Karl Bode
@karlbode.com
Seattle-based writer focused on tech, media, politics, and consumer rights.
Subscribe to my newsletter The Fine Print*: karlbode.com
Subscribe to my newsletter The Fine Print*: karlbode.com
for example consider all the lettuce diarrhea
VARNEY: You've got a problem. $4 gas, $6 diesel, 7% mortgages. It's hard to argue that you're better than Democrats when it comes to the economy.
TOM EMMER: Well, we do have a lot to sell. We have accomplished a ton.
TOM EMMER: Well, we do have a lot to sell. We have accomplished a ton.
September 18, 2026 at 3:42 PM
for example consider all the lettuce diarrhea
Brendan Carr is the guy who spent 5 years hyperventilating on cable news about the FAINTEST POSSIBILITY that China had undue influence over TikTok
China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar having a near 50% investment stake in a major U.S. media conglomerate: no problem
China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar having a near 50% investment stake in a major U.S. media conglomerate: no problem
FCC Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Foreign Investment
The agency approved a request for foreign investors to indirectly hold a non-voting stake in excess of 25% in the aggregate
www.thewrap.com
September 18, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Brendan Carr is the guy who spent 5 years hyperventilating on cable news about the FAINTEST POSSIBILITY that China had undue influence over TikTok
China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar having a near 50% investment stake in a major U.S. media conglomerate: no problem
China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar having a near 50% investment stake in a major U.S. media conglomerate: no problem
look we are too corrupt and ignorant to regulate so it's up to a collection of foppish, pasty sociopaths in overpriced sneakers to hold themselves accountable for killing everyone with monopolized cloud computing
Rick Scott: "With regard to destroying mankind, these companies need to do the right thing on their own. We're not going to get smart enough to regulate them. We're not going to get something done up here."
September 18, 2026 at 1:46 PM
look we are too corrupt and ignorant to regulate so it's up to a collection of foppish, pasty sociopaths in overpriced sneakers to hold themselves accountable for killing everyone with monopolized cloud computing
Reposted by Karl Bode
Someday everyone will have been against this.
Not applauding Rogan at all, but just laughing at the rats jumping off the sinking ship. 🪤🐀
www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-ro...
Not applauding Rogan at all, but just laughing at the rats jumping off the sinking ship. 🪤🐀
www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-ro...
Joe Rogan Calls Trump Fans 'F**king Nuts' And Says He's Been 'Left-Wing My Whole Life'
The podcaster disputed people’s perception of him in an eye-opening podcast.
www.huffpost.com
September 18, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Someday everyone will have been against this.
Not applauding Rogan at all, but just laughing at the rats jumping off the sinking ship. 🪤🐀
www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-ro...
Not applauding Rogan at all, but just laughing at the rats jumping off the sinking ship. 🪤🐀
www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-ro...
honestly some of the most apocalyptic impacts of "AI" will be shit like this, and most of the doomsday dipshits predicting SkyNet can't be bothered to notice or care
September 18, 2026 at 1:30 PM
honestly some of the most apocalyptic impacts of "AI" will be shit like this, and most of the doomsday dipshits predicting SkyNet can't be bothered to notice or care
Reposted by Karl Bode
There have always been humans who thought:
1) The world will end soon
2) It will happen in a cool, exciting way
3) It’ll happen to me personally
4) I’ll be a martyred prophet, or a warlord, or otherwise special
5) People who don’t see this are lesser
“Sexy apocalypse” is a great phrase for that
1) The world will end soon
2) It will happen in a cool, exciting way
3) It’ll happen to me personally
4) I’ll be a martyred prophet, or a warlord, or otherwise special
5) People who don’t see this are lesser
“Sexy apocalypse” is a great phrase for that
Certain kinds of smart people tend to have a "sexy apocalypse" problem when it comes to thinking about risk. E.g. skynet turning everyone in paperclips, while bad, is also *kind of cool and fun* at the same time. Where the reality is that most actual disasters are both stupid and disappointing.
