Blake Montgomery
@montgomery.bsky.social
Tech editor at the Guardian US, science fiction writer, and a tale told by an idiot. Email me: [email protected]
Pinned
Blake Montgomery
@montgomery.bsky.social
· Feb 19
TechScape newsletter | The Guardian
<p>A deeper look at how technology is shaping our lives. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/info/2022/sep/20/sign-up-for-the-techscape-newsletter-our-free-technology-email">Sign up to this weekly ne...
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Read my weekly newsletter about tech and [insert here] www.theguardian.com/technology/s...
Why this AI doomsday warning from former Anthropic researcher broke through www.theguardian.com/global/2026/...
Why this AI doomsday warning from former Anthropic researcher broke through
Last week, researcher Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic, stating that AI ‘could kill us all by the end of the decade’
www.theguardian.com
September 15, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Why this AI doomsday warning from former Anthropic researcher broke through www.theguardian.com/global/2026/...
What bad economy? Not for Mr Bloomberg and Mr Murdoch
September 11, 2026 at 7:15 PM
What bad economy? Not for Mr Bloomberg and Mr Murdoch
AI researchers predict human extinction; look, a new phone!
September 9, 2026 at 6:54 PM
AI researchers predict human extinction; look, a new phone!
Apple Watch measuring my "Health Age"??
September 9, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Apple Watch measuring my "Health Age"??
Exclusive: Documents show officers from Maine to California worry Meta’s camera-equipped glasses will be used either to secretly record them or aid acts of terrorism
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
US police fear Meta smart glasses could be used to secretly record them
Exclusive: Documents show officers from Maine to California worry Meta’s camera-equipped glasses will be used either to secretly record them or aid acts of terrorism
www.theguardian.com
September 8, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Exclusive: Documents show officers from Maine to California worry Meta’s camera-equipped glasses will be used either to secretly record them or aid acts of terrorism
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Blake Montgomery
My first piece for The Guardian is up! This one's about the backlash against Flock cameras
Cut the cameras: Flock surveillance cameras spur rare bipartisan backlash
Politicians on the right and left are pushing back against Flock as more Americans voice opposition to the tech
www.theguardian.com
September 5, 2026 at 7:19 PM
My first piece for The Guardian is up! This one's about the backlash against Flock cameras
Reposted by Blake Montgomery
I do think a big part of the AI fights on this site is that they largely are between folks who are using it and folks who tried it once in the past, it sucked, they abandoned it, and so it just reads as a lot of people talking past each other.
genuinely, if you're not re-evaluating your position on AI at least once every 1-2 months and re-evaluating how it performs for the types of tasks important to you, then you are not actually challenging your priors.
i know this is crazy! but thats how fast things are moving right now.
i know this is crazy! but thats how fast things are moving right now.
one thing i will say is that things are changing fast enough that if your priors are more than a month old, you need to challenge them again! astra for example is a very significant step forward for a lot of people's tasks.
September 7, 2026 at 10:10 PM
I do think a big part of the AI fights on this site is that they largely are between folks who are using it and folks who tried it once in the past, it sucked, they abandoned it, and so it just reads as a lot of people talking past each other.
Freelancers are making more money fixing AI slop than creating original work www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Freelancers are getting buried with ‘soulless’ AI slop cleanup: ‘It’s a shame we need to do it’
As more companies turn to AI, they’re hiring freelancers to cleanup its mistakes rather than create original work
www.theguardian.com
September 2, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Freelancers are making more money fixing AI slop than creating original work www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The Guardian's tech team is starting a regular advice column as part of our yearlong series on AI and work. What do you want to know about AI and your job? Ask us! Email [email protected] with your questions, and we’ll answer them in future editions of the newsletter
Conservatives split from Silicon Valley allies as datacenter backlash grows
Tech companies have underestimated the opposition to energy-hungry datacenters – and experts predict the pushback will intensify
www.theguardian.com
September 1, 2026 at 4:55 PM
The Guardian's tech team is starting a regular advice column as part of our yearlong series on AI and work. What do you want to know about AI and your job? Ask us! Email [email protected] with your questions, and we’ll answer them in future editions of the newsletter
Tim Cook leaves behind complicated legacy on privacy www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Apple’s Tim Cook leaves behind complicated legacy on privacy
Outgoing CEO took stood up for users in battle with FBI but concessions abroad undermine claims of protecting ‘fundamental right’
www.theguardian.com
September 1, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Tim Cook leaves behind complicated legacy on privacy www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The datacenter backlash is bringing the entire political spectrum together – against big tech billionaires www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
The datacenter backlash is bringing the entire political spectrum together – against big tech billionaires
The movement against datacenters is uniting Americans because they perfectly illustrate how a few individuals hold all the power to control decisions that affect our lives
www.theguardian.com
August 31, 2026 at 4:55 AM
The datacenter backlash is bringing the entire political spectrum together – against big tech billionaires www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Changes Meta agreed to today may be powerful enough to alter teens’ behavior and curb social media’s worst ills, they may not, but attorney generals did what Congress never has: compel a social media company to change its operations to protect children.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
How the Meta settlement may change social media forever
Instagram and Facebook’s parent company agreed to sweeping alterations and a payment of upto $18bn to settle a landmark trial
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Changes Meta agreed to today may be powerful enough to alter teens’ behavior and curb social media’s worst ills, they may not, but attorney generals did what Congress never has: compel a social media company to change its operations to protect children.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Why did Meta's big American accountability moment happen in court? www.theguardian.com/global/2026/...
