Matt Davies
@halcyene.bsky.social
Data/AI policy @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social
(Political) philosophy of tech @lsegovernment.bsky.social @lsepoltheory.bsky.social
Views my own 🔮✨
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
(Political) philosophy of tech @lsegovernment.bsky.social @lsepoltheory.bsky.social
Views my own 🔮✨
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Pinned
Matt Davies
@halcyene.bsky.social
· Sep 18
The UK’s £31bn tech deal with the US might sound great – but the government has to answer these questions | Matt Davies
The big firms making these pledges are not charities. We know there will be a quid pro quo; we just don’t know what it is yet, says Matt Davies of the Ada Lovelace Institute
www.theguardian.com
The headlines — £31bn in investment, new jobs, faster medical treatments — sound almost too good to be true. What are we giving up in return?
Me in @theguardian.com on today's US-UK Tech Deal:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Me in @theguardian.com on today's US-UK Tech Deal:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Matt Davies
"This is the disaster of the the Starmer administration so far - preemptively absorbing the most simplistic account of conventional economics, so as to endlessly signal their conformity to what they imagine the lowest common denominator of conservative financial opinion to be..." - Adam Tooze
February 8, 2025 at 6:07 PM
"This is the disaster of the the Starmer administration so far - preemptively absorbing the most simplistic account of conventional economics, so as to endlessly signal their conformity to what they imagine the lowest common denominator of conservative financial opinion to be..." - Adam Tooze
Reposted by Matt Davies
Submissions for ISSUE #3 – AIRBORNE, are now open!
We are accepting pitches exploring the importance of air in the climate and ecological crises, its role in environmental history and activism, and its future on a transformed planet.
More details 👇
We are accepting pitches exploring the importance of air in the climate and ecological crises, its role in environmental history and activism, and its future on a transformed planet.
More details 👇
Pitching
What We Publish We’re interested in original ideas and clear, compelling writing that breaks down complex subjects for an engaged but non-expert audience. The best guide to what we might like is to…
www.break-down.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Submissions for ISSUE #3 – AIRBORNE, are now open!
We are accepting pitches exploring the importance of air in the climate and ecological crises, its role in environmental history and activism, and its future on a transformed planet.
More details 👇
We are accepting pitches exploring the importance of air in the climate and ecological crises, its role in environmental history and activism, and its future on a transformed planet.
More details 👇
Reposted by Matt Davies
This (from: www.ft.com/content/75ce...) is something you can *feel* if you are in the UK, especially if you've experienced living abroad. But infuriatingly successive governments and our entire media are somehow absolutely committed to suggesting anyone who wants to change this is the devil...
November 21, 2025 at 7:38 AM
This (from: www.ft.com/content/75ce...) is something you can *feel* if you are in the UK, especially if you've experienced living abroad. But infuriatingly successive governments and our entire media are somehow absolutely committed to suggesting anyone who wants to change this is the devil...
Reposted by Matt Davies
Remember integration? That thing voters "really, really" care about? Where's that in the latest plans?
My column:
My column:
Labour has given up on integration
Shabana Mahmood's latest asylum plans prioritise return at the expense of integrating newcomers
www.newstatesman.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Remember integration? That thing voters "really, really" care about? Where's that in the latest plans?
My column:
My column:
Reposted by Matt Davies
Ahead of the Budget, good to see this briefing from @acadsocsciences.bsky.social & @fairness.bsky.social, looking at how high levels of inequality hold back the UK economy. The briefing draws on the report on wealth taxes that Howard Reed and I published last month. 1/2👇
acss.org.uk/publications...
acss.org.uk/publications...
Wealth inequality and growth in the UK – Academy of Social Sciences
acss.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Ahead of the Budget, good to see this briefing from @acadsocsciences.bsky.social & @fairness.bsky.social, looking at how high levels of inequality hold back the UK economy. The briefing draws on the report on wealth taxes that Howard Reed and I published last month. 1/2👇
acss.org.uk/publications...
acss.org.uk/publications...
