Marianne Dhenin
@mariannedhe.bsky.social
10K followers 1.1K following 1K posts
crip journalist, historian, editor, organizer subscribe to my newsletter: newsletter.mariannedhenin.com send reporting tips: [email protected], signal: @mariannedhe.26
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mariannedhe.bsky.social
When @yesmedia.bsky.social announced that it would be shutting down, I stopped waffling about launching a newsletter and started setting it up. Read about that decision and subscribe with an early supporter discount here: newsletter.mariannedhenin.com/thanks-for-b...
Thanks for being here.
I'm launching a newsletter. Here's why and what's next.
newsletter.mariannedhenin.com
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
knownforms.bsky.social
Outbreaks in South Carolina and Minneapolis. please get vaccinated. if you were vaccinated as a kid, get your titers done to make sure you're still immune.
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
rebeccacharbon.bsky.social
🚀 We’re hiring a 3-year Postdoctoral Fellow in history of science/STS to join my team at the American Institute of Physics! If you're looking for a fellowship opportunity in the history of the physical sciences post-1850, please see our ad for more details: workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Recruitment
workforcenow.adp.com
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
ysl.bsky.social
'There must be something strangely sacred in salt.
It is in our tears and in the sea.'

— Gibran
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
matthewterrill.bsky.social
I was already a hard AI-skeptic but this cements my long suspicion that there is no feasible path to anything close to return on invested capital for these data centers. Tech would need 15 to 25 times current AI revenues within the next 2-3 years just to break even. Not financially viable.
"I clearly hit a nerve in the industry, when judging by the number of individuals who reached out to chat," he wrote in an followup blog post. "In total, l've spoken with over two-dozen rather senior people in the datacenter universe, and there was an interesting and overriding theme to our conversations: no one understands how the financial math is supposed to work. They are as baffled as I am, and they do this for a living."
Kupperman's original skepticism was built on a guess that the components in an average Al data center would take ten years to depreciate, requiring costly replacements. That was bad enough: "I don't see how there can ever be any return on investment given the current math," he wrote at the time.
But ten years, he now understands, is way too generous.
" had previously assumed a 10-year depreciation curve, which I now recognize as quite unrealistic based upon the speed with which Al datacenter technology is advancing," Kupperman wrote. "Based on my conversations over the past month, the physical data centers last for three to ten years, at most."
In his previous analysis, Kupperman assumed it would take the tech industry $160 billion of revenue to break even on data center spending in 2025 alone. And that's assuming an incredibly generous 25 percent gross margin - not to mention the fact that the industry's actual Al revenue is closer to $20 billion annually, as the investment manager noted in his previous blog. "In reality, the industry probably needs a revenue range that is closer to the $320 billion to $480 billion range, just to break even on the capex to be spent this year," Kupperman posited in his updated essay. "No wonder my new contacts in the industry shoulder a heavy burden - heavier than I could ever imagine. They know the truth."
Kupperman called that gulf between tech industry spending and actual revenue in 2025 "astonishing."
However, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. For example, how does it all shake out when we account for 2026, when hundreds of new data centers are expected to pop up?
"Adding the two years together, and using the math from my prior post, you'd need approximately $1 trillion in revenue to hit break even, and many trillions more to earn an acceptable return on this spend," he writes.
"If the economics don't work, doing it at massive scale doesn't make the economics work any better
- it just takes an industry crisis and makes it into a national economic crisis," he concludes.
Overall, the pessimists broadly agree: it's no longer a matter of if Al is massively overhyped, but when the whole thing comes crashing down.
More on Al hype: Data Shows That Al Use Is Now Declining at Large Companies
mariannedhe.bsky.social
John edits my just-getting-off-the-ground newsletter and is excellent at it! I recommend him.
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
histoftech.bsky.social
“Concerns over an AI bubble bursting have grown lately, with analysts recently finding that it’s 17 times the size of the dotcom-era bubble and four times bigger than the 2008 financial crisis.”

Hang onto your butts. This “correction” is gonna hurt.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Bank of England Warns of Impending AI Disaster
The Bank of England has sounded the alarm, warning of an intensifying risk of a "sudden correction" due to an AI spending frenzy.
futurism.com
mariannedhe.bsky.social
Trump's "war on woke" has put Indigenous arts and culture institutions in a challenging position. “Without being able to transmit our traditional knowledge and oral histories, unfortunately, it feels like we’re at the end of a long genocide," one culture worker told me. Read my reporting here:
Facing Defunding, Indigenous Culture Workers Resist
The proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities threatens Indigenous libraries and arts programs.
newsletter.mariannedhenin.com
mariannedhe.bsky.social
re-upping this call for sources: I'm covering cases of censorship or retaliation against healthcare workers in the US for Palestine-related speech at @truthout.org. If that's you, please reach out by Oct 17 (email and Signal in bio). RTs appreciated. 🧑‍⚕️ 🇵🇸
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
bmj.com
The Trump administration and its allies have taken several steps to ensure that medical schools in the US dismantle all diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

It is patients who will be the victims of this, write @gavinyamey.bsky.social and @michaeldgreen.com
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
mariannedhe.bsky.social
My "certainly not ideal" was meant to refer to negligent injuries. I didn't think you meant to be ableist, and I do appreciate your posts!
mariannedhe.bsky.social
Certainly not ideal, yea! Thanks for sharing your expertise.
mariannedhe.bsky.social
I appreciate that you're helping protestors not get injured! I also want to point out that many courageous disabled people are part of this fight, so the particular phrasing that one can't contribute if they're "crippled" isn't great. Cripples (for those who claim the term) are part of this republic
mariannedhe.bsky.social
Gaza has been without operable water and sanitation infrastructure for two years. I spoke with Mariam Zaqout about the water crisis and why any efforts to rebuild must be Palestinian-led. Read it here: newsletter.mariannedhenin.com/mariam-zaqou....
Mariam Zaqout on Palestine’s Water Crisis
Gaza has been without operable water and sanitation infrastructure for almost two years. Efforts to rebuild must be Palestinian-led.
newsletter.mariannedhenin.com
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
glophi.bsky.social
New Vacancy at Leiden University:
Assistant Professor in African and Comparative Philosophy

Deadline: December 1, 2025
Start date: August 1, 2026

careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Assistan...
mariannedhe.bsky.social
Oh nooo do I even want to know
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
junoryleejournalism.com
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin
amb.fyi
in the second cnn portland city councilor hit of the day, the anchor couldn’t keep a straight face
mariannedhe.bsky.social
Look at you go! New mediums!
mariannedhe.bsky.social
adding my endorsement! I enjoyed this book (at least as much as one can, given the subject matter)
mariannedhe.bsky.social
I am not the intended audience*

*people with probably bad taste
mariannedhe.bsky.social
alright I had to look these up and I sure hope doing so does not lead to ads on my feed 😬
Reposted by Marianne Dhenin