Dave Lee
@davelee.me
US technology columnist, Bloomberg Opinion. Based in New York. Previously FT and BBC. Watching Cambridge United from afar. [email protected] / Signal: davelee.01 / www.davelee.me
The quality of Claude Code makes me think the first phase of AI in the workplace will be non-developers using AI to create software to handle largely non-AI tasks. Solving little hassles of the office day.
Seems to me there is a huge distinction between AI applications that are basically working towards full natural lanugage programming, task management etc and AI applications to *make new stuff*. The former seems both more promising as an actual useful tech and also way way less ethically dubious
January 13, 2026 at 4:50 PM
The quality of Claude Code makes me think the first phase of AI in the workplace will be non-developers using AI to create software to handle largely non-AI tasks. Solving little hassles of the office day.
Progress?
*SENATE PASSES BILL TARGETING NONCONSENSUAL DEEPFAKE IMAGES
*SENATE PASSES BILL TARGETING NONCONSENSUAL DEEPFAKE IMAGES
January 13, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Progress?
*SENATE PASSES BILL TARGETING NONCONSENSUAL DEEPFAKE IMAGES
*SENATE PASSES BILL TARGETING NONCONSENSUAL DEEPFAKE IMAGES
Reposted by Dave Lee
“But as the number of prominent tech figures who voice dissent grows, the tech left may see a return to its strength in numbers.” @davelee.me on resurgent tech “left” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti... tip @techmeme.com
The ‘Tech Left’ Is Different This Time
The sight of the country’s most powerful technology chief executive officers lined up behind the president at an inauguration they helped pay for was a visual declaration that the Silicon Valley effor...
www.bloomberg.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:40 AM
“But as the number of prominent tech figures who voice dissent grows, the tech left may see a return to its strength in numbers.” @davelee.me on resurgent tech “left” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti... tip @techmeme.com
There's an anonymous person on YouTube remastering and extending Michael Jackson's albums using ONLY material from the original (and leaked) master tapes. The quality is so high I'm half convinced its Bruce Swedien's secret retirement project www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iLK...
HUMAN NATURE (SWG Extended Mix) - MICHAEL JACKSON (Thriller)
YouTube video by SWG / SingleWhiteGlove
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:15 PM
There's an anonymous person on YouTube remastering and extending Michael Jackson's albums using ONLY material from the original (and leaked) master tapes. The quality is so high I'm half convinced its Bruce Swedien's secret retirement project www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iLK...
What should a smarter Siri actually *do*? I'm yet to hear much beyond just "be better."
January 12, 2026 at 8:46 PM
What should a smarter Siri actually *do*? I'm yet to hear much beyond just "be better."
Banning companies "they don't like" is the new "doing it for political reasons". Yes, the politics of being against child abuse.
“Deepfake child pornography is fine as long as only adults get to see it” is a curious place for the modern Conservative Party to find itself, but here we are
January 12, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Banning companies "they don't like" is the new "doing it for political reasons". Yes, the politics of being against child abuse.
Reposted by Dave Lee
NEW: GoFundMe strictly bans fundraisers for “the legal defense of financial and violent crimes,” yet is currently running one “to help pay for any legal services” for the ICE agent who killed Renee Nicole Good. Its conflict is not even the least bit contestable.
GoFundMe Ignores Own Rules by Hosting a Legal-Defense Fund for the ICE Agent Who Killed Renee Good
The fundraiser for the ICE agent in the Renee Good killing has stayed online in seeming breach of GoFundMe’s own terms of service, prompting questions about selective enforcement.
www.wired.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:56 PM
NEW: GoFundMe strictly bans fundraisers for “the legal defense of financial and violent crimes,” yet is currently running one “to help pay for any legal services” for the ICE agent who killed Renee Nicole Good. Its conflict is not even the least bit contestable.
AI in Gmail, AI in shopping, GeminiPhone ... Google's starting to flex its muscle.
January 12, 2026 at 5:13 PM
AI in Gmail, AI in shopping, GeminiPhone ... Google's starting to flex its muscle.
"The median jerk" is such a great expression -- and very useful when talking about the context of Grok/CSAM etc. Sure, other tools can do the same thing. But good policy stays focused on the median jerk.
January 12, 2026 at 5:05 PM
"The median jerk" is such a great expression -- and very useful when talking about the context of Grok/CSAM etc. Sure, other tools can do the same thing. But good policy stays focused on the median jerk.
