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Michael Zelenko

@mvzelenko.bsky.social

1.1K followers 260 following 69 posts

Executive Editor, Rest of World

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Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Laura Anne Gilman @lauraannegilman.bsky.social · 20d

www.nytimes.com/1939/02/04/a...

Headline from the New York Times, 1939: “Goebbels ends careers of five “Aryan“ actors who made witticisms about the Nazi regime.”

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Rina Chandran @rinachandran.bsky.social · 22d

Assad is out. Startups are in. Syria’s tech industry was put on hold by 14 years of devastating civil war and crippling economic sanctions. Now it’s roaring back to life as tech founders try to rebuild the country. @emilywither.bsky.social for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/syria-t...

Syria’s quest to build its own Silicon Valley

Tech founders in Damascus are rebooting a war-torn country.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 24d

“India is the world’s third-largest producer of e-waste, having generated approximately 1.75 million metric tons in the fiscal year ending 2024, an increase of nearly 75% over the last five years.” restofworld.org/2025/india-e...

The dirty truth behind the e-waste recycling industry

The informal recycling economy is turning global e-waste into profit — at a steep human and environmental cost.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 28d

this is a really important project, and I can't think of anyone better than @damonberes.com to be leading it

Damon Beres @damonberes.com · 28d

I'm proud to share a new project that @alexreisner.bsky.social and I launched at @theatlantic.com today! It's called AI Watchdog, and it's our new home for all of the investigations into training data sets, such as LibGen, Books3, and OpenSubtitles. www.theatlantic.com/category/ai-...

AI Watchdog landing page

AI Watchdog Data Set Search

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Swapnil Hiremath 🍁🇨🇦 @hswapnil.medsky.social · Sep 7

Interesting deep dive into DeepSeek providing medical advice to a kidney patient - @violazhou.bsky.social mother!

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

Feat @melhoenig.bsky.social and @kidneyboy.bsky.social

#NephSky #AI #LLM

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · Sep 5

“DeepSeek is so much better than doctors.” @violazhou.bsky.social is unsettled by the way her mother, a kidney transplant patient in eastern China, relies on an AI chatbot for health advice. But she also recognizes that the bigger problem is a systemic one. restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Michael Zelenko @mvzelenko.bsky.social · Sep 3

“DeepSeek is more humane,” my mother told me in May. “Doctors are more like machines.”

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

Michael Zelenko @mvzelenko.bsky.social · Sep 3

“Our forefathers did this. … No one else can do it,” he continued. “If someone tried, he will be beaten black and blue.”

The dirty truth behind the e-waste recycling industry
restofworld.org/2025/india-e...

The dirty truth behind the e-waste recycling industry

The informal recycling economy is turning global e-waste into profit — at a steep human and environmental cost.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Techmeme @techmeme.com · Sep 3

A reporter details how her mother, a kidney transplant patient who lives in China, bonded with DeepSeek's chatbot as her AI doctor, calling it "more humane" (Viola Zhou/Rest of World)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Danny Groner @dannygroner.bsky.social · Sep 2

Good listen. restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Sep 2

Not long after DeepSeek R1 launched, I discovered that my mother had started using the chatbot as her virtual doctor.

I worried about her reliance on AI. But over time, I realized Dr. DeepSeek was offering something no human in her life could.

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Sep 2

In this personal essay (my first for @restofworld.org), I explore patients’ relationship with AI, why chatbots can’t yet replace doctors, the caretaking burden on my one-child generation, and the tech industry that promises to ease our struggles.

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Rina Chandran @rinachandran.bsky.social · Sep 2

When her mom, a kidney transplant patient in a small Chinese city, turned to DeepSeek for medical advice @violazhou.bsky.social asked doctors to review the chat logs. They said the AI bot was giving flawed advice. Read the firsthand account on @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Rest of World @restofworld.org · Sep 2

When her mom became smitten with Dr. DeepSeek, @violazhou.bsky.social asked human doctors to review the chat logs. They said the AI bot is giving alarmingly flawed advice. But maybe her mom is after something more than just medical help.

