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
i’d also be super interested in talking to people at these companies about the vibe after your bosses ate popcorn with the president during a political assassination. signal in bio.
If you work at Apple, Zoom, Amazon and AMD (not to mention Palantir or Nvidia) i think you should organize, unionize, and hold your fascist enabling CEO accountable.
You are powerful together
You are powerful together
An insane, perfect encapsulation of it all:
The same day Trump’s agents kill a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse in broad daylight, the CEOs of Apple and Amazon join Trump to watch a private screening of a film about his wife directed by an alleged sexual abuser who was seen shirtless in the Epstein Files
The same day Trump’s agents kill a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse in broad daylight, the CEOs of Apple and Amazon join Trump to watch a private screening of a film about his wife directed by an alleged sexual abuser who was seen shirtless in the Epstein Files
January 25, 2026 at 9:20 AM
i’d also be super interested in talking to people at these companies about the vibe after your bosses ate popcorn with the president during a political assassination. signal in bio.
Reposted by Matt Davies
If you're in London, last spots available for this event at Newspeak House with Noortje Marres Alex Taylor @tmsqrll.bsky.social Dominique Barron @halcyene.bsky.social Annie Radcliffe Yasmine Boudiaf and Mukul Patel, on AI infra in public spaces luma.com/p4fmir78 (cc @edsaperia.bsky.social)
AI in the street: Lessons from everyday encounters with AI innovation · Luma
What do smart bins, data centres, and delivery drones have in common — and how do everyday publics make sense of them? Join us at Newspeak House to explore AI…
luma.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:42 AM
If you're in London, last spots available for this event at Newspeak House with Noortje Marres Alex Taylor @tmsqrll.bsky.social Dominique Barron @halcyene.bsky.social Annie Radcliffe Yasmine Boudiaf and Mukul Patel, on AI infra in public spaces luma.com/p4fmir78 (cc @edsaperia.bsky.social)
Reposted by Matt Davies
🚨 New! The US govt is engaging in extraordinary market intervention to bolster the AI sector. In this brief, Policy Director brianjchen.bsky.social analyzes major priorities of the Trump admin’s AI agenda and proposes alternative directions to shape tech innovation. datasociety.net/library/the-...
January 21, 2026 at 3:35 PM
🚨 New! The US govt is engaging in extraordinary market intervention to bolster the AI sector. In this brief, Policy Director brianjchen.bsky.social analyzes major priorities of the Trump admin’s AI agenda and proposes alternative directions to shape tech innovation. datasociety.net/library/the-...
Reposted by Matt Davies
An epidemic of workforce demoralization? "Intensive AI use is demotivating and deskilling, fuelling boredom and mediocrity. We could even see a reverse ‘productivity J-curve’: short-term productivity gains rapidly overwhelmed by a deterioration in labour quality" newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Cédric Durand, After AI — Sidecar
Legacies of the bubble.
newleftreview.org
January 15, 2026 at 2:47 PM
An epidemic of workforce demoralization? "Intensive AI use is demotivating and deskilling, fuelling boredom and mediocrity. We could even see a reverse ‘productivity J-curve’: short-term productivity gains rapidly overwhelmed by a deterioration in labour quality" newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
"There are lots of AI tools that are potentially very centaurlike, but my thesis is that these tools are created and funded for the express purpose of creating reverse centaurs, which none of us want to be."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage | Cory Doctorow
AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. A serious fight against it must strike at its roots
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:29 AM
"There are lots of AI tools that are potentially very centaurlike, but my thesis is that these tools are created and funded for the express purpose of creating reverse centaurs, which none of us want to be."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Matt Davies
James Orr believes this makes him/Reform some kind of radical, but this is the same trite communitarianism that every leading politician has recited at some point or another since 2009. The question is about the means - and whether they include an ICE, camps, gunning down small boats or not
January 18, 2026 at 1:20 PM
James Orr believes this makes him/Reform some kind of radical, but this is the same trite communitarianism that every leading politician has recited at some point or another since 2009. The question is about the means - and whether they include an ICE, camps, gunning down small boats or not
Reposted by Matt Davies
how would one parody this?
I am introducing the Quick Recognition (QR) Act, which requires ICE and CBP officers to wear uniforms featuring QR codes. When scanned, the code would generate a digital ID displaying the officer’s name, badge number, and law enforcement agency.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
January 14, 2026 at 5:28 PM
how would one parody this?
