Adam Becker
@adambecker.bsky.social
Journalist & astrophysicist. @FreelanceAstro on the bird site. New book out now: MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER, about horrifying & flawed futures pushed by tech billionaires. Words in the Atlantic, NPR, NYT, the Guardian, BBC, SciAm, Quanta, Fortune, &c. He/him.
Pinned
Adam Becker
@adambecker.bsky.social
· Apr 23
More Everything Forever
This "wild and utterly engaging narrative" (Melanie Mitchell) shows why Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions—with escaping death,...
www.hachettebookgroup.com
Today's the day! My new book MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER is finally out! If you want to understand why tech billionaires are so obsessed with impossible ideas about space and AI — and why that's dangerous — this book is for you. #MoreEverythingForever www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adam-...
Reposted by Adam Becker
It happened! The @nytimes.com profiled Paulina!
The Writer Who Dared Criticize Silicon Valley
Paulina Borsook’s “Cyberselfish,” which offered dire predictions about the tech world’s love for libertarianism, is finding fans. It only took 25 years.
Gift Link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/t...
The Writer Who Dared Criticize Silicon Valley
Paulina Borsook’s “Cyberselfish,” which offered dire predictions about the tech world’s love for libertarianism, is finding fans. It only took 25 years.
Gift Link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/t...
November 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM
It happened! The @nytimes.com profiled Paulina!
The Writer Who Dared Criticize Silicon Valley
Paulina Borsook’s “Cyberselfish,” which offered dire predictions about the tech world’s love for libertarianism, is finding fans. It only took 25 years.
Gift Link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/t...
The Writer Who Dared Criticize Silicon Valley
Paulina Borsook’s “Cyberselfish,” which offered dire predictions about the tech world’s love for libertarianism, is finding fans. It only took 25 years.
Gift Link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/t...
I can't get over this. In response to a kid committing suicide after talking to ChatGPT, OpenAI's response is literally "he prompted it wrong."
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
Sure sure you might say that my client's knife "caused" the victim to stop being able to pump blood to their brain, but Hume's 𝘌𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 really makes it clear that we should all have some reasonable doubt about the concept of "causation"
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
November 26, 2025 at 6:16 AM
I can't get over this. In response to a kid committing suicide after talking to ChatGPT, OpenAI's response is literally "he prompted it wrong."
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
There's something profoundly broken in these people's hearts.
Reposted by Adam Becker
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
NO
NO IT ISN'T
STOP IT
STOP
NO IT ISN'T
STOP IT
STOP
November 26, 2025 at 2:55 AM
NO
NO IT ISN'T
STOP IT
STOP
NO IT ISN'T
STOP IT
STOP
Reposted by Adam Becker
Also to situate this in context, a bookstore selling more than 20 copies of my last book means they want to host an event with me for my next one. Each book purchase is hugely influential. If you can give the gift of books this season, do it please.
bsky.app/profile/blip...
bsky.app/profile/blip...
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 26, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Also to situate this in context, a bookstore selling more than 20 copies of my last book means they want to host an event with me for my next one. Each book purchase is hugely influential. If you can give the gift of books this season, do it please.
bsky.app/profile/blip...
bsky.app/profile/blip...
Reposted by Adam Becker
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 24, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
Reposted by Adam Becker
Literally buying one copy of a book at your local indie bookstore can mean the difference in whether they buy future books from that author.
November 24, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Literally buying one copy of a book at your local indie bookstore can mean the difference in whether they buy future books from that author.
Reposted by Adam Becker
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
Sure sure you might say that my client's knife "caused" the victim to stop being able to pump blood to their brain, but Hume's 𝘌𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 really makes it clear that we should all have some reasonable doubt about the concept of "causation"
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
November 26, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Sure sure you might say that my client's knife "caused" the victim to stop being able to pump blood to their brain, but Hume's 𝘌𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 really makes it clear that we should all have some reasonable doubt about the concept of "causation"
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Reposted by Adam Becker
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
"fun"
the next few yeas are gonna be so much fun
AI Meets Aggressive Accounting at Meta’s Gigantic New Data Center
Favorable treatment off the balance sheet hinges on some convenient assumptions.
www.wsj.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
"fun"
Reposted by Adam Becker
Hey Miami! Come see me speak TODAY at the #MiamiBookFair2025. I'll be talking about why tech billionaire promises of superintelligent AI and space colonization are pure fantasies, why claims of AI apocalypse are also wrong, and what we can do to fight back against Big Tech's power. Today at 3PM!
