mastodon 4.7.3Whenever you are past the edge, out in the wind, look for me.
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I love it when a company very deliberately produces a product which is, effectively, giving the finger to another company's product.
DuckDuckGo Is Selling Anti Pervert Glasses That Contain Zero #AI, Cameras, or Even Electronics Whatsoever. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/duckduckgo-selling-anti-pervert-glasses
That sound you hear is a thousand CEOs suddenly losing interest in #AI.
New AI Designed to Replace CEOs. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/new-ai-designed-replace-ceos
The team describes their AI system, perhaps with their tongues in their cheeks, as a “senior advisor with Harvard MBA-level knowledge.” Whether you believe that or not probably reflects how much stock you put in Harvard MBAs.
NOTE: I've often claimed businesses are usually successful despite the people in the C-Suite, not because of them.
Paul Krugman explains why, even though the Federal Reserve didn't recently raise rates to control inflation (which they should have), the Bond Market increased yields anyway.
The Bond Market Doesn’t Like Bullshit. https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-bond-market-doesnt-like-bullshit
… the 30-year Treasury rate spiked and the dollar fell slightly. In plain English, this was the equivalent of bond market traders running for the exits.
And now it's FAFO time for the USA dollar. Just don't use the 'D' (Deflation) word…
Wow! I forgot about the whole Tylenol Murders thing, even though they were why everything has five seals you have to break or remove to get into the package nowadays.
Idaho case may be connected to the 1982 Tylenol murders, officials say. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/idaho-case-may-be-connected-to-the-1982-tylenol-murders-officials-say/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_seattle-news
Once detectives identified Betkouski and began to learn about him, they came to believe he was a possible suspect in the killings of seven people in the Chicago area with cyanide-laced Tylenol, Cooper said.
#bubblewatch update:
This is one of the signals I've been watching for!
A Prominent AI Investor Is Now Crumbling, in What Could Be a Sign of Things to Come. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/situational-awareness-ai-investor-crumbling
Situational Awareness, a much-hyped AI hedge-fund … basically imploded over this month amid a mass tech sell-off … it’s now down 67 percent … forcing Aschenbrenner to desperately seek clients to buy its shares on the cheap to cover its losses.
See also:
#bubblewatch update:
Is the bubble already popping in Asia? Or is this just a preview?
South Korean Authorities Scrambling to Save Stock Market From #AI #Bubble. https://futurism.com/future-society/south-korea-stock-panic-kopsi-kosdaq-circuit-breaker
Across July 28 and 29, Seoul Economic Daily reports widespread panic triggered not just one but two “circuit breakers” on the Korea Exchange, a sort of automated kill switch that halts regular trading for 30 minutes so panic-stricken traders can gather their thoughts.
Meanwhile, over at #Amazon headquarters…
Amazon Is Gutting Its #AI Division After Sustained Failure. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/amazon-ai-division-failure-nova
… Amazon is scaling back the ambitions of most of its Nova AI models and reorganizing its AI development teams as part of an effort to narrow its focus on “highest priority” goals, after its power-hungry large language models turned out to be a bust.
It's so odd to me, to see many smart people re-debating and re-iterating the thinking about #AI, which I and so many others in the #SFF community worked through after Vinge published his #Singularity paper in 1993. But today they go further and take it far more literally than we ever did.
I suppose this is because AI is current and immediate, while it was pie in the sky to us. But really? It remains naive speculation and we, at least, understood that.
Adopt AI or Die? https://newrepublic.com/article/213738/artificial-intelligence-god-test-adopt-ai-die
🚨 🚨 #bubblewatch Red Alert! 🚨 🚨
Investors Laying Groundwork to Profit Massively When #Economy Collapses. https://futurism.com/future-society/investors-shorting-economy
Another glowing red indicator just lit up on the control panel steering the US economy: short sellers have placed a nearly unprecedented magnitude of bets against the domestic stock market.
… the fact that a growing number of investors aren’t just exiting positions, but are actively betting against the US stock market is a massive tell.
Abraham Lincoln
> "As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy."
When an astronaut is a magical girl otaku.
> The Astronaut Who Loves #Anime. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2026-06-08/the-astronaut-who-loves-anime/.238185
Serious otaku at that. Just look at the guy's car.
Media Matters for the win!
> My organization fought Trump’s FTC and won. Here’s how. The Trump White House used the same intimidatory tactics against much larger companies. They capitulated, but we didn’t. https://www.ms.now/opinion/media-matters-ftc-settlement-trump
More:
Could the #SpaceX IPO be the straw that broke the #AI #bubble's back?
