Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx celebrates the 300th episode of Tech Won’t Save Us by sharing his reasons to push for digital sovereignty and get off US tech. On top of explaining how that dependence gives the US governments and its tech companies power over us, Paris also provides tips of alternative services to consider migrating to. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Here is the Disconnect post offering a comprehensive list of options for getting off US tech. Producer Kyla seconds the recommendation of the library as an alternative to streaming, audiobooks, big box bookstores, and for plenty of other benefits (including inviting us to be more active community members). Trump’s sanctions against chief ICC prosecutor Karim Kahn has delayed proceedings, and resulted in Microsoft cancelling his email service. Here’s more information about when JD Vance annoyed most of Europe by comparing their governments to authoritarian regimes. Learn more about Alexandre de Moraes and his efforts to regulate US tech in Brazil.

Paris Marx is joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss the proliferation of delivery bots and robotaxis and how they recycle disproven claims about how technology will improve transportation. Joanne McNeil is a freelance writer and the author of Wrong Way and Lurking: How a Person Became a User. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Joanne wrote about delivery bots and robotaxis for the New York Review of Architecture. She’s doing an event in Los Angeles discussing social media on November 1. Uber’s driverless car killed a pedestrian, and the company scapegoated the backup driver. Sleep Dealer is a sci-fi movie by Alex Rivera. A GM Cruise self-driving car hit a pedestrian and dragged them 20 feet before stopping. Even Chuck E. Cheese is getting into the ghost kitchen business.

Paris Marx is joined by Chris Gilliard to discuss how tech CEOs are pushing a new generation of AI-powered smart glasses by promising they’ll be stylish and indispensable to workers in a desperate attempt to convince us we should want their luxury surveillance gadgets. Chris Gilliard is the co-director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute and is working on a book called Luxury Surveillance. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Harvard students used Meta glasses to dox strangers. Apple tinkered with its AI shortly after Trump was inaugurated. AI may start answering 911 calls. Studies are suggesting that AI may be making doctors worse at diagnosing cancer. Rob Horning has written about overreliance on AI. Chris mentioned Emily Bender and her analogy comparing LLMs to plastic.

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss Jacob’s new book Gilded Rage, which explores the radicalization of Silicon Valley leaders, who are exerting their growing influence to shape our society for the worse. Jacob Silverman is an independent journalist and the author of Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Jacob recently wrote about Musk’s latest dodgy business dealings. The world continues to wonder at Trump’s ability to get away with corruption and scandal. Saudi Arabia has been involved in Silicon Valley more than folks may have realized (prior to the EA buyout, anyway).

Paris Marx is joined by Tina Nguyen to discuss the divisions within the American far-right between the Trump administration, the wider MAGA movement, and the tech executives trying to show they’re on their side. Tina Nguyen is a senior reporter at The Verge and author of The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out). 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Tina wrote about visiting NatCon and Charlie Kirk’s memorial event. Tina also wrote about Peter Thiel’s ongoing obsession with the antichrist. Jared Isaacman was revoked as a candidate to lead NASA, highlighting the rifts Tina is discussing. Elon Musk is talking about starting a new political party.

Paris Marx is joined by Ed Niedermeyer to discuss the mission to turn Elon Musk into the world’s first trillionaire, Tesla’s growing interest in making robots instead of cars, and how other automakers are coming for the EV market it once dominated. Ed Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Tesla is paying out a series of lawsuits, and the California DMV has called for a one-month ban on Teslas being driven in the state. Curious to see what Tesla’s current Optimus robot is like? Is Tesla the world’s biggest meme stock? Tesla lied about data relating to a fatal accident until a hacker found it. ICE raided a Hyundai plant earlier this month.

Paris Marx is joined by Caroline Haskins to discuss what Palantir actually does and the growing influence it has within the US government and many large corporations. Caroline Haskins is a staff writer at Wired. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Peter Thiel is giving a series of lectures on the Antichrist. Caroline wrote about Palantir and getting confronted by the company at a conference. Paris mentioned a connection between Paypal and the founding of Palantir; a founding story for Palantir is that the concept for the company grew from the desire to use the fraud-detection software designed for PayPal to build counterterrorism software. Palantir is having a much better financial year than the rest of Silicon Valley.

Paris Marx is joined by Aaron Benanav to discuss his vision for a multi-criterial economy and how it would alter the type of technology our society creates. It’s a plan to center human experience through democratic discourse while driving true social and technological innovation. Aaron Benanav is an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and the author of Automation and the Future of Work. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: The two parts of Aaron’s essay on a Multi-Criterial Economy were published in the New Left Review. Learn more about the briefly discussed Bangladesh youth led revolution.

Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss whether the AI bubble is about to burst and how bosses are deploying AI tools to kill jobs and degrade work. Brian Merchant is the author of Blood in the Machine and writes a newsletter of the same name. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Brian has a series called AI Killed My Job with existing entries on tech workers and translators. Brian encourages listeners to check out the work being done by the National Writer’s Union, Translators Against the Machine, and Lucile Danilov at Loc’d and Loaded. You can contact Brian directly by emailing aikilledmyjob@pm.me A Stanford paper published this week explores the effects of AGI on employment.

Paris Marx is joined by Kate Mackenzie and Tim Sahay to discuss the geopolitics behind China’s investments in green tech and electrification, and how it presents the prospect of a new development model based on renewables instead of fossil fuels. Kate Mackenzie is an adjunct fellow at Macquarie University. Tim Sahay is co-director of the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University. They are the co-writers of the Polycrisis newsletter from Phenomenal 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Tim and Kate wrote about the potential role of the BRICS in future geopolitics. The Financial Times explored the implications of China as an electrostate. China leads the growing electric vehicle market, ⁠by a lot⁠. Pakistan imported 17 gigawatts of solar panels in 2024 alone, as Africa is in the midst of its own surge in Chinese solar panel imports. Trump’s policies are pushing China and India to ⁠strengthen ties⁠.

Paris Marx is joined by Cecilia Rikap to discuss how countries’ dependence on US tech companies is harming them and why they need to get serious about digital sovereignty. Cecilia Rikap is Associate Professor in Economics at University College London and Head of Research at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: reclaiming digital sovereigntystep downcould not guarantee data sovereigntyAlexandre de Moraes is the Brazilian judgefrom the ICCAlexandre de MoraesSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Paolo Benanti to discuss what Pope Leo XIV’s statements on AI, the publications under Pope Francis, and the ethics of AI from a theological perspective. Paolo Benanti is an author, academic, and priest. He teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University and was an advisor to Pope Francis on artificial intelligence and technology ethics. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: wrote aboutsent a messageAntiqua et novaa short breakdownSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Matt Pearce to discuss how Google’s use of generative AI is sending far less traffic to all manner of websites, but especially news publications, and what that might mean for the future of journalism. Matt Pearce is Director of Policy at Rebuild Local News 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: newsprint to outlive the hyperlinkAI scrapers are driving traffic away from traditional sitesnews fatigueSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire’s Islamophobic attack on Zohran Mamdani, what it tells us about the state of tech’s politics, and how Donald Trump is enriching himself through crypto scams. Jacob Silverman is a journalist and the author of the forthcoming book Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Aqua 1 Foundation’s mysterious cryptoGENIUS Actopenly corruptmade millions of dollarsCrypto is comingSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss the global push by governments to rapidly adopt AI at all costs and how citizens can critically rethink our dependence on these technologies while imagining a collective future that benefits everyone. Dan McQuillan is a lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London and the author of Resisting AI. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: decomputing as resistanceall in on data centre developmentwater shortagesrapidly adoptingwith a little help from industry leadersinspiring exampleSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Nathan Grayson to discuss the latest round of Microsoft layoffs and how the company’s ambition to remake the video game industry around its streaming service has had significant consequences. Nathan Grayson is a co-founder of Aftermath and author of Stream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screen. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: use AIpressuring staff to use AIunclear whether Game Pass is even profitableSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Laleh Khalili to discuss how the United States uses its control of key technologies to shift global power dynamics, and how that specifically plays out in the Middle East. Laleh Khalili is Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and author of the forthcoming book Extractive Capitalism. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Iran’s accusations towards MetaTech executivesThe Global Interiorused an AI-assisted gunSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Yangyang Cheng to discuss how Huawei became one of the most powerful companies in China and how current geopolitical narratives distract from the issues at the heart of surveillance capitalism in the US and China. Yangyang Cheng is a Research Scholar in Law and Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: China FileThe House of HuaweidiscussedSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Nitasha Tiku to discuss how AI companies are preying on users to drive engagement and how that’s repeating many of the problems we’re belatedly trying to address with social media companies at an accelerated pace. Nitasha Tiku is a technology 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: messing with people’s mindspeople needing AI friendsfacinglawsuitsSupport the show

Paris Marx is joined by Laís Martins to discuss the recent enforcement measures against tech companies like X and Rumble in Brazil, how the country is grappling with the overreach of US tech companies, and the wider discussion about tech policy in Brazil. Laís Martins is a technology reporter at The Intercept Brasil. 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 Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Rumble's fight against the Brazilian Supreme CourtAI data centersspied onused and supportedSupport the show