Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

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  The Secret Plan to Kill Super PACs (How We Finally End Citizens United) 24.07.2026 29min

  The Secret Court Case That Could Destroy Super PACs ForeverSUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co   Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz      You've been told that Citizens United created Super PACs… but that's not the full story. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig reveals the obscure lower court ruling (SpeechNow v. FEC) that actually unleashed unlimited billionaire money into American elections, and the groundbreaking legal strategy that could end Super PACs by 2028 WITHOUT overturning Citizens United.Backed by an unlikely coalition including Mark Cuban and Reid Hoffman, Lessig and his group Equal Citizens helped Maine voters pass a historic ballot initiative banning Super PAC contributions. Now the case is headed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals on July 29, with famed Supreme Court litigator Neal Katyal arguing that nothing in the Constitution protects billionaires' "right" to buy elections. If the appeal succeeds, this case could reach the Supreme Court by 2027 and revive existing federal limits on campaign contributions nationwide.We break down: ▶ Why SpeechNow v. FEC — not Citizens United — created the Super PAC system ▶ How the Menendez bribery indictment exposed the "no quid pro quo" myth ▶ The originalist argument designed to win over conservative justices ▶ Billionaire outside spending's explosion from 0.3% to 19% of election money ▶ The AI Super PAC trying to block Congress from regulating artificial intelligence ▶ Why an Article V constitutional convention may be the backup plan ▶ What happens if the First Circuit rules on July 29, and the road to SCOTUSIf you care about money in politics, campaign finance reform, and getting billionaire money out of elections, this is the most important legal fight you've never heard of.
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  OpenAI Could Lose Everything w/ Alex Kantrowitz 22.07.2026 34min

  🔒 Get 20% off DeleteMe by going to https://joindeleteme.com/TAYLOR20 and use code TAYLOR20 to protect your privacy! 🙌 🚨 Apple is officially suing OpenAI and the allegations are insane. 🚨SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co  Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz   In what might be the most shocking Silicon Valley lawsuit of the year, Apple has accused OpenAI of corporate sabotage, trade secret theft, and orchestrating a massive campaign to poach over 400 former Apple employees to build its secret AI hardware division. From ex-employees using security bugs to access secret Apple folders, to candidates allegedly bringing physical Apple prototypes to job interviews for "show and tell", this legal battle gives us a rare, cutthroat look at the AI hardware arms race.In this episode of Power User, I sat down with tech reporter and Big Technology founder Alex Kantrowitz to break down everything you need to know about the Apple vs. OpenAI lawsuit. Will this kill OpenAI's hardware ambitions and ruin its upcoming IPO? Will we ever actually get a ChatGPT phone? And why is Apple taking such aggressive legal action now? We break down why this isn't just another tech lawsuit, it's literally a fight over who will own the future of AI. We discuss:Why OpenAI hired Jony IveWhether an OpenAI phone is actually comingThe future of AI glasses, AI pins, and wearable devicesWhy Apple may be trying to stop OpenAI before it can competeThe race to control the next generation of computingWhether AI hardware is the future or another Silicon Valley flopWhy OpenAI tried to copy Apple's hardware roadmap instead of building from scratch.How this lawsuit could cripple OpenAI's valuation and delay its IPO.The future of AI hardware: AI pins, smart glasses, or will the iPhone remain king?
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  [PATREON PREVIEW] Bill Gates Daughter's $43M Tech Scandal 20.07.2026 5min

  To listen to this and other bonus episodes, buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co or support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz.Affiliate marketing is one of the biggest industries on the internet, and according to researcher Ben Edelman, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest AI startups may have been abusing it.In this bonus episode of Power User I sat down with Edelman to break down what’s happening with Phia, the shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates that has raised over $43 million from famed Silicon Valley investors like Kleiner Perkins Sheryl Sandberg, along with a slew of celebrities including Sydney Sweeney, Khloe Kardashian and Hailey Bieber. We break down allegations that Phia’s browser extension secretly inserted affiliate tracking codes, how this compares to the Honey controversy, why retailers could have lost millions, and what this means for the future of AI-powered shopping.
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  How the Government Uses AI to Spy on You 17.07.2026 27min

