Matthew Bunn

@matthew-bunn.bsky.social

950 followers 200 following 830 posts

Father, husband, citizen, professor, focusing mainly on nuclear weapons and nuclear energy issues. Faculty lead for Harvard's Managing the Atom project: www.belfercenter.org/programs/managing-atom
My website: matthewbunn.scholars.harvard.edu .. more

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Matthew Bunn is an American nuclear and energy policy analyst, currently a professor of practice at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. He is the Co-principal Investigator for the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom. .. more

Political science 44%

Engineering 24%

Posts Replies Media Videos

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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

There's a lot to like in this NYT editorial on the need for a new agency to regulate AI, using the analogy of the Atomic Energy Commission. But let's not repeat the mistakes of that time -- combining promotion and regulation, appointing only boosters and keeping skeptics out with strict secrecy...

Opinion | Humanity Has Avoided Apocalypse Before. Let’s Do It Again. (Gift Article)

It is up to all of us, through our government, to shape what A.I. becomes.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Congressman Bill Foster @repbillfoster.bsky.social · 18h

Trump's ban on certain outlets covering the White House is an attack on the First Amendment and the free press.

It is the right and responsibility of the press to cover the president and hold the nation’s highest office accountable—no matter who is in office.

apnews.com/article/trum...

https://apnews.com/article/trump-ban-ms-now-media-cnn-politico-72f9acf68244ca70e9078d9d3661c722

apnews.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Task & Purpose @taskandpurpose.com · 19h

Fishing charter catches Air Force attack drone off Florida coast trib.al/fktKB5a

Fishing charter catches Air Force attack drone off Florida coast

Florida fishermen recovered an Air Force attack drone two days after it went down during testing near Eglin Air Force Base.

trib.al

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 21h

Here are the slides for my talk on steps to reduce the risk of nuclear war. We need action to reduce the risks in the near term, while we seek to build a world that would make it possible to eliminate the risk. If even a small annual probability continues forever, eventually disaster will strike.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 22h

Today in 1955, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test at the arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, a 3.5-kiloton shallow underwater explosion to assess the effects of a nuclear torpedo on 30 ships and submarines, similar to the US Crossroads BAKER test at Bikini Atoll on July 25, 1946.

A black and white screenshot from an official Soviet film of the nuclear torpedo used in this test being lowered into position from a ship.

A black and white aerial photograph of the Joe-17 mushroom cloud, brightly lit from the above left by sunlight, and featuring dramatic vertical streaks of light (a bit like fireworks, possibly an artifact caused by light distortion in the lens) emanating from the top. The shockwave on the surface of the Barents Sea racing away from the point of detonation is the light-colored area behind and under the cloud.

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

Crucial argument for a halt, at least for now, in the rush to recursive self-improvement — AI developing the next generation of AI — from NYT’s Ezra Klein. We cannot leave it to the AI companies to judge what’s safe or what’s good for society.

We Can't Lose Control of A.I.

Podcast Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · September 20 · 31m

podcasts.apple.com

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

Hmm, this was supposed to have a link. www.google.com/books/editio...

Nuclear Politics in America

The promise and peril of nuclear power have been a preoccupation of the modern age. Though the nuclear industry has witnessed periods of expansion and retrenchment, there are now more than one hundred...

www.google.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Matthew Bunn, Greg Linden

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 1d

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

AI’s Wobbly House of Cards Puts Markets and US Economy at Risk

The heads of America’s leading AI development labs have started a national conversation about tapping the brakes on a technology that’s offering so much promise for society, while at the same time sho...

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Caroline Krafft, Stacy D. VanDeveer , and 3 more Matthew Bunn, Caroline Krafft, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Graham Webster, Manisha Sinha, Suzanne Conklin Akbari

Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 1d

Good morning, it’s the 21st day of September

Earth, Wind & Fire - September (Official HD Video)

YouTube video by EarthWindandFireVEVO

youtu.be

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

Of course, we all know that a team of Trump cronies will know better what medical research should be funded than, say, doctors and scientists.

Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 1d

"White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants"

[everybody up in arms, as they should be, but for those who have been paying close attention, this has pretty much already happened - the realization just hasn't sunk in yet]

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/s...