Reposted by Matt Davies
this is smart, thorough, and excellent
Enforcement Regime | Michael Macher
Trump's immigration crackdown marks a dramatic change in the domestic security apparatus, yet its origins lie in a longstanding bipartisan consensus.
www.phenomenalworld.org
January 10, 2026 at 3:25 PM
this is smart, thorough, and excellent
Reposted by Matt Davies
Taiwan's semiconductor industry’s power demand is forecast to grow eightfold by 2028. A rapid expansion of wind energy to power this demand is upending the livelihoods of farmers, fishers and rural communities, reports Hsiuwen Liu for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2026/taiwan-...
restofworld.org/2026/taiwan-...
AI’s green-energy goal is devastating Taiwan’s coastal villages
Aggressive expansion of wind energy to power the semiconductor industry is upending the livelihoods of farmers and fishers.
restofworld.org
January 12, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Taiwan's semiconductor industry’s power demand is forecast to grow eightfold by 2028. A rapid expansion of wind energy to power this demand is upending the livelihoods of farmers, fishers and rural communities, reports Hsiuwen Liu for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2026/taiwan-...
restofworld.org/2026/taiwan-...
Reposted by Matt Davies
Our new schedule for the Winter Term - now corrected. Thursdays 4pm. All welcome!
December 17, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Our new schedule for the Winter Term - now corrected. Thursdays 4pm. All welcome!
Reposted by Matt Davies
"The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence."
BREAKING: Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals after weekend negotiations over contract disputes fail.
Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals
Thousands of nurses at several major New York City hospitals have gone on strike. Nurses were to start walking off the job Monday starting at 6 a.m. after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield a breakthrough.
bit.ly
January 12, 2026 at 11:19 AM
"The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence."
Reposted by Matt Davies
I wrote about ICE’s execution of Renee Nicole Good. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
ICE agents have killed – again. The Trump administration blames the victim | Moira Donegan
An agent shot a woman in Minneapolis, causing vast and needless grief. Our country is diseased – but that is not the only truth
www.theguardian.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:45 PM
I wrote about ICE’s execution of Renee Nicole Good. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Matt Davies
it’s clarifying to know these people would be fine with ICE killing you so long as it was within policy
By refusing to coordinate with local law enforcement, ICE is not making our community safe. It is making it less safe.
www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...
www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...
‘She was an amazing human being’: Mother identifies woman shot, killed by ICE agent
Renee Nicole Good, 37, lived in Minneapolis with her partner just blocks from where she was shot.
www.startribune.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:49 PM
it’s clarifying to know these people would be fine with ICE killing you so long as it was within policy
January 8, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Matt Davies
📣 NEW w/@udbhav-tiwari.bsky.social Mapping the technical reality & privacy/security perils of pushing AI agents into our infra
We offer palliatives, but the core issues are paradigmatic: 'agency' relies on pervasive data access + ability to act w/o explicit consent
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANE...
We offer palliatives, but the core issues are paradigmatic: 'agency' relies on pervasive data access + ability to act w/o explicit consent
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANE...
39C3 - AI Agent, AI Spy
YouTube video by media.ccc.de
www.youtube.com
January 7, 2026 at 2:08 PM
📣 NEW w/@udbhav-tiwari.bsky.social Mapping the technical reality & privacy/security perils of pushing AI agents into our infra
We offer palliatives, but the core issues are paradigmatic: 'agency' relies on pervasive data access + ability to act w/o explicit consent
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANE...
We offer palliatives, but the core issues are paradigmatic: 'agency' relies on pervasive data access + ability to act w/o explicit consent
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANE...
Reposted by Matt Davies
This is basically the view of the world that Plato sets out to refute in the Republic. One of the core questions asked therein is: why do powerful people think the mere fact of them exercising dominion makes it good for them to do so? Sure, you *can* get away with stuff if you're powerful - so what?
Here is the Trump Doctrine, as articulated by Stephen Miller in his truly frightening interview with Jake Tapper this afternoon. It is very much like the doctrine of the dictators we fought and defeated in World War II and of Putin today. It is un-American at its very core.
January 6, 2026 at 10:37 AM
This is basically the view of the world that Plato sets out to refute in the Republic. One of the core questions asked therein is: why do powerful people think the mere fact of them exercising dominion makes it good for them to do so? Sure, you *can* get away with stuff if you're powerful - so what?
