Damon Beres
@damonberes.com
Senior editor at The Atlantic, focused on tech //
SIGNAL: Damon.63
📨 dberes at the atlantic dot com
✴️ damonberes.com
SIGNAL: Damon.63
📨 dberes at the atlantic dot com
✴️ damonberes.com
Pinned
Sharing some exciting personal news: I’m writing a book! About digital technology and the human mind. I’m excited to tell a story that anchors the reader in reality, when so much feels slippery and weird (and overwhelming and scary and oh jeez people are doing WHAT with Grok now??)—wish me luck! ✍️
Wow we are so back
Grant Morrison's Unbounded Summoning Possibilities: The Filth, The Invisibles, and moving towards a Non-Dual consciousness - The Comics Journal
The radiantly sane Grant Morrison discusses The Filth, The Invisibles, and their vast adventures through the real world of magic, interviewed by Gabriel Kennedy.
www.tcj.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Wow we are so back
Reposted by Damon Beres
We are not letting this go
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:08 AM
We are not letting this go
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
“While researchers say analytical techniques are improving rapidly, the doubts over recent high-profile studies also raise the questions of what is really known today and how concerned people should be about microplastics in their bodies.”
‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body
Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:24 AM
“While researchers say analytical techniques are improving rapidly, the doubts over recent high-profile studies also raise the questions of what is really known today and how concerned people should be about microplastics in their bodies.”
Reposted by Damon Beres
Musk and xAI enabled widespread sexual harassment on X.
@cwarzel.bsky.social and I asked xAI's key investors, as well as Google, Apple, Nvidia, and more: Do you endorse the use of Grok to undress people? If not, will you cut ties with xAI? Few replied; none answered our actual questions.
@cwarzel.bsky.social and I asked xAI's key investors, as well as Google, Apple, Nvidia, and more: Do you endorse the use of Grok to undress people? If not, will you cut ties with xAI? Few replied; none answered our actual questions.
Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Musk and xAI enabled widespread sexual harassment on X.
@cwarzel.bsky.social and I asked xAI's key investors, as well as Google, Apple, Nvidia, and more: Do you endorse the use of Grok to undress people? If not, will you cut ties with xAI? Few replied; none answered our actual questions.
@cwarzel.bsky.social and I asked xAI's key investors, as well as Google, Apple, Nvidia, and more: Do you endorse the use of Grok to undress people? If not, will you cut ties with xAI? Few replied; none answered our actual questions.
Reposted by Damon Beres
There is a crisis of impunity. The Musk/Grok stuff is just one f many examples of people who are counting on there never being any consequences. And it all makes me just incandescently mad.
Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:27 AM
There is a crisis of impunity. The Musk/Grok stuff is just one f many examples of people who are counting on there never being any consequences. And it all makes me just incandescently mad.
Nonconsensual porn has been a problem for a long time. But something different is happening here. A deadening.
January 14, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Nonconsensual porn has been a problem for a long time. But something different is happening here. A deadening.
Nobody will take responsibility; nobody is even commenting. The flack for Morgan Stanley did not seem to realize they're an investor in xAI.
January 14, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Nobody will take responsibility; nobody is even commenting. The flack for Morgan Stanley did not seem to realize they're an investor in xAI.
Center yourself on what has happened:
January 14, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Center yourself on what has happened:
We are not letting this go
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:08 AM
We are not letting this go
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.
by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @matteowong.bsky.social
Amazing, Google invented an entire story about this with bogus citations when I searched
January 13, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Amazing, Google invented an entire story about this with bogus citations when I searched
Oh good: "The phrase, 'kill line,' is used in gaming to mark the point where the condition of opposing players has so deteriorated that they can be killed by one shot. Now, it has become a persistent metaphor in Communist Party propaganda."
Why China Is Suddenly Obsessed With American Poverty
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Oh good: "The phrase, 'kill line,' is used in gaming to mark the point where the condition of opposing players has so deteriorated that they can be killed by one shot. Now, it has become a persistent metaphor in Communist Party propaganda."
