Brian Merchant
@bcmerchant.bsky.social
author of Blood in the Machine, tech writer, luddite
newsletter: https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/
books: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/brian-merchant/
kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/brianmerchant
newsletter: https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/
books: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/brian-merchant/
kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/brianmerchant
Pinned
Brian Merchant
@bcmerchant.bsky.social
· Nov 12
One year of Blood in the Machine (the book)
On a year of rehabilitating the luddites, resisting AI, and beginning to build a better future
www.bloodinthemachine.com
Well hello all, and thanks for giving me a follow over here, and to the starter pack creators who kindly included me.
I'm a tech journalist, critic, and author of Blood in the Machine, a book + newsletter about breaking oppressive machines:
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/one-year-o...
I'm a tech journalist, critic, and author of Blood in the Machine, a book + newsletter about breaking oppressive machines:
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/one-year-o...
Reposted by Brian Merchant
NEW: ICE has torn up its $180M cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program and is now guaranteeing private surveillance firms at least $7.5M each, with potential payouts reaching $281M per vendor. The change signals a shift from “pilot” to full-scale outsourcing of street-level investigative work.
ICE Offers Up to $280 Million to Immigrant-Tracking ‘Bounty Hunter’ Firms
Immigration and Customs Enforcement lifted a $180 million cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program while guaranteeing multimillion-dollar payouts for private surveillance firms.
www.wired.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
NEW: ICE has torn up its $180M cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program and is now guaranteeing private surveillance firms at least $7.5M each, with potential payouts reaching $281M per vendor. The change signals a shift from “pilot” to full-scale outsourcing of street-level investigative work.
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
A tech critic’s guide to holiday gift-giving
Maybe your grandma doesn’t need that Alexa smart speaker
disconnect.blog
November 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
Reposted by Brian Merchant
@bcmerchant.bsky.social's recent book Blood in the Machine was an engaging history of the Luddite movement, fighting to distribute the benefits of industrialization more widely rather than concentrating them in the hands of capital owners.
November 25, 2025 at 5:16 PM
@bcmerchant.bsky.social's recent book Blood in the Machine was an engaging history of the Luddite movement, fighting to distribute the benefits of industrialization more widely rather than concentrating them in the hands of capital owners.
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Thanks to @bcmerchant.bsky.social for laying it out. Thanks for @jasonkoebler.bsky.social and @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social and their @404media.co colleagues for reporting it. We’ve all seen it. Time to actively oppose it when we can.
One way is a vision of what beings instead. Got some ideas below.
One way is a vision of what beings instead. Got some ideas below.
If 2023 was the year AI slop was embraced by spammers and social media influencers, and 2024 was the year the slop era began in earnest, 2025 was when slop became embedded in our cultural institutions and social spheres.
On the slop layer that we all must navigate now:
On the slop layer that we all must navigate now:
Lost in the slop layer
How AI has encrusted our culture and social sphere in a sedimentary layer of slop.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Thanks to @bcmerchant.bsky.social for laying it out. Thanks for @jasonkoebler.bsky.social and @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social and their @404media.co colleagues for reporting it. We’ve all seen it. Time to actively oppose it when we can.
One way is a vision of what beings instead. Got some ideas below.
One way is a vision of what beings instead. Got some ideas below.
If 2023 was the year AI slop was embraced by spammers and social media influencers, and 2024 was the year the slop era began in earnest, 2025 was when slop became embedded in our cultural institutions and social spheres.
On the slop layer that we all must navigate now:
On the slop layer that we all must navigate now:
Lost in the slop layer
How AI has encrusted our culture and social sphere in a sedimentary layer of slop.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:48 PM
If 2023 was the year AI slop was embraced by spammers and social media influencers, and 2024 was the year the slop era began in earnest, 2025 was when slop became embedded in our cultural institutions and social spheres.
On the slop layer that we all must navigate now:
On the slop layer that we all must navigate now:
Reposted by Brian Merchant
excelllent blog but I still say turning the monster into Wolverine was a bit much. I half expected a big "Snikt!" claw reveal in the third act
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:28 PM
excelllent blog but I still say turning the monster into Wolverine was a bit much. I half expected a big "Snikt!" claw reveal in the third act
Reposted by Brian Merchant
NEW: a contractor is paying random people $300 to physically track immigrants for ICE. They're given addresses, vehicles, told to monitor the target. That information then goes back up to ICE. These are not licensed private investigators; members of the public
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
Contractor Paying Random People $300 to Physically Track Immigrants for ICE
“The more I listened to it, the more I’m like, something doesn’t sound right,” a person who was briefed on the pilot plans told 404 Media.
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
NEW: a contractor is paying random people $300 to physically track immigrants for ICE. They're given addresses, vehicles, told to monitor the target. That information then goes back up to ICE. These are not licensed private investigators; members of the public
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
Reposted by Brian Merchant
People have largely tried to act like ICE/CBP failed and retreated from LA and that is completely untrue. If it weren’t for the relentless coverage of places like @lataco.bsky.social these stories would be completely under the radar.
