🌶 David Gray Widder
@davidthewid.bsky.social
🔜 Assistant Prof at UT Austin's iSchool.
AI ethics, political economy of tech, feminist STS
trying to help computer ppl think more critically about computer, including me
art: instagram.com/davidthewid
exCMU/NASA/MSR/IntelLabs.
davidwidder.me
AI ethics, political economy of tech, feminist STS
trying to help computer ppl think more critically about computer, including me
art: instagram.com/davidthewid
exCMU/NASA/MSR/IntelLabs.
davidwidder.me
Pinned
🪲 What is a "bug"? 🐛
Software bugs may seem obvious.
🚨But in a short piece, eminent bug expert @clegoues.bsky.social I seek to answer this seemingly simple question, and find that it is far from clear cut …
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Software bugs may seem obvious.
🚨But in a short piece, eminent bug expert @clegoues.bsky.social I seek to answer this seemingly simple question, and find that it is far from clear cut …
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
"This work builds on our partnership with the American Federation of Teachers to support teacher-led innovation [and] our collaboration with Ministries of Education globally, including Estonia and Greece..." that's some very collaborative grave-digging
November 20, 2025 at 1:58 AM
"This work builds on our partnership with the American Federation of Teachers to support teacher-led innovation [and] our collaboration with Ministries of Education globally, including Estonia and Greece..." that's some very collaborative grave-digging
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
Join us for the 6th event in our Gender & Tech Online Talk Series, "Trans-inclusive tech governance," on Dec 2 at 11am EST, with the amazing @blairaf.com (Univ of Alberta) and @histoftech.bsky.social (@uvadatascience.bsky.social). Free & open to all: dtdlab.virginia.edu/event/gender.... See u there
November 19, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Join us for the 6th event in our Gender & Tech Online Talk Series, "Trans-inclusive tech governance," on Dec 2 at 11am EST, with the amazing @blairaf.com (Univ of Alberta) and @histoftech.bsky.social (@uvadatascience.bsky.social). Free & open to all: dtdlab.virginia.edu/event/gender.... See u there
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
The Ivy League, where racist correspondence with a sex trafficker is not politically problematic, but celebrating the olive harvest is.
The Palestine Solidarity Committee student group at Columbia says their event celebrating the olive harvest in Palestine, which was carefully planned and cleared through event review processes, was cancelled at the last minute by senior university leadership. www.instagram.com/p/DRBB6BVkX7...
Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) on Instagram: "This decision came directly from Columbia’s senior administration, meaning Claire Shipman and her counsel of advisors including Cass Hollo...
992 likes, 17 comments - columbia.psc on November 13, 2025: "This decision came directly from Columbia’s senior administration, meaning Claire Shipman and her counsel of advisors including Cass Hollow...
www.instagram.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The Ivy League, where racist correspondence with a sex trafficker is not politically problematic, but celebrating the olive harvest is.
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
if you are considering submitting an application for this position, you still have just under 2 weeks to do so
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
November 19, 2025 at 2:44 PM
if you are considering submitting an application for this position, you still have just under 2 weeks to do so
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
any and all suitable candidates, please apply. everyone else, pls share with your networks
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
UK and Norway won nature's lottery in 1970 - found oil/gas in the North Sea.
UK squandered wealth, appeased corporations.
Norway levied 78% tax, took direct stake in companies.
Norway now has $1.8 trillion sovereign fund. UK has public finance crisis.
UK Govts still appeasing corporations/rich.
UK squandered wealth, appeased corporations.
Norway levied 78% tax, took direct stake in companies.
Norway now has $1.8 trillion sovereign fund. UK has public finance crisis.
UK Govts still appeasing corporations/rich.
How sparsely populated Norway amassed $1.8 trillion | Fortune Europe
Launched in the early 1990s to invest mostly in bonds, the fund has grown to become the largest of its kind by acquiring small equity stakes in thousands of companies across the world.
fortune.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:38 AM
UK and Norway won nature's lottery in 1970 - found oil/gas in the North Sea.
UK squandered wealth, appeased corporations.
Norway levied 78% tax, took direct stake in companies.
Norway now has $1.8 trillion sovereign fund. UK has public finance crisis.
UK Govts still appeasing corporations/rich.
UK squandered wealth, appeased corporations.
Norway levied 78% tax, took direct stake in companies.
Norway now has $1.8 trillion sovereign fund. UK has public finance crisis.
UK Govts still appeasing corporations/rich.
