Tim Newman
@tnewmsblues.bsky.social
Labor + Tech | Currently @techequity.bsky.social | Formerly Coworker(.)org, Coworker Solidarity Fund, Change(.)org, International Labor Rights Forum
Pinned
Tim Newman
@tnewmsblues.bsky.social
· Mar 17
Let’s honor the breakthrough Tim’s in popular culture of late. We are doing great!
Reposted by Tim Newman
Donald Trump’s birthday will now be a free entry day at national parks while Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth will no longer be.
Day 321 of racism and personal aggrandizement as government policy.
Day 321 of racism and personal aggrandizement as government policy.
National Park Service removes free entry on Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth
The Trump administration is adding Flag Day, which is also President Trump's birthday, to its list of fee-free entry days at national parks.
www.bbc.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Donald Trump’s birthday will now be a free entry day at national parks while Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth will no longer be.
Day 321 of racism and personal aggrandizement as government policy.
Day 321 of racism and personal aggrandizement as government policy.
Data work companies hire “white-collar professionals rocked by mass layoffs & hiring freezes, forcing them to make the same cryptic tradeoff: take a volatile job that will temporarily help pay bills to train the next gen of AI that could one day replace them.” financialpost.com/technology/b...
How a ‘bleak’ job market is pushing white-collar workers to train AI that could one day replace them
As tech companies ramp up artificial intelligence models, human AI trainers are in hot demand — but not for long. Read more
financialpost.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Data work companies hire “white-collar professionals rocked by mass layoffs & hiring freezes, forcing them to make the same cryptic tradeoff: take a volatile job that will temporarily help pay bills to train the next gen of AI that could one day replace them.” financialpost.com/technology/b...
Reposted by Tim Newman
“The rush has left some lenders over-exposed, so they’re using a series of tools — credit derivatives, sophisticated bonds and some newer financial products — to shift the risk of underwriting the AI boom to other investors.” finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-st...
Wall Street Races to Cut Its Risk From AI’s Borrowing Binge
The urgency at banks to shed risk is visible all over credit markets. The cost of protecting Oracle Corp. debt against default using derivatives has risen to the highest since the Global Financial Cr...
finance.yahoo.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:57 PM
“The rush has left some lenders over-exposed, so they’re using a series of tools — credit derivatives, sophisticated bonds and some newer financial products — to shift the risk of underwriting the AI boom to other investors.” finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-st...
Reposted by Tim Newman
Washington DC is being occupied by the National Guard, ICE, Border Patrol, and Metro Police is helping them. 84% of immigrants arrested had no criminal charges.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
December 4, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Washington DC is being occupied by the National Guard, ICE, Border Patrol, and Metro Police is helping them. 84% of immigrants arrested had no criminal charges.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Workers around the world may have been exposed to the psychological harm of moderating traumatic content for the financial benefit of U.S.-based Big Tech firms, but that labor may make them ineligible to secure a visa to work in the United States.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 4, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Workers around the world may have been exposed to the psychological harm of moderating traumatic content for the financial benefit of U.S.-based Big Tech firms, but that labor may make them ineligible to secure a visa to work in the United States.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
“a Futurism review found that the free web version of Grok will, with extremely minimal prompting, provide accurate residential addresses for non-public figures — a feature that could easily assist stalking, harassment, and other dangerous types of behavior” futurism.com/artificial-i...
Elon Musk's Grok AI Is Doxxing Home Addresses of Everyday People
Elon Musk's Grox chatbot will happily cough up real, current residential addresses of everyday Americans, with little to no prompting.
futurism.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:22 PM
“a Futurism review found that the free web version of Grok will, with extremely minimal prompting, provide accurate residential addresses for non-public figures — a feature that could easily assist stalking, harassment, and other dangerous types of behavior” futurism.com/artificial-i...
Reposted by Tim Newman
Weird situation. AI adoption in the work world is stagnating, while higher-ed institutions are rushing to embrace it so that students will be prepared for…the work world?
