Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2h

Car Seat Headrest’s Will Toledo has discussed his experience with long COVID and has asked fans to also wear N95 face masks during their tour. www.stereogum.com/2308186/car-...

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 1d

“startups that help train AI say they're seeing a surge in demand from robotics co.s hungry for training data—& creating it often requires paying people to film themselves performing tasks like folding laundry, loading dishwashers, or making espresso” www.businessinsider.com/ai-startups-...

You can now get paid to fold your laundry, as long as you're willing to film it

AI startups are paying people to film themselves doing chores so robots can learn. Find out how much you could earn and why demand is booming.

www.businessinsider.com

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2d

Enforced AI at work is not inevitable! You can push book and you can win!

www.businessinsider.com/google-ai-he...

Google changes AI health policy after employee backlash

Google has updated an internal health policy that pushed staff to use a third-party AI tool, following employee backlash.

www.businessinsider.com

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2d

"Amazon is rolling out an updated version of its main artificial intelligence tool for business, the latest effort to grab a slice of the market for software designed to automate and speed up office work." www.seattletimes.com/business/ama...

Amazon reboots AI agent for workers, taking on ChatGPT, Copilot

Quick Suite is a chatbot and set of AI agents that can analyze sales data, produce reports or summarize web content.

www.seattletimes.com

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2d

Really fantastic and fascinating paper - check it out! Congrats to Emily, Natalia & JS!

Emily Mazo @emilymazo.bsky.social · 3d

Baby’s first published academic article! @js-tan.bsky.social and @nataliyan.bsky.social and I analyzed the @techactions.bsky.social archive and find that tech worker labor organizing stands on the shoulders of prior struggle- conflict begets class conflict journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2d

AI companies need enterprise contracts to form some kind of business model to justify massive capex.

Workplaces are critical bc they typically operate as “private government” in which workers are a captive market.

This is why building worker power is so important.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Google Cloud Battles Microsoft, OpenAI for Workplace AI

Google’s cloud unit is launching an artificial intelligence platform called Gemini Enterprise that it hopes will reach everyday workers, setting up a deeper competition with Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI...

www.bloomberg.com

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2d

Take pretty much any harmful use case of AI across different sectors and you’ll see how it’s directly connected to the labor conditions within the tech industry (which are themselves connected to capital market incentives, the technofascist and anti-labor views of many executives,
etc)

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2d

Read Jason Resnikoff’s “Labor’s End” for historical perspective on how workers understood “automation” means speed-up and work intensification!

Also, if you thought the era of “move fast and break things” was bad, imagine faster and the things are increasingly consequential.

“I want to see us go 5X faster by eliminating the frictions that slow us down. And 5X faster to get to how our products feel much more quickly. Imagine a world where anyone can rapidly prototype an idea, and feedback loops are measured in hours—not weeks. That's the future we're building.”

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 2d

Read Jason Resnikoff’s “Labor’s End” for historical perspective on how workers understood “automation” means speed-up and work intensification!

Also, if you thought the era of “move fast and break things” was bad, imagine faster and the things are increasingly consequential.

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 3d

"With layoffs and automation eroding the stability traditionally associated with knowledge jobs, the future of white-collar work might include some tried and tested ways to protect one’s job." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The future of white-collar work may be unionized

Law firms, banks and tech companies are seeing an uptick in employees choosing to join unions.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Tim Newman

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 3d

The rapid growth of data centers has fueled global concerns over the fire risk inherent to these often hastily constructed facilities — and the question of who pays the cost. futurism.com/future-socie...

First Responders Are Being Overwhelmed by Data Center Fires

First responders in a small Ohio town have answered 84 emergencies between two Amazon data centers, all on the taxpayer's dime.

futurism.com

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 3d

“AI adoption needs to be widespread, and with these strategies, we will help speed up the process”

A billion euros to speed up AI adoption.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/euro...

As part of the two strategies, the commission said it will seek to establish AI-powered advanced screening centers for healthcare and support the development of frontier models and agentic AI that could be used in sectors such as manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, adding that it aims to mobilize around 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) to fund the initiatives. The EU executive is also pushing a so-called “AI first” policy to encourage more companies to adopt AI to solve problems.

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 3d

From the radicals at Ernst & Young: “Nearly every company in the survey has already suffered financial losses from AI-related incidents… [but] organizations embracing responsible AI are pulling ahead in the metrics where AI-related gains have been most elusive”
www.ey.com/en_gl/insigh...

How responsible AI translates investment into impact

Explore the ways in which responsible AI converts investment into meaningful impact.

www.ey.com

Reposted by Tim Newman

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 3d

In India, Uber added a feature within the Uber driver app so that instead of “down time” and “break time” hours “going to waste,” drivers can “boost earnings” by doing digital data annotation, audio collection etc tasks for Uber AI Solutions all within the same app www.linkedin.com/posts/megha-...

Uber AI Solutions pilots new program for Indian drivers | Megha Yethadka posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Exciting news from Uber AI Solutions in India 🇮🇳 Around the world, many thousands of people already complete tasks for Uber AI Solutions — from labeling data that powers self-driving cars and AR to...

www.linkedin.com

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 3d

In India, Uber added a feature within the Uber driver app so that instead of “down time” and “break time” hours “going to waste,” drivers can “boost earnings” by doing digital data annotation, audio collection etc tasks for Uber AI Solutions all within the same app www.linkedin.com/posts/megha-...