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
A senior academic using mentoring as leverage to obtain sex is a contemptible abuser of power.
Summers conferred with Epstein frequently about how to extract sexual favors from a Harvard econ grad (AB '04, PhD '09)
The grad is from China
Epstein and Summers referred to her by the codename "Peril"
Racism and sexual exploitation in one efficient package
bit.ly/3LHpin8
The grad is from China
Epstein and Summers referred to her by the codename "Peril"
Racism and sexual exploitation in one efficient package
bit.ly/3LHpin8
As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ | News | The Harvard Crimson
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: convicted sex offender Jef...
bit.ly
November 17, 2025 at 8:07 AM
A senior academic using mentoring as leverage to obtain sex is a contemptible abuser of power.
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
A bad day for education....
Texas A&M OKs "race and gender ideology" restrictions
Faculty are also prohibited from teaching material inconsistent with approved syllabi. The changes come in response to a recent controversy over gender identity classroom discussions.
www.texastribune.org
November 14, 2025 at 12:18 AM
A bad day for education....
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide.
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages
Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.
futurism.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:35 AM
I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide.
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
Meta earns $3.5 billion every six months from showing Faceboon and Instagram users 15 billion “higher legal risk” scam ad impressions a day, internal documents state.
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Meta earns $3.5 billion every six months from showing Faceboon and Instagram users 15 billion “higher legal risk” scam ad impressions a day, internal documents state.
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
also: this book is $20, but as this review states, worth much more.
great book exploring a marxist political economy of AI without jargon.
I plan to teach undergrads with this, and its also the first book I recommend when friends and family ask me how to think about AI.
great book exploring a marxist political economy of AI without jargon.
I plan to teach undergrads with this, and its also the first book I recommend when friends and family ask me how to think about AI.
The TL;DR (even though it’s a very short review): perhaps the first book to attempt a serious move towards an analysis of AI rooted in the logics of capital, indeed as a direct manifestation of capital — and then attempts to think towards futures on those same terms.
October 30, 2025 at 10:36 PM
also: this book is $20, but as this review states, worth much more.
great book exploring a marxist political economy of AI without jargon.
I plan to teach undergrads with this, and its also the first book I recommend when friends and family ask me how to think about AI.
great book exploring a marxist political economy of AI without jargon.
I plan to teach undergrads with this, and its also the first book I recommend when friends and family ask me how to think about AI.
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
October 30, 2025 at 7:51 PM
📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
The TL;DR (even though it’s a very short review): perhaps the first book to attempt a serious move towards an analysis of AI rooted in the logics of capital, indeed as a direct manifestation of capital — and then attempts to think towards futures on those same terms.
October 30, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The TL;DR (even though it’s a very short review): perhaps the first book to attempt a serious move towards an analysis of AI rooted in the logics of capital, indeed as a direct manifestation of capital — and then attempts to think towards futures on those same terms.
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
In happier news: for Critical Inquiry, I reviewed @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer’s WHY WE FEAR AI, which has just lately been catching some deserved hotness. 🔥 Read my take here: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/matthew_kirs...
Critical Inquiry
A journal of Art, Culture and Politics, Published by the University of Chicago
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu
October 30, 2025 at 10:18 PM
In happier news: for Critical Inquiry, I reviewed @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer’s WHY WE FEAR AI, which has just lately been catching some deserved hotness. 🔥 Read my take here: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/matthew_kirs...
CMU "expressive activity registration" policy hampers even simple student debates: the Campus Republicans and Campus Democrats had to register and pay $1000 for needless security, just to debate each other.
Required registration policies kill expression.
www.publicsource.org/cmu-expressi...
Required registration policies kill expression.
www.publicsource.org/cmu-expressi...
CMU made protesting on campus harder. A year later, even debate is difficult.
At CMU, “expressive activities” on campus of over 50 participants must register with the university. Some worry the policy is chilling campus speech.
www.publicsource.org
October 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
CMU "expressive activity registration" policy hampers even simple student debates: the Campus Republicans and Campus Democrats had to register and pay $1000 for needless security, just to debate each other.
Required registration policies kill expression.
www.publicsource.org/cmu-expressi...
Required registration policies kill expression.
www.publicsource.org/cmu-expressi...
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
n the Netherlands, its election day. Because of the #Microsoft outage, however, parts of the train system are down, leaving thousands of citizens unable to plan their travel, buy tickets, or determine whether they could return to their hometowns in time for polls to close.