Reposted by Matt Davies
Another absolute banger in our war/climate/geopolitics series
Our tech and energy systems being transformed. But how & in whose interests?
Read @iliasalami.bsky.social's Imperial State Capitalism to understand how the development of AI & the energy transition are being shaped by profiteering & geopolitical competition.
transitionsecurity.org/imperial-sta...
Read @iliasalami.bsky.social's Imperial State Capitalism to understand how the development of AI & the energy transition are being shaped by profiteering & geopolitical competition.
transitionsecurity.org/imperial-sta...
Imperial State Capitalism
A new geopolitics is shaping the development of AI and the energy transition.
transitionsecurity.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Another absolute banger in our war/climate/geopolitics series
Reposted by Matt Davies
turns out when you legitimate a taste for bigotry people gravitate to the parties that serve it as an entree rather than as a garnish
"To the contrary, voters are on average more likely to defect to the radical right when mainstream parties adopt anti-immigration positions, a pattern that has been particularly pronounced for established RRPs."
March 11, 2025 at 11:53 PM
turns out when you legitimate a taste for bigotry people gravitate to the parties that serve it as an entree rather than as a garnish
Reposted by Matt Davies
Is the Office for Budget Responsibility anti-democratic? blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Is the Office for Budget Responsibility anti-democratic? | British Politics and Policy at LSE
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) plays a pivotal role in shaping fiscal policy. But, it may also inadvertently constrain political imagination.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Is the Office for Budget Responsibility anti-democratic? blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Reposted by Matt Davies
This Labour government are (frustratingly) making my work more and more relevant every week. Five years ago, I argued that temporary protection policies for refugees are grossly unjust, and here we are making things worse for them again.
philpapers.org/rec/BUXJIW
philpapers.org/rec/BUXJIW
Rebecca Buxton, Justice in waiting: The harms and wrongs of temporary refugee protection - PhilPapers
Temporariness has become the norm in contemporary refugee protection. Many refugees face extended periods of time waiting for permanent status, either in camps or living among citizens in their state ...
philpapers.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:52 AM
This Labour government are (frustratingly) making my work more and more relevant every week. Five years ago, I argued that temporary protection policies for refugees are grossly unjust, and here we are making things worse for them again.
philpapers.org/rec/BUXJIW
philpapers.org/rec/BUXJIW
Reposted by Matt Davies
With impeccable timing, "Labour Together" sharing analysis that shows that immigration only tops issue-polls because politicians won't stop banging on about it.
What actually matters to people's lives is the soaring cost of living.
What actually matters to people's lives is the soaring cost of living.
Yesterday, we put out a report on the most important issues to voters.
We know that immigration now tops the traditional most important issues question (see below from @yougov.co.uk).
But that doesn't tell the full story.
Here is a rundown of the experiments we did to test this out (A THREAD):
We know that immigration now tops the traditional most important issues question (see below from @yougov.co.uk).
But that doesn't tell the full story.
Here is a rundown of the experiments we did to test this out (A THREAD):
November 17, 2025 at 12:26 PM
With impeccable timing, "Labour Together" sharing analysis that shows that immigration only tops issue-polls because politicians won't stop banging on about it.
What actually matters to people's lives is the soaring cost of living.
What actually matters to people's lives is the soaring cost of living.
"The problem is this Labour government, in which Streeting is only a more compelling character with just as few ideas, competencies or materially defining projects."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Labour has entered its musical chairs era – and we’re sucked into another pointless death spiral | Nesrine Malik
Briefing wars, toxic infighting, paranoid office politics: we’ve seen it all before. And once again, the drama at No 10 has absolutely nothing to do with us, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:30 PM
"The problem is this Labour government, in which Streeting is only a more compelling character with just as few ideas, competencies or materially defining projects."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Matt Davies
Not everyone is unhappy about the Government's descent into anti-refugee politics
November 16, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Not everyone is unhappy about the Government's descent into anti-refugee politics
Reposted by Matt Davies
Join us!