  The government is using powerful AI tools to build massive digital dossiers on everyday citizens, and it’s happening with zero oversight.SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sat with Matthew Guariglia, Senior Policy Analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), to expose how generative AI has democratized mass surveillance. From the FBI’s massive physical paper filing hangars of the 20th century to modern AI models that scrape your social media, track your geolocation, and predict your political affiliation in seconds—the barrier to entry for government surveillance has officially collapsed.We dive deep into Guariglia's recent congressional testimony on the AI security landscape, revealing how the Pentagon is blacklisting tech companies like Anthropic for trying to restrict AI from being used in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. In this video, we cover:How AI is automating mass surveillance at an unprecedented scale.The secret government contracts and the battle for unrestricted AI use.Why your social media history, geolocation, and purchases create a permanent record.The historical lessons from Ferguson and the Japanese-American internment that prove data is vulnerability.What you can do to protect your digital rights (hint: it starts with turning off your geolocation).
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  A Physicist Destroys Elon Musk's Mars Fantasy 15.07.2026 35min

  We are never going to Mars. And the billionaires selling you the dream are lying to your face. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co            Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    The idea of living on Mars has become one of Silicon Valley's biggest promises. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other tech billionaires claim humanity's future depends on becoming a multi-planetary species. But what if nearly everything you've been told about colonizing Mars is quite literally scientifically impossible?In this week's episode of Power User, I sat down with physicist and science journalist Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever, a fantastic book that I absolutely loved, to break down the biggest myths about Mars colonization, SpaceX, AI, and Silicon Valley's vision of the future.  We discuss why Mars is far more hostile than most people realize, the scientific barriers that make permanent settlement nearly impossible, and why billionaires continue selling this vision despite knowing it will never become reality. We cover:Why humans will literally NEVER live on MarsThe biggest scientific problems SpaceX can't solveThe truth about Elon Musk's Mars colony plansWhy Silicon Valley keeps selling science fiction as realityHow AI and space colonization became part of the same billionaire narrativeWhy investing in Earth may matter far more than escaping it
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  Kids Aren't Addicted to Phones — Here's the Data (The Top Academic Studying Social Media & Children Breaks Things Down) 10.07.2026 43min

  Is social media actually destroying a generation, or are we in the middle of a massive political moral panic?For this week's Free Speech Friday I sat down with one of the world's leading researchers studying young people, technology, and mental health to answer one question: Did social media really create a generation-wide mental health crisis?SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co           Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz  For years we've been told that smartphones and social media are fueling anxiety, depression, loneliness, and suicide among teenagers. Politicians, bestselling authors, and news outlets have treated that idea as settled science.But what does the actual research say?Developmental psychologist Candice Odgers has spent decades studying how young people use technology. In this interview, we break down what the evidence actually shows, why many experts disagree with the popular narrative, and how the social media panic is influencing online safety laws, censorship, surveillance, age verification, and internet policy around the world. We discuss:The real relationship between social media and teen mental healthWhy correlation is often mistaken for causationWhat studies actually find about screen timeThe debate around The Anxious GenerationWhy many scientists reject claims that phones are driving a mental health epidemicOnline safety laws and age verificationPrivacy, surveillance, and internet censorshipWhat parents should actually focus onThe future of social media regulation
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  Why Smart Glasses Feel Different This Time w/ Amy Odell 08.07.2026 43min

