Sam Biddle
@sambiddle.com
Senior Technology Reporter at The Intercept
Got a tip? Signal: sambiddle.99 (Make sure you don’t contact me via a work-provided device)
https://sambiddle.com
Got a tip? Signal: sambiddle.99 (Make sure you don’t contact me via a work-provided device)
https://sambiddle.com
Pinned
Sam Biddle
@sambiddle.com
· Oct 24
As Israel Bombed Gaza, Amazon Did Business With Its Bomb-Makers
The Intercept has learned that Amazon sold cloud services to Israeli weapons firms at the height of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
theintercept.com
SCOOP: I obtained internal documents showing Amazon has been selling cloud computing and AI services to the state-owned Israeli weapons manufacturers whose bombs and missiles have ravaged Gaza.
theintercept.com/2025/10/24/a...
theintercept.com/2025/10/24/a...
Jesus Christ
Prisoners are now taking regular trips to far-flung, exotic locales such as Thailand.
VR headsets are 'hope machines' inside California prisons, offering escape and practical experience
Prisoners are now taking regular trips to far-flung, exotic locales such as Thailand. No passport required, just a virtual reality headset.
bit.ly
January 11, 2026 at 12:08 AM
Jesus Christ
There should be a federal version of this but until then, my fellow californians, please check it out
California answers the question: What if DeleteMe was a public good? privacy.ca.gov/drop/
(You shouldn't have to opt out, everything should be opt in.)
(You shouldn't have to opt out, everything should be opt in.)
Delete request and opt-out platform (DROP)
Protect your personal information. Data brokers collect, share, and sell your personal information. You can stop that from happening.
privacy.ca.gov
January 8, 2026 at 11:31 PM
There should be a federal version of this but until then, my fellow californians, please check it out
Reposted by Sam Biddle
Must-read reporting by @jesswash.bsky.social,
@jsweetli.bsky.social, and @jonahmv.bsky.social
Watch video from the scene of the Minnesota ICE shooting that contradicts DHS’s narrative that locals were rioting and threatening agents' lives.
theintercept.com/2026/01/07/v...
@jsweetli.bsky.social, and @jonahmv.bsky.social
Watch video from the scene of the Minnesota ICE shooting that contradicts DHS’s narrative that locals were rioting and threatening agents' lives.
theintercept.com/2026/01/07/v...
Video Shows ICE Agent’s Fatal Shooting of Civilian in Minneapolis
Video from the scene of the Minnesota ICE shooting contradicts DHS’s narrative that locals were rioting and threatening agents’ lives.
theintercept.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Must-read reporting by @jesswash.bsky.social,
@jsweetli.bsky.social, and @jonahmv.bsky.social
Watch video from the scene of the Minnesota ICE shooting that contradicts DHS’s narrative that locals were rioting and threatening agents' lives.
theintercept.com/2026/01/07/v...
@jsweetli.bsky.social, and @jonahmv.bsky.social
Watch video from the scene of the Minnesota ICE shooting that contradicts DHS’s narrative that locals were rioting and threatening agents' lives.
theintercept.com/2026/01/07/v...
Reposted by Sam Biddle
an eyewitness to the Minneapolis ICE shooting told me the victim appeared "obviously scared" and "was going to leave" before an ICE agent fired multiple shots "right into, it seemed like, her face" www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-sh...
Witness Says Victim Was ‘Obviously Scared’ Before Fatal ICE Shooting
The victim appeared "obviously scared" and "was going to leave," Emily Heller told HuffPost.
www.huffpost.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:34 PM
an eyewitness to the Minneapolis ICE shooting told me the victim appeared "obviously scared" and "was going to leave" before an ICE agent fired multiple shots "right into, it seemed like, her face" www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-sh...
Would be a shame for the honesty and integrity of astrology to be corrupted by LLMs
This is my CES 2026 thread of AI slop.
First off: astrologers, prepare to be out of a job! This bold new company is bringing AI to the world of Horoscopes and for some reason merging that with a visibly unwell Furby.
Bonus: borderline illegal claims that it can "cure" certain behaviors.
First off: astrologers, prepare to be out of a job! This bold new company is bringing AI to the world of Horoscopes and for some reason merging that with a visibly unwell Furby.
Bonus: borderline illegal claims that it can "cure" certain behaviors.
January 7, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Would be a shame for the honesty and integrity of astrology to be corrupted by LLMs
Reposted by Sam Biddle
New: Constellis, the corporate successor to notorious mercenary firm Blackwater, is now part of the ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program theintercept.com/2026/01/03/b...
Blackwater Successor Hunts Immigrants for ICE
Constellis Holdings, which traces its roots to Erik Prince’s mercenary firm Blackwater, landed an ICE contract as a bounty hunter.
theintercept.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:24 PM
New: Constellis, the corporate successor to notorious mercenary firm Blackwater, is now part of the ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program theintercept.com/2026/01/03/b...
New: Constellis, the corporate successor to notorious mercenary firm Blackwater, is now part of the ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program theintercept.com/2026/01/03/b...
Blackwater Successor Hunts Immigrants for ICE
Constellis Holdings, which traces its roots to Erik Prince’s mercenary firm Blackwater, landed an ICE contract as a bounty hunter.
theintercept.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:24 PM
New: Constellis, the corporate successor to notorious mercenary firm Blackwater, is now part of the ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program theintercept.com/2026/01/03/b...
Reposted by Sam Biddle
The kidnapping of Maduro inaugurates a highly dangerous era of U.S. empire that for perhaps the first time in an era of mass media is not pretending to be anything other than a violent, extractive enterprise of domination.