October 29, 2025 at 8:07 PM
n the Netherlands, its election day. Because of the #Microsoft outage, however, parts of the train system are down, leaving thousands of citizens unable to plan their travel, buy tickets, or determine whether they could return to their hometowns in time for polls to close.
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
Did economists paid my Microsoft apologize as well?
October 25, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Did economists paid my Microsoft apologize as well?
Had the pleasure to speak with @mariahollenhorst.bsky.social of Marketplace about AI Hype on NPR today: www.marketplace.org/story/2025/1...
Our full report on how Big Cloud is investing in AI startups is here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Our full report on how Big Cloud is investing in AI startups is here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Like it or not, we’re all living in the AI economy now
AI investment is driving the U.S. stock market to new highs. Ultimately, that could impact everyone.
www.marketplace.org
October 22, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Had the pleasure to speak with @mariahollenhorst.bsky.social of Marketplace about AI Hype on NPR today: www.marketplace.org/story/2025/1...
Our full report on how Big Cloud is investing in AI startups is here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Our full report on how Big Cloud is investing in AI startups is here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
Really excited to present one of the papers coming out of my PhD at the AI, Ethics and Society (AIES) conference tomorrow called "The ‘Wild West’ of Medicine: Exploring the Emergence of ‘Grassroots’ AI Governance in Radiology". Link here: ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI.... Thread on the paper below 👇
View of The ‘Wild West’ of Medicine: Exploring the Emergence of ‘Grassroots’ AI Governance in Radiology
ojs.aaai.org
October 21, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Really excited to present one of the papers coming out of my PhD at the AI, Ethics and Society (AIES) conference tomorrow called "The ‘Wild West’ of Medicine: Exploring the Emergence of ‘Grassroots’ AI Governance in Radiology". Link here: ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI.... Thread on the paper below 👇
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
We should be paying more attention. Nvidia's all over the headlines. But we should be paying a lot more attention to Big Cloud's land grab—especially as it's leading to what the researchers say are a host of new anticompetitive practices.
Their full paper here:
Their full paper here:
How Big Cloud becomes Bigger: Scrutinizing Google, Microsoft, and Amazon's investments
<div>
In an AI gold rush, those selling the proverbial pickaxes are surest to win: cloud companies provide scalable managed computational resources as a subscr
papers.ssrn.com
August 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
We should be paying more attention. Nvidia's all over the headlines. But we should be paying a lot more attention to Big Cloud's land grab—especially as it's leading to what the researchers say are a host of new anticompetitive practices.
Their full paper here:
Their full paper here:
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
Important paper on ‘Big Cloud’ (Amazon, Google, Microsoft).
Big Cloud cos are prolific investors, much as largest venture capital firms. They create (financial, technical & contractual) dependency in start-ups, a form of vertical integration that escapes regulation.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Big Cloud cos are prolific investors, much as largest venture capital firms. They create (financial, technical & contractual) dependency in start-ups, a form of vertical integration that escapes regulation.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
How Big Cloud becomes Bigger: Scrutinizing Google, Microsoft, and Amazon's investments
<div>
In an AI gold rush, those selling the proverbial pickaxes are surest to win: cloud companies provide scalable managed computational resources as a subscr
papers.ssrn.com
August 16, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Important paper on ‘Big Cloud’ (Amazon, Google, Microsoft).
Big Cloud cos are prolific investors, much as largest venture capital firms. They create (financial, technical & contractual) dependency in start-ups, a form of vertical integration that escapes regulation.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Big Cloud cos are prolific investors, much as largest venture capital firms. They create (financial, technical & contractual) dependency in start-ups, a form of vertical integration that escapes regulation.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
💫 "In this report, we explore an underrecognized manner in which AI ecosystems increasingly depend on Big Cloud: Big Cloud’s investment in other companies." @ssrn.bsky.social @davidthewid.bsky.social buff.ly/AdcJjoM
papers.ssrn.com
August 21, 2025 at 11:01 AM
💫 "In this report, we explore an underrecognized manner in which AI ecosystems increasingly depend on Big Cloud: Big Cloud’s investment in other companies." @ssrn.bsky.social @davidthewid.bsky.social buff.ly/AdcJjoM
Reposted by 🌶 David Gray Widder
“The Purdue student newspaper owns its own presses” is the sound of engines revving
Purdue to the rescue of IU student newspaper, whose institution was attempting censorship. Details in alt!
October 18, 2025 at 10:32 PM
“The Purdue student newspaper owns its own presses” is the sound of engines revving