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VOICE ARCHIVE

Brandon Downey

@bdowney
18 posts
2026-02-27
The era of Goog caring about doing the right thing at a leadership level is done, but glad to see Googlers realize what a precipice they're on.  Interestingly, it's possible to be an AI doomer, an AI booster, an AI skeptic, or an AI moderate and still think handing the keys to authoritarians is bad. …
2026-02-27 View on X
New York Times

Letter: 100+ Google DeepMind and other AI employees urge Jeff Dean to block US military deals that use Gemini for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons

More than 100 Google A.I. employees sent a letter to Jeff Dean, a chief scientist, opposing Gemini's use for U.S. surveillance and some autonomous weapons.

The era of Goog caring about doing the right thing at a leadership level is done, but glad to see Googlers realize what a precipice they're on.  Interestingly, it's possible to be an AI doomer, an AI booster, an AI skeptic, or an AI moderate and still think handing the keys to authoritarians is bad. …
2026-02-27 View on X
Anthropic

Dario Amodei says Anthropic cannot “in good conscience” accede to DOD's request to remove safeguards and will work to ensure a smooth transition if offboarded

I believe deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies, and to defeat our autocratic adversaries.

The era of Goog caring about doing the right thing at a leadership level is done, but glad to see Googlers realize what a precipice they're on.  Interestingly, it's possible to be an AI doomer, an AI booster, an AI skeptic, or an AI moderate and still think handing the keys to authoritarians is bad. …
2026-02-27 View on X
Axios

Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines with respect to AI use by the military, which are “an issue for the whole industry”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a memo to staff that he will draw the same red lines that sparked a high-stakes fight between rival Anthropic …

2025-09-21
My sympathies for every worker here in the US on a visa.  I've spent my life in a career with immigrants who come here — some temporarily, some permanently, and they have both literally and figuratively enriched my life and all our lives.  —  This is why elections matter.
2025-09-21 View on X
@presssec

White House Press Secretary says the $100K H-1B fee is not an annual fee and it is a “one-time fee that applies only to the petition” in the upcoming lottery

To be clear: 1.) This is NOT an annual fee. It's a one-time fee that applies only to the petition. 2.) Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country ri...

My sympathies for every worker here in the US on a visa.  I've spent my life in a career with immigrants who come here — some temporarily, some permanently, and they have both literally and figuratively enriched my life and all our lives.  —  This is why elections matter.
2025-09-21 View on X
CNBC

Memos: Amazon, which has the most H-1B staff at 14K+, Google, and Microsoft tell H-1B visa holders to return to the US before September 21 and avoid travel

Major technology companies and foreign governments are rushing to respond after President Donald Trump late Friday announced plans …

2025-08-26
I love Android because it's much more “my” phone than iOS.  —  Stop this shit Google.  If I want to sideload an app, I should be able to sideload an app.  —  www.androidauthority.com/android- deve...
2025-08-26 View on X
Android Authority

Google plans to begin verifying the identities of developers who distribute Android apps, even outside the Play Store, rolling out in phases from September 2026

Stop this shit Google.  If I want to sideload an app, I should be able to sideload an app.  —  www.androidauthority.com/android- deve... @natanael : This is what Apple got sued for...

2025-04-12
Chaser:  —  Imagine getting laid off the same day they are sending different people to the Roof at Hooli^H^^H Google.
2025-04-12 View on X
The Information

Source: Google cuts hundreds of employees in its platforms and devices unit, which works on Android, Pixel, and Chrome, after offering buyouts in January 2025

www.reuters.com/tech... Brandon Downey / @bdowney : Chaser:  —  Imagine getting laid off the same day they are sending different people to the Roof at Hooli^H^^H Google. Mastodon: ...

