Damon Beres
@damonberes.com
Senior editor at The Atlantic, focused on tech //
SIGNAL: Damon.63
📨 dberes at the atlantic dot com
✴️ damonberes.com
SIGNAL: Damon.63
📨 dberes at the atlantic dot com
✴️ damonberes.com
Reposted by Damon Beres
There's an all-out AI arms race afoot between hackers and defenders. In the near term at least, cybercriminals may be coming out ahead: www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Chatbots Are Becoming Really, Really Good Criminals
Cybersecurity was already a nightmare. Now comes AI.
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:06 PM
There's an all-out AI arms race afoot between hackers and defenders. In the near term at least, cybercriminals may be coming out ahead: www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
<Professor Farnsworth voice> Good news, everyone!
Chatbots Are Becoming Really, Really Good Criminals
Cybersecurity was already a nightmare. Now comes AI.
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM
<Professor Farnsworth voice> Good news, everyone!
Reposted by Damon Beres
when its definitely not a hostage situation
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
when its definitely not a hostage situation
Reposted by Damon Beres
With all due respect to Brussels sprouts — give it a rest. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Most Underrated Thanksgiving Vegetable
Embrace cabbage.
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM
With all due respect to Brussels sprouts — give it a rest. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Damon Beres
maybe i am going insane
November 24, 2025 at 6:49 PM
maybe i am going insane
Must-read on geoengineering by @alexckaufman.bsky.social
Who’s Ready to Think About Blocking Out the Sun?
The idea of artificially lowering the planet’s temperature is gaining supporters and hitting political opposition.
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Must-read on geoengineering by @alexckaufman.bsky.social
Reposted by Damon Beres
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
“There is a long tradition of great powers in Europe making deals over the heads of smaller countries, leading to terrible suffering.” @anneapplebaum.bsky.social
The Murky Plan That Ensures a Future War
Who will benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
“There is a long tradition of great powers in Europe making deals over the heads of smaller countries, leading to terrible suffering.” @anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Reposted by Damon Beres
Today's pod is up and it's a conversation with the great @pablo.show! We talk about PTFO's theory of sports as the great attentional commodity, billionaires, YT unboxing videos as investigative journalism tool, the gambling epidemic, and how scale obsession is causing everyone to think short term
Pablo Torre: Are Sports The Most Valuable Commodity in the World?
YouTube video by The Atlantic
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Today's pod is up and it's a conversation with the great @pablo.show! We talk about PTFO's theory of sports as the great attentional commodity, billionaires, YT unboxing videos as investigative journalism tool, the gambling epidemic, and how scale obsession is causing everyone to think short term
@sophiegilbert.bsky.social with the perfect lede
The Pig Is in the White House
This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
@sophiegilbert.bsky.social with the perfect lede
Totally smart and reliable AI, very good x.com/grok/status/...
November 20, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Totally smart and reliable AI, very good x.com/grok/status/...
Very interested in how a piece like this gets written, concluding that Grok is "unusually egalitarian" across political lines based on a series of strange and automated experiments that do not in any way mirror general chatbot use, without mentioning Grok's extremely visible, recent fascist tirades
New Data Reveals Political Bias in LLMs
when asked to rank human lives by political affiliation, most llms value environmentalists and socialists over
www.piratewires.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Very interested in how a piece like this gets written, concluding that Grok is "unusually egalitarian" across political lines based on a series of strange and automated experiments that do not in any way mirror general chatbot use, without mentioning Grok's extremely visible, recent fascist tirades
Reposted by Damon Beres
If you haven't already read @damonberes.com on the coming era of AI-enabled anti-social media, where frictionless chatbots replace real-world connections and lead to the atrophy of human social skills and communities, you should: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
November 19, 2025 at 6:27 PM
If you haven't already read @damonberes.com on the coming era of AI-enabled anti-social media, where frictionless chatbots replace real-world connections and lead to the atrophy of human social skills and communities, you should: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Damon Beres
"It’s worth emphasizing that however advanced this all is—however magical it may feel to interact with a program that behaves like the AI fantasies we’ve been fed by science fiction—we are at the very beginning of the chatbot era." @damonberes.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Age of Anti-Social Media Is Here
The social-media era is over. What’s coming will be much worse.
www.theatlantic.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:36 PM
"It’s worth emphasizing that however advanced this all is—however magical it may feel to interact with a program that behaves like the AI fantasies we’ve been fed by science fiction—we are at the very beginning of the chatbot era." @damonberes.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"the pitch had been appealing to me to begin with was likely because a large language model somewhere was remixing my own prompt asking for stories where 'health and money collide,' flattering me by sending me back what I wanted to hear."
