Mike Masnick 
www.ft.com
Big Tech’s ‘breathtaking’ $660bn spending spree reignites AI bubble fears
Stocks tumble despite strong earnings reports from most Silicon Valley heavyweights
A feed about tech policy pulled from a variety of sources and created by Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com. Created with surf.social
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Like count prediction
The feed Tech policy gains approximately 19 likes per month.
Feed Preview for Tech policy
FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled." 404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...
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Back at the start of the Trump II administration, it was disorienting to watch powerful law firms preemptively surrender and genuflect before the King
Turns out it was because the people in charge were close friends with Epstein and were worried about getting outed
www.ft.com/content/7001...
www.ft.com
Brad Karp to step down as Paul Weiss chair after Epstein revelations
Files released by US justice department detailed relationship with child sex offender
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We found that Grok AI generated an estimate of 3 million sexualized images in just 11 days.
AI is following social media by putting profit ahead of safety, creating a toxic online environment for kids and women. The era of platform self-regulation must end.
Agree? Add your name 👇
act.counterhate.com
Social Media Platforms Regulation for A Safer Internet
Social media and AI platforms monetize harms, abuse & extremism - at the expense of people's safety. It's time lawmakers hold platforms accountable & make our digital spaces safer. Join CCDH and call for social media and AI regulation.
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“If my incentive is how we get cheap tech, I may not care very much about how much student data ends up being leaked out to some other entity or what they do with it,” EFF’s Lee Tien told @sfpublicpress.bsky.social. www.sfpublicpress.org/sch….
www.sfpublicpress.org
SFUSD Approves OpenAI Contract, Bypassing School Board
The San Francisco Unified School District signed a contract with OpenAI three weeks before seeking approval from its school board.
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Policymakers can’t protect the public without evidence.
That’s why defending independent research matters. When tech companies fail users, research is often the only way to prove it and hold them accountable.
Hear from MEP Sergey Lagodinsky 👇
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“Lockdown Mode is just locking down the potential ways malware can get into your phone, including, as it turns out, hardware accessory connections,” FPF's David Huerta told @monicatorrr.bsky.social.
www.huffpost.com
This Little-Known iPhone Feature Safeguarded A Reporter’s Data From Feds — And It Could Save Yours, Too
Here’s exactly how to enable it and protect your data.
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Guess they realized having to ask Siri to ask ChatGPT stuff in order to get a reasonable answer wasn’t a good experience www.bloomberg.com/news/ar….
www.bloomberg.com
Apple Plans to Allow Outside Voice-Controlled AI Chatbots in CarPlay
Apple Inc. is preparing to allow voice-controlled artificial intelligence apps from other companies in CarPlay, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that will let users query AI chatbo...
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Telly’s Plan For ‘Free’ Ad-Based TV Revolution Runs Into Quality Control Problems
Back in 2023 we noted how a company named Telly proclaimed it had come up with a new idea for a TV: a free TV, with a second small TV below it, that shows users ads pretty much all of the time. While the bottom TV…
www.techdirt.com
Telly’s Plan For ‘Free’ Ad-Based TV Revolution Runs Into Quality Control Problems
Back in 2023 we noted how a company named Telly proclaimed it had come up with a new idea for a TV: a free TV, with a second small TV below it, that shows users ads pretty much all of the time. While the bottom TV could also be used for useful things (like weather or a stock tracker), the fact it was constantly bombarding you with ads was supposed to offset any need for a retail price.
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Was so thrilled to have @thekavernacle.bsky.social on the podcast this week to chat about the UK and how and why Britain is leading the way on mass surveillance. Watch and share!!
youtu.be
The UK Is Officially A Dystopia, And We're Next
YouTube video by Taylor Lorenz
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I wrote an in-depth guide with some advanced OpenClaw tips I've picked up over the past few weeks:
- Secure credentials with 1Password CLI
- Managing memories
- Automate tasks with cron and Heartbeats
- Make OpenClaw do proactive work for you
Have fun: www.macstories.net/club/a….
www.macstories.net
Advanced Tips for OpenClaw: Credentials, Proactive Work, Automating Tasks, Memories, and More
Since I first wrote about ClawdBot MoltBot OpenClaw three weeks ago, I’ve only come to rely on this personal assistant more and more each day. My OpenClaw still runs on its own dedicated Mac mini (alt...