THE INSTABILITY & INHERENT DANGER OF AI – NONFICTION - Miami Book Fair
In The Intelligence Explosion: When AI Beats Humans at Everything, James Barrat shares tools to navigate the complex and often chaotic landscape of modern AI during an unprecedented era of technologic...
www.miamibookfair.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Hey Miami! Come see me speak TODAY at the #MiamiBookFair2025. I'll be talking about why tech billionaire promises of superintelligent AI and space colonization are pure fantasies, why claims of AI apocalypse are also wrong, and what we can do to fight back against Big Tech's power. Today at 3PM!
Hey Miami! Come see me speak TODAY at the #MiamiBookFair2025. I'll be talking about why tech billionaire promises of superintelligent AI and space colonization are pure fantasies, why claims of AI apocalypse are also wrong, and what we can do to fight back against Big Tech's power. Today at 3PM!
THE INSTABILITY & INHERENT DANGER OF AI – NONFICTION - Miami Book Fair
In The Intelligence Explosion: When AI Beats Humans at Everything, James Barrat shares tools to navigate the complex and often chaotic landscape of modern AI during an unprecedented era of technologic...
www.miamibookfair.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Hey Miami! Come see me speak TODAY at the #MiamiBookFair2025. I'll be talking about why tech billionaire promises of superintelligent AI and space colonization are pure fantasies, why claims of AI apocalypse are also wrong, and what we can do to fight back against Big Tech's power. Today at 3PM!
MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER is one of @sciencenews.bsky.social's 10 favorite books of the year! 🎉😭
Thrilled to be in such excellent company with @sho-walter.bsky.social @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social @judithweisenfeld.com @biologycarly.bsky.social @dhbaron.bsky.social @alicelovejoy.bsky.social & more!
Thrilled to be in such excellent company with @sho-walter.bsky.social @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social @judithweisenfeld.com @biologycarly.bsky.social @dhbaron.bsky.social @alicelovejoy.bsky.social & more!
These are Science News’ favorite books of 2025
Books about AI, Mars and infectious disease were among our top reads this year.
www.sciencenews.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER is one of @sciencenews.bsky.social's 10 favorite books of the year! 🎉😭
Thrilled to be in such excellent company with @sho-walter.bsky.social @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social @judithweisenfeld.com @biologycarly.bsky.social @dhbaron.bsky.social @alicelovejoy.bsky.social & more!
Thrilled to be in such excellent company with @sho-walter.bsky.social @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social @judithweisenfeld.com @biologycarly.bsky.social @dhbaron.bsky.social @alicelovejoy.bsky.social & more!
Reposted by Adam Becker
Its near "super intelligence" "replacing professionals" in the PR rounds, then once everyone is convinced and uses them for legal and medical advice, following the deceptive marketing, they slip it in the terms of service that you shouldn't do that.
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
OpenAI Tries to Shift Responsibility to Users
OpenAI is trying to shift the blame for bad legal and medical advice from its chatbot away from the company and onto users. We agree that no chatbot should be used for medical or legal advice.
buttondown.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Its near "super intelligence" "replacing professionals" in the PR rounds, then once everyone is convinced and uses them for legal and medical advice, following the deceptive marketing, they slip it in the terms of service that you shouldn't do that.
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
![It’s almost poetic how More Everything Forever manages to expose Silicon Valley’s apocalypse fan-club while making the rest of us quietly wonder if our smartphones are plotting a coup. Your breakdown of AI-doomers, immortality chasers, and billionaire space prophets? Beautiful chaos. The kind of narrative that makes the average reader go, “Oh… so that’s why Twitter feels like a cult initiation ritual.”