“we estimate employment-weighted share of Americans using AI at work has fallen by a percentage point & now sits at 11%. Adoption has fallen sharply at the largest businesses, those employing +250 people. 3 yrs into the genAI wave, demand looks surprisingly flimsy” www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
www.economist.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Weird situation. AI adoption in the work world is stagnating, while higher-ed institutions are rushing to embrace it so that students will be prepared for…the work world?
Reposted by Tim Newman
Multiple surveys are telling the same story: AI adoption has stalled. Census data shows ~11% of workers use AI, with rates falling at 250+ employee firms. Surveys show usage spiked then plateaued.
Meanwhile Big Tech is planning $5T in AI spend by 2030 that needs $650B/year in revenue vs ~$50B today
Meanwhile Big Tech is planning $5T in AI spend by 2030 that needs $650B/year in revenue vs ~$50B today
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
www.economist.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Multiple surveys are telling the same story: AI adoption has stalled. Census data shows ~11% of workers use AI, with rates falling at 250+ employee firms. Surveys show usage spiked then plateaued.
Meanwhile Big Tech is planning $5T in AI spend by 2030 that needs $650B/year in revenue vs ~$50B today
Meanwhile Big Tech is planning $5T in AI spend by 2030 that needs $650B/year in revenue vs ~$50B today
“we estimate employment-weighted share of Americans using AI at work has fallen by a percentage point & now sits at 11%. Adoption has fallen sharply at the largest businesses, those employing +250 people. 3 yrs into the genAI wave, demand looks surprisingly flimsy” www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
www.economist.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM
“we estimate employment-weighted share of Americans using AI at work has fallen by a percentage point & now sits at 11%. Adoption has fallen sharply at the largest businesses, those employing +250 people. 3 yrs into the genAI wave, demand looks surprisingly flimsy” www.economist.com/finance-and-...
“It’s capitalism and the height of digital colonialism. Oftentimes, supervisors don’t even mention who you are working for… They [companies] are all here simply because of cheap labor”
- @joan1k.bsky.social of @datalabelers.bsky.social
restofworld.org/2025/kenya-c...
- @joan1k.bsky.social of @datalabelers.bsky.social
restofworld.org/2025/kenya-c...
The hidden Kenyan workers training China’s AI models
An unemployment crisis has created fertile ground for companies to step in with opaque systems built on WhatsApp groups, middlemen, and bargain-basement wages.
restofworld.org
December 4, 2025 at 2:43 PM
“It’s capitalism and the height of digital colonialism. Oftentimes, supervisors don’t even mention who you are working for… They [companies] are all here simply because of cheap labor”
- @joan1k.bsky.social of @datalabelers.bsky.social
restofworld.org/2025/kenya-c...
- @joan1k.bsky.social of @datalabelers.bsky.social
restofworld.org/2025/kenya-c...
Reposted by Tim Newman
Kenya’s unemployment crisis has allowed Chinese AI companies to tap into a workforce of young people, who spend 12-hour shifts labeling data in thousands of videos for around $6 a day restofworld.org/2025/kenya-c...
The hidden Kenyan workers training China’s AI models
An unemployment crisis has created fertile ground for companies to step in with opaque systems built on WhatsApp groups, middlemen, and bargain-basement wages.
restofworld.org
December 4, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Kenya’s unemployment crisis has allowed Chinese AI companies to tap into a workforce of young people, who spend 12-hour shifts labeling data in thousands of videos for around $6 a day restofworld.org/2025/kenya-c...
Reposted by Tim Newman
NEW: More than 80% of the immigrants arrested in D.C. during Trump’s federal law enforcement surge this year had no criminal convictions or charges, new data shows, even though that crackdown was portrayed as targeting violent crime.
w/ Emmanuel Martinez
wapo.st/4iC8oCR
w/ Emmanuel Martinez
wapo.st/4iC8oCR
Most immigrants arrested in Trump’s D.C. crackdown had no criminal records
A Post analysis of federal data shows that the arrests of immigrants with no prior criminal record shot up sixfold during the Trump administration’s crackdown.
wapo.st
December 4, 2025 at 12:55 PM
NEW: More than 80% of the immigrants arrested in D.C. during Trump’s federal law enforcement surge this year had no criminal convictions or charges, new data shows, even though that crackdown was portrayed as targeting violent crime.
w/ Emmanuel Martinez
wapo.st/4iC8oCR
w/ Emmanuel Martinez
wapo.st/4iC8oCR
Any lawyers out there want to do data annotation for xAI for 42.5 hrs a week for $45-$75/hour to train Musk’s AI in legal and compliance? Preferably you should be comfortable with recording audio or video sessions for data collection too.
job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/493...
job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/493...