  Are we living through the dawn of a permanent Surveillance Summer?SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co           Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz     Kylie Jenner is the new face of Meta's AI smart glasses and suddenly, mass surveillance is a fashion trend. Influencers are declaring a "hot surveillance summer," West Village fashion girlies are posting AI glasses selfies, and for thousands of people (not me! lol), cameras on your face have officially gone from creepy to chic. How did we get here?  In this episode, I sit down with iconic fashion journalist Amy Odell, author of the Back Row newsletter covering fashion, culture, and power, to unpack how Big Tech used the fashion industry to normalize wearable surveillance. We trace the full history of smart glasses, from the Google Glass disaster and Snapchat Spectacles vending machines to Ray-Ban Stories, Oakley Meta glasses, and the rhinestone-studded AI glasses taking over your feed. We discuss why the Kylie AI glasses are a turning point for wearable tech, and how this could be the moment personalized AI surveillance becomes permanently woven into public life. Subscribe to Amy's newsletter here: https://www.backrow.net/  We get into: ▸ Why Meta chose Kylie Jenner as the face of its AI glasses campaign ▸ How Mark Zuckerberg rehabbed his image through influencer interviews ▸ The "hot surveillance summer" discourse and why some women are embracing being recorded ▸ How fashion makes surveillance tech palatable — from GoPro to AI hair clips ▸ Meta's facial recognition plans, data harvesting, and what it means for privacy ▸ The Meta Gala, OpenAI's fashion world infiltration, and Snap's $2,000 AR flop ▸ How anti-phone and anti-screen sentiment is fueling the rise of ambient computing, AI pendants, pins, and camera-equipped AirPods ▸ Who actually owns the data Meta's AI glasses collect 
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  Bars Are Secretly Scanning Your Face And Tracking You 03.07.2026 30min

  Most people hand their ID to a bouncer without thinking twice. But what if your local bar was monitoring way more than your age?SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co          Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz     Cydney Hayes is a tech and business reporter at the Gazetteer SF.and she joins me for this week's Free Speech Friday to discuss her investigation into Patronscan, a creepy biometric surveillance system being integrated into bars and restaurants across the country. We examine how these systems collect personal information, photograph and surveil patrons as they move from bar to bar, build databases, and raise serious questions about privacy, biometric tracking, facial recognition, and data collection.We discuss:How PatronScan worksWhy bars are adopting these systemsWhat information is collectedPrivacy concerns surrounding biometric dataFacial recognition and surveillance technologyHow customer databases are createdThe legal controversies surrounding PatronScanWhy surveillance is expanding into everyday spacesWhat this means for the future of privacyAs surveillance technology spreads from airports and retail stores into restaurants, bars, and nightlife, it's becoming increasingly important to understand how these systems operate and what tradeoffs they create.
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  The Terrifying New Bounty Economy w/ Adam Aleksic (Etymology Nerd) & Aidan Walker 30.06.2026 38min

  The internet has entered a terrifying new era where reality itself has become a marketplace. Adam Aleksic (Etymology Nerd) & Aidan Walker join me to break it all down. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at ⁠usermag.co⁠         Support my work on Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠   Pump Fun GO is a new service that lets anyone pay anyone to do anything, and the results are terrifying. From paying people in poor countries $13 to get forehead tattoos to offering $95 for degrading acts, the platform has become a marketplace for human exploitation disguised as "meme coin marketing."From meme coins and viral stunts to political influence campaigns, prediction markets, and user-generated marketing, this episode explores how financial incentives are reshaping online culture and even the offline world.Joining me are Adam Aleksic (Etymology Nerd) and meme researcher Aidan Walker to unpack why platforms like Pump Fun, Polymarket, and the rise of the "bounty economy" could fundamentally change how the internet works.Topics covered:How Pump Fun Go is literally recreating Black Mirror episodes in real lifeThe terrifying rise of the "bounty economy" and what it means for societyWhy people in developing countries are being targeted for these stuntsThe connection between prediction markets, UGC marketing, and political manipulationWhat happens when EVERYTHING becomes a marketing stunt (and why that's breaking trust online)The psychology behind why people participate in these challengesHow this platform is warping our physical reality and making us question everythingPump Fun Go explainedMeme coin marketingBlack Mirror becoming realityThe new attention economyPolymarket and prediction marketsUser-generated advertisingPolitical influence onlineWhy everything feels fakeThe future of social mediaThe internet's next evolution
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  Congress Just Declared War on the Internet: The Patriot Act For Online Spaces Is Here 26.06.2026 33min

