Jasper Jackson
@jasperjackson.bsky.social
Managing editor at Transformer. Ex-tech editor at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, also previously Guardian and New Statesman. Sometime media columnist. Signal: jasperjackson.01
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Welcome to Transformer 2.0
We're now a team of reporters and editors dedicated to covering the power and politics of AI
www.transformernews.ai
Delighted to unveil Transformer 2.0! Building on @shakeelhashim.com's amazing newsletter, we're taking our coverage of the power and politics of AI up a level. We'll be publishing throughout each week with work from a star list of contributors and our own team: www.transformernews.ai/p/welcome-to...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
we've fetishised "authenticity" in response to rampant dishonesty but in the public sphere it's mostly a performance and therefore just dishonesty in a new disguise
November 29, 2025 at 8:14 PM
we've fetishised "authenticity" in response to rampant dishonesty but in the public sphere it's mostly a performance and therefore just dishonesty in a new disguise
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
A reminder that almost all of the "migration crisis" of the last 18 months is a manufactured one – and probably says more about how much X has poisoned our politics than anything about realities on the ground.
NEW: Net migration falls sharply to 204,000 in the year to June.
That’s a fall from 649,000 in the year to June 2024. It is a drop of nearly 80% from its 2023 peak.
That’s a fall from 649,000 in the year to June 2024. It is a drop of nearly 80% from its 2023 peak.
November 27, 2025 at 11:48 AM
A reminder that almost all of the "migration crisis" of the last 18 months is a manufactured one – and probably says more about how much X has poisoned our politics than anything about realities on the ground.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
NEW: BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
Journalists not allowed to repeat Rutger Bregman’s corruption claims against US president in coverage of edit
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:36 PM
NEW: BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
If anybody has any idea why my Twitter account is Japanese, let me know!!
"The X account of Hank Green, a popular YouTuber, says his account is based in Japan; Green told me Sunday that he’d never been to Japan"
A little reminder that all of you trust Elon Musk's website way too much.
A little reminder that all of you trust Elon Musk's website way too much.
Elon Musk’s Worthless, Poisoned Hall of Mirrors
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
If anybody has any idea why my Twitter account is Japanese, let me know!!
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Ukraine is on the brink of an historic betrayal by Trump to Putin.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
November 21, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Ukraine is on the brink of an historic betrayal by Trump to Putin.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Two of the top bosses of the BBC resigned this week, after allegations in a dossier claimed Panorama had altered a Trump quote.
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
Exclusive: the error at the heart of Trump’s BBC attack
A report alleging Panorama broadcast misleading Trump quotes contains misleading quotes itself
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Two of the top bosses of the BBC resigned this week, after allegations in a dossier claimed Panorama had altered a Trump quote.
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
November 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Once again, I am asking the powers that be to have a basic grasp of how the Internet and actual online safety works. It isn't VPNs which are putting people at risk...
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.
The British government admits it is now monitoring VPNs use by UK residents. Regulator Ofcom has contracted with an AI-powered surveillance service to detect the number of citizens using VPNs to evade the Online Safety Act.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
Exclusive: Ofcom is monitoring VPNs following Online Safety Act. Here's how
Ignoring VPNs risks creating ineffective laws, but tracking them threatens people's privacy
www.techradar.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Once again, I am asking the powers that be to have a basic grasp of how the Internet and actual online safety works. It isn't VPNs which are putting people at risk...
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.
Transformer is hiring! We're looking for a senior policy reporter to help us grow our coverage of the power and politics of AI. Based in or near DC, I think it will be a really fun opportunity for a reporter to get stuck in and make the beat their own! www.transformernews.ai/p/senior-pol...
We're hiring a policy reporter
We’re looking for an all-star reporter to cover the full spectrum of US frontier AI policy and politics, including the White House, Congress, key states, and industry efforts to shape legislation.
www.transformernews.ai
November 10, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Transformer is hiring! We're looking for a senior policy reporter to help us grow our coverage of the power and politics of AI. Based in or near DC, I think it will be a really fun opportunity for a reporter to get stuck in and make the beat their own! www.transformernews.ai/p/senior-pol...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Depressing that the BBC has so little inherent institutional strength, it is kicked about so easily.
This is not good sign for our polity.
This is not good sign for our polity.
November 9, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Depressing that the BBC has so little inherent institutional strength, it is kicked about so easily.
This is not good sign for our polity.
This is not good sign for our polity.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
It’s not at all clear to me how the BBC can do any kind of serious journalism if its top two bosses can be forced to quit over such an obviously confected scandal. There is no substantive error here. How can the BBC report on Trump, or Farage, or anyone else, in these circumstances?
November 9, 2025 at 7:30 PM
It’s not at all clear to me how the BBC can do any kind of serious journalism if its top two bosses can be forced to quit over such an obviously confected scandal. There is no substantive error here. How can the BBC report on Trump, or Farage, or anyone else, in these circumstances?
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Yeah so several major Ukrainian cities are in a complete blackout right now. 0 generation from thermal plants and 0 idea when the power will be back. Just please don’t forget us
November 8, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Yeah so several major Ukrainian cities are in a complete blackout right now. 0 generation from thermal plants and 0 idea when the power will be back. Just please don’t forget us
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
This is the woman who made a joking video about SNAP, then was featured in a Fox News story that didn't mention it was a joke, then went viral, then was labeled AI. I found her original post and she shared this in response
November 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
This is the woman who made a joking video about SNAP, then was featured in a Fox News story that didn't mention it was a joke, then went viral, then was labeled AI. I found her original post and she shared this in response
Enjoyed editing this look by @duncanweldon.bsky.social at what history's tech backlashes tell us about what to expect with AI: www.transformernews.ai/p/history-su...