Tech Stocks Are Abruptly Collapsing. https://futurism.com/space/tech-stocks-collapsing-spacex
I was quite vocal in my expectations the bubble would pop six months ago, so I'm not going out on a limb this time.
But it is a bubble and bubbles eventually pop. I just don't understand the psychology of the investor herd well enough to say what it takes to start a stampede.
What the hell? Marjorie Taylor Greene agrees with me on this? [Checks temperature of Hell.]
Donald Trump Torched As ‘Disgusting Little Man’ Over ‘New Low’ About Dead Troops. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-war-dead-post-backlash_n_6a608b97e4b06bbe43f546d6
"Trump is bragging about killing 18 US soldiers. Thats how I read this stupid posts. The “peace president” went to war and is killing and wounding our troops. GFY."
I am SO TIRED of all the stupid bullshit laws and regulations politicians come up with to 'protect children'.
It's not like I think children should not be protected. Of course I do! It's more the way those politicians either cannot remember being teenagers themselves or else they are using 'protect the children' as a cloak while they reduce everyone's liberty en mass via rules teenagers will simply ignore or work around.
And I know which of those *I* think it is.
What? It doesn't add up? Who would have thought?
> The Math on #SpaceX’s IPO Is Virtually Impossible. https://futurism.com/space/math-spacex-ipo-virtually-impossible
> … as Fortune reports, it would require the company to grow and profit more spectacularly than any other venture in the history of capitalism … SpaceX would need to hit a revenue target of $1.1 trillion — almost 60 times what it made in 2025 — to become a worthy buy with an actual return for investors.
They didn't get their PEPs in a row.
> #Python JIT compiler project under threat after steering council says proper process wasn't followed. https://www.theregister.com/devops/2026/06/08/python-jit-compiler-may-be-removed/5252079
> The Python steering council has surprised onlookers by asking for the suspension of new development on the JIT (just in time) compiler project from the main branch of the Python code repository, pending creation and acceptance of a new PEP (Python enhancement proposal) for the project.
I've been saying something like this for a while:
Ever wonder how most people were able to go on living their mundane lives as best they could while the Nazis were taking over Germany or in the days of the London Blitz or the US Civil War or Caesar's return to Rome or one of the Mongol invasions or any of the other stupendous historical events so consequential, so immense, as to eclipse any concern for petty things?
Well, now you know.
Was that 'Snowball'? If yes, Gutenberg has it.
#bubblewatch update:
I haven't done a market-based bubblewatch in a while, but today we are seeing a sharp drop in tech stock valuations over hyperscaler fundamentals instead of entirely unrelated Iran war news.
Wall St tumbles on tech selloff as concerns about hawkish Fed, #AI spending mount. https://www.reuters.com/business/nasdaq-futures-fall-2-tech-worries-fed-hike-bets-2026-06-23/
"The AI trade became one of the most crowded trades in global markets. When everybody owns the same stocks, the exit door becomes very small very quickly."
#bubblewatch update:
As they near their IPOs, #AI companies must choose between increasing prices to shore up their balance sheets or losing customers as prices approach their actual costs.
It's a lose/lose situation.
OpenAI Execs Are Panicking. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-execs-panicking-price-anthropic
Put simply, the horrible economics of AI are finally starting to rear their ugly head. Astronomical capital expenditures by AI companies are starting to trickle down to users — and they’re not liking what they’re seeing.
#Washington State Parks has released their #free #summer concert series calendar.
> https://parks.wa.gov/get-involved/folk-and-traditional-arts-events/concert-series
Cape Disappointment Waikiki Beach Concerts (Second and fourth Saturdays, 7 p.m.)
- July 11 - Duo Takinai
- July 25 - No Soap, Radio
- Aug. 8 - Awal Alhassan and Sohoyini Dance
- Aug. 22 - The Horsenecks
[contd]
Feeling seen here.
Saw someone saying Trump's “Anti-Weaponization (slush) Fund” makes the case for reparations to Black Americans. After all, if you can claim rioters who attacked police and smeared shit on walls were 'horribly treated' and deserve reparations, then what about the descendants of slaves and those today still treated horribly by police and the justice system for their skin color?
There certainly seem to be two standards here…
Most of the bonsai were twenty years old or more, with many twice that. One, brought over from Japan, was dated 1820!
Turns out? Two hundred year old bonsai impresses modern teenagers. Who knew?
Here's their collections database, which includes some bonsais that weren't there and doesn't include some that were.