White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants (Gift Article)

Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Margot C. Finn

Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 1d

White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants (Gift Article)

Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Tom “T.M.” Wolf @tomtmwolf.bsky.social · 1d

"Make no mistake: The proposed rule conflicts with the plain language of the Constitution, applicable federal statutes, and more than 235 years of practice... But [it] would do more than just violate the law: It would inflict immeasurable harm on the American public." [email protected]

Excluding Immigrants from the Census Would Hurt the Country and Break the Law

The Constitution, federal law, and centuries of history make clear that the census is meant to count everyone, regardless of citizenship.

www.brennancenter.org

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

Dealing with complex technologies that pose risks to everyone, but most citizens do not understand, poses a key challenge for democractic governance, as my colleague Sheila Jasanoff has been exploring for decades. See here for a few of my own thoughts: matthewbunn.scholars.harvard.edu/file_url/289

matthewbunn.scholars.harvard.edu

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

Secrecy used to keep critics out -- as in the hearings that yanked J. Robert Oppenheimer's clearance -- was a key part of the problem. @wellerstein.bsky.social wrote a fantastic history of nuclear secrecy: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Restricted Data

The first full history of US nuclear secrecy, from its origins in the late 1930s to our post–Cold War present. The American atomic bomb was born in secrecy. From the moment scientists first conceived ...

press.uchicago.edu

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

The problems with the Atomic Energy Commission and the congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy were so severe they were finally abolished in 1974. For one account of this history, see Duffy's Nuclear Politics in America: A History and Theory of Government Regulation.

Book by Robert J. Duffy, Nuclear Politics in America: A History and Theory of Government Regulation.

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 1d

In complex technologies, companies will have a lot of expertise and strong financial interests in influencing outcomes, creating a constant risk of regulatory capture. Strong regulatory expertise and well-funded non-government watchdogs able to hire their own experts are key.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 1d

The China-US summit this week will be unusual, because this time it is arguably the Chinese leader who will have the leverage -- because of a series of steps that President Trump has taken that weaken America. My weekend column: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/o...

Opinion | Trump and Xi Can Make Progress on A.I. (Gift Article)

Xi is in the driver’s seat, reflecting American weakness, but there still may be some space for limited advances.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Bessma Momani

The Intellectualist @theintellectualist.bsky.social · 2d

Umar Kremlev, who helped pay for Trump Jr.’s wedding, is tied to a group accused of abducting Ukrainian children and was honored by Vladimir Putin a month before the wedding.
theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/russian-wh...

Russian Who Helped Pay for Trump Jr.’s Wedding Tied to Group Accused of Abducting Ukrainian Children

Umar Kremlev, who helped pay for Trump Jr.’s wedding, is tied to a group accused of abducting Ukrainian children and was honored by Vladimir Putin a month before the wedding.

theintellectualistofficial.substack.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, James Cameron

Kingston Reif @kingstonareif.bsky.social · 2d

👀 “The first phase of the Golden Dome air and missile defense program focuses on deterring a strike aimed at killing U.S. leadership and a limited attack by a rogue nation against the homeland, Gen. Michael Guetlein said in remarks…on Sept. 17.”

Key Focus For First Golden Dome Rollout: Protect Leadership | Aviation Week

The Golden Dome air and missile defense program's first phase focuses on deterring a strike aimed at killing U.S. leadership and a limited attack by a rogue nation against the homeland.

aviationweek.com

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Matthew Bunn

Tim “Positive Subway” Smith @positivesubway.bsky.social · 2d

“When it comes to the choices my husband and I have made about public education, these days I feel that I failed both my values and my child.”

A deeply personal piece from Nikole Hannah-Jones, 10 years after her landmark story about choosing her child’s elementary school, is your Sunday must-read

In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (Gift Article)

A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.

www.nytimes.com

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 2d

A heartbreaking account of our still deeply segregated and unequal educational system. Think of all the resultant suffering and lost human potential. We need to find a way to overcome the obstacles to dramatic change.

In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (Gift Article)

A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.

www.nytimes.com

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 2d

Just a reminder, this is tonight at 8 pm at the Foundry in Cambridge!

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 6d

If you're in the Boston area, I'll be giving a talk on the dangers of nuclear war and how to mitigate them for Long Now Boston at 8 PM on Saturday, September 19. It will be at The Foundry in Kendall Square, 101 Rogers Street, Cambridge #nukesky #longnow #foundry