September 18, 2026 at 1:17 PM
There have always been humans who thought:
1) The world will end soon
2) It will happen in a cool, exciting way
3) It’ll happen to me personally
4) I’ll be a martyred prophet, or a warlord, or otherwise special
5) People who don’t see this are lesser
“Sexy apocalypse” is a great phrase for that
1) The world will end soon
2) It will happen in a cool, exciting way
3) It’ll happen to me personally
4) I’ll be a martyred prophet, or a warlord, or otherwise special
5) People who don’t see this are lesser
“Sexy apocalypse” is a great phrase for that
the hatred the AI code bros have for Cory Doctorow is extremely entertaining
I think a very large amount of it is because he makes them think about political reality for more than 30 seconds
I think a very large amount of it is because he makes them think about political reality for more than 30 seconds
September 18, 2026 at 1:14 PM
the hatred the AI code bros have for Cory Doctorow is extremely entertaining
I think a very large amount of it is because he makes them think about political reality for more than 30 seconds
I think a very large amount of it is because he makes them think about political reality for more than 30 seconds
Reposted by Karl Bode
⚠️ Three white hats hacked OpenAI.
They used Anthropic’s Claude, and it took them less than 72 hours.
They successfully accessed the OpenAI’s internal monorepo (code repository).
OpenAI only awarded them $6,500 for revealing the vulnerability.
They used Anthropic’s Claude, and it took them less than 72 hours.
They successfully accessed the OpenAI’s internal monorepo (code repository).
OpenAI only awarded them $6,500 for revealing the vulnerability.
Hacking OpenAI
A heap overflow and SSO misconfiguration to compromise OpenAI internal repositories
www.hacktron.ai
September 18, 2026 at 5:09 AM
⚠️ Three white hats hacked OpenAI.
They used Anthropic’s Claude, and it took them less than 72 hours.
They successfully accessed the OpenAI’s internal monorepo (code repository).
OpenAI only awarded them $6,500 for revealing the vulnerability.
They used Anthropic’s Claude, and it took them less than 72 hours.
They successfully accessed the OpenAI’s internal monorepo (code repository).
OpenAI only awarded them $6,500 for revealing the vulnerability.
Reposted by Karl Bode
This guy who assaulted a sitting member of Congress got 28 years and 10 months less jail time than a Texas resident who transported a box of zines that contained constitutionally protected content opposing ICE
reason.com/2026/06/25/t...
reason.com/2026/06/25/t...
September 18, 2026 at 1:02 AM
This guy who assaulted a sitting member of Congress got 28 years and 10 months less jail time than a Texas resident who transported a box of zines that contained constitutionally protected content opposing ICE
reason.com/2026/06/25/t...
reason.com/2026/06/25/t...
Reposted by Karl Bode
The US already got a do over. A mulligan. A second chance.
Much of the world, especially US allies, were ready to write off Trump’s first term as a fluke.
The American people’s choice to put him back in power—as a convicted felon, after an openly bigoted, anti-democracy campaign—showed it was not.
Much of the world, especially US allies, were ready to write off Trump’s first term as a fluke.
The American people’s choice to put him back in power—as a convicted felon, after an openly bigoted, anti-democracy campaign—showed it was not.
This is the part many Americans -- including the Bezosites at the Washington Post -- don't understand. Canadians don't see this just as a Trump thing. It's that America elected him twice, and the second time with an even bigger mandate.
The problem we're addressing is America, not Trump.
The problem we're addressing is America, not Trump.
"Out of spite for President Donald Trump, Carney is accelerating the decoupling of a trade bloc that has generated enormous prosperity for North America." Seriously, Wapo editorial - you're going with Canadian spite? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
September 18, 2026 at 12:14 AM
The US already got a do over. A mulligan. A second chance.
Much of the world, especially US allies, were ready to write off Trump’s first term as a fluke.
The American people’s choice to put him back in power—as a convicted felon, after an openly bigoted, anti-democracy campaign—showed it was not.
Much of the world, especially US allies, were ready to write off Trump’s first term as a fluke.
The American people’s choice to put him back in power—as a convicted felon, after an openly bigoted, anti-democracy campaign—showed it was not.
Reposted by Karl Bode
Fox News is the only major cable news network not to cover its own contributor Karl Rove's warning about a rising tide of racism and antisemitism within the Republican Party. www.mediamatters.org/karl-rove/fo...
