Plus: Fiery resistance to a nuclear AI data center and A24's Google debacle. Welcome to the first episode of BLOOD IN THE MACHINE: THE SHOW, with the great AI and crypto watchdog, Molly White.
My two cents on the new format, noting that I'm probably in the minority: I prefer text because I don't feel like I have to commit as much time to it, and I don't learn well through my ears--for which reason I watched the video version.
A thought on content is that there is so much talk about the harms of data centers in terms of reducing availability or increasing price of electricity and water, noise pollution, hogging of acreage--but not enough talk about several other issues: the major exacerbation of climate change at a time when it's already running out of control; the assault on democracy, wonderfully exampled by the Gretchen Whitmer quote (which should be emblazoned on a very large banner brought to rallies and hung in public places like the Capitol); the damage LLMs are already doing to cognitive and mental health; and the threat that AI in the hands of psychopaths--like those who currently control it--will be used to create incredibly dangerous tools of warfare, surveillance, and a merger of the two in a global police state such as this world has never seen. ONE ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.
Thanks for the thoughts and notes, Mary. But also yeah, BITM will stay text-first; this is supposed to be supplemental to the weekly written column, though some of the errata I append to the end of the longer articles may move into the audio version. Eventually, I'd like to have a full, readable transcript and a written roundup of the stories we cover on this show as well, to run underneath the video and audio. It's all something of an experiment, so thanks for checking it out.
What struck me listening to this wasn't simply the campaign spending. It's that we're beginning to see another channel through which technological power seeks political influence.
During the Gilded Age, railroads, financiers, and industrial trusts also learned that shaping policy could be just as valuable as building infrastructure. The mechanisms were different—party machines, patronage, lobbying, and personal relationships—but the underlying question was remarkably similar: what happens when economic power becomes political power?
I wonder if we're asking the wrong historical question today. Instead of asking whether AI companies are "the new Standard Oil," perhaps we should ask a more basic question: what new forms of power are emerging, how are they being exercised, and what new institutions or safeguards might be needed to preserve public trust?
History doesn't require us to recycle Progressive Era solutions. It asks us to understand how previous generations first identified and named new forms of power before they created institutions to constrain them.
One thing that struck me is how familiar this pattern feels.
Railroads, industrial trusts, finance, social media, and now AI all seem to arrive at the same destination: influence over the rules themselves.
That makes me wonder whether the deeper story is not about AI or even capital, but about why our institutions repeatedly generate actors capable of accumulating this kind of power.
Perhaps the most important question is not who controls AI, but who gets to decide who controls AI.
It is a great show! Seriously. Though transcript is ai, no doubt, so thinks like Andreessen Horowitz misses spelling on the Thiel Vance monster colleague.
It is deeply worrying that a country which considers itself ‘democratic’ openly allows billionaires to buy elections in this way. Is there any way to break this vicious circle? Can’t American citizens do anything about it?
Now scientists and researchers are sounding the alarm that emerging “AI swarm” capacity is a next level development that we have never seen or experienced before. They argue that the midterms and civic engagement are now under serious new threat.
crypto it seems to be an ignored reason behind some of these data centers in my area I think a lot of the planned data centers are actually for crypto but nobody talks about that. everyone assumes they're for AI or we're told they're for your photo rolls and online shopping yet the developers are pure speculators and have no end users supposedly so nobody knows what they're for. and it's just passed over that at least one of the developers is a quote unquote "Bitcoin hobbyist" and that one of the projects is called project Gold which nods to crypto and another planned project formerly called the wildcat ridge AI data center is now just called the wildcat ridge data center. I've been desperately trying to get local reporters who are doing a great job but none of them have any concrete answers or asking these questions about how many of these dozens of data centers in my county are actually going to be printing cryptocurrency. and this is not a maybe in our area because just south of here in carbon county is Greg Beard He's the US department of energy's director of loans or loan dominance or whatever it's called now. The Bitcoin printing data center power plant burning coal waste now burns tires and there's been a lawsuit against stronghold digital mining and Governor Josh Shapiro since 2023.
Thank you, Brian. Loved this. Thanks for highlighting Molly's incredible work. Would be interesting to have Whitney Webb on the show. I'd love to hear more about the link between AI and Palantir (surveillance/war). I think the U.S. proxy war against Russia that Musk is trying to help the Ukrainians "win" (Starlink) by guiding their (our) drones would make another interesting show. The intersection between technology and foreign affairs needs more attention. I would love you to do a show on BRICS. KEEP IT UP!!!!
