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AI investment fuels shortages, inflation

4m

Tech companies and investors poured billions into AI, prompting heavy data-center energy use in Dublin, chip shortages that raised consumer prices and a $1bn seed round.

Reposted by Arvind Narayanan

33%

Reposted by Jutta Haider, Rebecca Tushnet, Meredith Farkas

15%
zunguzungu.bsky.social
If "AI" was being built, used, and planned for in responsible ways--the way a civilization designed to enhance human thriving would do--then a lot more people would be enthusiastic about its potential. But the people in charge of defining what AI will be are the fucking worst short-term scumbags.
February 18, 2026 at 12:37 PM

Reposted by Nuria Oliver

25%

Reposted by Ben Kaden, Julia M. Wright

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bencollins.bsky.social
AI is revolutionizing the world! A Playstation now costs $5,000 and this is the last phone you will ever own.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d
“.. ‘many system vendors will go bankrupt or exit product lines due to a lack of memory. Mobile phone production will be reduced by 200-250 million units, and PC and TV production will be significantly reduced.’ Yikes.”

@pcgamer.com #DRAM
www.pcgamer.com/hardware/mem...
February 17, 2026 at 10:02 PM

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog, McKenzie Wark

9%
chrisdeleon.bsky.social
the AI junk that nobody - including the people making it - have enough real uses or profitable demand for is screwing up all the things that have real uses and decades of profitable demand

p.s. added alt text for the quoted post's screenshot into my alt text
Headline from PC Gamer, from the writer Tyler Wilde: Microsoft CEO warns that we must "do something useful" with AI or they'll lose "social permission" to burn electricity on it. Works should learn AI skills and companies should use it because it's a "cognitive amplifier," claims Satya Nadella. quoted post missing alt text, also a pc gamer screenshot: Many consumer electronics manufacturers 'will go bankrupt or exit product lines' by the end of 2026 due to the Al memory crisis, Phison CEO reportedly says By Jeremy Laird published yesterday This mess is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
February 17, 2026 at 9:56 PM

Reposted by Nuria Oliver

25%

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

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mollytaft.com
when big tech companies say that AI will save the planet, what kinds of AI are they actually talking about — and what's their proof? i took a look at some great new research from @ketanjoshi.co and talked to other experts about how a lot of this talk is probably bullshit:
Big Tech Says Generative AI Will Save the Planet. It Doesn't Offer Much Proof
A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all.
www.wired.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:19 PM

Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet

5%
zunguzungu.bsky.social
If all the billionaires betting this country's economic future on AI weren't the guy from the "I don't wanna cure cancer, I wanna turn people into dinosaurs" meme, then yeah, it'd be a lot easier to be interested in what is, in the abstract, kind of a cool technology
February 18, 2026 at 12:41 PM

Reposted by Ann Bartow

4%
kattenbarge.bsky.social
A technology I’m really excited about is lab grown meat, and the right is actually using its state power to prevent this technology from coming to fruition, but there has been far less hand-wringing about that than the organic consumer rejection of AI
February 18, 2026 at 3:29 PM

by Jutta Haider

20%
juttahaider.bsky.social
Exactly this 👇
zunguzungu.bsky.social Aaron Bady @zunguzungu.bsky.social · 8h
If "AI" was being built, used, and planned for in responsible ways--the way a civilization designed to enhance human thriving would do--then a lot more people would be enthusiastic about its potential. But the people in charge of defining what AI will be are the fucking worst short-term scumbags.
February 18, 2026 at 1:01 PM

by Michael E. Mann

0%
michaelemann.bsky.social
I for one welcome our Chinese robot overlords...
rowhoop.bsky.social Rowan Hooper @rowhoop.bsky.social · 11h
Wow - "By the end of 2024, China had registered 451,700 smart robotics companies, with a total capital of 6.44tn yuan (approximately $932.16bn)"
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
February 18, 2026 at 9:34 AM

by Erik Champion

28%
erikmc.bsky.social
maybe it means benefits *for* the AI?!
February 18, 2026 at 8:10 AM

by Meredith Farkas

9%
librarianmer.bsky.social
I think it's a mix of short-term scumbags and creepy billionaire white nationalists with a "utopian" vision of creating an uneducated and passive underclass with no class consciousness to serve them. Plus all the idiot CEOs and college presidents who invested way too much in this shit.
zunguzungu.bsky.social Aaron Bady @zunguzungu.bsky.social · 8h
If "AI" was being built, used, and planned for in responsible ways--the way a civilization designed to enhance human thriving would do--then a lot more people would be enthusiastic about its potential. But the people in charge of defining what AI will be are the fucking worst short-term scumbags.
February 18, 2026 at 4:33 PM

by Arthur Spirling

4%

by Julia M. Wright

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juliamwright.bsky.social
Also, your electricity bill is through the roof and your basement has flooded again because of accelerating climate change. But it’s all worth it for those customer service chatbots that nag you to talk to them but can’t solve any problems. 🤪
bencollins.bsky.social Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 22h
AI is revolutionizing the world! A Playstation now costs $5,000 and this is the last phone you will ever own.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d
“.. ‘many system vendors will go bankrupt or exit product lines due to a lack of memory. Mobile phone production will be reduced by 200-250 million units, and PC and TV production will be significantly reduced.’ Yikes.”

@pcgamer.com #DRAM
www.pcgamer.com/hardware/mem...
February 17, 2026 at 11:57 PM

Reposted by Steve Peers

2%
oldtrotter.bsky.social
It's very hard to read this and imagine that the government's approach to data centres and AI won't prompt a similar response here and that any attempt to regulate the industry will incur the wrath of Trump. AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands - www.ft.com/content/0c9e... via @FT
Donald Trump’s AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands
Republicans fear backlash against White House agenda could undermine support in this year’s midterm elections
www.ft.com
February 18, 2026 at 9:20 AM

Reposted by Michael E. Mann

0%
rowhoop.bsky.social
Wow - "By the end of 2024, China had registered 451,700 smart robotics companies, with a total capital of 6.44tn yuan (approximately $932.16bn)"
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
February 18, 2026 at 9:29 AM

by Michiel Baas

0%

Reposted by Steve Peers

2%
ep-eprs.bsky.social
The Digital Omnibus on AI aims to simplify EU rules and ease the #AIAct's regulatory burden

🔎 What are the key proposals?

Find out 👉 link.europa.eu/HKNrH9

@imco.europarl.europa.eu @libe.europarl.europa.eu @mcnamaramep.bsky.social @svenjahahn.bsky.social @marketkag.bsky.social
EPRS briefing summary on 'Digital Omnibus on AI' (February 2026)
February 18, 2026 at 11:40 AM
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