Fox News hides contributor Karl Rove’s warning about the GOP’s “growing number of Bo Frenches”
www.mediamatters.org
September 17, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Fox News is the only major cable news network not to cover its own contributor Karl Rove's warning about a rising tide of racism and antisemitism within the Republican Party. www.mediamatters.org/karl-rove/fo...
Reposted by Karl Bode
NEW: Brown Brothers Media is the most successful media company you've never heard of. For years, its success was fueled by AI, fake writers, and fake reporting.
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month
Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.
futurism.com
September 17, 2026 at 3:12 PM
NEW: Brown Brothers Media is the most successful media company you've never heard of. For years, its success was fueled by AI, fake writers, and fake reporting.
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Reposted by Karl Bode
Over at the newsletter I wrote about the media's total failure to responsibly cover batshit claims that software has gained human-level awareness and will soon kill us all
AI Doomsday Panic Is Completely Out Of Control
The press obsession with software-powered doomsday is a misdirection overshadowing a much deadlier reality: our public interest regulators no longer function.
karlbode.com
September 17, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Over at the newsletter I wrote about the media's total failure to responsibly cover batshit claims that software has gained human-level awareness and will soon kill us all
reuters journalists and editors don't think it's important to mention (like literally, at all) there's volatility risks here, or that the current administration is historically corrupt and has made billions of dollars via crypto scams
just somehow deemed not useful context for the audience
just somehow deemed not useful context for the audience
US securities regulator rolls out five-year exemption for tokenized stock trading
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday unveiled its long-awaited exemption that will allow companies to offer trading in blockchain-based or "tokenized" stocks and other securities,...
www.reuters.com
September 17, 2026 at 3:06 PM
reuters journalists and editors don't think it's important to mention (like literally, at all) there's volatility risks here, or that the current administration is historically corrupt and has made billions of dollars via crypto scams
just somehow deemed not useful context for the audience
just somehow deemed not useful context for the audience
the companies that track media outlets for "bias" usually demonstrate the same scientific rigor
lol at this chart and the disclaimer
September 17, 2026 at 2:51 PM
the companies that track media outlets for "bias" usually demonstrate the same scientific rigor
it is not "acting out" it is doing exactly what it's being programmed to do, and the failures come because it's being overseen by incompetent people with no ethics
'Be Transparent Only If Asked': OpenAI Models Acted Out in Six Newly Disclosed Ways
The stories were published as part of OpenAI's new effort to disclose more such incidents.
gizmodo.com
September 17, 2026 at 1:58 PM
it is not "acting out" it is doing exactly what it's being programmed to do, and the failures come because it's being overseen by incompetent people with no ethics
Over at the newsletter I wrote about the media's total failure to responsibly cover batshit claims that software has gained human-level awareness and will soon kill us all
AI Doomsday Panic Is Completely Out Of Control
The press obsession with software-powered doomsday is a misdirection overshadowing a much deadlier reality: our public interest regulators no longer function.
karlbode.com
September 17, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Over at the newsletter I wrote about the media's total failure to responsibly cover batshit claims that software has gained human-level awareness and will soon kill us all
it was funny that nobody in the tech press last week thought to ask this 27-year-old anthropic doomsday "whistleblower" if he voted for the corrupt authoritarian sociopath that cheerfully destroyed U.S. regulatory autonomy (including numerous essential cybersecurity programs)
As I warned you: the superstar media darling AI quitter is explicitly agreeing with Trump and claiming climate threats are "overplayed".
Effective altruism / rationalism is a cult of broken priorities that denies the threat of fossil fuels. This is why Anthropic loves burning gas for power.
Effective altruism / rationalism is a cult of broken priorities that denies the threat of fossil fuels. This is why Anthropic loves burning gas for power.
