labour government is flexing its muscles after a decade and a half out of power, during which time the internet grew exponentially, but british control over the internet didn’t
Allen Farrington and Preston Byrnecriticisms of sb 1047 have reached a fever pitch, with academics and politicians joining silicon valley in a rejection of the ambiguous regulatory regime it would impose on the industry
Brandon Gorrell and Riley Norkwikipedia cofounder dr. larry sanger on the establishment takeover of wikipedia, corporate control of online knowledge, why information disappears from the internet, and more
Mike Solanaa house judiciary report suggests an advertising cabal organized a boycott of 𝕏 and took similar actions against other websites it deems ideologically problematic
Riley Norkinside the cultural revolution at wikipedia, which pivoted it from a decentralized database of all the world's knowledge to a top-down social activism and advocacy machine
Ashley Rindsbergpirate wires #124 // open war in silicon valley — a question of ethics, politics, or status? — trump’s new dance with venture capital, zenefits, and the other side of “going direct”
Mike Solanafor years, the eu has weaponized regulations to extract billions from u.s. tech companies. with their most recent batch of laws, they’ve positioned themselves to destroy tech’s profit margins
Sanjana Friedmandan hendrycks, an executive at a firm that co-sponsored scott wiener's ai bill, co-founded an ai safety compliance company that launched on tuesday
Brandon Gorrellsb 1047 is inching closer to the legislative finish line, and will likely pass easily through the chamber — the only question that remains is if newsom will veto it
Sanjana Friedmanthe european commission wanted 𝕏 to hire a team of people in the eu that would unilaterally oversee the removal of 'misinformation' on the platform, a source with knowledge of the issue told us
Brandon Gorrellfree markets are responsible for our prosperity. let’s build more of them.
Tarek Mansoura new effort from balaji to curate a meritocracy-focused hiring platform is an antidote to dei
Riley Norkwe looked at thousands of silicon valley power broker political donations over the last decade and compared them to this year — here's what the data says
John Cooganan interview with paul buchheit, the man who built gmail: the story behind his revolutionary product, the gatekeepers’ war against insurgents, and conquering our national decay
Mike Solanapaul buchheit on the advent of gmail, insurgents vs. gatekeepers, the future of san francisco, ai, and more
Mike Solanathe ceo of aerospace startup hermeus on why having an advantage over the competition isn't enough: you only win by relentlessly creating new asymmetries after you're miles ahead of everyone else
AJ PiplicaSB 1047, california’s bill to ban open-source AI, the effective altruists behind the bugman politician responsible, and tech's strange bedfellows
Mike Solanathe largest tax increase in city history was supposed to reduce homelessness, but 6 years in, their number has only gone up
Sanjana Friedmanjack dorsey on his exit from bluesky, how twitter lost its way, jack’s strategy for ending censorship forever, new background on the elon saga, and the death of social media as we know it
Mike Solanavcs should invest in companies that create hype cycles, rather than those that simply follow them
Trae Stephenseven though the former reddit ceo's #metoo lawsuit was a dramatic failure, the press still dubbed her a "feminist hero," as tech's decade-long activist takeover kicked into high gear
Sanjana Friedmangoogle concludes (they promise!) a decade of unhinged activism, brian armstrong’s advice for sundar, DHH on his path to mission-first, and the end of tech’s silent winter
Mike Solanaa san francisco anti-math zealot's recent attempt to cancel software tutor startup mentava backfired spectacularly — ceo niels hoven is here to tell the complete story
Niels Hovennpr’s ceo has has a near perfect record of ideological opposition to silicon valley, even arguing at oxford in 2018 that the rise of tech ‘empires’ are a net negative for society
Sanjana Friedmanyou can’t live on the internet, and if you could it would be bad; illusion of the 'global perspective,' 'exit' as the path to failure, and paul graham delves into war with nigeria
Mike Solanapalantir cto shyam sankar doesn't build high-performing engineering teams, he wins. here's how.