Thanks, Brian. I don’t consider myself an AI optimist anymore than an electricity or copper wire optimist, but I’m probably more bullish about it than most of your readers. That said, I’m appalled at how ill-equipped government is to manage this and how myopic and superficial tech leaders are, especially when they have resources to rival states.
I want to build Star Trek, not Snow Crash, and both present the same hard questions but leadership at all levels seem intent on barreling toward the latter.
So this is my way of saying your work is refreshing because it’s the thoughtful take I’ve wanted.
Great! Love the new format. One quibble, tell your audio engineer to either increase your audio portion or decrease the audio clips inserted into the show. I had to crank up the volume when when you were speaking but then got blasted when the clips began. Cheers!
Enthused to listen! Wonder if a written transcript accompanying is too much additional work? As much as I love watching sometimes I prefer to multitask and listen to music or something while reading interviews. I may be in the minority. Either way I'll support just a thought.
The new podcast is awesome. I would Would love to see you interview my other 2 favourite journalists: Jared White of Cycles Hyped No More and Cory Doctorow. Also William Lavelle of Haven Social, Jingna Zhang of Cara, and artists Steven Zapata and Karla Ortiz.
I know this might be a bit much to ask, but could we add a few simple data charts or stats to the video?
Also, your points about data centers gave me a lot of inspiration and made me pay closer attention to what’s happening with data-center construction in China. Really appreciate it.
My two cents on the new format, noting that I'm probably in the minority: I prefer text because I don't feel like I have to commit as much time to it, and I don't learn well through my ears--for which reason I watched the video version.
A thought on content is that there is so much talk about the harms of data centers in terms of reducing availability or increasing price of electricity and water, noise pollution, hogging of acreage--but not enough talk about several other issues: the major exacerbation of climate change at a time when it's already running out of control; the assault on democracy, wonderfully exampled by the Gretchen Whitmer quote (which should be emblazoned on a very large banner brought to rallies and hung in public places like the Capitol); the damage LLMs are already doing to cognitive and mental health; and the threat that AI in the hands of psychopaths--like those who currently control it--will be used to create incredibly dangerous tools of warfare, surveillance, and a merger of the two in a global police state such as this world has never seen. ONE ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.
Thanks for the thoughts and notes, Mary. But also yeah, BITM will stay text-first; this is supposed to be supplemental to the weekly written column, though some of the errata I append to the end of the longer articles may move into the audio version. Eventually, I'd like to have a full, readable transcript and a written roundup of the stories we cover on this show as well, to run underneath the video and audio. It's all something of an experiment, so thanks for checking it out.
What struck me listening to this wasn't simply the campaign spending. It's that we're beginning to see another channel through which technological power seeks political influence.
During the Gilded Age, railroads, financiers, and industrial trusts also learned that shaping policy could be just as valuable as building infrastructure. The mechanisms were different—party machines, patronage, lobbying, and personal relationships—but the underlying question was remarkably similar: what happens when economic power becomes political power?
I wonder if we're asking the wrong historical question today. Instead of asking whether AI companies are "the new Standard Oil," perhaps we should ask a more basic question: what new forms of power are emerging, how are they being exercised, and what new institutions or safeguards might be needed to preserve public trust?
History doesn't require us to recycle Progressive Era solutions. It asks us to understand how previous generations first identified and named new forms of power before they created institutions to constrain them.
One thing that struck me is how familiar this pattern feels.
Railroads, industrial trusts, finance, social media, and now AI all seem to arrive at the same destination: influence over the rules themselves.
That makes me wonder whether the deeper story is not about AI or even capital, but about why our institutions repeatedly generate actors capable of accumulating this kind of power.
Perhaps the most important question is not who controls AI, but who gets to decide who controls AI.
For those wanting text, go to YouTube, "More" & scroll down to transcript. You can also run at 1.25 speed with relatively little change in quality.
It is a great show! Seriously. Though transcript is ai, no doubt, so thinks like Andreessen Horowitz misses spelling on the Thiel Vance monster colleague.