A Criminal Empire
The United States launches a conquest and occupation of Venezuela to extract its oil wealth. The neocon dream is the America First dream
www.forever-wars.com
January 3, 2026 at 7:50 PM
The kidnapping of Maduro inaugurates a highly dangerous era of U.S. empire that for perhaps the first time in an era of mass media is not pretending to be anything other than a violent, extractive enterprise of domination.
Reposted by Sam Biddle
Another strike, more civilians killed...
January 1, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Another strike, more civilians killed...
Reposted by Sam Biddle
December's boat strike death toll (so far)...
December 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
December's boat strike death toll (so far)...
The new George Lucas museum looks like the most expensive arcology from Sim City 2000
December 30, 2025 at 10:28 PM
The new George Lucas museum looks like the most expensive arcology from Sim City 2000
Reposted by Sam Biddle
This is going to catch me flack: it's what people who don't know what good writing is think is good writing, and without understanding what makes writing good.
I think a lot of people who don't often write (or who just don't care) understand how easy it is to spot "AI" text once you've been exposed to it. It's gotten to the point that I can look at a piece of "AI" writing and tell if it was written by ChatGPT or some other LLM. They have "house styles."
December 30, 2025 at 5:32 PM
This is going to catch me flack: it's what people who don't know what good writing is think is good writing, and without understanding what makes writing good.
Is there a way to buy human blood futures in Miami and Austin
the flight of the billionaires www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/t...
A Wealth Tax Floated in California Has Billionaires Thinking of Leaving
www.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Is there a way to buy human blood futures in Miami and Austin
Reposted by Sam Biddle
If you ever think that a photograph of you is unflattering, keep in mind what the Washington Post used to illustrate John von Neumann's AEC appointment in 1955...
December 28, 2025 at 9:04 PM
If you ever think that a photograph of you is unflattering, keep in mind what the Washington Post used to illustrate John von Neumann's AEC appointment in 1955...
Reposted by Sam Biddle
if you can’t write without the assistance of AI, you can’t write. be a dentist file770.com/erin-underwo...
Erin Underwood: Open Letter to the Science Fiction Writers Association and Community
Hi Friends, Erin Underwood After writing the letter below, I thought rather than sending it to SFWA only, I’d share it with Mike at File 770 along with a note that read: “Am I crazy? Will this blow…
file770.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:18 PM
if you can’t write without the assistance of AI, you can’t write. be a dentist file770.com/erin-underwo...
Reposted by Sam Biddle
Day laborers say they feel targeted over anti-loitering speakers installed in the parking lot of Home Depot in Cypress Park.
Aisha Wallace-Palomares captured the sentiment shared by day laborers and community organizers over these speakers at a recent press conference.
Aisha Wallace-Palomares captured the sentiment shared by day laborers and community organizers over these speakers at a recent press conference.
December 26, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Day laborers say they feel targeted over anti-loitering speakers installed in the parking lot of Home Depot in Cypress Park.
Aisha Wallace-Palomares captured the sentiment shared by day laborers and community organizers over these speakers at a recent press conference.
Aisha Wallace-Palomares captured the sentiment shared by day laborers and community organizers over these speakers at a recent press conference.
The goat Christmas movie
December 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
The goat Christmas movie
Reposted by Sam Biddle
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
Reposted by Sam Biddle
NEW: A variety of military and intelligence contractors have already signed on to help ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program. A review of procurement data shows 10 companies stand to make up to *ONE BILLION* dollars from the program by 2027. theintercept.com/2025/12/23/i...
10 Companies Have Already Made $1 Million as ICE Bounty Hunters. We Found Them.
And they stand to make millions more in cash bonuses for surveilling and tracking immigrants in service of ICE’s deportation machine.
theintercept.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:40 PM
NEW: A variety of military and intelligence contractors have already signed on to help ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program. A review of procurement data shows 10 companies stand to make up to *ONE BILLION* dollars from the program by 2027. theintercept.com/2025/12/23/i...
Just got brutally owned by my nephew
December 24, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Just got brutally owned by my nephew
Reposted by Sam Biddle
THIS is among the most important list of documents the public needs to see.
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
December 24, 2025 at 12:04 AM
THIS is among the most important list of documents the public needs to see.
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Mark Zuckerberg et al had better hope the rest of the world doesn't ever develop a "red line" like this for U.S. social media companies, because they constantly engage in extraterritorial censorship of non-Americans
December 23, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Mark Zuckerberg et al had better hope the rest of the world doesn't ever develop a "red line" like this for U.S. social media companies, because they constantly engage in extraterritorial censorship of non-Americans
NEW: A variety of military and intelligence contractors have already signed on to help ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program. A review of procurement data shows 10 companies stand to make up to *ONE BILLION* dollars from the program by 2027. theintercept.com/2025/12/23/i...
10 Companies Have Already Made $1 Million as ICE Bounty Hunters. We Found Them.
And they stand to make millions more in cash bonuses for surveilling and tracking immigrants in service of ICE’s deportation machine.
theintercept.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:40 PM
NEW: A variety of military and intelligence contractors have already signed on to help ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program. A review of procurement data shows 10 companies stand to make up to *ONE BILLION* dollars from the program by 2027. theintercept.com/2025/12/23/i...
Reposted by Sam Biddle
Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".
December 22, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".
Reposted by Sam Biddle
This company will now receive monetary bonuses based on how many immigrants it hunts down for ICE theintercept.com/2025/12/19/i...
December 19, 2025 at 10:10 PM
This company will now receive monetary bonuses based on how many immigrants it hunts down for ICE theintercept.com/2025/12/19/i...