AI Legal and Compliance Tutor
Palo Alto, CA; Remote
job-boards.greenhouse.io
December 4, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Any lawyers out there want to do data annotation for xAI for 42.5 hrs a week for $45-$75/hour to train Musk’s AI in legal and compliance? Preferably you should be comfortable with recording audio or video sessions for data collection too.
job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/493...
job-boards.greenhouse.io/xai/jobs/493...
“Google's Agentic AI wipes user's entire HDD without permission in catastrophic failure — cache wipe turns into mass deletion event”
www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
Google's Agentic AI wipes user's entire HDD without permission in catastrophic failure — cache wipe turns into mass deletion event as agent apologizes: “I am absolutely devastated to hear this. I cann...
The user even made a screen recording to document his troubles
www.tomshardware.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:22 PM
“Google's Agentic AI wipes user's entire HDD without permission in catastrophic failure — cache wipe turns into mass deletion event”
www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
"Morgan Stanley, one of the key players in financing the artificial-intelligence race, is considering offloading some of its data-center exposure via a so-called significant risk transfer." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Morgan Stanley Considers Offloading Some of Its Data-Center Exposure
Morgan Stanley, one of the key players in financing the artificial-intelligence race, is considering offloading some of its data-center exposure via a so-called significant risk transfer.
www.bloomberg.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
"Morgan Stanley, one of the key players in financing the artificial-intelligence race, is considering offloading some of its data-center exposure via a so-called significant risk transfer." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Tim Newman
There may be more private equity funds than McDonald's in the US, but a PitchBook study shows how the private equity industry is consolidating.
These 3 charts show how the biggest private equity funds keep winning in a fundraising slowdown
There may be more private equity funds than McDonald's in the US, but a PitchBook study shows how the private equity industry is consolidating.
www.businessinsider.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:02 AM
There may be more private equity funds than McDonald's in the US, but a PitchBook study shows how the private equity industry is consolidating.
Yes - because CNN has partnered with prediction market Kalshi www.axios.com/2025/12/02/c... which is valued at $11B www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/b... & the cofounder wants to “financialize everything & create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion” bsky.app/profile/more...
December 4, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Yes - because CNN has partnered with prediction market Kalshi www.axios.com/2025/12/02/c... which is valued at $11B www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/b... & the cofounder wants to “financialize everything & create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion” bsky.app/profile/more...
Reposted by Tim Newman
The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion."
December 3, 2025 at 7:37 PM
The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion."
Reposted by Tim Newman
Will continue to bang this drum: this is the system university admins are cramming into every aspect of education. This is the system we are told “isn’t going anywhere” so we all have to adjust to it.
New from 404 Media: ChatGPT told a violent stalker to continue running his misogynistic and threat-filled podcast despite the “haters,” and to visit more gyms to find women. The man stalked women in multiple states, including touching and following from work
www.404media.co/chatgpt-spot...
www.404media.co/chatgpt-spot...
ChatGPT Told a Violent Stalker to Embrace the 'Haters,' Indictment Says
A newly filed indictment claims a wannabe influencer used ChatGPT as his "therapist" and "best friend" in his pursuit of the "wife type," while harassing women so aggressively they had to miss work a...
www.404media.co
December 3, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Will continue to bang this drum: this is the system university admins are cramming into every aspect of education. This is the system we are told “isn’t going anywhere” so we all have to adjust to it.
Reposted by Tim Newman
I view Signal as critical infrastructure for workplace organizing and those of us in the labor movement should say it!
We should support Signal's long-term sustainability.
Donate here👉 signal.org/donate/
www.wired.com/story/signal...
We should support Signal's long-term sustainability.