CNBC confirms earlier @markgurman.bsky.social scoop that Apple is turning to Google for help in smartening up Siri. for @opinion.bloomberg.com, here's a column of mine on why that's a terrific idea: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Apple’s Plan B for AI Is Actually Pretty Great
The iPhone maker doesn’t have to sink billions of dollars into its own artificial intelligence when it can team up with a partner like Google.
www.bloomberg.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:14 PM
CNBC confirms earlier @markgurman.bsky.social scoop that Apple is turning to Google for help in smartening up Siri. for @opinion.bloomberg.com, here's a column of mine on why that's a terrific idea: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Rushing at the gym this morning and didn't put my beard trimmer guard on. You can guess the rest. Clean shaven for the first time in eight years, and instantly reminded why I grew it in the first place arrgghh
January 12, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Rushing at the gym this morning and didn't put my beard trimmer guard on. You can guess the rest. Clean shaven for the first time in eight years, and instantly reminded why I grew it in the first place arrgghh
Gonna request New York doesn't follow the UK's lead and do the whole "open urinal in the street" thing. Our great national shame
January 12, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Gonna request New York doesn't follow the UK's lead and do the whole "open urinal in the street" thing. Our great national shame
Reposted by Dave Lee
POWELL: “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”
youtu.be/KckGHaBLSn4
youtu.be/KckGHaBLSn4
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
youtu.be
January 12, 2026 at 1:01 AM
POWELL: “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”
youtu.be/KckGHaBLSn4
youtu.be/KckGHaBLSn4
It’s also the intellectual equivalent of having kebab and chips for breakfast every day. It’s just straight up making you worse.
Far too many people are still hugely conflicted on this because they are *still* professionally active on X. It is a national security threat, a CSAM factory, a purveyor of hate and extremism - being on the platform reduces your ability to acknowledge the threats it poses.
January 10, 2026 at 2:05 PM
It’s also the intellectual equivalent of having kebab and chips for breakfast every day. It’s just straight up making you worse.
Reposted by Dave Lee
The best time to quit X was two years ago, the second best time is now...
July 8, 2025 at 10:35 PM
The best time to quit X was two years ago, the second best time is now...
Checking in on Glasgow, European city of culture
January 10, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Checking in on Glasgow, European city of culture
A little dramatic 😂 And is that a swole King Charles II? Looks like the sort of thing you’d find on packaging for a sausage roll
January 10, 2026 at 4:36 AM
A little dramatic 😂 And is that a swole King Charles II? Looks like the sort of thing you’d find on packaging for a sausage roll
Steve Kerr has never wavered. Wish he’d run for something.
Steve Kerr on the murder of Renee Good:
"It's shameful that the government can come out and lie about what happened when there's video and witnesses who have all come out and disputed what the government is saying."
"It's shameful that the government can come out and lie about what happened when there's video and witnesses who have all come out and disputed what the government is saying."
January 10, 2026 at 4:27 AM
Steve Kerr has never wavered. Wish he’d run for something.
Free speech doesn’t mean being allowed to generate revenge porn on a crowded social network
January 10, 2026 at 3:21 AM
Free speech doesn’t mean being allowed to generate revenge porn on a crowded social network
Reposted by Dave Lee
New from @kattenbarge.bsky.social: X influencers are using Grok to unveil Muslim women in hijabs and show them being beaten by men. Women in sarees are also being stripped: www.wired.com/story/grok-i...
Grok Is Being Used to Mock and Strip Women in Hijabs and Sarees
A substantial number of AI images generated or edited with Grok are targeting women in religious and cultural clothing.
www.wired.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:51 AM
New from @kattenbarge.bsky.social: X influencers are using Grok to unveil Muslim women in hijabs and show them being beaten by men. Women in sarees are also being stripped: www.wired.com/story/grok-i...
Seems MAGA Republicans don't turn up to the opera www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Seems MAGA Republicans don't turn up to the opera www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Breaks every rule of Putting Things On The Internet, but I enjoy the naming convention for posts on my "blog"
January 9, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Breaks every rule of Putting Things On The Internet, but I enjoy the naming convention for posts on my "blog"
Reposted by Dave Lee
About that "good" jobs report...
"The number of US workers who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more rose to 1.95 million in December, the most since December 2021. ...that means about 26% of the unemployed have been in that condition for half a year or more."
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
"The number of US workers who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more rose to 1.95 million in December, the most since December 2021. ...that means about 26% of the unemployed have been in that condition for half a year or more."
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Jobs Are Plentiful? Tell That to the Unemployed
Americans seemed to have received some good news Friday on the labor market: The unemployment rate in December fell to 4.4% from a revised 4.5% in the November (highly noisy) monthly report. The stock...
www.bloomberg.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:56 PM
About that "good" jobs report...
"The number of US workers who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more rose to 1.95 million in December, the most since December 2021. ...that means about 26% of the unemployed have been in that condition for half a year or more."
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
"The number of US workers who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more rose to 1.95 million in December, the most since December 2021. ...that means about 26% of the unemployed have been in that condition for half a year or more."
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by Dave Lee
EXCLUSIVE: Leaked WhatsApp messages show Labour MPs urging govt to leave X, arguing that it should "show direction to others in the UK"
The MPs said X owner Elon Musk is "fascist" and that the platform's AI tool, Grok, had put "children in harm's way"
The MPs said X owner Elon Musk is "fascist" and that the platform's AI tool, Grok, had put "children in harm's way"
January 9, 2026 at 2:20 PM
EXCLUSIVE: Leaked WhatsApp messages show Labour MPs urging govt to leave X, arguing that it should "show direction to others in the UK"
The MPs said X owner Elon Musk is "fascist" and that the platform's AI tool, Grok, had put "children in harm's way"
The MPs said X owner Elon Musk is "fascist" and that the platform's AI tool, Grok, had put "children in harm's way"