Shyam Sankarthe golden state is able to build everything except housing and new walkable communities. jan sramek wants to change that
Mike Solanathe debate over tiktok’s divestiture reveals a startling decision: trust a standard reading of the bill and ban the spy app, or admit the country has entirely collapsed
Mike Solanaa primer on the $900-million project to build a brand new city in the bay area
Devon Zuegelif you squint, michael beckerman tells you all you need to know about who can see the company’s user data
River Pageformer congressional tech fellow mike wacker argues the government would have to completely abandon legal precedent to use the tiktok divestiture as a precedent for banning X
Mike Wackerdata scraping gone awry triggers backlash, signals escalating conflict in the battle for AI dominance
Sanjana Friedman and Mike Solanain a surprise announcement, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill that forces tiktok's parent company to divest american tiktok operations
Sanjana Friedmaninside the DEI hivemind that led to gemini's disaster
Mike Solanawhite pill #43 // space perspective's luxury space capsule, varda's re-entry, petabit discs, wearable robotics, spiral diopters, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellas we work at building a better future, let's dig in to how we got to where we are today
Owen Lewisthe industry #25 // apple is sunsetting project titan, vice is closing up shop on their website, sundar responds to gemini, gmail’s false alarm, reddit’s ipo, and other tech links
Riley Norkwhite pill #42 // techno-industrialist manifesto, odysseus' fate, remotely controlled surgery on the ISS, electron beam welding, microrobots, neuralink updates
Brandon Gorrellthe industry 24 // the latest on gemini erasing white people from history and other tech links
Mike Solanagoogle’s AI chatbot just erased white people from human history. a grim (if objectively hilarious) warning for the future
Mike Solanawe need to make manufacturing better, cheaper, and faster through technology. it should be as easy to make physical things as it is to make software. the end.
Aaron Slodovwhite pill #41 // a new UV space telescope, lab grown meat, bioluminescent petunias, new rice that has beef, sora, underwater robots, 3d printed cartilage, chernobyl dogs, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellwhite pill #40 // identifying bacteria for mars, autonomous space robotics, a new venus mission, black hole energy, the herculaneum scrolls, fusion news, custom brain tissue on demand, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellpirate wires #112 // three years following 'extract or die,' the city goes to war with YC's garry tan, inadvertently revealing a path to victory for the "tech elite"
Mike Solanawhite pill #39 // 3d printing metal in low earth orbit, new spiral galaxy spics, lichen on the outside of the ISS, the first human gets neuralink, longevity for dogs, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellmeet the company that powers silicon valley's race- and gender-based hiring goals
River Pagethe industry #22 // the future of crypto, mark cuban vs. Title VII, elon’s payday in jeopardy, taylor swift deepfakes, tech links
Mike Solanaa plan to save democracy by ending homelessness, reducing the prison population, and creating the first american city that provides universal basic income
George Hotzwhite pill #38 // a fda-approved handheld cancer sensor, massive martian water ice deposit, hydrofoil boat, nanoscale electromotor, insulin capsule set for human trials next year, and more
Brandon Gorrellthe industry #21 // california’s new city goes to a vote, more media establishment collapse, milei’s trojan horse davos speech, tech links
Mike Solanaa lightly edited transcript of bryan johnson and mike solana's discussion about bryan's life's work: DON'T DIE.
Mike Solanasubscribe, or die.
Mike Solanabryan johnson is trying to defeat the human aging process. everyone on the internet hates him for it. he has never been happier.
Mike Solanalulu cheng meservey shares the never-before-revealed playbook that shaped Anduril’s early communication strategy and helped its founders turn the company from black sheep to household name
Lulu Cheng Meserveywhite pill #37 // what's up with the theoretically impossible big ring in the sky, diving into laser technology, images from comet 67p, nuclear batteries, cancer-curing nanobots, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellthe industry #20 // the platformer's righteous substack exit, davos off to a predictable start, DEI airliner edition, tech media clown car headlines, tech links
Mike Solanawhite pill #36 // nasa's full-scale rotating detonating rocket engine, floating islands on titan's methane lakes, spacex's 2024 plans, lockheed's x-59 reveal, origami-inspired composites, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellwhite pill #35 // sending data at light speed, autonomous gram-scale swarms over interstellar distances, mosquito gene drives, molecular jackhammers, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellrockets, robots, nuclear power: america's hard-tech renaissance in southern california, a paradise for engineers, and the industry's frontier
Scott Nolanwhite pill #34 // darpa's moonshot, nasa's eyes, a real-life medical tricorder prototype, self-replicating dna nanomachines, fun stuff, and quite a bit more
Brandon Gorrellwhite pill #33 // millions of theoretically possible new materials, less error-prone qubits, huge advance in ivf embryo screening (seriously), laser bone saws, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellwhite pill #32 // centrifuge experiment on ISS, gamma-ray hit, starship launch no. 2, mach diamonds, femtosecond lasers, pulsed fusion energy, fun stuff.
