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On one hand, accelerationists see AI as an unadulterated boon for humankind, arguing that we must charge forward unencumbered by concern about potential risks. ​On the other hand, AI doomers often suggest that human extinction is the almost inevitable outcome if the technology advances further.

In 1998, Paul Krugman, the MIT economist and New York Times columnist, boldly declared: “By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.”

Social media built its business model on extracting intimate data through behavioral surveillance, targeting commercial messages at moments of maximum psychological leverage, and inferring emotional states from clicks so that it could sell targeted ads.

lthough the targeted ages vary, the diagnosis is consistent: surveillance-optimized platforms have demonstrably harmed adolescent mental health

Policymakers have stood by and allowed the creation of business models built on the commercial exploitation of users’ personal data, and that reward social and psychological manipulation. There remains a massive legal vacuum where basic protective frameworks like fiduciary duties, liability standards, enforceable transparency, and privacy safeguards simply do not exist.

The announcement follows a finding by a jury in California that Meta’s products were designed to be addictive to minors (as well as a jury verdict in New Mexico, where the company was found to have “concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms”)

Garcia would later learn through litigation that the platform was engineered to blur the line between human and machine, to engage in sexual roleplay, and to present as a romantic partner and even as a psychotherapist. When Sewell confided suicidal thoughts, the chatbot issued no warning, notified no one, and referred him to no one.

The next decade will see AI evolve beyond isolated applications into dynamic intelligence fabrics, exhibiting contextual awareness, cooperative reasoning, and continuous learning across all sectors. Future AI will possess persistent memory, multimodal perception, and long-term planning, creating vast digital workforces that blur the line between software and human employees. Neuromorphic computing and brain-computer interfaces will foster a revolutionary cognitive partnership, augmenting human capabilities and creativity. Quantum intelligence will accelerate scientific discovery, while embodied AI in advanced robotics redefines labor and infrastructure, leading to an increasingly autonomous society. This profound transformation necessitates urgent ethical debate on AI sentience, accountability, and ensuring these powerful systems align with human values and democratic governance.

Future AI will possess persistent memory, multimodal perception, and long-term planning, creating vast digital workforces that blur the line between software and human employees

Monday brings a key step in the European Commission president’s well-orchestrated push to enact an EU-wide social media ban for young people: the release of an expert report on the dangers of social media for minors

The libertarian framing of the internet as a place of freedom and expression was a potent mask for a project U.S. lawmakers always understood was imperial in nature: to defend its government’s power and geopolitical position. Now it has countries around the world exactly where it wants them. They have to choose: will they act quickly to take back that power, or accept the subservient position the United States has designed for them?

The U.S. empire has long depended not simply on military might, but also economic coercion to maintain its global dominance. Unlike the European colonial powers that preceded it, the United States has engaged in less direct colonization of overseas territories; instead, it mastered the use of economic dependence to keep countries in line.

In a 22-point manifesto posted to the company’s X account on April 18, Karp argued that Silicon Valley “owes a moral debt” to the United States and needs to defend not just its power, but to build weapons to help its military. Western pluralism, in his view, was a fatal mistake, as some cultures had simply “proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful.” There was no point in trying to put them on the same level as the Wes

The nation which most completely assimilates high-performance computing into its economy will very likely emerge as the dominant intellectual, economic, and technological force in the next century,” he told his fellow senators when introducing his bill.

As far as the public was concerned, the internet was framed around a series of libertarian notions. John Perry Barlow, one of the co-founders of Electronic Frontier Foundation, said as much in a 1996 manifesto that shaped internet politics for decades to follow. “Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind,” he wrote. “You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.”