Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Matt Pearce to discuss how Google sidestepped two California bills aimed at funding journalism and how major tech companies are transforming the web to make hyperlinks less relevant.Matt Pearce is the President of Media Guild of the West and a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Matt wrote about the disingenuous arguments against the California Journalism Preservation Act and the changing nature of hyperlinks online.Google sidestepped the two California bills to carve out a separate deal that includes funding for an AI initiative.When you compare per capita public broadcast funding across wealthy nations, Canada is near the bottom, but the United States is barely on the chart.Google will distribute $100 million to news publishers in Canada after a bargaining process there.Digital media companies have been doing layoffs and shutting down in droves.The New York Times used AI to assist in identifying the deadly weapons Israel is using against the people of Gaza.The Media Ecosystem Observatory looked at the effects of Meta's news ban on its platforms in Canada.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Taylor Welling and Kathryn Friesen to discuss how they formed wall-to-wall unions in the video game industry and their thoughts on broader challenges like layoffs and corporate consolidation.Taylor Welling is a producer and union member at OneBGS and Kathryn Friesen is quest designer and member of the World of Warcraft GameMakers Guild.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:OneBGS and the World of Warcraft GameMakers Guild each won their union votes in July 2024.More video game workers have already been laid off in 2024 than did in all of 2023.Microsoft and the Communication Workers of America signed a labor neutrality agreement in 2022, to take effect 60 days after its acquisition of Activision Blizzard closed. In May, that agreement was extended to ZeniMax Studios.Microsoft laid off 1,900 gaming workers in January and closed four internal studios in May.Blizzard provides swords, shields, and helmets to employees celebrating 5, 10, and 20 years at the company.The ZeniMax Workers Union struck an agreement with their employer on the use of AI.Nicole Carpenter at Polygon put together a list of video game unions and an explainer on the rise of video game unions.Communication Workers of America has more information on unionizing as part of their CODE-CWA campaign.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Mohammad Khatami and Gabi Schubiner to discuss the complicity of Google, Amazon, and Microsoft in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and how tech workers are organizing to stop it.Mohammad Khatami and Gabi Schubiner are former Google software engineers and organizers with No Tech for Apartheid.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Find out more about No Tech for Apartheid from their website. Microsoft workers have also launched No Azure for Apartheid.Yuval Abraham reported on the Israeli military’s use of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft’s cloud services and AI in Gaza.Mohammad wrote about being fired by Google in The New Arab.Gabi refers to JWCC, with is a reference to the Department of Defense Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle.Google fired 50 workers earlier this year for organizing over its ties to Israel.The Information reported on how many Arab Americans in tech are scared to speak out in support of Palestinians for fear of retaliation.In 1970, Polaroid workers under the banner of the Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement began the first anti-apartheid boycott of a US company by organizing against their employer’s complicity in South African apartheid.The IBM Black Workers Alliance was central to the anti-apartheid campaign at that company.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss why the crypto industry is spending millions on this election cycle and Coinbase’s potential breach of election finance law. Molly White writes the Citation Needed newsletter. She is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and Follow the Crypto.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Molly wrote about the Coinbase campaign finance violation and Donald Trump’s Bitcoin conference speech in her newsletter.Paris wrote about some of the concerns about Kamala Harris’ stance on tech.Fairshake spent $10 million on attacks ads against Katie Porter in California. It spent millions more targeting Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush.The crypto industry hates SEC head Gary Gensler, who is leading the regulatory effort against cryptocurrency.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Hussein Kesvani to discuss the far-right attacks that happened after the Southport stabbing in the UK and how larger structural issues in media, politics, and tech laid the groundwork for violence against visible minorities.Hussein Kesvani is a co-host of Trashfuture and Ten Thousand Posts.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:The stabbing in Southport resulted in the deaths of three children and injuries to eight children and two adults.After days of far-right attacks, there were large anti-fascist and anti-racist demonstrations across the UK.Some fascists attacked hotels housing asylum seekers, but in places like Bristol, locals started defending the hotels.In 1968, Conservative MP Enoch Powell delivered the “rivers of blood” speech.Elon Musk has been sharing a series of incendiary posts and false information that have helped fuel these attacks.The billionaire’s changes to Twitter have helped fuel right-wing misinformation.