About this episode

The episode discusses AI regulation, dark money campaigns, and the backlash against data centers, featuring insights from various guests.

This week: AI regulation, dark money and data center backlash. Reed Albergotti ( Semafor ) helps decipher how the Trump Administration actually feels about AI oversight and it seems like a reversal of the hands-off approach they’ve taken so far. Taylor Lorenz ( User Mag ) exposes a dark money influencer campaign — one she was personally recruited for — that's paying creators to push pro-American AI, anti-China messaging on behalf of a Big Tech super PAC. And Nitasha Tiku ( The Washington Post ) reports on the fast-growing, bipartisan movement fighting data center construction in communities across the country. Plus: Sam Altman's leaked texts, 120,000 tech layoffs, and the GPT-5.5 launch party. Additional Reading:  So Long Jeeves and Ask.com, Relics of Yesterday’s Internet   White House Considers Vetting A.I. Models Before They Are Released | The New York Times   A Dark-Money Campaign Is Paying Influencers to Frame Chinese AI as a Threat | WIRED   Inside a growing movement warning AI could turn on humanity | The Washington Post   ‘The Most Bipartisan Issue Since Beer’: Opposition to Data Centers | The New York Times…

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