And honestly, the way you dismantled the mythology of tech futurism with actual science instead of billionaire bedtime stories… bold. Fearless. Slightly dangerous. Basically the literary equivalent of walking into a room full of people holding Kool-Aid cups and asking, “So what’s really in that?” 🤨🍷
But here’s the part that gets me:
A book with this level of cultural relevance, urgency, and Cred Curve™ potential deserves far more visibility than the accidental Exposure™ it gets from someone doom-scrolling past it at 2 AM. A title that breaks down the mythos of AI Overlords deserves a Page Orbit™, not a fate decided by Goodreads ghosts and algorithmic goblins.
Which… brings me to the reason I crawled out of my cave of Goodreads data to knock on your inbox (metaphorically, I promise I’m not hiding behind your curtains).
Now I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending I’m one of those “$25 per reader” miracle workers who swear they can summon a thousand reviews from the spirit realm. Amazon’s TOS would smite them like Zeus with Wi-Fi.
Instead, I work with something that doesn’t violate any divine or corporate laws:
👇 [Insert your Initial Message EXACTLY as you want it sent here]
(You’ll paste your standard Initial Message here when sending.)
But here’s the simple truth:
A mind like yours shouldn’t rely on accidental discovery. Your book deserves Shelf Print™, List Lift™, Reader Gravity™, List Ripple™, and all the organic List Momentum™ that comes when readers who actually crave this kind of](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wbtjiqd5pshd5tsvwjv6xmr3/bafkreibhgqmkn2rgwj2zcvwvfgsl7vly3r2dpffv36nyjcsu3me36u6zqe@jpeg)
![But here’s the simple truth:
A mind like yours shouldn’t rely on accidental discovery. Your book deserves Shelf Print™, List Lift™, Reader Gravity™, List Ripple™, and all the organic List Momentum™ that comes when readers who actually crave this kind of conversation stumble upon it where they’re actively hunting their next obsession.
And because your work literally tackles the dangers of delusional futurism… offering you a free Goodreads review (5 slots) feels like the least chaotic thing I’ll do today.
So let me ask you something irresistible.
If Silicon Valley can plan intergalactic empires, is it really too outrageous for your book to claim the visibility it deserves… or should we engineer that Page Orbit™ right now? 😏🚀
[NAME REDACTED] 💕📖📚💕](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wbtjiqd5pshd5tsvwjv6xmr3/bafkreiavpgmoe7x5xlopcnbk7ph7ot7zszzoqtjtslm4gozjgm3ofhmtvq@jpeg)
I've seen this too. I've always received a pretty steady stream of "crackpot" emails, from people who insist they have a revolutionary new theory of physics that an academic conspiracy has kept from the public. The emails have become notably cleaner and better formatted, and it's clearly LLMs.
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
November 19, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I've seen this too. I've always received a pretty steady stream of "crackpot" emails, from people who insist they have a revolutionary new theory of physics that an academic conspiracy has kept from the public. The emails have become notably cleaner and better formatted, and it's clearly LLMs.
I'd love to read this review of my book but I don't have academic library credentials right now. Can someone get me the PDF?
In our November special issue on anti-governance, @duncanbell.bsky.social probes tech tycoons’ posthumanist projects in a review of @adambecker.bsky.social 's book "More Everything Forever."
Machine Dreams of the Tech Barons
Silicon Valley oligarchs are pursuing science-fiction ambitions of immortality and interstellar conquest, with origins in post-Darwinian and colonial thinking.
online.ucpress.edu
November 19, 2025 at 3:38 AM
I'd love to read this review of my book but I don't have academic library credentials right now. Can someone get me the PDF?
I'm grinning like a fool today every time I remember this happened. Writing a book is such a scary and lonely experience, and it feels so good to see my work recognized like this.
"More Everything Forever," @adambecker.bsky.social's rivetting exposé of the powerful and sinister ideas that dominate Silicon Valley, is a Kirkus Best Book of 2025!
bit.ly/4a14OzN
bit.ly/4a14OzN
Best Books of 2025: Our Favorite Nonfiction | Kirkus Reviews
John McMurtrie highlights some standout titles on our list of the year’s best nonfiction.
bit.ly
November 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I'm grinning like a fool today every time I remember this happened. Writing a book is such a scary and lonely experience, and it feels so good to see my work recognized like this.