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In related news about the Washington Post and the state of journalism today, Amazon "ran a $1.2 billion tax bill last year, down from $9 billion the previous year, even as its profits jumped by 45% to nearly $90 billion."
That's in the wake of the 2025 tax bill
www.politico.com/news/202….
www.politico.com
Amazon's tax bill plunges after GOP tax cuts
The 87 percent drop is largely due to a more generous depreciation break in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act.'
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“It's part of this whole rush to just throw everything into the data-driven machine-learning nexus, and then hoping something more good will come out of it, your private information be damned,” EFF’s @legind.bsky.social told @CNET.com. www.cnet.com/home/intern...
www.cnet.com
Starlink Is Using Your Personal Data to Train AI. Here’s How to Opt Out
Starlink says it may also share personal data with partners to help it "develop AI-enabled tools that improve your customer experience.”
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Regarding the Discourse, lemme just say that if you can't draw, yes you can.
Everyone can draw, and folks will almost certainly respond more positively to your stick figures than some generic "A.i." slop.
Also, there are LOADS of resources for free images. Like this! 🧵
www.nga.gov/artworks/fre...
www.nga.gov
Free Images and Open Access | National Gallery of Art
Free open access image downloads are now available directly from the object pages located on this website. Close to 60,000 images are available for download, and we will continue to add more images fo...
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NEW: lawmakers in new york rolled out a proposed data center moratorium bill today, making NY at least the sixth state to introduce legislation pausing data center development in the past few *weeks*:
www.wired.com
New York Is the Latest State to Consider a Data Center Pause
Red and blue states alike have introduced legislation in recent weeks that would halt data center development, citing concerns from climate to high energy prices.
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Daily Deal: The Ultimate AWS Data Master Class Bundle
The Ultimate AWS Data Master Class Bundle has 9 courses to get you up to speed on Amazon Web Services. The courses cover AWS, DevOPs, Kubernetes Mesosphere DC/OS, AWS Redshift, and more. It’s on sale for $40. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is…
www.techdirt.com
Daily Deal: The Ultimate AWS Data Master Class Bundle
The Ultimate AWS Data Master Class Bundle has 9 courses to get you up to speed on Amazon Web Services. The courses cover AWS, DevOPs, Kubernetes Mesosphere DC/OS, AWS Redshift, and more. It’s on sale for $40. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support Techdirt. The products featured do not reflect endorsements by our editorial team.
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Has anyone written about the conspicious consumption of computing resources in the age of climate change fueled fascism?
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The European Commission has preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act over its addictive design. TikTok says it will challenge the findings, but it’s a massive test for the Digital Services Act, with potential implications for all platforms, writes Chris Stokel-Walker.
www.techpolicy.press
The EU Wants to Label 'Addictive Design' a Systemic Risk Under the DSA
The EU's preliminary findings represent a massive test for the Digital Services Act, with implications for all platforms, writes Chris Stokel-Walker.
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Anthropic has a dilemma: it's obsessed with safety and also hot in pursuit of AGI, which no one knows how to launch safely. Now its plan to resolve the paradox is clear: imbue its AI model with the autonomy and "wisdom" to do things right. www.wired.com/story/the-on...
www.wired.com
The Only Thing Standing Between Humanity and AI Apocalypse Is … Claude?
As AI systems grow more powerful, Anthropic’s resident philosopher says the startup is betting Claude itself can learn the wisdom needed to avoid disaster.
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Canada's Senate is about to make a huge mistake: "Court Ordered Social Media Site Blocking Coming to Canada?: Trojan Horse Online Harms Bill Clears Senate Committee Review" by Michael Geist
www.michaelgeist.ca
Court Ordered Social Media Site Blocking Coming to Canada?: Trojan Horse Online Harms Bill Clears Senate Committee Review - Michael Geist
Critics of Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne’s successive bills that ostensibly target pornography sites have for years warned of the privacy and equity risks that arise from mandated age verification...
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Autonomy News is doing reporting you're not getting anywhere else.
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Autonomy News@autonomynews.co
The FDA recently approved the birth control implant Nexplanon for use up to five years, instead of three. But to providers' surprise, it also placed the device under a special monitoring protocol called REMS, which is infamous for the way it has limited access to medication abortion.
www.autonomynews.co
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googlers are the best part of google www.nytimes.com/2026/02/0….
www.nytimes.com
Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies
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