Victor Galaz
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vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz
@vgalaz.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.7K following 430 posts

🇸🇪 🇨🇱 🌎 Associate Prof Pol Sci Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm Uni + Beijer Institute at Royal Swe Academy of Sciences. Politics, AI, nuclear and new tech in the Anthropocene.
👨🏽‍💻ibland för Svenska Dagbladet Kultur.
https://linktr.ee/victorgalaz .. more

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Environmental science 35%
Physics 10%
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vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Nov 25
This took me a while to finish. My new book "Dark Machines - How Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization and Automation is Changing our Living Planet" can now be pre-ordered at Routledge (UK/US).

www.routledge.com/Dark-Machine...

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 3d
Oh, how kawaii!
jael.bsky.social jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 3d
The Trump administration today announced a new government-backed fossil fuel industry mascot.

Meet Coalie the lump of coal!
Drawing (AI Gen?) of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum next to an anthropomorphic lump of coal wearing an OSM vest

Reposted by Fabián Muniesa, Daniel W. Drezner, Lilian Edwards , and 6 more

jael.bsky.social
jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 3d
The Trump administration today announced a new government-backed fossil fuel industry mascot.

Meet Coalie the lump of coal!
Drawing (AI Gen?) of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum next to an anthropomorphic lump of coal wearing an OSM vest

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 3d
Have only read the abstract, but this looks like a quite bold call!

Reposted by Garry Peterson

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 3d
As an immigrant myself, this photo truly breaks my heart.
anniemleonard.bsky.social Annie M Leonard @anniemleonard.bsky.social · 3d
Every day more lines are crossed & more people say “enough” and join their neighbors in resistance.

Seeing a 5 year old child detained by ICE is breaks my heart & supercharges my commitment to end this horror. Look at his face-there is no way we can just sit by. #enough!
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Victor Galaz

anniemleonard.bsky.social
Annie M Leonard @anniemleonard.bsky.social · 3d
Every day more lines are crossed & more people say “enough” and join their neighbors in resistance.

Seeing a 5 year old child detained by ICE is breaks my heart & supercharges my commitment to end this horror. Look at his face-there is no way we can just sit by. #enough!
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas
www.theguardian.com

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 3d
“Make China great again”?

Mind-blowing visuals in NYT about how China is winning the clean tech revolution.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Reposted by Wim Thiery, Victor Galaz

ember-energy.org
Ember @ember-energy.org · 3d
NEW | Wind and solar generated more power than fossil fuels in the EU for the FIRST time ever.

🌪️ and ☀️ made up a RECORD 30% of 🇪🇺 electricity, up from 20% just five years ago.

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/european-electricity-review-2026/

Reposted by Victor Galaz

matsengstrom.bsky.social
Mats Engström @matsengstrom.bsky.social · 4d
Bra samtal med @vgalaz.bsky.social och Sveriges Radios reportrar i #Klotet, även om vad som nu händer i EU, under skicklig programledning av @mlkristola.bsky.social. www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/usa-...
USA siktar på Grönlands och Latinamerikas råvaror - Klotet
USA lämnar en rad globala överenskommelser och organisationer på klimatområdet. Fram stiger en stormakt som obunden vill kunna säkra olja och mineraler. ...
www.sverigesradio.se

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 5d
This is extremely interesting, and in need of deeper conversations amongst scholars and policymakers - yes, looking at you research funders and agencies.
jayvanbavel.bsky.social Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 6d
Social media research has a conflict of interest problem:

“these findings suggest industry influence in social media research is extensive, impactful, and often opaque”

A real concern is that this may incentivize scholars to minimize the harms of social media platforms
arxiv.org/pdf/2601.11507

Reposted by Victor Galaz, Cailin O’Connor

jayvanbavel.bsky.social
Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 6d
Social media research has a conflict of interest problem:

“these findings suggest industry influence in social media research is extensive, impactful, and often opaque”

A real concern is that this may incentivize scholars to minimize the harms of social media platforms
arxiv.org/pdf/2601.11507

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Stephan Lewandowsky, Sander van der Linden , and 9 more

kakape.bsky.social
Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 6d
One of the issues that has come up again and again in my reporting on misinformation and social media is the massive influence social media companies have on research in the field.

Last night a preprint dropped that tries to get at this with some numbers. My piece in @science.org (and 🧪🧵 coming):
Nearly a third of social media research has undisclosed ties to industry, preprint claims
Industry-linked studies were also more likely to focus on particular topics, suggesting these ties may be skewing the field
www.science.org

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 7d
I’m not crying you are… 🥹

www.billboard.com/music/latin/...
Bad Bunny Pays Tribute to Late Protest Singer Víctor Jara & More Uplifting Moments in Latin Music
Uplifting Moments in Latin Music: Bad Bunny tributes Víctor Jara, Xavi kicks off U.S. tour, & Latin Grammy Foundation launches new scholarships.
www.billboard.com

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 10d
Source: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How to Make Sense of the Federal Forces on the Streets
As President Trump deploys ICE, Border Patrol, the National Guard and other forces to U.S. cities, here’s how to tell them apart — and what their powers are.
www.nytimes.com

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 10d
NYT landing page right now. Just insane that a major US newspaper needs to put together a graphic and article like this.
Illustration showing men in uniform, showing differences between ICE, Border Patrol, FBI and more.

