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Paris Marx

Silicon Valley wants to shape our future, but why should we let it? Every Thursday, Paris Marx is joined by a new guest to critically examine the tech industry, its big promises, and the people behind them. Tech Won’t Save Us challenges the notion that tech alone can drive our world forward by showing that separating tech from politics has consequences for us all, especially the most vulnerable. It’s not your usual tech podcast.

Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Kate Mackenzie and Tim Sahay to discuss the geopolitics behind China’s investments in green tech and electrification, and how it presents the prospect of a new development model based on renewables instead of fossil fuels.

Kate Mackenzie is an adjunct fellow at Macquarie University. Tim Sahay is co-director of the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University. They are the co-writers of the Polycrisis newsletter from Phenomenal World.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

 
Tim and Kate wrote about the potential role of the BRICS in future geopolitics.

 
The Financial Times explored the implications of China as an electrostate.

 
China leads the growing electric vehicle market, ⁠by a lot⁠.

 
Pakistan imported 17 gigawatts of solar panels in 2024 alone, as Africa is in the midst of its own surge in Chinese solar panel imports.

 
Trump’s policies are pushing China and India to ⁠strengthen ties⁠.

How China’s Renewable Push Upends Geopolitics w/ Kate Mackenzie & Tim Sahay

Paris Marx is joined by Cecilia Rikap to discuss how countries’ dependence on US tech companies is harming them and why they need to get serious about digital sovereignty.Cecilia Rikap is Associate Professor in Economics at University College London and Head of Research at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Cecilia (and Paris!) worked on a report offering a roadmap to reclaiming digital sovereignty.

The UK Labour Party forced the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority to step down earlier this year to promote its pro-growth agenda.

A Microsoft executive told a French Senate committee that it could not guarantee data sovereignty if the US government requested information stored on its servers in Europe.

Alexandre de Moraes is the Brazilian judge pushing back against big tech.

The US is sanctioning judges from the ICC (as well as Alexandre de Moraes)

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Why Countries Must Fight For Digital Sovereignty w/ Cecilia Rikap

Paris Marx is joined by Paolo Benanti to discuss what Pope Leo XIV’s statements on AI, the publications under Pope Francis, and the ethics of AI from a theological perspective.Paolo Benanti is an author, academic, and priest. He teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University and was an advisor to Pope Francis on artificial intelligence and technology ethics.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Paris wrote about what Pope Leo XIV and the Church have been saying about AI.

In June, Pope Leo sent a message to the Second Annual Rome Conference on Artificial Intelligence.

Under Pope Francis, the Church published a note on AI called Antiqua et nova. Here is a short breakdown of its content.

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Will the Pope Be An Ally Against AI? w/ Paolo Benanti

Paris Marx is joined by Matt Pearce to discuss how Google’s use of generative AI is sending far less traffic to all manner of websites, but especially news publications, and what that might mean for the future of journalism.Matt Pearce is Director of Policy at Rebuild Local News and a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Matt makes the case that unchecked AI may cause newsprint to outlive the hyperlink

AI scrapers are driving traffic away from traditional sites while increasing their operational costs.

Learn more about coping with news fatigue.

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What Google Zero Means for Journalism w/ Matt Pearce

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire’s Islamophobic attack on Zohran Mamdani, what it tells us about the state of tech’s politics, and how Donald Trump is enriching himself through crypto scams.Jacob Silverman is a journalist and the author of the forthcoming book Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Jacob has reported on the Aqua 1 Foundation’s mysterious crypto deal that puts $75 million dollars in Donald Trumps pocket.

Trump signed the GENIUS Act last week, which aims to make crypto more mainstream and is widely viewed as openly corrupt. Trump has already made millions of dollars from crypto.

Crypto is coming for the US 401k.

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Trump’s Crypto Profiteering Is Worse Than You Think w/ Jacob Silverman

Paris Marx is joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss the global push by governments to rapidly adopt AI at all costs and how citizens can critically rethink our dependence on these technologies while imagining a collective future that benefits everyone.Dan McQuillan is a lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London and the author of Resisting AI.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Dan recently gave a talk about decomputing as resistance and published the text on his website.

The UK Labour Government is going all in on data centre development, while planning for future water shortages.

Academic institutions are rapidly adopting AI technologies, with a little help from industry leaders.

The GKN Factory Collective offers an inspiring example of collective action.

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Decomputing For a Better Future w/ Dan McQuillan

Paris Marx is joined by Nathan Grayson to discuss the latest round of Microsoft layoffs and how the company’s ambition to remake the video game industry around its streaming service has had significant consequences.Nathan Grayson is a co-founder of Aftermath and author of Stream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screen.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

An Xbox producer told laid off staff to use AI to help cope with unemployment.

Microsoft is moving towards pressuring staff to use AI through employee evaluations.

Nathan mentions that it’s unclear whether Game Pass is even profitable given how they balance the books.

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Microsoft is Gutting the Video Game Industry w/ Nathan Grayson

Paris Marx is joined by Laleh Khalili to discuss how the United States uses its control of key technologies to shift global power dynamics, and how that specifically plays out in the Middle East.Laleh Khalili is Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and author of the forthcoming book Extractive Capitalism.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Laleh mentions Iran’s accusations towards Meta regarding WhatsApp. 

Tech executives are joining the US army.

Laleh mentioned The Global Interior by Megan Black.

Several years ago, Israel used an AI-assisted gun to kill an Iranian nuclear scientist.

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How the US Weaponizes Tech in the Middle East w/ Laleh Khalili

Paris Marx is joined by Yangyang Cheng to discuss how Huawei became one of the most powerful companies in China and how current geopolitical narratives distract from the issues at the heart of surveillance capitalism in the US and China.Yangyang Cheng is a Research Scholar in Law and Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Yangyang wrote about how Huawei is emblematic of China’s capitalist model for ChinaFile.

We also discuss Eva Dou’s The House of Huawei.

Donald Trump discussed how the USA uses the same tactics the government accuses China of employing in bad faith.

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The Geopolitical Fight Over Huawei w/ Yangyang Cheng

Paris Marx is joined by Nitasha Tiku to discuss how AI companies are preying on users to drive engagement and how that’s repeating many of the problems we’re belatedly trying to address with social media companies at an accelerated pace.Nitasha Tiku is a technology reporter at the Washington Post.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.Also mentioned in this episode:

Nitasha wrote about how chatbots are messing with people’s minds.

Paris wrote about Mark Zuckerberg’s comments about people needing AI friends.

AI companies are facing ongoing lawsuits over harmful content.

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Chatbots Are Repeating Social Media’s Harms w/ Nitasha Tiku

Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss why the crypto industry is spending millions on this election cycle and Coinbase’s potential breach of election finance law. Molly White writes the Citation Needed newsletter. She is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and Follow the Crypto.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode:

Molly wrote about the Coinbase campaign finance violation and Donald Trump’s Bitcoin conference speech in her newsletter.

Paris wrote about some of the concerns about Kamala Harris’ stance on tech.

Fairshake spent $10 million on attacks ads against Katie Porter in California. It spent millions more targeting Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush.

The crypto industry hates SEC head Gary Gensler, who is leading the regulatory effort against cryptocurrency.

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Crypto Is Spending Millions to Sway the US Election w/ Molly White

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