🚨 Transition Security Project is hiring a Researcher!
We're looking for a new researcher to join our transatlantic centre, working at the cutting edge of economic, climate and geopolitical analysis on militarism.
Find out more and apply below. 👇
www.common-wealth.org/vacancies/re...
We're looking for a new researcher to join our transatlantic centre, working at the cutting edge of economic, climate and geopolitical analysis on militarism.
Find out more and apply below. 👇
www.common-wealth.org/vacancies/re...
Vacancies | Researcher — Transition Security Project
UK (London, Manchester, Scottish Central Belt, Belfast)
www.common-wealth.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Join us!
Reposted by Matt Davies
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
November 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
Reposted by Matt Davies
Congratulations to @brunoleipold.com, whose book #Citizen #Marx has been awarded the Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize which is given "for a book which exemplifies the best and most innovative new writing in or about the Marxist tradition".
www.deutscherprize.org.uk/wp/
www.deutscherprize.org.uk/wp/
The Deutscher Memorial Prize
www.deutscherprize.org.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Congratulations to @brunoleipold.com, whose book #Citizen #Marx has been awarded the Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize which is given "for a book which exemplifies the best and most innovative new writing in or about the Marxist tradition".
www.deutscherprize.org.uk/wp/
www.deutscherprize.org.uk/wp/
Reposted by Matt Davies
Absolute must read on the AI bailout-in-progress: apparently it's not enough that lifetimes of human ingenuity and creativity have been stolen and enclosed to create generative AI and balloon billionaire wealth - much more public looting is in store...
This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Opinion | You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business
Washington is treating the industry as if it’s too big to fail, even as the market sends lukewarm signals.
www.wsj.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Absolute must read on the AI bailout-in-progress: apparently it's not enough that lifetimes of human ingenuity and creativity have been stolen and enclosed to create generative AI and balloon billionaire wealth - much more public looting is in store...
Terrific new role helping to develop Ada's research practice:
📣We're hiring! The Research Portfolio Lead will embed oversight and quality assurance into every stage of our work.
The role will ensure our research is conducted with integrity, and within a culture of care and support.
Deadline: 1st December 2025.
www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/job/research...
The role will ensure our research is conducted with integrity, and within a culture of care and support.
Deadline: 1st December 2025.
www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/job/research...
Research Portfolio Lead
The Ada Lovelace Institute is recruiting a Research Portfolio Lead to ensure that research is conducted with integrity and within a culture of care.
www.adalovelaceinstitute.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Terrific new role helping to develop Ada's research practice:
Reposted by Matt Davies
I got to write about our global waste problem for @lrb.co.uk, in dialogue with 3 really good books, by @alexclapp.bsky.social, Oliver Franklin-Wallis and John Scanlan.
You can read it here:
You can read it here:
Brett Christophers · Assume the worst: Where our waste goes
Just as Big Oil has repeatedly failed to deliver on pledges to begin decarbonising, so too the promises of plastics...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 8:14 AM
I got to write about our global waste problem for @lrb.co.uk, in dialogue with 3 really good books, by @alexclapp.bsky.social, Oliver Franklin-Wallis and John Scanlan.
You can read it here:
You can read it here:
Reposted by Matt Davies
It is really getting harder and harder to glibly dismiss the data centre driven growth of demand in the US, which is causing coal growth domestically and impacting the entire planet's emissions
Yes you can present it with a huge denominator to make it look small but that doesn't change the dynamics
Yes you can present it with a huge denominator to make it look small but that doesn't change the dynamics
Chinese and EU emissions were more or less flat in 2025 (Chinese emissions may have actually declined slightly, but its too early to know for sure: www.carbonbrief.org/...).
US emissions increases drove much of the increase in global emissions in 2025.
US emissions increases drove much of the increase in global emissions in 2025.