Brandon Gorrellpirate wires #109 // benign, moderately popular "yay technology" guy or secret alt-right puppet master? the former of course, but who cares about the truth? this is information war.
Mike Solanagive the gift of a white pill this season
Brandon Gorrellpirate wires #108 // sam altman fired, sam altman hired: the complete story of openAI's board disaster, breakdown of the cult that caused it, and three cheers for total corporate hegemony
Mike Solanawhite pill #31 // wooden satellites, starship launch no. 2, a real-ish time promptable video-to-art generator, no-code robots, skin printing, japanese baby island
Brandon Gorrellwhite pill #30 // martian lava tubes, the world's first successful eye transplant, extracting hydrocarbon energy from air, and lots of fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellnew threats on the horizon, subterranean war and the challenge of gaza, troubleshooting the next pandemic, manufacturing, chips, trade, international contracting, and the business of defense
Mike Solanawhite pill #29 // buried relics of theia, off-world mammalian reproduction, synthesizing hydrocarbons from thin air, airships, and notes on hbo's scavenger's reign
Brandon Gorrellwhite pill #28 // asteroid mining, a planet of rivers, a techno-optimist manifesto, electric salt, artificial skin, fun stuff
Brandon Gorrellas we work at building a better future, let's dig in to how we got to where we are today
Owen Lewiswhite pill #27 // herculaneum scrolls, neutron star collision, laser lightning rods, ai earthquake prediction, gene therapy for deafness, cyberpunk vespa
Brandon Gorrellwhite pill #26 // new CERN science on antimatter has implications for warp drives, a significant development in ai, an absolutely beautiful short film about space hotels, and more
Brandon Gorrelllarge groups of men said they were non-binary so they could invade a women's tech conference. why were the organizers surprised when it happened?
Sanjana Friedmanwhite pill #25 // the metaverse is back, we now have ai with eyes, ears, and voice, we've officially mined an asteroid, and we're one step closer to the electrification of the us vehicle fleet
Brandon Gorrellthe eu’s approach to regulating tech discourages both innovation and competition — and now brussels has its targets set on ai
Brian Chaumy interview with peter thiel, and reflections on ‘the diversity myth’ thirty years later; stagnation, from science and economics to faith and politics; and back to the future
Mike Solanaby all accounts, the metaverse has not delivered on its hype, but a recent piece in the nation does a shockingly bad job reporting on it
Nick Russopirate wires #100 // meta goes to war with twitter, threads' meteoric rise, a battle for the heart of amphetamine-crazed shitposters, and the future of american speech
Mike Solanaeverything you think you know about AI has been told to you by someone with an incentive to lie (and mostly to themselves)
John Luttigmembers of biden’s ai advisory committee NAIAC say they’re concerned about bias in AI, a problem so fake one member had to cite a debunked story in her congressional testimony
River Pagepirate wires #97 // my trillion-dollar infrastructure bill includes a plan to gene-drive burmese pythons off the american continent — for good (the moral case for changing planet earth)
Mike Solanaguest owen lewis dives into the interesting, psychedelic world of glow-in-the-dark species, science, and tech
Owen Lewistoday's senate hearing was a somewhat nuanced discussion in which everyone present kept saying we need to regulate ai
Brandon Gorrelli am a demigoddess, and you can be too // or, the unobtainable, and how to obtain it
Nick Russowhy safetyism — and not climate change or artificial intelligence — has become one of the biggest existential risks facing humanity
Tobias Huber & Byrne Hobartpirate wires #94 // breaking down the work of our media’s favorite AI ethicist, our last defense against the tech bros' genocidal superintelligence (not a thing, but ok LOL we're digging in)
Mike Solanacompression prompts may reveal a magic key to latent worlds within gpt
Brandon Gorrelltiktok has been quietly hiring powerful d.c. insiders, including former staffers for biden, obama, hillary, pelosi, buttigieg, mccain, mccarthy, paul ryan, and adam schiff
Nick Russothere are indications openai has intentionally limited gpt's power in an attempt to manage agi 'take-off' risks