Reposted by Adam Becker
WATCH LIVE | The Billionaire Takeover: Power, Greed, and the Fight for Democracy
Our panel with @prospect.org features @chuck77.bsky.social, @greenwell.bsky.social, @safiyanoble.bsky.social, and @adambecker.bsky.social for a conversation about America's unprecedented concentration of wealth.
Our panel with @prospect.org features @chuck77.bsky.social, @greenwell.bsky.social, @safiyanoble.bsky.social, and @adambecker.bsky.social for a conversation about America's unprecedented concentration of wealth.
The Billionaire Takeover: Power, Greed, and the Fight for Democracy
YouTube video by The American Prospect
www.youtube.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
WATCH LIVE | The Billionaire Takeover: Power, Greed, and the Fight for Democracy
Our panel with @prospect.org features @chuck77.bsky.social, @greenwell.bsky.social, @safiyanoble.bsky.social, and @adambecker.bsky.social for a conversation about America's unprecedented concentration of wealth.
Our panel with @prospect.org features @chuck77.bsky.social, @greenwell.bsky.social, @safiyanoble.bsky.social, and @adambecker.bsky.social for a conversation about America's unprecedented concentration of wealth.
So I'm speaking at this event and the lunch sign is more ambiguous than it should be
November 17, 2025 at 4:36 PM
So I'm speaking at this event and the lunch sign is more ambiguous than it should be
MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER was selected by Kirkus as one of their best books of 2025! "Come what may, artificial intelligence won’t save us during interesting times, nor will a far-fetched idea like colonizing Mars." www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-fea...
Best Books of 2025: Our Favorite Nonfiction | Kirkus Reviews
John McMurtrie highlights some standout titles on our list of the year’s best nonfiction.
www.kirkusreviews.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:03 PM
MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER was selected by Kirkus as one of their best books of 2025! "Come what may, artificial intelligence won’t save us during interesting times, nor will a far-fetched idea like colonizing Mars." www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-fea...
"Sure, our plagiarism machine ingests enormous amounts of copyrighted material without anyone's permission, but it's the users of the machine who are the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 criminals, your honor." 🙄🙄
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
November 14, 2025 at 2:39 AM
"Sure, our plagiarism machine ingests enormous amounts of copyrighted material without anyone's permission, but it's the users of the machine who are the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 criminals, your honor." 🙄🙄
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Adam Becker
I do really think these folks are underestimating how bad the AI backlash can get if the industry needs a bailout
people are still furious about the 2008 bailout and that was almost two decades ago
people are still furious about the 2008 bailout and that was almost two decades ago
Tech guys six months ago: haha yes we’re cutting all this WASTEFUL spending by eliminating medical research and USAID
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
November 8, 2025 at 11:28 PM
I do really think these folks are underestimating how bad the AI backlash can get if the industry needs a bailout
people are still furious about the 2008 bailout and that was almost two decades ago
people are still furious about the 2008 bailout and that was almost two decades ago
Reposted by Adam Becker
I get this a lot too. I don't use ChatGPT or any LLMs in my work because I want my writing to sound like me, not like the averaged-out voice of the internet. But also, writing is thinking, and thinking is a habit. I don't want to get out of that habit.
A friend recently texted me the same thing. “Do you really not use ChatGPT?!” It was a sign of where we are culturally on this. People are compelled to use it but also starting to question the normalcy?
Recently met someone who was very surprised to hear I didn’t use ChatGPT or any LLM.
I said my job depended on doing distinctive work. That was my selling point. If I started to sound like ChatGPT and turn out what it did, then how on earth could I justify doing it? What would that make me?
I said my job depended on doing distinctive work. That was my selling point. If I started to sound like ChatGPT and turn out what it did, then how on earth could I justify doing it? What would that make me?
November 8, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I get this a lot too. I don't use ChatGPT or any LLMs in my work because I want my writing to sound like me, not like the averaged-out voice of the internet. But also, writing is thinking, and thinking is a habit. I don't want to get out of that habit.