Read our new feature: restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Michael Zelenko @mvzelenko.bsky.social · Sep 2

But it's about much more than that. It's about loneliness, what we owe our parents, and hospitals turned into assembly lines. It's about turning to whatever help is available — even if its AI.

It's an empathetic, nuanced, and deeply human story.

Give it a read.

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Michael Zelenko @mvzelenko.bsky.social · Sep 2

This week's @restofworld.org feature from @violazhou.bsky.social is really special:

It's about Viola's mom, who — like so many sick and lonely people in the modern world — turned to AI as she struggled with her health.

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Arjun Basu @arjun.bsky.social · Sep 2

This is an indictment of a lot of things but I'm not sure what it's indicting the most. Probably doctors.

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Techmeme @techmeme.com · Aug 27

Inside India's growing ~$1.5B e-waste recycling industry, about 95% of workers are employed informally, doing dangerous, toxic, and lawless work for meager pay (Yashraj Sharma/Rest of World)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · Aug 21

An internal Israeli intelligence database reveals 83% of those killed by the IDF in Gaza were civilians, contradicting public claims to the contrary.

www.972mag.com/israeli-inte...

Data from an internal Israeli intelligence database indicates that at least 83 percent of Palestinians killed in Israel’s onslaught on Gaza were civilians, an investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and the Guardian can reveal.

Figures obtained from the classified database — which records the deaths of militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — contradict by a huge margin the public statements of Israeli army and government officials throughout the war, which have generally claimed a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio of civilian to militant casualties. Instead, the classified data backs up the findings of several studies suggesting Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has killed civilians at a rate with few parallels in modern warfare.

The Israeli army confirmed the existence of the database, which is managed by the Military Intelligence Directorate (known by the Hebrew acronym “Aman”). Multiple intelligence sources familiar with the database said the army views it as the only authoritative tally of militant casualty figures. In the words of one of them: “There’s no other place to check.”

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Lauren Goode @laurengoode.bsky.social · Aug 21

A couple months ago I made an unusual request to my editors at @wired.com: I asked if I could go work at a tech company for a few days to learn how to vibe code. Then, for some reason, the $10 billion dollar startup Notion agreed to let me embed with them. 🧵

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Gayathri Vaidyanathan @gayathriv.bsky.social · Aug 13

The UAE plans to become the world’s testing ground for autonomous vehicles and upend the lives of 30,000 cabbies in the process. Amar Diwakar in @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/uae-rob...

Dubai’s robotaxi dreams are coming for human drivers

The UAE plans to become the world’s testing ground for autonomous vehicles and upend the lives of 30,000 cabbies in the process.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Rina Chandran @rinachandran.bsky.social · Aug 5

Syrian tech workers who fled during the civil war are returning home and launching startups. They face poor internet, unreliable electricity, and a regulatory void, but believe tech can help rebuild their war-battered nation, @kayagenc.bsky.social @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/syrian-...

They left Syria as refugees. They’re returning to build its tech industry

After the fall of the Assad regime, tech workers are coming back to help rebuild their nation.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Sean O’Kane @seanokane.bsky.social · Aug 4

WOW WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?????

techcrunch.com/2025/08/04/f...

Foxconn sells former GM factory to mystery buyer after failing to make EVs | TechCrunch

The company has spent more than three years claiming the factory would become an "important" EV hub. But it has barely produced anything there.

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Techmeme @techmeme.com · Jul 30

An inside look at ex-unicorn Builder.ai's demise, which oversold its AI platform's abilities and frustrated customers with delivery delays and buggy products (Varsha Bansal/Rest of World)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Michael Zelenko

Rest of World @restofworld.org · Jul 29

BuilderAI raised $445 million as it boasted that its AI chatbot, Natasha, would radically simplify the process of building apps and websites. When the company collapsed, one viral tweet claimed Natasha was really just 700 human engineers.

In our new feature, we set out to find the truth.

Inside the collapse of Builder.ai: Was it even an AI company?

The implosion of a white-hot startup has employees asking how it all went wrong.

restofworld.org