Jon Stokesbut last night, the non-profit that published the letter told us they had "tightened our vetting process" for signatories
Brandon Gorrellif the companies working on these LLMs won't do it, the letter says the government should step in
Brandon Gorrellthe relationship between social media ceos and their users is almost always contentious, except on tiktok this week, where we’re witnessing a strange, obsequious and horny display
River Pagemany of the loudest voices have financial ties to the company
Nick Russoa recap of coinbase's twitter space on the wells enforcement today
Brandon Gorrellrun stanford's language model on your mac with a relative few simple steps — you don't need to be a developer to do it
Brandon Gorrellby asking for an explanation for any poorly understood phenomena that humans have a hard time explaining, GPT is forced to create novel hypotheses
Brandon Gorrellbank bust fallout, fed steps in, scapegoating tech, an existential threat of bi-partisan populist nihilism, and a brief note on getting your act together
Mike Solanathese are huge advances from the llm's previous version, gpt 3.5
Brandon Gorrellprince harry commissioned the aspen institute's commission on information disorder's final report on social media and disinformation
Brandon Gorrellhundreds of unsuspecting adolescents have died after buying fentanyl-laced pills on snapchat. grieving parents are demanding action from the company, but will a safer snapchat save our children?
Nick Russokids are stealing cars in historic numbers, bragging about it online, and taunting their victims. the police are basically helpless.
Nick Russothe viral screenshots of chatbots saying bizarre and frightening stuff are impossible to authenticate
Brandon Gorrellpirate wires #90 // the new york times' 10,000 word conversation with bing AI, but really itself; a ground-breaking act of public masturbation unpacked, examined, debated, savored, cherished
Mike Solanausing a combination of ai tools, a twitch creator has been streaming an endless Seinfeld-like episode, and now tens of thousands of people are watching it
Brandon Gorrellpirate wires #87 // giant sexy neon glowing lawyer bots, the problem of alignment, and my army of shitposting clones
Mike Solanathis july, twitter's former head of security released a shocking whistleblower report that includes allegations as damning as the contents of the Twitter Files—if not worse
Avid Halabypirate wires #85 // summary and analysis of the twitter files, a dangerous alliance of powers, and technology's nature brings the industry home
Mike Solanapirate wires #84 // legendary media meltdown the night that twitter died (it didn't die), the girl who cried stochastic terrorism, and titans of tech at war
Mike Solanaevery iteration of the FTX story was broken by accounts like @AutismCapital, while nyt and other mainstream outlets obscured, downplayed, and denied the degree to which SBF screwed everyone over
Brandon Gorrellholy shit that fact check
River Pagepirate wires #79 // a full primer on the elon twitter saga, a secret world of billionaire texts EXPOSED, media distortion, and yes he bought the company (again (maybe))
Mike Solanaan exploration of the unhinged workplace culture gripping the halls of our country’s most important companies
Liz Wolfethe power class claims musk is a supervillain. the truth is simpler: he wants free speech. they don't.
Mike Solanatechnology is a mirror: a few thoughts on the singularity, and seeing ourselves in artificial intelligence
Mike Solanadiagnosing our "attention-monster social media," fighting back against our would-be censors, strategy for success, and doubling-down on free speech
Mike Solanapirate wires #55 // nuclear fallout from chappelle's most boring netflix special ever, activist insanity, tech execs push back, and brian armstrong's new way forward
Mike Solanapirate wires #54 // instagram's suicide farm, media distortion, and navigating three weeks of facebook hysteria
Mike Solanabanned from youtube for sharing footage of his work on a covid vaccine, josiah zayner makes the case for the average person's right to self and science
Josiah Zayner, PhDscience, culture, and a journey through the world of fasting
Sasha ChapinBack in elementary school a ‘scientific theory’ hit the playground that blew my mind: if every person in China jumped at the same time…
Mike Solana