History suggests the AI backlash will fail
From Venetian monks to 19th century textile workers, those opposing new technology have rarely come out on top
www.transformernews.ai
November 6, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Enjoyed editing this look by @duncanweldon.bsky.social at what history's tech backlashes tell us about what to expect with AI: www.transformernews.ai/p/history-su...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Tax policy on the British left is pure "anti-bedtime left". Bizarre idea that you can have a big social democratic welfare state without everyone contributing properly www.economist.com/britain/2025...
November 6, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Tax policy on the British left is pure "anti-bedtime left". Bizarre idea that you can have a big social democratic welfare state without everyone contributing properly www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
This preliminary injunction hearing in Chicago is just like... normie white liberal after normie white liberal describing how federal agents beat them, shot at them with pepper balls, pointed guns at them, threw flashbangs and tear gas at them
November 5, 2025 at 5:52 PM
This preliminary injunction hearing in Chicago is just like... normie white liberal after normie white liberal describing how federal agents beat them, shot at them with pepper balls, pointed guns at them, threw flashbangs and tear gas at them
Call to action here from @samgregory.bsky.social that it would be nice if OpenAI and others paid attention to.
"How we choose to act now will determine whether our shared basis for reality — what we see and hear — remains trustworthy." Witness's @samgregory.bsky.social on Sora's threat to visual truth:
Sora Is Here. The window to save visual truth is closing
Opinion: Sam Gregory argues that generative video is undermining the notion of a shared reality, and that we need to act before it’s lost forever
www.transformernews.ai
November 5, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Call to action here from @samgregory.bsky.social that it would be nice if OpenAI and others paid attention to.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
Oh no.
This New Yorker documentary about the 1988 UK government ban on broadcasting the voices of Sinn Féin and I.R.A. leaders is pretty good but they show *that clip from The Day Today with no explanation and no indicator that it is satire.
www.newyorker.com/video/watch/...
www.newyorker.com/video/watch/...
The Ban
www.newyorker.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Oh no.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read Tolkien, as they certainly don’t understand it.
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.
October 29, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I’m really starting to suspect that most of the tech bros haven’t actually read Tolkien, as they certainly don’t understand it.
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
The gentle hobbits save the “hard men” of Gondor, largely through compassion and selflessness. Not the other way around. The Christian parable is barely hidden!
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
“Let’s be clear, since a lot of people seem to be finding that difficult: most people who get upset if they see black or brown faces in adverts are racists. There are few other reasons for seeing diversity in advertising to bother anyone.” www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-s...
Sarah Pochin and the new age of open racism
What the Reform MP said was appalling. The Tories’ refusal to condemn her is arguably worse
www.thenewworld.co.uk
October 27, 2025 at 7:50 AM
“Let’s be clear, since a lot of people seem to be finding that difficult: most people who get upset if they see black or brown faces in adverts are racists. There are few other reasons for seeing diversity in advertising to bother anyone.” www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-s...
I find this dynamic, where MAGA types have begun breaking with Trump over AI, so fascinating. @nickywoolf.bsky.social's dive into it www.transformernews.ai/p/how-maga-l... just has me thinking about this meme...
October 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I find this dynamic, where MAGA types have begun breaking with Trump over AI, so fascinating. @nickywoolf.bsky.social's dive into it www.transformernews.ai/p/how-maga-l... just has me thinking about this meme...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
“I think it was the first time in recent memory I’ve seen the tech industry suffer a defeat like that.” Read @nickywoolf.bsky.social's dive into how MAGA's embrace of AI Safety is causing trouble for Trump's newly cosy relationship with Big Tech. www.transformernews.ai/p/how-maga-l...
How MAGA learned to love AI safety
The AI industry is engaging in one of “ the most blasphemous endeavors,” a leading MAGA figure told us
www.transformernews.ai
October 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
“I think it was the first time in recent memory I’ve seen the tech industry suffer a defeat like that.” Read @nickywoolf.bsky.social's dive into how MAGA's embrace of AI Safety is causing trouble for Trump's newly cosy relationship with Big Tech. www.transformernews.ai/p/how-maga-l...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
“Can you set an AI on a general task of, ‘Break into this network’ and have it do so? ... the results aren’t great ... They’re not zero, but they’re not great.” Read @stokel.bsky.social
on why experts aren't — for now — too worried about catastrophic AI-enabled cyberattacks.
on why experts aren't — for now — too worried about catastrophic AI-enabled cyberattacks.
AI cyberrisk might be a bit overhyped — for now at least
Experts say key factors currently limit the risk of catastrophic harm from AI-enabled cyberattacks — as far as we know
www.transformernews.ai
October 20, 2025 at 3:30 PM
“Can you set an AI on a general task of, ‘Break into this network’ and have it do so? ... the results aren’t great ... They’re not zero, but they’re not great.” Read @stokel.bsky.social
on why experts aren't — for now — too worried about catastrophic AI-enabled cyberattacks.
on why experts aren't — for now — too worried about catastrophic AI-enabled cyberattacks.