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glinden.bsky.social
Greg Linden
@glinden.bsky.social
1.7K followers 290 following 1.2K posts

an internet relic, linkedin.com/in/glinden

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Economics 33%
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Reposted by Greg Linden

peark.es
George Pearkes @peark.es · 2h
I really can’t exaggerate how completely weird this move in silver is. Markets just don’t go parabolic for months at a time. Speaks to the fundamental cause of this move in silver: momentum and nobody with a balance sheet to take the other side of the move.
Chart of front month silver futures prices for past five years

Reposted by Greg Linden

3r1ng.bsky.social
Erin Gallagher @3r1ng.bsky.social · 3h
“AI-generated doctors are dispensing dubious health advice” and have “racked up millions of views and engagements” - by @craigsilverman.bsky.social indicator.media/p/ai-generat...
AI-generated doctors are dispensing dubious health advice
Indicator identified more than two dozen social media accounts that feature synthetic doctors and medical professionals. They've racked up millions of views and engagements.
indicator.media

Reposted by Greg Linden

mantzarlis.com
Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 3h
AI-generated doctors dispensing claims that medical experts described as "misleading and disturbing" have millions of followers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. They're typically used to sell health products.

Check out @craigsilverman.bsky.social's latest on @indicator.media:
AI-generated doctors are dispensing dubious health advice
Indicator identified more than two dozen social media accounts that feature synthetic doctors and medical professionals. They've racked up millions of views and engagements.
indicator.media

Reposted by Greg Linden

matthewfacciani.bsky.social
Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 3h
AI technologies now enable coordinated "swarms" of inauthentic social media activity that can manipulate public opinion at scale by mimicking human behavior, generating convincing falsehoods, and fabricating false consensus.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
How malicious AI swarms can threaten democracy
The fusion of agentic AI and LLMs marks a new frontier in information warfare
www.science.org

Reposted by Greg Linden

defenddemocracy.bsky.social
Defend Democracy @defenddemocracy.bsky.social · 6h
BREAKING: EU Commission launches investigation into:

* Grok spreading illegal content in the EU (including fake sexual images and child abuse material)

* X's recommender systems as systemic risks

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

#DefendDemocracy
#HandsOffOurEU🇪🇺

Reposted by Greg Linden

kakape.bsky.social
Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 6h
For those not following all the developments here:
This investigation comes on top of the one started in December 2023 over several other breaches including a lack of data access for researchers studying the platforms.
I wrote about the background here:

www.science.org/content/arti...
Meta and TikTok are obstructing researchers’ access to data, European Commission rules
Data are needed to study how social media spreads misinformation and influences elections, scientists say
www.science.org

Reposted by Greg Linden

techmeme.com
Techmeme @techmeme.com · 6h
Documents: China's military is focused on harnessing AI to deploy swarms of drones, robot dogs, and other autonomous systems, learning from hawks and coyotes (Josh Chin/Wall Street Journal)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Greg Linden, Salla-Maaria Laaksonen

kakape.bsky.social
Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 6h
Just in: EU Commission is opening a new investigation into Grok’s nudification tool on X under the DSA.
“This includes risks related to the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images, including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material.”
Commission investigates Grok and X\'s recommender systems under the Digital Services Act
The European Commission has launched a new formal investigation against X under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu

Reposted by Greg Linden

techmeme.com
Techmeme @techmeme.com · 6h
The EU opens a formal DSA investigation into xAI over Grok generating sexualized images of women and children; xAI faces fines of up to 6% of global revenue (Barbara Moens/Financial Times)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Matthew Bunn, Stephan Lewandowsky , and 4 more

aaronsojourner.org
Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 7h
"In Minnesota, we will continue to follow the letter of the law, which requires us to protect the private data of our voters.

"It is deeply disturbing that the US AG would make this unlawful request a part of an apparent ransom to pay for our state’s peace & security.*
www.kttc.com/2026/01/25/m...
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon releases statement in response to U.S. AG Pam Bondi letter
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has issued a statement in response to a letter written by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to Governor Tim Walz.
www.kttc.com

Reposted by Greg Linden

techpolicypress.bsky.social
Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 8h
In dozens of interviews, sociologist, UX researcher, and interaction designer Diana Enriquez finds middle managers forced to "feign AI success" in a weak job market—for instance, pretending error-free drafts came from AI tools that actually failed.
In Weak Job Market, Middle Managers Increasingly Forced to Feign AI Success
Amid all the hype, companies need human-centered AI that helps workers. Policymakers must protect labor at every level, writes Diana Enriquez.
buff.ly

Reposted by McKenzie Wark, Brian Keegan, Greg Linden

edzitron.com
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 14h
It is important to know that despite its prominence TikTok loses billions of dollars and tweaking algorithms lays havoc to your ad sales. Oracle is gonna destroy this thing and it’s going to combine with the data center debt and consume it whole
www.theinformation.com/articles/tik...
The Takeaway → TikTok loses several billion a year, investors estimate → Revenue is estimated to be about $20 billion → TikTok's losses are a contrast with ByteDance's Douyin, which is a big profit maker

Reposted by Greg Linden

aaronsojourner.org
Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 14h
This anti-Constitutional attack on Minnesotans lasts exactly as long as Congressional GOP wants it to and not a minute longer.
andrewsolender.bsky.social Andrew Solender @andrewsolender.bsky.social · 15h
an instructive example of just how much things shifted for congressional Republicans between the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti: Minnesota Rep. Michelle Fischbach's responses to each incident www.axios.com/2026/01/26/i...

glinden.bsky.social
Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 15h
It'd be interesting to know more about how TikTok is changing its recommender algorithm and how that's being received. Usually optimizing recommendations for anything other than user satisfaction hurts usage and revenue eventually. Certainly good news for competitors like YouTube.
chrismurphyct.bsky.social Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 16h
I know it's hard to track all the threats to democracy out there right now, but this is at the top of the list.