Reposted by Matt Davies
I'd really like to see some
granularity around this claim that "AI and related digital technologies [are] the new productivity frontier" because it could, frankly, mean anything giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
granularity around this claim that "AI and related digital technologies [are] the new productivity frontier" because it could, frankly, mean anything giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
US to extend productivity lead on back of AI boom, say economists
FT survey shows America’s dominance in areas such as technology is not expected to reverse soon
giftarticle.ft.com
January 4, 2026 at 8:53 AM
I'd really like to see some
granularity around this claim that "AI and related digital technologies [are] the new productivity frontier" because it could, frankly, mean anything giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
granularity around this claim that "AI and related digital technologies [are] the new productivity frontier" because it could, frankly, mean anything giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Reposted by Matt Davies
I am reminded here to tap the sign encouraging you all to support independent, worker run, billionaire free newsrooms how and where you are able
Nicolas Maduro's heavy-handed rule in Venezuela is finally ended by Trump reut.rs/3YWbo3K
Nicolas Maduro's heavy-handed rule in Venezuela is finally ended by Trump
Nicolas Maduro ruled Venezuela with a heavy hand for more than 12 years, presiding over deep economic and social crises and resisting pressure from domestic opponents and foreign governments for political change.
reut.rs
January 3, 2026 at 2:35 PM
I am reminded here to tap the sign encouraging you all to support independent, worker run, billionaire free newsrooms how and where you are able
Reposted by Matt Davies
A lifetime of hearing US politicians solemnly intone about the glories of the constitution and the sacredness of law. Now they don’t even have the post 9/11 fig leaf. The whole vast military machinery is the plaything of a senile old man and his corrupt circle and most of them don’t care
January 3, 2026 at 12:58 PM
A lifetime of hearing US politicians solemnly intone about the glories of the constitution and the sacredness of law. Now they don’t even have the post 9/11 fig leaf. The whole vast military machinery is the plaything of a senile old man and his corrupt circle and most of them don’t care
Reposted by Matt Davies
Whatever you might think of Maduro, the seizure and kidnapping of a head of state takes us to a very dark place. Vast, arbitrary, extra-legal power, which could be exercised almost anywhere, regardless of the character of the target government.
January 3, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Whatever you might think of Maduro, the seizure and kidnapping of a head of state takes us to a very dark place. Vast, arbitrary, extra-legal power, which could be exercised almost anywhere, regardless of the character of the target government.
Reposted by Matt Davies
Reposted by Matt Davies
Just like the Tories, Labour's centrist hacks think themselves omniscient and infallible - they cannot fail, they can only be failed. So when they do fail, they blame everyone else.
We saw it with the Tories, and it's already started from the Starmerites with this idiotic dreck: archive.ph/rHoXA
We saw it with the Tories, and it's already started from the Starmerites with this idiotic dreck: archive.ph/rHoXA
January 2, 2026 at 7:44 AM
Just like the Tories, Labour's centrist hacks think themselves omniscient and infallible - they cannot fail, they can only be failed. So when they do fail, they blame everyone else.
We saw it with the Tories, and it's already started from the Starmerites with this idiotic dreck: archive.ph/rHoXA
We saw it with the Tories, and it's already started from the Starmerites with this idiotic dreck: archive.ph/rHoXA
"Fear is what this campaign is all about: trying to make people afraid of Abd el-Fattah, and by extension, Muslims and migrants. Like so much in this political moment, in the UK and elsewhere, they are tightening the circle around what is considered a “real” citizen."
Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s tweets were wrong, but he is no ‘anti-white Islamist’. Why does the British right want you to believe he is? | Naomi Klein
I have no interest in defending his social media posts, but calls to strip the newly freed activist of British citizenship pile torment on top of torture, says Naomi Klein, Guardian US columnist and c...
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:41 PM
"Fear is what this campaign is all about: trying to make people afraid of Abd el-Fattah, and by extension, Muslims and migrants. Like so much in this political moment, in the UK and elsewhere, they are tightening the circle around what is considered a “real” citizen."
Reposted by Matt Davies
As I said recently in The Guardian:
"Despite their hopes to the contrary, anti-trans campaigners have not won the hearts and minds they believed the Supreme Court would give them"
So they turn to this; desperate, fascistic calls for the destruction of those they hate (framed as ideas, not people).
"Despite their hopes to the contrary, anti-trans campaigners have not won the hearts and minds they believed the Supreme Court would give them"
So they turn to this; desperate, fascistic calls for the destruction of those they hate (framed as ideas, not people).
December 30, 2025 at 12:26 PM
As I said recently in The Guardian:
"Despite their hopes to the contrary, anti-trans campaigners have not won the hearts and minds they believed the Supreme Court would give them"
So they turn to this; desperate, fascistic calls for the destruction of those they hate (framed as ideas, not people).
"Despite their hopes to the contrary, anti-trans campaigners have not won the hearts and minds they believed the Supreme Court would give them"
So they turn to this; desperate, fascistic calls for the destruction of those they hate (framed as ideas, not people).