A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
"the pitch had been appealing to me to begin with was likely because a large language model somewhere was remixing my own prompt asking for stories where 'health and money collide,' flattering me by sending me back what I wanted to hear."
Reposted by Damon Beres
AI porn generator and ERP chatbot Secret Desires left millions of images and videos exposed in unsecured cloud storage. I took a look and found folders called "faceswap," where people had uploaded tons of stolen content and random photos of women www.404media.co/ai-porn-secr...
Massive Leak Shows Erotic Chatbot Users Turned Women’s Yearbook Pictures Into AI Porn
Chatbot roleplay and image generator platform SecretDesires.ai left cloud storage containers of nearly two million of images and videos exposed, including photos and full names of women from social me...
www.404media.co
November 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
AI porn generator and ERP chatbot Secret Desires left millions of images and videos exposed in unsecured cloud storage. I took a look and found folders called "faceswap," where people had uploaded tons of stolen content and random photos of women www.404media.co/ai-porn-secr...
To be honest there are a lot of appealing items on this list, and I am not just saying that—you know I wouldn't do that
The 2025 Atlantic Gift Guide
None
www.theatlantic.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM
To be honest there are a lot of appealing items on this list, and I am not just saying that—you know I wouldn't do that
One thing I remain somewhat unconvinced about, even after reading the Harpers, etc, is how “real” the gooning “problem” is, vs. a kind of meme-swamped affectation… self-proclaimed “gooners” seem to thrive on attention, trolling, really want people to know they are obsessed with masturbation. anyway,
Young Mormons Built an App to Help Men Quit Gooning
"At a certain point, you enter what I can really only describe as a trance state. I plan a session for when I have no responsibilities and devote that time to my own enjoyment" — Josh, a gooner from Arizona
www.wired.com/story/young-...
"At a certain point, you enter what I can really only describe as a trance state. I plan a session for when I have no responsibilities and devote that time to my own enjoyment" — Josh, a gooner from Arizona
www.wired.com/story/young-...
Young Mormons Built an App to Help Men Quit Gooning
The Relay app allows users to track their porn-free streaks and get group support. Its creators say they’re taking a stand against porn and AI erotica.
www.wired.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:45 PM
One thing I remain somewhat unconvinced about, even after reading the Harpers, etc, is how “real” the gooning “problem” is, vs. a kind of meme-swamped affectation… self-proclaimed “gooners” seem to thrive on attention, trolling, really want people to know they are obsessed with masturbation. anyway,
Unconscionable
NEW:
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Unconscionable
Reposted by Damon Beres
You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing
The de facto Saudi ruler was branded a pariah in 2018 after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Now, U.S.-Saudi relations are approaching a high point.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:11 PM
You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Reposted by Damon Beres
Wrote a thing about why the car industry is crazy about robots, all of a sudden! And not just Tesla, either.
Elon Musk is steering Tesla toward robot production, and the plan isn't as absurd as it may initially seem, Patrick George writes.
Tesla Wants to Build a Robot Army
And so does the rest of the auto industry
bit.ly
November 18, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Wrote a thing about why the car industry is crazy about robots, all of a sudden! And not just Tesla, either.
This is one of those stories where it's just like... it feels impossible to comprehend all of the STUFF in the world. 300 billion pennies. 300 billion pennies! 300 billion pennies? how
Pennies Are Trash Now
The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies.
www.theatlantic.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:53 PM
This is one of those stories where it's just like... it feels impossible to comprehend all of the STUFF in the world. 300 billion pennies. 300 billion pennies! 300 billion pennies? how