Pluralistic: On the sincerity of AI bosses (17 Sep 2026)

Today's links

On the sincerity of AI bosses: Fascism is always an incoherent bundle.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: 9/11 v spam; PalmOS x WTC collapse; Wifi x WTC rubble; Berlusconi sex rings; Tesco bans writing down prices; AI psychosis and the warped mirror; Conspiratorialism's causal chain.
Upcoming appearances: Budapest, Berkeley, Edmonton, Boston, South Bend, Hudson, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa, Montreal.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

How an AI moratorium can save AI bosses: If you can't impose switching costs, just eliminate the competition.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Flash Worms; This Film is Not Yet Rated; Libdem copyright sabotage; Religion worth more than Big Tech; Geographic tubemap; Selective censorship resistance.
Upcoming appearances: Budapest, Edmonton, Boston, South Bend, Hudson, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

LLMs are real, AI is fake: No, it didn't "go rogue."
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Why 9/11 Means We Must Support My Politics; Blogs x 9/11; Jimmy Wales v Britannica's EiC; Hollywood astroturfs Australia; Agents v queer YA; Soft landings for dirty cops; Leaked Stingray manual.
Upcoming appearances: Budapest, Edmonton, South Bend, Hudson, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Unpermissioned research: Fighting Trump means preserving the internet, which means scraping.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Leaked advanced PalmOS device specs; Stalwart workers; "I, Rowboat"; SMS uprising; Facebook v switching costs; Capitalism of fools.
Upcoming appearances: Dąbrowa Górnicza, Warsaw, Brighton, London, Budapest, South Bend, Hudson, Victoria, Vancouver.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

How Canada can help Americans and defeat America: True Carneyism has never been tried.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Brazil v AIDS drug patents; TSA v gel-bras; After the Siege (Russian); Names are hard; Layton's last message; Hospital bill secrets; "The Unraveling"; Friction cannot be reduced, only redistributed; Free Kevin; EFF v Barney; MP3tunes; "Ghosts With Shit jobs"; Ikea as dystopian design-fiction; Torturing "young conservatives"; Roald Dahl body yeast ale; Prisoners die of heat; Privacy v antitrust; The internet is boring (2001); TSA v explosive water; Internet Archive x 9/11; Peter Thiel x litigation financing startup; Universities v unions.
Upcoming appearances: Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Born on technology's third base: Material forces shape life-chances.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Glue; iPods v unions; RIP Jack Layton; Gibson on cities; Britain's sweatshop for terminally ill help-hcalls; NYPL's open CDN; Radical juries.
Upcoming appearances: Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The actual epistemic crisis: AI's assault on reality is an opportunistic infection.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Disney goths; Running a con room party; Equation Group's fuggly sourcecode; "Bubble"; "The Weight."
Upcoming appearances: Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The ordinariness of evil: Stop selling AI (bad).
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Dot-crash bumwad; AP v fair use; Nym Wars; What's ctrl-F? Pentagon lost $6.5T in a year; Voter ID is voter suppression; Become unoptimizable.
Upcoming appearances: Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

IP can't save you from AI: Property rights cannot substitute for labor rights and privacy rights.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Flying Brits v brown people; Probability neglect; Law v "enhanced patdowns"; Onion says Brits love paywalls; "Hench"; "Lessons in Magic and Disaster."
Upcoming appearances: Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Surveillance vs guillotines: Someone's gonna fleece these rubes, why not me?
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: DeCSS; Warhol Worm; Camgirls x Amazon wishlists; 2021 State of Tech (in 2001); RIAA v grieving family; Stasi disguises.
Upcoming appearances: Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.