Join us as we dive into the life and mind of Nicole Shanahan, a tech billionaire who is now the self-anointed demon hunter of Silicon Valley and Burning Man. There is soul-corrupting psycho-politics everywhere for those with eyes to see.
••• ‘Demonic’: Silicon Valley Billionaire Blasts Burning Man https://www.thenerdreich.com/demonic-silicon-valley-billionaire-blasts-burning-man/
••• The Baby Died. Whose Fault Is It? https://www.wired.com/story/the-baby-died-whose-fault-is-it-surrogate-pregnancy/
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://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)
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421. To AGI, or Not to AGI, That is the Question
With the announcement of a new $100 million Super PAC for pro-AI political influence, lines are being drawn between different styles of AI boosterism in Silicon Valley. There are those who worship at the altar of AGI and believe any other position is an intolerable impediment to innovation. There are those who want the tech sector to focus on using existing AI systems for everyday economic applications. And there are those who see AI as a techno-realpolitik power struggle over who is gonna kick whose ass: America or China? And then there’s Eric Schmidt, who holds all three positions — and writes op-eds touting each one — at the same exact time.
••• Silicon Valley Launches Pro-AI PACs to Defend Industry in Midterm Elections https://www.wsj.com/politics/silicon-valley-launches-pro-ai-pacs-to-defend-industry-in-midterm-elections-287905b3
••• Silicon Valley Is Drifting Out of Touch With the Rest of America https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/opinion/artificial-general-intelligence-superintelligence.html
••• AI Could Usher In a New Renaissance https://www.wsj.com/opinion/agi-could-usher-in-a-new-renaissance-physics-math-econ-advancement-ed71a02a
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://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)
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Patreon Preview – 420. Long Live the Moron Kings
We got a fun one as we chat about a contemptuous profile of the fringe futurists, biohacker kooks, wealthy technocratics, and wannabe philosopher kings who have combined their vast resources and grand dreams to pursue a single mission: immortality.
••• How to Live Forever and Get Rich Doing It https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/11/how-to-live-forever-and-get-rich-doing-it
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://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)
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419. The Launch of a Stillborn God
We chat about the disappointing launch and critical reception of GPT-5 and what this massive claims-reality gap tells us about how an overactive industry, propelled by grand social forces of capital accumulation, are ultimately producing “normal” or “mid” technologies. Plus, we get into the productivity paradox that plagues AI.
••• Does AI really boost productivity at work? Research shows gains don’t come cheap or easy https://theconversation.com/does-ai-really-boost-productivity-at-work-research-shows-gains-dont-come-cheap-or-easy-263127
••• Does AI actually boost productivity? The evidence is murky https://theconversation.com/does-ai-actually-boost-productivity-the-evidence-is-murky-260690
••• GPT-5 is a joke. Will it matter? https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/gpt-5-is-a-joke-will-it-matter
••• GPT-5 Should Be Ashamed of Itself https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/gpt-5-is-by-far-the-best-ai-system
••• A.I. as normal technology (derogatory) https://maxread.substack.com/p/ai-as-normal-technology-derogatory
••• What If A.I. Doesn’t Get Much Better Than This? https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/what-if-ai-doesnt-get-much-better-than-this
••• The Tech Fantasy That Powers A.I. Is Running on Fumes https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/opinion/ai-tech-innovation.html
••• How AI, Healthcare, and Labubu Became the American Economy https://kyla.substack.com/p/how-ai-healthcare-and-labubu-became
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://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)
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Patreon Preview – 418. The Trump Pump
[Apologies for the tardiness, Jereme is moving house, that shit takes a lot of time and work, so it delayed production.] We first chat about how Trump’s Transportation Department will be “unleashing American drone dominance,” then we get into the thick morass of the Trump family’s ongoing entanglements with the crypto industry—and how both sides of this partnership are deeply, financially dependent on each other.
••• US proposes new drone rules that could lead to Starbucks, Amazon deliveries https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-proposes-new-drone-rules-that-could-lead-starbucks-amazon-deliveries-2025-08-05/
••• Southwest Airlines jet dives as a fighter jet crosses its path near Los Angeles https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/25/us/southwest-fighter-jet-close-call
••• Trump’s Finances Were Shaky. Then He Began to Capitalize on His Comeback. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/us/trump-finances-crypto.html
••• The ‘Trump Pump’: How Crypto Lobbying Won Over a President https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/us/politics/trump-crypto-lobbying.html
••• Does Trump’s Biggest Crypto Backer Really Exist? https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial-aqua-1-foundation/
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://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)
A podcast about technology and political economy /// Agitprop against innovation and capital /// Hosted by Jathan Sadowski and Edward Ongweso Jr., Produced by Jereme Brown /// Hello friends and enemies
Listen anywhere that fine podcasts are distributed. Subscribe at patreon.com/thismachinekills to get premium episodes every week.
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