Meta goes on trial as Silicon Valley faces a growing backlash
Also: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed his surprising sympathy over the construction of datacenters across the country
www.theguardian.com
August 25, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Why did Meta's big American accountability moment happen in court? www.theguardian.com/global/2026/...
If you want to understand Josh Shapiro's about-face to implement restrictions on data centers in Pennsylvania, read this prescient feature story from June www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
How the fight over US datacenters is scrambling this state’s politics: ‘We don’t want it’
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s governor, squares off with state lawmakers over the facilities powering an AI boom
www.theguardian.com
August 24, 2026 at 5:25 PM
If you want to understand Josh Shapiro's about-face to implement restrictions on data centers in Pennsylvania, read this prescient feature story from June www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Despite policy victories over Flock, Americans are finding themselves under similar monitoring by a new company – or unable to remove the original cameras
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Their cities dropped Flock surveillance cameras. They’re still being watched
Despite policy victories over Flock, Americans are finding themselves under similar monitoring by a new company – or unable to remove the original cameras
www.theguardian.com
August 20, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Despite policy victories over Flock, Americans are finding themselves under similar monitoring by a new company – or unable to remove the original cameras
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
The first anti-AI protester to be jailed has a message for OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta: ‘Regain your humanity’
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
The first anti-AI protester to be jailed has a message for OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta: ‘Regain your humanity’
Wynd Kaufmyn, 69, chained and locked the front doors of OpenAI’s headquarters last year with members of StopAI
www.theguardian.com
August 16, 2026 at 3:56 PM
The first anti-AI protester to be jailed has a message for OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta: ‘Regain your humanity’
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Google Earth’s potential disinformation nightmare www.theguardian.com/global/2026/...
Google Earth’s potential disinformation nightmare
A new feature briefly allowed Google Earth users to overlay AI-generated images on locations of their choosing
www.theguardian.com
August 13, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Google Earth’s potential disinformation nightmare www.theguardian.com/global/2026/...
Meta's reckoning over child safety is getting expensive www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Meta faces expensive child safety reckoning
Also: Google executives jump ship in race for AI dominance
www.theguardian.com
August 13, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Meta's reckoning over child safety is getting expensive www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Blake Montgomery
‘Ratepayer Protection Pledge’ president has touted is non-binding as people continue to struggle with rising bills
Trump says nearly 200 firms have signed pledge to protect Americans from costs arising from datacenters
www.theguardian.com
July 23, 2026 at 10:53 PM
‘Ratepayer Protection Pledge’ president has touted is non-binding as people continue to struggle with rising bills
China’s recent releases have thrown the politics of AI in the US into chaos, which in the present moment reads as the bigger win than any future undercutting of US frontier labs' business models www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Headaches for Silicon Valley as China chips away at the US’s lead in the AI race
Google’s AI struggles scream trouble as new Chinese models (again) throw US tech dominance into question
www.theguardian.com
July 21, 2026 at 4:18 PM
China’s recent releases have thrown the politics of AI in the US into chaos, which in the present moment reads as the bigger win than any future undercutting of US frontier labs' business models www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Newsletter: The UK wants to catch up in the global AI race – but is too wary to go all-in; OpenAI’s difficulties are mounting and threatening its stock market debut; tech journalism is less online in the age of AI
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The UK wants to catch up in the global AI race – but is too wary to go all-in
UK fears a ‘triple whammy’: oversized investment in AI stocks, slower adoption of AI than predicted and the breakneck pace of AI’s development
www.theguardian.com
July 14, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Newsletter: The UK wants to catch up in the global AI race – but is too wary to go all-in; OpenAI’s difficulties are mounting and threatening its stock market debut; tech journalism is less online in the age of AI
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The New York Post has called Hunter Biden many things, but “attention-seeking” is a new one to me… Ms Post, wasn’t it you that gave him so much attention when he didn’t want it???
July 14, 2026 at 2:43 AM
The New York Post has called Hunter Biden many things, but “attention-seeking” is a new one to me… Ms Post, wasn’t it you that gave him so much attention when he didn’t want it???
The net-zero pledges of big tech are slipping out of reach because of the AI boom www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Big tech’s lofty climate goals wrecked by energy-hungry AI
Net-zero pledges of Google and Amazon slip out of reach, and struggling Meta makes frantic moves
www.theguardian.com
July 7, 2026 at 6:22 PM
The net-zero pledges of big tech are slipping out of reach because of the AI boom www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The markets are souring on artificial intelligence, but is this the bubble bursting? Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom's embrace of a federal wealth tax aligns with a notable leftward shift in the political landscape. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Rocky week for AI as shares slump but no sign of crash – yet
The markets are souring on artificial intelligence, but is this the bubble being burst? Meanwhile, California proposes a tax on billionaires
www.theguardian.com
June 30, 2026 at 1:32 PM
The markets are souring on artificial intelligence, but is this the bubble bursting? Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom's embrace of a federal wealth tax aligns with a notable leftward shift in the political landscape. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...