Cheers Susan, and thanks for the tip!
oh, and link to useful database:
https://influence.citationneeded.news/
It is deeply worrying that a country which considers itself ‘democratic’ openly allows billionaires to buy elections in this way. Is there any way to break this vicious circle? Can’t American citizens do anything about it?
Excellent discussions. Thanks for the podcast.
Now scientists and researchers are sounding the alarm that emerging “AI swarm” capacity is a next level development that we have never seen or experienced before. They argue that the midterms and civic engagement are now under serious new threat.
https://resistancemediainfo.substack.com/p/the-coup-starts-in-your-feed
crypto it seems to be an ignored reason behind some of these data centers in my area I think a lot of the planned data centers are actually for crypto but nobody talks about that. everyone assumes they're for AI or we're told they're for your photo rolls and online shopping yet the developers are pure speculators and have no end users supposedly so nobody knows what they're for. and it's just passed over that at least one of the developers is a quote unquote "Bitcoin hobbyist" and that one of the projects is called project Gold which nods to crypto and another planned project formerly called the wildcat ridge AI data center is now just called the wildcat ridge data center. I've been desperately trying to get local reporters who are doing a great job but none of them have any concrete answers or asking these questions about how many of these dozens of data centers in my county are actually going to be printing cryptocurrency. and this is not a maybe in our area because just south of here in carbon county is Greg Beard He's the US department of energy's director of loans or loan dominance or whatever it's called now. The Bitcoin printing data center power plant burning coal waste now burns tires and there's been a lawsuit against stronghold digital mining and Governor Josh Shapiro since 2023.
Thank you, Brian. Loved this. Thanks for highlighting Molly's incredible work. Would be interesting to have Whitney Webb on the show. I'd love to hear more about the link between AI and Palantir (surveillance/war). I think the U.S. proxy war against Russia that Musk is trying to help the Ukrainians "win" (Starlink) by guiding their (our) drones would make another interesting show. The intersection between technology and foreign affairs needs more attention. I would love you to do a show on BRICS. KEEP IT UP!!!!
Great suggestion, thanks Bonnie
Congrats and welcome to the audio resistance!
Audio / video recordings and esp live discussions are the best. Like old timey radio for me. I process information and ideas well in this format
Thanks, Brian. I don’t consider myself an AI optimist anymore than an electricity or copper wire optimist, but I’m probably more bullish about it than most of your readers. That said, I’m appalled at how ill-equipped government is to manage this and how myopic and superficial tech leaders are, especially when they have resources to rival states.
I want to build Star Trek, not Snow Crash, and both present the same hard questions but leadership at all levels seem intent on barreling toward the latter.
So this is my way of saying your work is refreshing because it’s the thoughtful take I’ve wanted.
Cheers Liz, and cheers to Star Trek not Snow Crash.
Great! Love the new format. One quibble, tell your audio engineer to either increase your audio portion or decrease the audio clips inserted into the show. I had to crank up the volume when when you were speaking but then got blasted when the clips began. Cheers!
Ah, thanks! Will pass along the note; it's early days yet.
Enthused to listen! Wonder if a written transcript accompanying is too much additional work? As much as I love watching sometimes I prefer to multitask and listen to music or something while reading interviews. I may be in the minority. Either way I'll support just a thought.
Cheers Brian — I'd like to start doing this for sure, perhaps as a perk for paid subs such as yourself!
You do great work so no worries either way. Enjoyed listening, great initial episode!
Stoked to be a part of the podcast that's about to change the world.
🔨🔨🔨
I found your podcast on Pocketcast 👍🏼
Oooh just through search? No need for a private link?
Sorry about that, here you go https://pca.st/podcast/f39be070-18ac-013e-4cf3-0afff1c060b9
The new podcast is awesome. I would Would love to see you interview my other 2 favourite journalists: Jared White of Cycles Hyped No More and Cory Doctorow. Also William Lavelle of Haven Social, Jingna Zhang of Cara, and artists Steven Zapata and Karla Ortiz.
Cheers Roxane — all great suggestions and folks I'd love to have on. (In fact I've already reached out to Karla about this ;)
I know this might be a bit much to ask, but could we add a few simple data charts or stats to the video?
Also, your points about data centers gave me a lot of inspiration and made me pay closer attention to what’s happening with data-center construction in China. Really appreciate it.