#bubblewatch update:
Analysis of current outstanding investment MBS (Mortgage Backed Securities) debt showing huge losses (in the hundreds of billions) from 2022 to present.
US might be sitting on a TIME BOMB!! https://albygetho.substack.com/p/us-might-be-sitting-on-a-time-bomb
The greatest financial risk from the current #AI investment cycle is unlikely to come from a single company defaulting. Instead, it may emerge through a gradual deterioration in the credit chain that has developed around AI infrastructure.
#bubblewatch update:
While tech stocks melt down, because investors finally started doing the math and realized it doesn't add up, Ed Zitron is still ahead of everyone else in understanding the problem. In this case he's pointing out #AI is a Cargo Cult because they've ran out of ideas and can only mimic the forms of a viable business.
Cargo Culture. https://www.wheresyoured.at/cargo-culture/
The AI industry is fundamentally judged based on its symbolic similarities to bygone eras.
Meanwhile, back at the Stock Market:
Nasdaq slides over 1% as chip rout deepens. https://www.reuters.com/business/nasdaq-futures-fall-after-samsungs-record-profit-fails-allay-chip-jitters-2026-07-07/
The Nasdaq fell more than 1% on Tuesday, pressured by a selloff in semiconductor stocks including Nvidia amid mounting doubts about the sustainability of the AI-driven rally, while a report on China's DeepSeek making an AI chip also soured sentiment.
#bubblewatch update:
I boosted this separately, but I really want to encourage you to read this clear eyed discussion of the costs, demand, and pricing models for #AI
Ways to think about token pricing. AI is in a supply crunch today, but what happens when we come out of it? How and where will supply, demand, price, capacity and capex get back into equilibrium? Today, model labs can name their price, but why won’t they end up as low-margin commodity infrastructure? https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2026/7/9/ways-to-think-about-token-pricing
#bubblewatch update:
Ed Zitron is, IMHO, our point man in shouting, "The #AI #bubble has no clothes!" His latest continues his high standard of debunking, this time going after the 'Mythos' 'Fable' being pushed by OpenAI.
AI's Brokenomics. https://www.wheresyoured.at/brokenomics/
The problem with this kind of hype is that you can only use it for so long before somebody believes you.
… Anthropic and OpenAI have much bigger problems than regulation … Their business models don’t fucking work.
You go Ed!
#bubblewatch update:
Russ Mould is saying the #AI #bubble has expanded too far and will badly hurt the wider #economy when it pops. He bases this on an abnormal Shiller CAPE ratio indicating S&P 500 stocks are insanely overvalued.
On Black Tuesday, the day that kicked off the worst financial catastrophe in modern history, the ratio was 32.5 — 8.5 points lower than it stands today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclically_adjusted_price-to-earnings_ratio
Paywalled link:
Summary:
https://futurism.com/future-society/impending-market-collapse-ai-bubble-stocks-overvalued
#bubblewatch update:
Consensus Grows That China Is Crushing the United States at AI. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/consensus-china-crushing-usa-ai-survey
Whether this shift in world opinion reflects growing revulsion at the American model or genuine admiration for China’s approach is hard to untangle. What’s clear is that if the US tech industry intends to keep doubling down on its extractive, worker-hostile strategy, it faces a serious legitimacy crisis far beyond what any single company can hope to solve.
Just a few days ago I saw a lot of inauthentic posts talking about how everyone is buying Teslas now. And if they were here on the Fedi, they were probably all over corporate #SocialMedia.
Now I know why…
#Tesla Stock in Freefall After Disastrous Earnings Report. https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/tesla-stock-freefall-disastrous-earnings-report
In other words, investors are growing increasingly wary of Musk’s reinvention of his car business…
#bubblewatch update:
Paul Krugman on the stock market carnage we've seen over the last few days.
The Chips Are Down. https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-chips-are-down
There’s been a fall in tech stocks very much concentrated in semiconductors … What’s going on there? … it does seem that part of what’s happening, probably a large part of what’s happening, is that the tone, the rhetoric surrounding use of #AI, and hence the demand for compute, has really shifted quite a lot just very recently.
#bubblewatch update:
It's good seeing this kind of thing in #newsmedia consumed by average people. It's bad seeing this kind of thing glossing over the details to the extent it becomes unconvincing in order to be consumed by average people.
The #AI #bubble could be worse than the dot-com bust. https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5925202-tech-bubble-ai-driven-growth/
But with both the broader economy and the ongoing bull market relying heavily on a concentrated AI-driven boom, the fallout from a burst bubble could be severe.
