The Geopolitical Fight Over Huawei w/ Yangyang Cheng

2023 is over, so it’s time to go through everything! In a special year-end episode, we review the biggest stories of 2023, what we’re thinking of the AI hype, how science fiction makes us think about the future, the worst villains in the tech industry, and what we’re watching in 2024. Gita Jackson is a journalist and cofounder of Aftermath. Molly White is the creator of Web3 is Going Just Great. Aaron Thorpe is co-host of Everybody Loves Communism. 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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.  Also mentioned in this episode: If you become a Patreon supporter before the end of the year, you’ll be entered into a giveaway for five signed copies of Joanne McNeil’s Wrong Way and Paris Marx’s Road to Nowhere. Sign up now! Gita recently launched Aftermath, and you can go subscribe! Molly is getting started on TikTok. Go follow her! Aaron posts a lot of cool science fiction art over on Twitter. Give him a follow! You can see the Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos photos we discuss in the Worst Person in Tech segment on Twitter, Bluesky, and Mastodon. Paris was mistaken: Enya sang “May It Be” for Fellowship of the Ring, not “Gollum’s Song” for the Two Towers. That was Emilíana Torrini. But Paris listened to both of them too much. Support the show

28 Dec 20232h 5min

Paris Marx is joined by Astra Taylor to discuss how capitalism creates insecurity to sustain itself, the way tech is used to make us more insecure, and what it will take to change that.Astra Taylor is a writer, filmmaker, and political organizer. She’s the author of The Age of Insecurity and co-founder of the Debt Collective. Her next book Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea, written with Leah Hunt-Hendrix, comes out in March. 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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.  Also mentioned in this episode: Astra wrote about the Insecurity Machine for Logic Magazine and the Dads of Tech for The Baffler. Find excerpts from The Age of Insecurity in The New York Times and The Walrus. Become a supporter on Patreon to join our giveaway. Support the show

21 Dec 20231h 3min

Paris Marx is joined by Émile Torres to discuss Silicon Valley’s recent obsession with effective accelerationism, how it builds on the TESCREAL ideologies, and why it shows the divide at the top of the AI industry. Émile Torres is a postdoctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University. They’re also the author of Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. 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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.  Also mentioned in this episode: Emile wrote about the TESCREAL ideologies and AI extinction scaremongering. Timnit Gebru also did a great presentation on TESCREAL. Paris wrote about the religious nature of Marc Andreessen’s techno-solutionist manifesto and about Sam Altman’s (temporary) ouster from OpenAI. The Year In Tech livestream for Patreon supporters is on December 17 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 9pm GMT. More details on Patreon or Twitter. The Information did a great profile on effective accelerationism. Forbes revealed the man behind the e/acc moniker Beff Jezos. 972 Magazine reported on Israeli’s use of AI to expand targets in Gaza. UK plans a “hit squad” to replace public servants with AI. Paris wrote about the threat it poses. Support the show

14 Dec 20231h 14min

Paris Marx is joined by Tim Schwab to discuss why the story we hear about Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation doesn’t reflect their real impact on education and health around the world.Tim Schwab is an investigative journalist and the author of The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire.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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: Bill Gates was pied in Belgium in 1999 and made fun of on The Simpsons. You can watch highlights from Gates’ deposition in the antitrust trial on YouTube. Gates had a reputation about questionable and inappropriate conduct toward women below him in the workplace. Aaron Gordon wrote there’s an adage that “everyone thinks Musk is a genius until you hear him talk about a subject you know something about.” In 2008, the head of the World Heath Organization’s malaria program criticized the growing dominance of the Gates Foundation in the research area. Support the show

7 Dec 20231h 1min

Paris Marx is joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss her new novel dealing with the human labor behind self-driving cars and the challenges of being a good tech critic.Joanne McNeil is the author of Wrong Way and has written for Dissent Magazine, New York Magazine, and The Nation.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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: Joanne has written about the need for tech critics that aren’t insiders and tech media warming back up to Facebook. Paris wrote about the recent scandal around GM’s Cruise division. In 2014, Ursula Le Guin was awarded the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and gave a speech that skewered capitalism. Joanne’s fictional tech founder was in part inspired by Holacracy and Dan Price. The fantasy of self-driving cars is highly reliant on remote drivers. Support the show

30 Nov 202356min

Paris Marx is joined by Mike Isaac to discuss the drama around Sam Altman being temporarily removed from OpenAI, what it means for the future of the company, and how Microsoft benefits from its partnership with the company.Mike Isaac is a technology reporter at the New York Times. He’s also the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: Mike summarized the OpenAI-Sam Altman affair with his colleagues in the New York Times. He's been reporting on it since it began. Paris wrote about the Sam Altman-Microsoft relationship in Disconnect. Semafor reported that in 2018, Elon Musk tried to take over OpenAI but was pushed out instead. Forbes reporter Sarah Emerson went through Emmett Shear’s old tweets — and yikes. Support the show

23 Nov 202349min

Paris Marx is joined by Marwa Fatafta to discuss the ongoing Israeli campaign in Gaza, the importance of social media for sharing what’s happening on the ground, and what listeners can do to support peace and Palestinian rights. Marwa Fatafta is a Palestinian digital rights advocate and researcher. She is Access Now’s Policy and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: 1 in 200 people in Gaza have been killed. >4,600 of the 11,100 dead are children. An Israeli government minster called their actions the “Gaza Nakba.” Instagram inserted “terrorist” into translations of Palestinian bios and removed hospital bombing photos for nudity. Whatsapp generated stickers of gun-wielding children for Palestinian terms. Facebook’s terrorism algorithms removed non-violent Arabic content 77% of the time. 7amleh tracked hate speech in Hebrew on social media. WSJ reported Meta’s Hebrew hate speech classifier doesn’t actually work. FAIR detailed Western media bias in reporting on Israel-Palestine. Access Now published a report on the internet shutdowns happening in Gaza. CNN and other Western outlets allow the Israeli army to review their Gaza footage. Al Jazeera, Channel 4, NYT, and WaPo found holes in Israel’s hospital explosion story about. Israel has been actively creating and spreading disinformation. The Israeli parliament passed a bill criminalizing the “consumption of terrorist materials” as dozens are arrested for social media posts. Support the show

16 Nov 20231h 16min

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, why he was found guilty, and how his negative traits are common across Silicon Valley. Jacob Silverman is a journalist and the co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud. He’s also the host of The Naked Emperor. Find more of Jacob’s work on jacobsilverman.com.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 produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: Jacob recently wrote about the Sam Bankman-Fried trial for Air Mail, The Nation, and his newsletter. Elizabeth Holmes reported to prison in May for an 11-year sentence for swindling investors in Theranos. Sam Bankman-Fried is facing further charges in a second trial scheduled for March 11. He’s also due to be sentenced for the guilty charges in the first trial on March 28. Caroline Ellison revealed the leaked balance sheet that ultimately tanked FTX and Alameda was one of seven fakes made at the behest of Bankman-Fried. Max Chafkin and Hannah Miller wrote about the role of Bankman-Fried’s parents in Bloomberg Businessweek. Binance is in crisis in the face of a serious Department of Justice investigation. Support the show

9 Nov 20231h 8min