  The Kids Act Could End Internet Freedom As We Know It. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co        Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz   A massive new package of legislation, dubbed the "Kids Act," is moving through Congress with unprecedented speed. The package is a broad-based censorship and surveillance scheme that will affect every single American.In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), to break down the terrifying reality of what’s happening in Washington D.C. right now. Adam, who has been fighting for internet freedom since the 1990s, explains how these laws demand mass age verification (which applies to adults too), regulate design features like infinite scroll, and even target messaging apps and VPNs. We also dive into the 1,800 AI bills popping up across states, Bernie Sanders' misguided plans for AI, and why the government is moving to create an identity layer for the entire internet. We also discuss the toxic brew of "moral panic," fake anti-big tech sentiment, and censorship that is driving this legislation forward.Topics covered:What the Kids Act is and how it passed committeeMass age verification and the internet ID layerThe end of online anonymityWhy messaging apps and video games are targetsState laws controlling the national internetState AI preemption and Bernie Sanders' AI plansThe history of internet censorship from 1996 to today#AI #Tech #TechNews #InternetFreedom #KidsAct #Censorship #TechPolicy #OnlinePrivacy #AILaws #VPNBan #FreeSpeech #MassSurveillance #FirstAmendment #BigTech #BernieSanders #KOSA #DataPrivacy
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  The Riskiest Bet in Tech History: Elon Musk's Most Dangerous Company Yet 24.06.2026 30min

  SpaceX just pulled off the biggest IPO in history and made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. But is it all built on a fantasy?SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co       Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz In this week's episode of Power User, I sit down with Ryan Mac, the main New York Times reporter covering SpaceX and co-author of Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, to unpack how SpaceX went from a startup mocked by aerospace veterans to a $2+ trillion company that governments, militaries, and your retirement fund now depend on.We trace the full story from the early rocket explosions, the near-bankruptcy before Falcon 1 reached orbit in 2008, the NASA contract that saved the company, and how reusable rockets and Starlink turned SpaceX into an unstoppable money machine with 10,000 satellites in orbit. We dive deep into Elon's trillion-dollar bet on "orbital data centers," his plan to move AI infrastructure into space, the acquisition of xAI, the Cursor deal, a possible Tesla–SpaceX merger, and his 82% voting control that makes him almost impossible to challenge.Is Elon Musk now too big to fail? Has he escaped the gravity of accountability? Or will his dreams of putting data centers in space come crashing back to Earth? And if/when that happens, who's left holding the bag? Ryan and I get into all of it.In this episode: – How SpaceX was founded and almost died – Why Starlink became the company's cash engine – Reusable rockets, barge landings, and the "chopsticks" catch – The plan to put AI data centers in space (and why experts are skeptical) – Inside the record-breaking SpaceX IPO – How index funds and 401ks got pulled into SpaceX – Elon's 82% control and the road to "Elon Inc" – Whether Musk is now the most powerful man on Earth
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  [PATREON PREVIEW] What Is Peter Thiel Doing In Argentina? (and what's with his secret cult) w/ NYT's Ryan Mac 22.06.2026 8min

  Subscribe to my Patreon or newsletter to listen to the full episode!SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz Over the past few months, Peter Thiel has become fully infatuated with Argentina. He bought a house there, enrolled his kids in school, has been attending local soccer matches, playing chess with locals, and the Argentine government is exploring offering the billionaire permanent residence and citizenship.But why Argentina? Why now? Ryan Mac is a reporter at the New York Times and he's been covering Peter Theil's increased fascination with the country. Today, he's joining me to unpack Thiel's new obsession, and why other billionaires also seem taken by Argentina lately.
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  Hasan Piker Reveals The New Censorship Playbook: The Twitch Streamer on KOSA, Section 230, jawboning, travel bans and more 19.06.2026 43min