September 17, 2026 at 1:34 PM
it was funny that nobody in the tech press last week thought to ask this 27-year-old anthropic doomsday "whistleblower" if he voted for the corrupt authoritarian sociopath that cheerfully destroyed U.S. regulatory autonomy (including numerous essential cybersecurity programs)
I'm enjoying these cultural touchstones where "I'm not political" is clearly demonstrated as both political and feckless
important for this country to get past the "no politics at the dinner table" or my "favorite celebrity shouldn't 'get political'" bullshit if we're to behead some oligarchs
important for this country to get past the "no politics at the dinner table" or my "favorite celebrity shouldn't 'get political'" bullshit if we're to behead some oligarchs
Ed Sheeran wants to stay out of politics. By quitting his tour, his support acts have exposed the hollowness of neutrality
By standing behind support act Macklemore, who was removed from the tour for his vocal support of Palestine, these artists are demonstrating the self-sacrifice necessary to stand against those crushin...
www.theguardian.com
September 17, 2026 at 1:06 PM
I'm enjoying these cultural touchstones where "I'm not political" is clearly demonstrated as both political and feckless
important for this country to get past the "no politics at the dinner table" or my "favorite celebrity shouldn't 'get political'" bullshit if we're to behead some oligarchs
important for this country to get past the "no politics at the dinner table" or my "favorite celebrity shouldn't 'get political'" bullshit if we're to behead some oligarchs
have I mentioned lately that oligarch-owned media consolidation is bad
Universal Is Getting Cold Feet on Releasing the Elon Musk Documentary (Exclusive)
The Comcast-owned studio is not yet committing to rolling out Alex Gibney's movie that it paid millions to acquire for non-North American release before the political winds shifted.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
September 17, 2026 at 12:25 PM
have I mentioned lately that oligarch-owned media consolidation is bad
apparently we are calling incompetently failing to control your AUTOMATED HACKING SOFTWARE "model misalignment"now
OpenAI discloses six new safety incidents
The AI lab is now rolling out a new process to internally report safety issues.
www.axios.com
September 17, 2026 at 12:18 PM
apparently we are calling incompetently failing to control your AUTOMATED HACKING SOFTWARE "model misalignment"now
Reposted by Karl Bode
Don't. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspapers.
Don't. Speak. Lies. On. The. Podcasts.
Journalism, what is it, anyway?
Don't. Speak. Lies. On. The. Podcasts.
Journalism, what is it, anyway?
In the course of a good discussion of the upcoming midterms, Nate Cohn says, without any pushback, that Immigration was "a terrible issue for Democrats during the Biden years. Because Biden opened the border..."
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/p...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/p...
48 Days Until the Midterms: Is a Blue Wave Coming?
At a round-table discussion, Times political journalists talk about what we can expect in November.
www.nytimes.com
September 16, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Don't. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspapers.
Don't. Speak. Lies. On. The. Podcasts.
Journalism, what is it, anyway?
Don't. Speak. Lies. On. The. Podcasts.
Journalism, what is it, anyway?
The Trump administration is telling California it has to effectively abandon broadband consumer protection (including enforcing its net neutrality law) if it wants the $1.42 billion in infrastructure money congress earmarked for broadband deployment
California Is Being Asked to Give Up 14 Years of Broadband Protections. It Doesn't Have To.
Accepting $1.42 billion in federal broadband funding would require California to give up enforcing its net neutrality, affordability, and public-safety laws against its biggest providers. The state ca...
cyberlaw.stanford.edu
September 16, 2026 at 7:41 PM
The Trump administration is telling California it has to effectively abandon broadband consumer protection (including enforcing its net neutrality law) if it wants the $1.42 billion in infrastructure money congress earmarked for broadband deployment
Reposted by Karl Bode
On the other hand, they also don’t understand the technology.
I'm fascinated by U.S. tech and business journalism because it doesn't adhere to literally any rules of actual journalism.
There's no effort to actually explain objective truth; they can't even so much as hint at the fact there's funny math here and the company isn't worth anything close to this
There's no effort to actually explain objective truth; they can't even so much as hint at the fact there's funny math here and the company isn't worth anything close to this
OpenAI Considers New Financing at a $1.5 Trillion Valuation (Gift Article)
The funding round would double the value of the start-up behind ChatGPT and establish it as the world’s most valuable private company.
www.nytimes.com
September 16, 2026 at 6:26 PM
On the other hand, they also don’t understand the technology.