Karen Hao on AI tech bosses: ‘Many choose not to have children because they don’t think the world is going to be around much longer’

The author of Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination discusses the cost of Big Tech’s huge investment in technologies that may do more harm than good

Karen Hao on AI tech bosses: ‘Many choose not to have children because they don’t think the world is going to be around much longer’
Author Karen Hao’s book tells the story of OpenAI and the company’s founder Sam Altman. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

READ THE ARTICLE

Zombie Time

Zombie Time Modern day addictions — drugs and screens

Modern day addictions — drugs and screens

Many people seem to be mesmerized by small, portable screens and can’t take their eyes from them for long. Yesterday, in less than a two-block radius from where I live, I saw three bodies, still breathing, but pretty obvious ODs. Out cold, each missing a shoe, lying in the street.

LINK: https://eugeneweekly.com/2025/08/07/zombie-time/

What is cognitive security?

What is cognitive security?

This issue should be approached from two directions.

  • How can you protect yourself from cognitive exploitation?
  • How can you use these techniques to penetrate enemy organizations?

The Big Idea

    • Human Behavior is Central to Cybersecurity Risks: Over 60% of data breaches involve human elements such as phishing, policy non-compliance, and cognitive overload. Traditional security measures often overlook or under address these behavioral factors, leaving organizations vulnerable.
    • Cognitive Security is A Behavior-Centric Defense Approach: Cognitive security integrates principles from psychology and neuroscience to protect against manipulation and risky decision-making. It focuses on guiding user behavior in real-time as a behavioral control, transforming security from a reactive process to proactive behavior reinforcement.
    • Security Culture Must Move from Blame to Empowerment: Instead of penalizing users for security lapses, cognitive security emphasizes understanding and supporting human decision-making processes. This fosters a security culture where safe practices become intuitive and integral to daily operations.

LINK: https://seekmaro.com/blog/what-is-cognitive-security

The Rise of the Moors: ‘We Want Our Own Nation’ | Vice News

This video delves into the Rise of the Moors, which is a movement asserting ancestral land rights and demanding sovereignty on the grounds of Moorish heritage. Following Janetta Little’s house being taken over by a Moor who asserted ownership, we learn about the history, faith, and court cases of the group. Some groups advocate for separation and dissent from U.S. laws, but the Moorish Science Temple of America advocates for peace and lawfulness. This narrative enlightens us about their struggle for self-governance in the midst of controversy and swelling law enforcement worries.

Mexico makes biometric identifier mandatory for all citizens

Mexico makes biometric identifier mandatory for all citizens

Mexico has officially introduced a digital identification system by signing a law that turned the previously optional biometric-based citizen code into a mandatory document for all citizens.

Last month, legislators approved amendments to a law related to the 18-character personal identifier, known as Unique Population Registry Code (Clave Única de Registro de Población – CURP), with the change formalized on Wednesday through a decree.

The mandatory CURP will contain personal and biometric information, including a photograph and a QR code containing biometric fingerprint and iris data. The identifier is expected to be introduced gradually to all Mexicans by February 2026.

The government has also allowed the consolidation of the citizen codes into a single identity platform that will be connected to other state databases and administrative records. According to the decree, the Ministry of the Interior and the Digital Transformation Agency must create a Unified Identity Platform within 90 days, while public and private institutions will be required to update their system to recognize the identifier.

The country also plans to kick-start a national program to collect biometric data from children and adolescents within 120 days, according to news outlet Mexico Business.

READ MORE: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202507/mexico-makes-biometric-identifier-mandatory-for-all-citizens

Inside ICE’s Supercharged Facial Recognition App of 200 Million Images

404 Media has seen user manuals for Mobile Fortify, ICE’s new facial recognition app which allows officers to instantly look up DHS, State Department, and state law enforcement databases by just pointing a phone at someone’s face.

Image: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Image: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

LINK: https://www.404media.co/inside-ices-supercharged-facial-recognition-app-of-200-million-images/

Is AI Apocalypse Inevitable? – Tristan Harris

In this episode, Tristan Harris explores the 2 most probable paths that AI will follow, one leading to chaos and the other to dystopia. He explains how we can pursue a narrow path between these 2 undesirable outcomes. Tristan Harris is a prominent technology ethicist known for his influential critique of the attention economy and persuasive design in tech. Tristan is Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology (CHT), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to align technology with humanity’s best interests. He regularly briefs heads of state, technology CEOs, and US Congress members, in addition to mobilizing millions of people around the world through mainstream media. Tristan has explored the influences that hijack human attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs, from his childhood as a magician to his coursework in Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab to his leadership as a Design Ethicist at Google. Today, he studies how major technology platforms wield dangerous power over our ability to make sense of the world and leads the call for systemic change. In 2020, Tristan was featured in the two-time Emmy-winning Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. The film unveiled how social media is dangerously reprogramming our brains and human civilization. It reached over 100 million people in 190 countries across 30 languages. As a co-host of the top-rated technology podcast, Your Undivided Attention, he explores the drivers behind social media’s race for attention, its destabilization of society, and potential solutions. Learn more about Tristan’s research at https://www.humanetech.com/

The pharma CEOs aren’t safe in new trailer for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia

The dark comedy is set to hit theaters on October 31st.

CEOs would be nothing without the labor of their (typically) underpaid employees, and the unfairness of that reality seems to be what’s causing all the chaos in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ upcoming film, Bugonia.

A remake of South Korean director Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 feature Save the Green PlanetBugonia zooms in on the life of Teddy (Jesse Plemons), a conspiracy-minded beekeeper who works for a massive pharmaceutical company run by Michelle (Emma Stone). As one of the company’s many workers who spend their days laboring to make a fraction of Michelle’s salary, Teddy sees a lot of parallels between himself and the bees who live only to serve their queen.

Teddy knows that he, like a beehive’s drones, is expendable in the grand scheme of Michelle’s plans as a CEO. Teddy’s frustrations and delusions about an alien invasion convince him that Michelle probably isn’t a human. And that’s enough for him to hatch a plot to kidnap his boss under the auspices of saving the planet.

Though the trailer skews a little whimsical, it’s fairly clear that Lanthimos and writer Will Tracy are telling a dark story about people pushed to the edge by economic inequality. The movie also seems like it’s going to touch on how people not having proper access to quality mental health care is a very real societal problem, which is probably going to make Bugonia feel timely as hell when the film hits limited theaters on October 24th before its wide release on October 31st.

Big Easy’s Big Brother

We get into a secret partnership between the New Orleans Police Department and Project NOLA, a private nonprofit organisation that owns and operates an extensive network of cameras blanketing New Orleans. For years, Project NOLA has been running live facial recognition through their cameras and sending automated notifications to the police when a match is made using Project NOLA’s privately maintained list of “wanted people.” By going through an unofficial private partner, police have been able to sidestep and undermine legal prohibition on their use of AI technologies like facial recognition. We get into the history of using New Orleans as a testbed for policing technology, the dangerous precedent being set by this public-private relationship, and how this surveillance nightmare is on track to become even more expansive and unleashed thanks to potential policy changes.

••• Police secretly monitored New Orleans with facial recognition cameras www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025…-new-orleans/
••• A bad facial recognition match costs Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto’s office. See how much www.nola.com/news/jefferson_par…-728b3783cb93.html
••• New Orleans City Council proposed ordinance cityofno.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php…meta_id=741682

Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: www.ucpress.edu/book/978052039807…c-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: www.patreon.com/thismachinekills

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)