Hola,
I've been in CMDX this week for Stripe’s first crypto conference. Some takeaways here, but mostly I’m just sick to my stomach.
If the below tweet speaks to you, you’ll love our livestream. Latest episode here.
ily,
Polygon stablecoin activity hits another ATH.
Imagine monitoring Bernie Sanders' AI Psychosis from here.
Yesterday, the Senator from Vermont released a video where he had a conversation with Anthropic's Claude about data collection and privacy. The video hit tech Twitter's timeline like a bomb and the response is, how you say… negativo.
Even before the video starts, it's clear directorial choices had been made to set the stage for some bad news and a bit of good ole fashioned anti-tech fear mongering.
The 3:41 video goes on to have Sanders ask Claude what would surprise the American people most about the data that is collected and how it is being used. Claude's response most likely had Anthropic’s legal team screaming into a pillow.
The female voice confirms that, mostly without the consent of their users, AI businesses are building detailed profiles of location data, browsing activity, purchasing history, and more. And for what?
Advertising retargeting is the first danger revealed, with a fast follow to the threat that this data mining poses to democracy and the ability to influence public opinion and political elections.
It’s not just that the format was catnip for Twitter meme lords.
But, for the most part, the scrutiny that followed sits squarely in the bucket of no shit Sherlock. Big tech and data privacy is a conversation that's nearly 10 years old at this point.
The tipping point for many was the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Which revealed that the Facebook data of 85+ million users had been harvested to retarget and influence things like the 2016 U.S. election, Brexit, and convinced me to buy Glossier's Boy Brow.
Here is the thing, IMO, despite many Americans welcoming a politician scrutinizing these companies' practices and Sanders being a well intentioned and curious conduit to do it, the video ended up highlighting that on a federal level in the US there hasn't been any truly meaningful privacy regulation since the conversation began. Further underlining a lack of confidence tech folk have in the public sector's ability to navigate the urgent and necessary conversations around AI safety, automation, and job loss.
To end on a happy note, a guy did cure a dog’s cancer using AI & mRNA vaccine research so it’s not all bad.