November 13, 2025 at 8:24 AM
It is really getting harder and harder to glibly dismiss the data centre driven growth of demand in the US, which is causing coal growth domestically and impacting the entire planet's emissions
Yes you can present it with a huge denominator to make it look small but that doesn't change the dynamics
Yes you can present it with a huge denominator to make it look small but that doesn't change the dynamics
Reposted by Matt Davies
We @connectedbydata.org are planning a conference next year (early March, in Manchester) about people, power and participation in (public sector) data and AI.
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
November 11, 2025 at 9:08 AM
We @connectedbydata.org are planning a conference next year (early March, in Manchester) about people, power and participation in (public sector) data and AI.
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
If you were coming, who would you really like to hear from as a keynote speaker to kick off the day?
Reposted by Matt Davies
Great collection -- with @halcyene.bsky.social editing.
How might philosophical thinking shape research, policy, and public debate?
“The point is to change it”: Essays on Philosophy in Public Life, explores this question by bringing together perspectives from 21 leading philosophers across the UK, US, and Europe. 🧵
Read essays: bit.ly/philosophyesays
“The point is to change it”: Essays on Philosophy in Public Life, explores this question by bringing together perspectives from 21 leading philosophers across the UK, US, and Europe. 🧵
Read essays: bit.ly/philosophyesays
November 11, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Great collection -- with @halcyene.bsky.social editing.
Reposted by Matt Davies
For the latest episode of @the-breakdown.bsky.social podcast (we're back!), I spoke to @sabrinafernandes.bsky.social about Brazilian ecological politics, developmentalism and her essay "Lula's Dilemma"
Listen below / wherever you get your podcasts 🌳🍃
www.break-down.org/lulas-dilemm...
Listen below / wherever you get your podcasts 🌳🍃
www.break-down.org/lulas-dilemm...
Lula’s Dilemmas and COP30
Adrienne speaks to Sabrina Fernandes about the complexities of Brazilian ecological politics at the start of the COP30 climate conference.
www.break-down.org
November 11, 2025 at 11:14 AM
For the latest episode of @the-breakdown.bsky.social podcast (we're back!), I spoke to @sabrinafernandes.bsky.social about Brazilian ecological politics, developmentalism and her essay "Lula's Dilemma"
Listen below / wherever you get your podcasts 🌳🍃
www.break-down.org/lulas-dilemm...
Listen below / wherever you get your podcasts 🌳🍃
www.break-down.org/lulas-dilemm...
Reposted by Matt Davies
Most of the discussion around America's AI strategy abroad has focused on the AI Action Plan - but perhaps more important was the Executive Order on exporting the AI stack.
🧵
🧵
November 10, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Most of the discussion around America's AI strategy abroad has focused on the AI Action Plan - but perhaps more important was the Executive Order on exporting the AI stack.
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Matt Davies
A piece I wrote about the manufactured ‘impartiality’ panics that greeted Tim Davie’s arrival just over 5 years ago, when GB News was still a glint in Robbie Gibbs’ eye www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
William Davies · Short Cuts: Woke Conspiracies
A British equivalent of Fox News, wherever it may come from, would have its own distinctive character – less...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:12 PM
A piece I wrote about the manufactured ‘impartiality’ panics that greeted Tim Davie’s arrival just over 5 years ago, when GB News was still a glint in Robbie Gibbs’ eye www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Matt Davies
Legal experts, former government ministers and an ex-MI6 director criticise the process used to ban Palestine Action.
An independent commission said the definition of terrorism was too broad and parliamentary oversight and judicial scrutiny was needed.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
An independent commission said the definition of terrorism was too broad and parliamentary oversight and judicial scrutiny was needed.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Legal experts and politicians criticise process used to ban Palestine Action
Independent commission says definition of terrorism relied on by ministers is too broad and more parliamentary oversight is needed
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Legal experts, former government ministers and an ex-MI6 director criticise the process used to ban Palestine Action.
An independent commission said the definition of terrorism was too broad and parliamentary oversight and judicial scrutiny was needed.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
An independent commission said the definition of terrorism was too broad and parliamentary oversight and judicial scrutiny was needed.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...