  Hasan Piker On The Terrifying Future Of Internet SurveillanceSUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co      Support my work on Patreon: patreon.com/taylorlorenz  Hasan Piker joined me for this week's Free Speech Friday for a wide-ranging conversation about online censorship, government surveillance, digital ID laws, Section 230, TikTok, KOSA, free speech, the JAWBONE Act, internet privacy, and the growing pressure campaigns targeting creators and political commentators.We discuss: • The rise of online censorship around the world• The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)• Government surveillance and digital ID requirements• The future of online anonymity• Section 230 and why it matters• TikTok, Big Tech, and content moderation• Government pressure on social media platforms• Free speech on the left and the right• The Jawbone Act• How new internet laws could impact creators, journalists, activists, and everyday usersAs governments push new regulations in the name of safety, misinformation, and national security, the debate over free speech, privacy, censorship, and online freedom is becoming more important than ever. #HasanPiker #FreeSpeech #Censorship #KOSA #Section230 #TikTok #Privacy #Surveillance #InternetFreedom #TechPolicy
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  Why Timothée Chalamet Is Shilling Kalshi: Inside The Plan To Monetize Everything 17.06.2026 32min

  Why is Kalshi suddenly everywhere? SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co      Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have become one of the most powerful forces in American media, politics, and culture. In this episode of Power User, I sit down with NPR's Bobby Allyn, the country's top prediction-markets reporter, to break down how Kalshi went from a tiny startup that 50 lawyers refused to represent to an inescapable cultural juggernaut backed by the Trump family, celebrities, and major news organizations.We dig into how Kalshi exploited a legal loophole to bring sports betting and election betting to every state, why Donald Trump Jr. became an advisor to both Kalshi and Polymarket, and how the companies called the 2024 election for Trump before the mainstream media would, cementing their place in the MAGA universe. Bobby explains the rise of Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, Polymarket's offshore "crypto bad boy" founder Shane Coplan, and the regulatory war happening right now inside the CFTC.We also cover the dark side nobody is talking about: undisclosed influencer marketing flooding your feed, the Timothée Chalamet Kalshi deal, secret ads during the NBA playoffs, the Mr. Beast video editor insider trading scandal, betting markets on wildfires and war, and the casinoification of the entire economy. We dig into the lawsuits, the looming Supreme Court showdown, and whether this whole gambling empire could vanish overnight! We cover:How Kalshi went from a rejected idea to a multi-billion dollar empire.The shocking court ruling that changed everything in 2024.Why MAGA influencers embraced prediction markets early.The Mr. Beast video editor insider trading scandal.How sports gambling bans were bypassed with a loophole.Timothée Chalamet's controversial Kalshi ad.The media's role in normalizing this "gambling for everything".Why Democrats and Republicans are fighting over regulation.The lawsuits that could end Kalshi.What happens when you can bet on wildfires, wars, and more.
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  The Anti-LGBTQ Internet Censorship Bill Is Back 12.06.2026 32min