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Luke LeBrun and Rachel Gilmore to discuss Shopify's connection to right-wing politics, through its interpersonal connection to a far-right news outlet and its reluctance to enforce its content policy on users selling hateful merchandise through their platform. Luke LeBrun is the editor of PressProgress and Rachel Gilmore is an independent journalist.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Luke reported on Shopify COO Kaz Nejatian’s involvement in and funding of a right-wing Canadian “news” website called True North.Rachel reported on Shopify’s decisions not to disable support for stores that sell fraudulent goods and promote hate that’s in violation of their Acceptable Use Policy. She recently pointed out a series of stores Shopify still supports that sell Nazi memorabilia.Last year, an anonymous former Shopify worker spoke out about the right-wing culture at the company. Rachel confirmed the person had worked for Shopify.In 2022, Tobi Lutke was granted a “founder’s share,” guaranteeing him 40% voting power. 46% of shareholders voted against the proposal.Shopify found itself in the spotlight in 2021 when employees found a noose emoji had been added to the company’s Slack system.Shopify President Harley Finkelstein has been publicly opposing plans to raise taxes on capital gains. Only 0.13% of Canadians will be paying more tax under the plan.Some right-wing figures in Canada deny the truth of the residential schools.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Chris Carlsson to discuss Processed World, a tech-critical, anti-capitalist magazine that satirized the absurdity of work in its publishing run between 1981 and 2005.  Chris Carlsson is the author of many books, including most recently When Shells Crumble. He’s the director of Shaping SF and a cofounder of Critical Mass. He was also one of the people behind Processed World.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:You can find the full archive of Processed World on the Internet Archive.Chris wrote about his experience making Processed World in Notes from Below.Jacob Silverman wrote a great piece on the legacy of Processed World for The Baffler.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss why tech billionaires have become more supportive of  Donald Trump in the upcoming US election and whether Kamala Harris’ candidacy will disrupt their plans.Jacob Silverman is the co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud and is working on a new book called Gilded Rage that is scheduled for Fall 2025.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Jacob wrote about Silicon Valley’s embrace of Trump for The Nation.Paris wrote about what Silicon Valley wants from Trump in Disconnect.Molly White’s new project is called Follow the Crypto.Elon Musk is reportedly committing $45 million a month to a pro-Trump Super PAC.Mark Zuckerberg called Trump a badass, while saying he won’t endorse any candidate.Eric Schmidt is pushing the Pentagon’s embrace of AI for war.Peter Thiel says he’d vote for Trump this cycle if there was a gun to his head.Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz wrote a Little Tech Agenda containing a basic policy program.Reid Hoffman funded a disinformation campaign in Alabama.Reed Hastings has already put $7 million into a pro-Kamala Super PAC.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Sasha Luccioni to discuss the catastrophic environmental costs of the generative AI being increasing shoved into every tech product we touch. Sasha Luccioni is an artificial intelligence researcher and Climate Lead at Hugging Face.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Sasha published a paper looking at the climate impacts of generative AI.Paris wrote about the increased emissions at Google and Microsoft, and the consequences of the growing data center buildout.Google’s emissions are up 48% in five years, while Microsoft’s are up 30% between 2020 and 2023.Bill Gates is telling governments not to “go overboard” with concerns about AI energy use. He’s been much more active in Microsoft’s AI strategizing than he’s admitted publicly.Microsoft President Brad Smith says its carbon “moonshot” is much farther away because of generative AI. The company is accelerating its data center construction plans.Sam Altman says we can geoengineer the planet if we can’t develop an energy breakthrough to power AI.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by David Gerard to discuss Jack Dorsey’s decision to leave Bluesky, his obsession with Bitcoin, and his contributions (or lack thereof) to modern technology. David Gerard is the author of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain and Libra Shrugged. He also makes Pivot to AI with Amy Castor.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:David wrote about Jack Dorsey abandoning Bluesky on his blog.Business Insider reported on how Dorsey gave money to the far-right founder of Nostr.Dorsey was interviewed by Mike Solana on Pirate Wires.Dorsey has posted in support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the response to it is why he deleted his Bluesky account.Support the Show.