ICE has been raiding my neighborhood and surrounding ones for the last couple of weeks now. They commandeered my local church (against the pastor's will) for a staging site and raided supermarkets, parks, Goodwills, bus stops, you name it.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
Engagement on our updates re: ICE kidnappings/fed siege of Los Angeles is significantly lower on Bluesky compared to Twitter. Do ppl on here not care about LA anymore? Are feeds being taken over by liberal commentators? What's going on?
Community members on the ground can't do it all. We need help.
Community members on the ground can't do it all. We need help.
November 19, 2025 at 1:11 AM
People have largely tried to act like ICE/CBP failed and retreated from LA and that is completely untrue. If it weren’t for the relentless coverage of places like @lataco.bsky.social these stories would be completely under the radar.
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Don't forget about LA. The feds never left (& won't be leaving until at least 2028). The people will continue to fight.
* data below as of November 1 from @lapublicpress.bsky.social
* data below as of November 1 from @lapublicpress.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Don't forget about LA. The feds never left (& won't be leaving until at least 2028). The people will continue to fight.
* data below as of November 1 from @lapublicpress.bsky.social
* data below as of November 1 from @lapublicpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Reposted by Brian Merchant
ICE never left L.A. The military did but they aren't the ones terrorizing the city. Please don't ignore L.A.
ICE has been raiding my neighborhood and surrounding ones for the last couple of weeks now. They commandeered my local church (against the pastor's will) for a staging site and raided supermarkets, parks, Goodwills, bus stops, you name it.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
Engagement on our updates re: ICE kidnappings/fed siege of Los Angeles is significantly lower on Bluesky compared to Twitter. Do ppl on here not care about LA anymore? Are feeds being taken over by liberal commentators? What's going on?
Community members on the ground can't do it all. We need help.
Community members on the ground can't do it all. We need help.
November 19, 2025 at 12:06 AM
ICE never left L.A. The military did but they aren't the ones terrorizing the city. Please don't ignore L.A.
ICE has been raiding my neighborhood and surrounding ones for the last couple of weeks now. They commandeered my local church (against the pastor's will) for a staging site and raided supermarkets, parks, Goodwills, bus stops, you name it.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
Engagement on our updates re: ICE kidnappings/fed siege of Los Angeles is significantly lower on Bluesky compared to Twitter. Do ppl on here not care about LA anymore? Are feeds being taken over by liberal commentators? What's going on?
Community members on the ground can't do it all. We need help.
Community members on the ground can't do it all. We need help.
The feds are escalating in Los Angeles. We've seen record high kidnappings and our communities are under attack. The media focus on LA has died down so electeds don't feel the need to even feign opposition.
People are out here fighting. We need all of us. Join the struggle. Defend your neighbors.
People are out here fighting. We need all of us. Join the struggle. Defend your neighbors.
November 18, 2025 at 11:54 PM
ICE has been raiding my neighborhood and surrounding ones for the last couple of weeks now. They commandeered my local church (against the pastor's will) for a staging site and raided supermarkets, parks, Goodwills, bus stops, you name it.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
The national media's been silent. So has @mayor.lacity.gov.
Reposted by Brian Merchant
I've seen several reviews and this one comes closest to how I feel.
On the ending, worth recalling the entire thing is told via unreliable narrators, which Victor *tells* us early on. There's the question on whether the redemption was earned, there's also the question on whether it was truly given.
On the ending, worth recalling the entire thing is told via unreliable narrators, which Victor *tells* us early on. There's the question on whether the redemption was earned, there's also the question on whether it was truly given.
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:50 PM
I've seen several reviews and this one comes closest to how I feel.
On the ending, worth recalling the entire thing is told via unreliable narrators, which Victor *tells* us early on. There's the question on whether the redemption was earned, there's also the question on whether it was truly given.
On the ending, worth recalling the entire thing is told via unreliable narrators, which Victor *tells* us early on. There's the question on whether the redemption was earned, there's also the question on whether it was truly given.
Reposted by Brian Merchant
license plate data merged with credit header data, marriage records, vehicle ownership, and voter registrations, in one app for ICE agents. oh and it sends push notifications when someone they're seeking is nearby.
🆒: www.404media.co/this-app-let...
🆒: www.404media.co/this-app-let...
This App Lets ICE Track Vehicles and Owners Across the Country
Material viewed by 404 Media shows data giant Thomson Reuters enriches license plate data with marriage, voter, and ownership records. The tool can predict where a car may be in the future.
www.404media.co
November 17, 2025 at 2:45 PM
license plate data merged with credit header data, marriage records, vehicle ownership, and voter registrations, in one app for ICE agents. oh and it sends push notifications when someone they're seeking is nearby.
🆒: www.404media.co/this-app-let...
🆒: www.404media.co/this-app-let...