  Just in time for Pride month, Marsha Blackburn and the Heritage Foundation's anti-LGBTQ censorship is back (now supported by OpenAI). SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co     Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is back, and this time, the White House is reportedly negotiating a deal to pass it in exchange for federal preemption of state AI laws. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I break down why KOSA is one of the most dangerous internet censorship bills in Congress, why tech billionaires like Sam Altman and Elon Musk actually SUPPORT it, and what the media is getting completely wrong about this so-called "trade-off."I'm joined by Ari Cohn, one of the top First Amendment lawyers in the country, to explain exactly how KOSA's "duty of care" provision will force platforms to mass-censor content, including LGBTQ voices, mental health support communities, reproductive health information, and more. We cover the junk science behind the social media moral panic, the age verification privacy nightmare, how the FTC could become the internet's censor-in-chief, and why we've seen this exact panic before with comic books, video games, and television.Click the link below to take action now!!! https://www.badinternetbills.com In this video, we cover:What the Kids Online Safety Act actually doesHow KOSA could impact social media platformsAge verification and online privacy issuesThe potential effects on LGBTQ communities, mental health resources, and online speechWhy Elon Musk and OpenAI support KOSA.The reality of age verification and the death of online privacy.How KOSA targets niche communities and support groups.
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  Exposing OpenAI's Secret Meme Army: A $125M Propaganda Network 10.06.2026 20min

  Exposing The Dark Money Machine Behind AI PropagandaSUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co     Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz I break down my investigation into a network of pro-AI and anti-AI meme accounts that I found were secretly being run and funded by OpenAI, Palantir, and Andreessen Horowitz's big $125M super PAC and dark money group. I reveal how these accounts operated, who is connected to them, why they promoted both sides of the AI debate, and how the organization at the center of the story confirmed key aspects of the reporting after publication.I talk about how a self-described “Meme Lord” named Jason Levin,  founder of Memelord Technologies was hired by the super PAC, Leading the Future, to create and run sock puppet accounts like “DoomersAreDumb” and “Jonathan Doomer” to attack AI critics, mock disabled people, post violent threats, and even pretend to be an anti-AI activist.OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman donated millions to this campaign. OpenAI’s head of strategy follows these meme accounts. And when confronted, Build American AI confirmed it all.Topics covered:AI propaganda and influence campaignsOpenAI and AI policy politicsDark money groups and Super PACsFake activist accountsAI-generated content networksMeme pages and online manipulationPolitical lobbying and artificial intelligenceSocial media influence operationsTech industry power and public opinion#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #TechNews #OpenAI #SiliconValley #MemeCulture #InvestigativeJournalism #InfluenceCampaign #AIDebate #TechPolicy #PowerUser
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  Are You On A Govt Watchlist? Cops Are Tracking Anyone Who Hates AI 05.06.2026 17min

  Are you on a government watchlist just for criticizing AI? SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co    Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz   A shocking new investigation from The Intercept reveals that police are tracking seemingly anyone who expresses skepticism or anger about the tech industry online. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, journalist Sam Biddle joins me to dive deep into a terrifying new report from The Intercept exposing how Philadelphia police officers admitted to monitoring legitimate First Amendment activity. Law enforcement documents show that specialized "Fusion Centers" are scanning social media, message boards, and Facebook to flag users posting anti-AI and anti-data center sentiments. Sam and I discuss the post-9/11 surveillance apparatus, how local police use tools like Data Miner to monitor online discussions, and why the Trump administration is aligning with tech billionaires and crypto lobbyists to turn AI into a national security priority. Is your private Signal group chat safe from police infiltration? Why are corporate platforms like Meta incentivized to censor anti-tech activism? We break down the chilling effect of mass surveillance and the elite effort to frame community civics and political advocacy as domestic extremism.SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM:This channel has ZERO sponsors and relies 100% on viewer support! Keep my reporting alive by subscribing:👉 Support on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    👉 Read my Substack Newsletter: https://usermag.co #Surveillance #BigTech #ArtificialIntelligence #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #Privacy #DataCenter #TheIntercept #TechNews #CivilLibertiesSUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co    Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    
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  The Data Center Boom Is More Toxic Than You Think 03.06.2026 47min