Paris Marx is joined by Jason Koebler to discuss the AI-generated spam filling Facebook, how the platform seems to have given up trying to stop it, and where the internet goes from here.Jason Koebler is the co-host of the 404 Media Podcast.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Jason wrote about his theory of the zombie internet and what he’s been seeing on Facebook.Back in 2018, Motherboard reported on the rules Facebook gave its content moderators.Users of Facebook Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero in Angola found out how to make their own video streaming service for free.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Jason Hickel to discuss how technology would change in a degrowth society and why it doesn’t make sense to organize society around profit and infinite expansion. Jason Hickel is the author of Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. He’s also a Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Jason wrote about technology and degrowth and the objectives of democratic ecosocialism for Monthly Review.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by tante to discuss why it’s hard for Europe to challenge the US and China on tech and why we should change how we think about innovation.tante is a writer, speaker, and Luddite working on tech and its social impact.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:tante spoke about innovation at re:publica 2024.Paris also gave a presentation on data centers.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron wrote an op-ed about shared priorities in the Financial Times.Sam Altman successfully lobbied to water down the EU’s AI Act.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Nitasha Tiku to discuss how US tech companies are flocking to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to fund their expensive AI ambitions.Nitasha Tiku is a tech culture reporter at the Washington Post.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Read the pieces Nitasha contributed to on Silicon Valley getting funding from Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and its embrace of the US military.Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018. There’s still be no accountability.Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman met with many Silicon Valley CEOs months before Khashoggi’s murder.The United Arab Emirates launched its own AI strategy in 2018.The UAE also put Pegasus spyware on the phone of Khashoggi’s wife months before his murder.Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was photographed signing a woman’s chest on June 4.Many Arab Americans in Silicon Valley have reported being scared to speak out in support of Palestinians for fear of retaliation.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Joseph Cox to discuss how the FBI created an encrypted phone company called Anom to read criminals’ messages and eventually carry out the largest international sting operation by law enforcement.Joseph Cox is the author of Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever and the host of the 404 Media Podcast.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Read an excerpt of Dark Wire at Wired.Joseph wrote about the revelation that Lithuania hosted the Anom interception server and provided the intercepted messages to the FBI.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Nora Kenworthy to discuss how people rely on GoFundMe to access healthcare and the further inequities that adds to an already deeply unequal healthcare system.  Nora Kenworthy is the author of Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare and an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Nora is doing an online event with the Debt Collective on June 13.GoFundMe bought many of its competitors through the 2010s.In 2020, GoFundMe posted in a campaign it set up in response to Covid: “We’re in a growth industry: pain.”Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Gil Duran to discuss Balaji Srinivasan’s plan to implement “tech Zionism” in San Francisco and the threat posed by Silicon Valley's growing opposition to democracy.Gil Duran is an independent journalist and former editorial page editor for the Sacramento Bee. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry. Also mentioned in this episode:Gil has written about Balaji’s Network State, Garry Tan of Y Combinator, and the plan to build a tech city in Northern California.Paris wrote about Marc Andreessen’s Techno-Optimist Manifesto.Peter Thiel no longer feels “freedom and democracy are compatible.”Elon Musk claimed he sent ventilators to hospitals. They received biPAP and CPAP machines.Gil mentioned Quinn Slobodian’s “Crack Up Capitalism.”Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Paolo Gerbaudo to discuss how Chinese electric car maker BYD operates, its growing international success against Tesla, and whether it will be able to move into the North American market.Paolo Gerbaudo is the author of The Digital Party and The Great Recoil. He’s a senior research fellow at the Department of Political History, Theories and Geography of Complutense University in Madrid.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Paolo analyzed the business model of BYD in Phenomenal World.The New York Times wrote an in-depth piece on BYD back in February.Foreign Affairs published an article on the success of the Chinese tech industry in the face of US dominance.After recording, the United States announced a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles.In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan put quotas on Japanese car imports, making them more expensive to US consumers to help domestic automakers like GM and Ford.BYD is increasingly challenging on Tesla’s position as top seller of electric vehicles.Support the Show.

Paris Marx is joined by Ed Niedermeyer to discuss Tesla's stagnation as an electric vehicle manufacturer and what that could mean for its future as competitors cut into their market share.Ed Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors and co-host of the Autonocast.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Paris wrote about the problems facing Tesla, written before Musk began the mass layoffs.Ed wrote at the end of last year about the lies that underpinned Tesla’s story being exposed.The Cybertruck is facing significant manufacturing issues in Austin, and recently they all had to be recalled for issues with the accelerator pedal, which caused the company to reveal that only 3,878 vehicles had been delivered to customers.Tesla is laying off a large number of staff, including the Supercharger and new vehicle teams.Elon Musk is doing mass layoffs to reestablish his power over the company, but it’s destabilizing the actual business.Reuters reported that Musk cancelled plans for a low-cost car in favor of robotaxis.Automakers were warning they couldn’t phase out Chinese minerals from the battery supply chain by 2025. After recording, the Biden administration announced some rules would be delayed until 2027.BYD has been looking to build a factory in Mexico.Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Nicole Lipman to discuss SHEIN’s rise to the top of the fast fashion industry and how it exacerbates the sector’s labor and environment problems.Nicole Lipman is a writer and assistant editor at n+1.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:Nicole did a deep dive into SHEIN and how it operates for n+1.Paris wrote about the Shut Down Shein campaign.Amazon benefits immensely from the US de minimis rule.Ten years after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, many problems remain. Support the show