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Email from a student who turned in a ChatGPT essay. Not even looking at the ChatGPT output in the apology 🥴
![Dear [Professor’s Name],
I want to sincerely apologize for my actions regarding my midterm submission.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fs6z2b756buwsdsjkle6utfi/bafkreiecvhzfgr4tlwyy2mvpbvjncqkysytwsxvidaoressh7peonoso3y@jpeg)
November 9, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Email from a student who turned in a ChatGPT essay. Not even looking at the ChatGPT output in the apology 🥴
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Elon Musk
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Elon Musk
Let's also not forget that Epstein pen pal Larry Summers is also on OpenAI's board of directors
Elizabeth Warren called on Harvard to cut ties with Larry Summers after he featured prominently in the latest Jeffrey Epstein emails
Elizabeth Warren Calls For Harvard To Cut Ties With Larry Summers
The former Harvard president "cannot be trusted" with students, she warned.
www.huffpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Let's also not forget that Epstein pen pal Larry Summers is also on OpenAI's board of directors
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Wrote about digitally cloning your loved ones, immortality, death cults, and Silicon Valley. Plus: an old essay on Russian Cosmism and its perversion by today’s accelerationists.
thetechbubble.substack.com/p/silicon-va...
thetechbubble.substack.com/p/silicon-va...
November 17, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Wrote about digitally cloning your loved ones, immortality, death cults, and Silicon Valley. Plus: an old essay on Russian Cosmism and its perversion by today’s accelerationists.
thetechbubble.substack.com/p/silicon-va...
thetechbubble.substack.com/p/silicon-va...
Reposted by Brian Merchant
the new Frankenstein movie offers great parallels to the current top down discourse around AI
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:23 PM
the new Frankenstein movie offers great parallels to the current top down discourse around AI
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Brian’s excellent piece reminds me of a Frankenthing I wrote for the book’s bicentennial www.theguardian.com/science/poli...
November 17, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Brian’s excellent piece reminds me of a Frankenthing I wrote for the book’s bicentennial www.theguardian.com/science/poli...
Reposted by Brian Merchant
The real Silicon Valley commentary was having a funder be like "you have all the time and money in the world, go nuts," only to suddenly pull the rug and say "actually, now you have to solve immortality for me personally in two weeks or you're cut off."
This is how modern monsters are created.
This is how modern monsters are created.
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:06 PM
The real Silicon Valley commentary was having a funder be like "you have all the time and money in the world, go nuts," only to suddenly pull the rug and say "actually, now you have to solve immortality for me personally in two weeks or you're cut off."
This is how modern monsters are created.
This is how modern monsters are created.
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:03 PM
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Yessssssss
NEW from me: a new report found that national resistance to data centers skyrocketed between March and June of this year—especially in red states like Georgia and Indiana:
The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived
A new report finds that local opposition to data centers skyrocketed in the second quarter of this year.
www.wired.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Yessssssss
Reposted by Brian Merchant
Last week my last employer, a writing studio specializing in branding and website content, formally closed its doors.
The handful of staff have been folded into an AI copy generation company.
Originally that company had been created as a software company to support studio staff with eCom writing.
The handful of staff have been folded into an AI copy generation company.
Originally that company had been created as a software company to support studio staff with eCom writing.
To clarify — writing, journalism, and art jobs make up a relatively small portion of the broader economy, but these are precisely the jobs we're losing as firms try to cut costs and cut out humans. Artists, journalists, illustrators.
Then explain why I lost the vast majority of my cybersecurity writing gigs since 2023, @bcmerchant.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Last week my last employer, a writing studio specializing in branding and website content, formally closed its doors.
The handful of staff have been folded into an AI copy generation company.
Originally that company had been created as a software company to support studio staff with eCom writing.
The handful of staff have been folded into an AI copy generation company.
Originally that company had been created as a software company to support studio staff with eCom writing.
Reposted by Brian Merchant
The sad truth is that even when AI results in worse products & still needs fixed by human workers, CEOs will still see it as a win if AI announcements increase stocks & they can use it as an excuse for layoffs
Unionization is critical if you want any chance at pushing back against these businessmen
Unionization is critical if you want any chance at pushing back against these businessmen
How is AI *really* impacting jobs?
Henley Chiu, the CTO of Revealera, a jobs data analysis firm, analyzed 180 million jobs listings in 2024 and 2025, in an effort to find out. Chiu found an:
-8% drop in all jobs postings
-~30% drop in art, photography, writing jobs
-22% drop in journalism jobs
Henley Chiu, the CTO of Revealera, a jobs data analysis firm, analyzed 180 million jobs listings in 2024 and 2025, in an effort to find out. Chiu found an:
-8% drop in all jobs postings
-~30% drop in art, photography, writing jobs
-22% drop in journalism jobs
What’s really going on with AI and jobs?
Record-breaking layoff reports, Amazon's mass firings, and a slump in entry level employment. Is AI behind it all?
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 PM
The sad truth is that even when AI results in worse products & still needs fixed by human workers, CEOs will still see it as a win if AI announcements increase stocks & they can use it as an excuse for layoffs
Unionization is critical if you want any chance at pushing back against these businessmen
Unionization is critical if you want any chance at pushing back against these businessmen