Donate here👉 signal.org/donate/
www.wired.com/story/signal...
Running Signal Will Soon Cost $50 Million a Year
Signal’s president reveals the cost of running the privacy-preserving platform—not just to drum up donations, but to call out the for-profit surveillance business models it competes against.
www.wired.com
November 27, 2024 at 2:06 PM
I view Signal as critical infrastructure for workplace organizing and those of us in the labor movement should say it!
We should support Signal's long-term sustainability.
Donate here👉 signal.org/donate/
www.wired.com/story/signal...
We should support Signal's long-term sustainability.
Donate here👉 signal.org/donate/
www.wired.com/story/signal...
Hey folks! Don’t forget that Signal isn’t free to run! Consider donating!
bsky.app/profile/tnew...
bsky.app/profile/tnew...
December 3, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Hey folks! Don’t forget that Signal isn’t free to run! Consider donating!
bsky.app/profile/tnew...
bsky.app/profile/tnew...
“Palantir’s software is helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement track undocumented immigrants and deport them faster... The software, Immigration OS, plays a key role in supporting the administration’s mass deportation campaign"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
How Palantir shifted course to play key role in ICE deportations
“The truly progressive position on immigration” is “extreme skepticism,” says Alex Karp, a longtime Democrat and the data management company’s chief executive.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:54 PM
“Palantir’s software is helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement track undocumented immigrants and deport them faster... The software, Immigration OS, plays a key role in supporting the administration’s mass deportation campaign"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
"Multiple Microsoft divisions lowered how much salespeople are supposed to grow sales of certain AI products after many missed goals, according to salespeople in Microsoft’s Azure cloud unit. It’s rare for Microsoft to lower such quotas for specific products." www.theinformation.com/articles/mic...
Microsoft Lowers AI Software Growth Targets as Customers Resist Newer Products
Executives at Microsoft and other enterprise software firms heralded 2025 as the year artificial intelligence would be capable of automating tasks that involve multiple steps, such as generating dashb...
www.theinformation.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"Multiple Microsoft divisions lowered how much salespeople are supposed to grow sales of certain AI products after many missed goals, according to salespeople in Microsoft’s Azure cloud unit. It’s rare for Microsoft to lower such quotas for specific products." www.theinformation.com/articles/mic...
“In California, a rule provides new guidance on how existing antidiscrimination laws apply to the use of AI & automated systems.”
@techequity.bsky.social is among the organizations that weighed in on these regulations: techequity.us/2024/11/20/t...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
@techequity.bsky.social is among the organizations that weighed in on these regulations: techequity.us/2024/11/20/t...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
AI may discriminate against you at work. Some states are making it illegal.
New regulations aim to prevent discrimination from artificial intelligence and automated systems as it relates to employment.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:24 AM
“In California, a rule provides new guidance on how existing antidiscrimination laws apply to the use of AI & automated systems.”
@techequity.bsky.social is among the organizations that weighed in on these regulations: techequity.us/2024/11/20/t...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
@techequity.bsky.social is among the organizations that weighed in on these regulations: techequity.us/2024/11/20/t...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Through the collective power of unions, workers are successfully negotiating legally binding protections around the use of AI — and enforcing any violations of these rights.
If you are concerned about what you see coming in the workplace, it’s a great time to organize now.
If you are concerned about what you see coming in the workplace, it’s a great time to organize now.
NEW: Last week an arbitrator ruled that Politico management violated key AI terms in its union contract.
The decision is a landmark win for the Politico union, which is one of the first to legally challenge the rollout of AI technology in its newsroom. www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/poli...
The decision is a landmark win for the Politico union, which is one of the first to legally challenge the rollout of AI technology in its newsroom. www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/poli...
Politico management violated key AI adoption safeguards, arbitrator finds
The ruling marks one of the first major tests of an AI clause in a newsroom union contract.
www.niemanlab.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Through the collective power of unions, workers are successfully negotiating legally binding protections around the use of AI — and enforcing any violations of these rights.
If you are concerned about what you see coming in the workplace, it’s a great time to organize now.
If you are concerned about what you see coming in the workplace, it’s a great time to organize now.