Reposted by Damon Beres
In DC during the federal surge, citizen parents started coordinating “walking buses” to take children of immigrants safely to and from school. The city-by-city targeting can feel isolating, but it’s also shown how people can share and develop techniques of resistance over time
People who aren't in Minnesota might not know that if you drive or walk past pretty much any school, there's going to be a group of people, parents and childless, standing guard to make sure the kids are safe from feds. It's pretty remarkable. And very disturbing. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Twin Cities students walk out, decry ICE as surge continues
Hundreds of Twin Cities high school students walked out of school Monday to protest federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. Officials are increasingly concerned about high absenteeism in some sc...
www.mprnews.org
January 13, 2026 at 3:01 PM
In DC during the federal surge, citizen parents started coordinating “walking buses” to take children of immigrants safely to and from school. The city-by-city targeting can feel isolating, but it’s also shown how people can share and develop techniques of resistance over time
Time for
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Xofluza ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Xofluza ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
The Best Flu Drug Americans Aren’t Taking
This flu season has been rough. Antivirals can help.
www.theatlantic.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Time for
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Xofluza ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Xofluza ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
I guess it's really like whatever at this point but among other grammatical issues in in this DHS video: Lauren Bis, assistant deputy secretary, clearly says "themselfs" rather than "themselves" at 1:12, and this caption behind her head says "ASSULTS" instead of "ASSAULTS" x.com/DHSgov/statu...
January 12, 2026 at 10:59 PM
I guess it's really like whatever at this point but among other grammatical issues in in this DHS video: Lauren Bis, assistant deputy secretary, clearly says "themselfs" rather than "themselves" at 1:12, and this caption behind her head says "ASSULTS" instead of "ASSAULTS" x.com/DHSgov/statu...
Reposted by Damon Beres
New research presents the most compelling evidence yet that generative AI directly stores and reproduces material used to train it—a finding that could have massive legal consequences for the tech industry, Alex Reisner reports.
AI’s Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.
bit.ly
January 12, 2026 at 7:45 AM
New research presents the most compelling evidence yet that generative AI directly stores and reproduces material used to train it—a finding that could have massive legal consequences for the tech industry, Alex Reisner reports.
icymi friday evening 👇🏻
Big new piece: @alexreisner.bsky.social presents the most compelling evidence yet that generative AI directly stores and reproduces training material—it does not "learn," not really. This could have substantial legal consequences for the tech industry.
AI’s Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.
www.theatlantic.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:54 PM
icymi friday evening 👇🏻
"Lots of protein evangelists will tell you that this is how cavemen ate, and therefore it is good. I think the best part of being a caveman would be not worrying about protein."
America Has Entered Late-Stage Protein
This has gone too far.
www.theatlantic.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:37 PM
"Lots of protein evangelists will tell you that this is how cavemen ate, and therefore it is good. I think the best part of being a caveman would be not worrying about protein."
This playlist of calm music from the PC-98 era is how I'm trying to be this Sunday afternoon, researching and writing, bless
Calm PC-98 Retro Music – Soft Ambient & RPG-Style Tracks for Focus and Relaxation
YouTube video by Alammo
www.youtube.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:05 PM
This playlist of calm music from the PC-98 era is how I'm trying to be this Sunday afternoon, researching and writing, bless
There's a headline!
I Was Kidnapped by Idiots
An academic trip to Iraq unexpectedly turned into an immersive field study on the ways authoritarian regimes use brutality.
www.theatlantic.com
January 11, 2026 at 6:31 PM
There's a headline!
“Restoring Venezuela’s oil industry is completely unrealistic in the short term, and might not be in America’s economic and geopolitical interests at all.”
President Trump is stuck in the ‘80s
President Trump is stuck in the ‘80s
Big Oil Knows That Trump’s Venezuela Plans Are Delusional
The president’s thinking is stuck in the 1980s.
www.theatlantic.com
January 10, 2026 at 5:27 PM
“Restoring Venezuela’s oil industry is completely unrealistic in the short term, and might not be in America’s economic and geopolitical interests at all.”
President Trump is stuck in the ‘80s
President Trump is stuck in the ‘80s
Reposted by Damon Beres