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Daniela Gabor , and 15 more

alondra.bsky.social
Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 10d
🧵 Trump administration AI policy is widely described as deregulatory. This description is misleading. What's happening is not the absence of governance but its rearrangement--intensive state intervention operating through mechanisms we don't typically call regulation. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The mirage of AI deregulation
One of the most interventionist approaches to technology governance in the United States in a generation has cloaked itself in the language of deregulation. In early December 2025, President Donald Tr...
www.science.org

Reposted by Steve Peers, Tom Griffin, Victor Galaz , and 2 more

janrosenow.bsky.social
Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 10d
This is huge: For the first time since the early 1970s, coal power generation has fallen in both China & India.

It undercuts claims that decarbonisation is pointless while they expand coal. Renewables are no longer just adding capacity — they’re displacing coal.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Coal power generation falls in China and India for first time since 1970s
‘Historic’ moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis says
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Victor Galaz

nature.com
Nature @nature.com · 13d
Popular AI models often reproduce harmful stereotypes about Indian castes

go.nature.com/455Sz1N
AIs are biased toward some Indian castes — how can researchers fix this?
Benchmarks reveal how artificial-intelligence systems reinforce discriminatory social hierarchies.
go.nature.com

Reposted by Kurt Vandaele, Aaron Sojourner, Michael Zimmer , and 1 more

apnews.com
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 13d
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

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 18
Oh dear...

El Salvador to provide Grok to "5,000 public schools, delivering personalized learning to over one million students and empowering thousands of teachers as collaborative partners in education."

x.ai/news/el-salv...
xAI and El Salvador Pioneer the World's First Nationwide AI Education Program | xAI
Announcing Our Transformative Partnership with the Government of El Salvador.
x.ai

Reposted by Lars Gamfeldt

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 17
“[M]otsvarande produktionen från fem kärnkraftsreaktorer”.

Alla de organisationer som hajpat användningen av AI i Sverige får hemskt gärna återkomma med en plan på hur detta ska gå ihop med mänskliga elpriser och klimatmål.

sverigesradio.se/play/artikel...
Varningen: Stora datacenter kan höja elpriset - Ekot
I år är ansökningarna om stora datacenter i Sverige som vill ansluta sig till elnätet fem gånger högre än förra året.”Vi har ansökningar på över 5000 megawatt ...
sverigesradio.se

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 16
Heat and humidity doesn’t stop the expansion of data centres for AI.

restofworld.org/2025/data-ce...
We mapped the world’s hottest data centers
In 21 countries, all data centers are located in climates that are too hot.
restofworld.org

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 16
Yes to this 👇🏽

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
We need transparency standards for social media research that involves companies | PNAS
We need transparency standards for social media research that involves companies
www.pnas.org

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 16
Crypto-money-laundering, weapons programs, and rogue nations. This is dark, even for someone who wrote a book about "dark machines"...

theconversation.com/how-rogue-na...
How rogue nations are capitalizing on gaps in crypto regulation to finance weapons programs
North Korea was behind a $1.5 billion digital bank heist in February 2025. Other countries are similarly stealing crypto to fund nefarious activities.
theconversation.com

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 16
Alltså någon/några måste ju ha godkänt detta i något steg. Verkar helt vansinnigt annars.

Reposted by Victor Galaz

gwagner.com
Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · Dec 16
Ignore climate risk at your peril, AI data center edition:

"some of the high-tech company’s biggest problems began with a very low-tech nuisance: unexpectedly turbulent rainstorms in North Texas"

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/core...
CoreCrash

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 16
PS: Glöm inte denna också, mvh Försäkringskassans AI-experiment.

www.svd.se/a/d45KKB/for...
Pekade ut mammor – nu slopas AI-systemet
Försäkringskassans hemliga bot skulle stoppa fusk – men pekade i stället ut oskyldiga mammor och föräldrar i utsatta grupper. Ett år efter SvD:s granskning avvecklar myndigheten AI-systemet.
www.svd.se

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 16
Nu börjar kostnaderna för myndigheters AI-FOMO komma upp till ytan….

”Flera källor beskriver hur modellen tagits in som ett led i att it-avdelningen på Arbetsförmedlingen velat positionera myndigheten och visa att man ligger i framkant av AI-kapplöpningen.”

www.aftonbladet.se/minekonomi/a...
Avslöjar: Arbetsförmedlingen akutstoppar kinesiskt AI-verktyg
Arbetsförmedlingen har haft ett kinesiskt AI-verktyg installerat på kraftfulla servrar, enligt flera samstämmiga uppgifter till Aftonbladet. Det har nu akut stä
www.aftonbladet.se

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 12
Impressive work, monitoring and visualizing deep-sea mineral-related vessel activity across the world's ocean.

globalfishingwatch.org/map/fishing-...

Reposted by Juan Rocha

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 10
"The agency modified sections of its website by deleting information about human-created greenhouse gases and the role they play in warming the planet. It also removed links to scientific data and information."

www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
EPA erases references to human-caused climate change from websites
The agency revamped its webpages to feature natural causes of rising temperatures such as the Earth’s orbit.
www.eenews.net

vgalaz.bsky.social
Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · Dec 9
Environmental justice for the AI-era in the US, neat summary in @axios.com

www.axios.com/2025/12/08/a...
AI boom fuels "environmental justice" fears in communities of color
Al data centers promise jobs in needed areas
www.axios.com