  Are AI data centers destroying the environment, driving up power bills, and consuming massive amounts of water, or is the backlash overblown?SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co     Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz       In this episode of Power User, I sit down with Wired senior climate and energy reporter Molly Taft to unpack the AI data center boom. We discuss how AI infrastructure actually works, why companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and xAI are racing to build more data centers, and what the environmental consequences could be.We dive into the controversy around electricity demand, fossil fuel expansion, water use, local community opposition, AI infrastructure, data center moratoriums, and whether these facilities are genuinely necessary for the future of artificial intelligence.Topics covered:What AI data centers actually doWhy ChatGPT and AI require so much computeThe environmental impact of AIEnergy consumption and power gridsNatural gas, nuclear, and renewable energyElon Musk's xAI Colossus projectWater usage and cooling systemsCommunity backlash against data centersClimate concerns and AI developmentThe future of AI infrastructureIf you've been seeing headlines about AI data centers, energy crises, environmental impacts, or the race between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and China, this conversation breaks down what's really happening.#AI #DataCenters #ChatGPT #OpenAI #ArtificialIntelligence #ClimateChange #Technology #TechNews #Energy #Environment
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  Visa Could Ruin the Internet 29.05.2026 28min

  What if you woke up tomorrow and completely lost access to your bank account, credit cards, PayPal, and Venmo, all because of something you posted online? SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co    Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz     In this episode of Free Speech Friday, Rainey Reitman, advisor at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and author of the new book "Transaction Denied" joins me to dive deep into the terrifying reality of financial censorship and how major banks and payment processors are quietly becoming the ultimate gatekeepers of internet speech. Reitman reveals how a handful of massive financial institutions are bypassing the First Amendment to act as privatized censors, deciding what journalism you can support, what political nonprofits you can donate to, and what ideas are considered "misinformation." From the early financial blockade of WikiLeaks to recent debanking scandals involving independent journalists and nonpartisan advocacy groups, this hidden digital infrastructure controls your life more than you realize. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM:This channel has ZERO sponsors, and speaking out on financial censorship isn't advertiser-friendly. If you get value from this show, support my work so I can keep making these videos!👉 Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/taylorlorenz 👉 Support on Substack: https://www.usermag.co/subscribe 👉 Pick up a copy of Rainey Reitman's "Transaction Denied" here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804543/transaction-denied-by-rainey-reitman/ *(Note: Half of all book proceeds go directly to the Freedom of the Press Foundation)*We discuss: The Nightmare of Financial CensorshipHow Payment Processors Got So Much PowerThe Rise of E-Commerce & Speech DependencyPayPal, WikiLeaks, and Chelsea ManningCensorship by Proxy: How the Government Pressures BanksThe Visa Lawsuit That Could Ruin the Internet
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  Why AI Doom Content Is Everywhere 27.05.2026 44min

  Have you noticed your social media feeds suddenly flooding with terrifying content about AI existential risk? From TikTok clips warning about "AI psychosis" to viral YouTube shorts claiming chatbots are pushing people to the brink, the anti-AI movement has taken over the internet... But what if these "anti-AI" influencers aren't actually what they seem?SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co   Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    In this week's episode of Power User, Washington Post journalist Natasha Tiku join me to pull back the curtain on the massive, billionaire-funded "anti-AI" astroturf campaign. We track the money and expose how the exact same millionaires and billionaires building the world's largest AI companies (like OpenAI and Anthropic) are quietly paying influencers thousands of dollars to promote AI doomsday scenarios.We dive deep into the 25-year history of the AI safety movement, from Eliezer Yudkowski’s rationalist blogs and Harry Potter fan fiction to Effective Altruism and the "paperclip maximizer" theory. We talk about how Silicon Valley elites are co-opting VERY genuine public anxieties about jobs and real-world harms related to AI technology in order to push their own pro-AI, anti-regulatory agendas.We also talk about how to spot the hidden corporate pipelines, dark money nonprofits, and staged research papers designed to control the narrative around AI. If you're seeing AI doomer videos all over your feed, please watch this one!✨ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: 👉 Substack Newsletter: http://usermag.co 👉 Patreon: patreon.com/taylorlorenz Nitasha's WaPo story on all this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/04/18/ai-doom-influencers-safety/