Uber AI Solutions pilots new program for Indian drivers | Megha Yethadka posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Exciting news from Uber AI Solutions in India 🇮🇳 Around the world, many thousands of people already complete tasks for Uber AI Solutions — from labeling data that powers self-driving cars and AR to...

www.linkedin.com

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Reposted by Tim Newman

TechEquity @techequity.bsky.social · 4d

Want to learn more?

Join the 11/18 webinar “Stop the AI Surveillance Pipeline Now!” to learn about how workers and communities are pushing back: bit.ly/stopAIsurveillance

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: From Our Workplaces to Our Communities: Stop the AI Surveillance Pipeline Now!. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the w...

If data is the new oil, the AI Surveillance Pipeline is what supercharges its extraction for unchecked power and profit. Although we’ve all experienced getting a targeted ad and feeling like our phon...

bit.ly

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Reposted by Tim Newman

TechEquity @techequity.bsky.social · 4d

Corporations are increasingly adopting new forms of tech and AI that they claim are “privacy-preserving.”

But the truth is that this tech can allow them to collect worker data without meaningful consent, and then use it to surveil, discipline, and exploit workers.

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 4d

Recently, lots of unionized Starbucks stores here closed and now this:

“The Soho and Boston locations were also among the 11 REI stores that had successfully unionized in recent years.”

Another potential impact of Trump’s economy: providing cover for retailers to bust unions?

New York Magazine @nymag.com · 4d

REI is leaving the city, apparently. A spokesperson for the outdoor chain confirmed Tuesday that the company’s Soho location, its only one in the five boroughs, would be closing in late 2026.

The Soho REI Is Closing

The outdoor chain’s flagship, its only store in the city, will shut down late next year.

www.curbed.com

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Reposted by Tim Newman

PowerSwitch Action ⚡️ @powerswitchaction.org · 4d

New technologies, AI, and mass surveillance are only growing. Right now, we need to join together to protect our digital, worker, and human rights.

Join us on November 18 for a multi-issue panel featuring workers, organizers, policy and tech experts 👇bit.ly/stopAIsurveillance

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: From Our Workplaces to Our Communities: Stop the AI Surveillance Pipeline Now!. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the w...

If data is the new oil, the AI Surveillance Pipeline is what supercharges its extraction for unchecked power and profit. Although we’ve all experienced getting a targeted ad and feeling like our phon...

bit.ly

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Reposted by Tim Newman

PowerSwitch Action ⚡️ @powerswitchaction.org · 4d

This brief outlines the risks and harms facing workers, but it also makes the case for a new generation of labor and tech protections, and offers concrete principles for policymaking that can strengthen and uphold worker rights in the digital age. datasociety.net/library/the-...

The “Privacy” Trap

Corporations are rolling out new technologies that may technically comply with data privacy laws, but actually create more ways to control and exploit workers. This brief offers concrete principles fo...

datasociety.net

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Reposted by Tim Newman

PowerSwitch Action ⚡️ @powerswitchaction.org · 4d

Corporations call it "privacy-preserving," but this new AI tech isn't all that it seems.

Our new brief w/@datasociety.bsky.social + CoWorker exposes how this tech harms + exploits workers and what we can do to strengthen worker protections + power in the digital age: datasociety.net/library/the-...

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 4d

Excited for this event that’s going to be jam packed with cool people talking about a bunch of important work that has been steadily coming out in recent months.

There’s a lot more work to do! Register and join us!

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 4d

On November 18, join organizers and experts for a cross-issue panel discussion exploring how workers and communities are pushing back: From Our Workplaces to Our Communities: Stop the AI Surveillance Pipeline Now! bit.ly/stopAIsurveillance

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 4d

Folks, this is a really critically important report. Highly recommend it — and it’s really required reading for folks thinking about the intersection of workers, labor, technology and privacy policy.

HUGE congrats to the all-star team that put this together!

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 4d

“Privacy-preserving” isn’t as private as you might think. Our new brief, published in collab w @powerswitchaction.org & Coworker, exposes how so-called “privacy-preserving” technologies can actually enable *more* worker surveillance — and what we can do about it. datasociety.net/library/the-...

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Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 4d

Rather than turning to the startups mentioned here as “what to do” (which are unlikely to really make a difference for consumers), consider joining organizing efforts across the country to hold companies accountable and ensure that we have a say over data centers and their energy use.

Business Insider @businessinsider.com · 4d

Data centers are driving up consumers' electricity costs, but experts say energy conservation hacks won't lower bills much. Here's what to do instead.

AI data centers are driving up electricity bills. Energy-saving hacks might not help lower them.

Data centers are driving up consumers' electricity costs, but experts say energy conservation hacks won't lower bills much. Here's what to do instead.

www.businessinsider.com

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 5d

Anthropic to open India office in 2026.

OpenAI formally registered as a legal entity in India in August and has begun building a local team. It plans to open its first India office in New Delhi later in 2025.

Reuters @reuters.com · 5d

Anthropic to open India office in 2026 reut.rs/3ILsJrV

Anthropic to open India office in 2026

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm backed by Google-parent Alphabet and Amazon.com , said on Tuesday that it would open an office in Bengaluru, India, in early 2026.

reut.rs