Reposted by Axel Bruns, Alan Richardson, Sarah Roberts , and 9 more

passantino.bsky.social
Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 16h
News: The Washington Post is preparing to slash upwards of 300 staffers, incl sports, metro and foreign desks @nataliekorach.bsky.social reports.

“The newsroom is being punished for absolute incompetence from the owner and publisher,” one staffer told @status.news
www.status.news/p/washington...
Post Parting Depression
Looming cuts at The Washington Post threaten to decimate key coverage areas as staffers question the motives and commitment of billionaire owner Jeff Bezos.
www.status.news

Reposted by Edward Witten, Axel Bruns, Joe R. Feagin , and 10 more

chrismurphyct.bsky.social
Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 16h
I know it's hard to track all the threats to democracy out there right now, but this is at the top of the list.

Reposted by Sander van der Linden, Greg Linden

fil.bsky.social
Fil Menczer @fil.bsky.social · 16h
Our latest paper in @science.org warns about malicious AI swarms, agents capable of adaptive influence campaigns at scale. We already observed some in the wild (picture). AI is a real threat to democracy.
#SciencePolicyForum #ScienceResearch 🧪
Paper: doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Network showing an AI swarm -- bots controlled through ChatGPT, in yellow -- and people who followed them on Xitter.

Reposted by Greg Linden

deanbaker13.bsky.social
Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 1d
More Republicans call for Trump's impeachment. Now the general counsel to DHS under Trump I www.newsweek.com/trump-admini...
Former Trump admin DHS lawyer demands president’s impeachment
“I am enraged and embarrassed by DHS’s lawlessness, fascism, and cruelty,” John Mitnick said.
www.newsweek.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Shannon Vallor, Nandita Sharma , and 28 more

jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 1d
Putin pioneered this. No opposition is legitimate. Regular, decent, “ordinary” people cannot possibly be against us because only we represent “the real people.”

Tell-tale sign of authoritarianism.

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Greg Linden, David Darmofal

ejdionne.bsky.social
E.J. Dionne @ejdionne.bsky.social · 1d
The Minnesota killings laid bare that Trump’s project is regime change. The goal was described by MAGA thinkers, the pattern set on Day One. The nation let his early moves—the Jan. 6 pardons, the TikTok power grab—slip by. Denial & complacency must end. Now
My column
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Engineering Regime Change, Right Here at Home
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Mark Bray, Axel Bruns , and 33 more

astrokatie.com
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 1d
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

Reposted by Greg Linden

hankgreen.bsky.social
Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · 1d
These echo chambers are made by recommendation algorithms, by social connection (and rupture), by our own biases, and by deliberate propaganda machines. They seem impenetrable.

glinden.bsky.social
Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 1d
I'm talking about PageRank and later TrustRank. While it's true that you could try to build LLMs that are primarily trained on and focus on reliable sources, that's not at all trivial to do well, definitely many years of hard research to get the relevance rank and spam filtering right.

glinden.bsky.social
Greg Linden @glinden.bsky.social · 1d
Google started decades ago with a clever way to focus on trustworthy information among all the crap on the early World Wide Web, but now: "generative AI ... [does] not necessarily know when that source is incorrect."
www.theguardian.com/technology/n...
How the ‘confident authority’ of Google AI Overviews is putting public health at risk
Experts say tool can give ‘completely wrong’ medical advice which could put users at risk of serious harm
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Mary C. Waters, Ben H. Ansell , and 15 more

gelliottmorris.com
G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 1d
Reminder: All it would take to end the murder of American citizens by an untrained government goon squad is 16 Republicans in Congress voting with Dems to defund ICE (or 23 to impeach and remove Trump — 3 in House & 20 in Senate). That’s it. 23 Americans can vote for the public and end all of this.

Reposted by Greg Linden

tomscocca.bsky.social
Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 2d
Hm Gmail filters seem suddenly completely busted

Reposted by Victor Pickard, Greg Linden

maxtani.bsky.social
max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 2d
According to an internal email to Washington Post sports staff, the paper isn't sending any reporters to cover the winter Olympics next month. The decision comes as major layoffs are expected in the coming weeks.

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Will Jennings, Scott L. Greer , and 3 more

brendelbored.bsky.social
Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 2d
Seeing a bunch of normal ass midwestern moms and dads marching in -20 degrees knowing they might be tear gassed or worse really drives home what a cowardly lot of people the pundit class is

Reposted by Greg Linden

edzitron.com
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 2d
If banks can't easily sell off the debt they are putting into data centers they are going to stop putting debt into data centers, it really is that simple. This story tries to soften it by saying there's "still investor interest" but then the actual facts say otherwise.

Reposted by Greg Linden

edzitron.com
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 2d
From Business Insider - Oracle's $38 billion loan closed, but those who have bought into the various loans around OpenAI's data centers can't sell off the debt without taking a loss - and the pool of investors who still have an appetite for their debt has shrunk.
archive.is/WfUfe#select...
Two bankers and a financing executive who are familiar with the syndication market said that the rising perception of risk around Stargate meant that lenders now wanted higher yields to lend to it. That has placed recent Stargate syndicators in a position where they can no longer profitably sell off debt that was arranged at tighter spreads just a few months ago. Stargate borrowing rates may not come down any time soon. Other bankers who spoke with Business Insider said the slowdown did not indicate acute trouble in the syndication market, but acknowledged that the pool of investors who still have an appetite for the Stargate debt has shrunk. "Do we have enough digestive capacity" in the market for investors to buy all of the debt that will be required, said David Tawil, a partner at transaction insurance advisory firm Castle Harbour. "That's the market's real concern: the size of this whole movement."