2024-08-05
@tqbf This rings true to me, and also my broad opinion that they are a productivity tool, but not a *transcendent* one. 10-50% productivity gain. Which is huge! But maybe not so huge as the volume of investment so far warrants, and def not the hype.
2024-08-05 View on X
Nicholas Carlini

A Google DeepMind research scientist details some LLM use cases and argues LLMs are not overhyped and should be judged on what they can do, not what they can't

I don't think that “AI” models (by which I mean: large language models) are over-hyped.  —  Yes, it's true that any new technology will attract the grifters.  And it is definitely ...

2024-03-04
Not a fan of Musk, but I think he kind of has a point that Open AI was founded as a non-profit, then somehow laundered the research it was able to do with the money people gave it with that understanding into a for profit company. https://www.nytimes.com/...
2024-03-04 View on X
New York Times

Elon Musk's OpenAI lawsuit repeatedly cites a contentious paper by Microsoft's research lab, which said GPT-4 showed “sparks” of AGI, to argue that GPT-4 is AGI

2024-03-03
Not a fan of Musk, but I think he kind of has a point that Open AI was founded as a non-profit, then somehow laundered the research it was able to do with the money people gave it with that understanding into a for profit company. https://www.nytimes.com/...
2024-03-03 View on X
New York Times

Elon Musk's OpenAI lawsuit repeatedly cites a contentious paper by Microsoft's research lab, which said GPT-4 showed “sparks” of AGI, to argue that GPT-4 is AGI

In his lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, Mr. Musk relies on a provocative paper from the start-up's closest partner.

2023-01-24
Sounds like a gross failure of leadership: in execution, in planning, in communication, and in responsibility. https://www.cnbc.com/... Meanwhile, Google has 200 billion in cash in reserve and made nearly 14B in the last three months. Maybe the problem isn't the staff?
2023-01-24 View on X
CNBC

At a town hall, Sundar Pichai asked staff to stay motivated as Google faces competition in areas like AI and indicated there would be executive bonus cuts

- Google CEO Sundar Pichai and executive leaders addressed employee questions at a town hall meeting on Monday after last week's job cuts.

2021-05-17
It's amazing how the powerful miss the point. The people signing the petitions *were* concerned about livelihoods — of the women (or just people; take a look at the quotes) who'd have to work with this guy. https://twitter.com/...
2021-05-17 View on X
@antoniogm

[Thread] Antonio García Martínez says he did not “part ways” with Apple, was fired in a snap decision, and Apple's statement on his exit is defamatory and false

2021-05-16
It's amazing how the powerful miss the point. The people signing the petitions *were* concerned about livelihoods — of the women (or just people; take a look at the quotes) who'd have to work with this guy. https://twitter.com/...
2021-05-16 View on X
@antoniogm

[Thread] Antonio García Martínez says he did not “part ways” with Apple, was fired in a snap decision, and Apple's statement on his exit is defamatory and false

of the women (or just people; take a look at the quotes) who'd have to work with this guy. https://twitter.com/... @antoniogm : 4. I did not ‘part ways’ with Apple. I was fired by ...

2021-05-15
It's amazing how the powerful miss the point. The people signing the petitions *were* concerned about livelihoods — of the women (or just people; take a look at the quotes) who'd have to work with this guy. https://twitter.com/...
2021-05-15 View on X
@antoniogm

[Thread] Antonio García Martínez says he did not “part ways” with Apple, was fired in a snap decision, and Apple's statement on his exit is defamatory and false

I have thus far maintained my silence on the Apple situation as I've sought to settle things amicably with the company that I admired, and at which I hoped to build the future of a...

2021-02-06
This rant is far more thorough my initial reaction, which is “this sounds pretty fucking dumb”. https://twitter.com/...
2021-02-06 View on X
Techdirt

Democrats' Sec. 230 bill is a dumpster fire of cluelessness that effectively wipes out protections for the entire internet while pretending it's a minor change

For the past few months we've been seeing a ton of terrible/ridiculous/awful/unconstitutio nal bills coming from mostly Republicans …

2021-01-16
Masnick does a good job thinking through the arguments here. I think these are the only two places I'd differ: 1. I think Apple deserves more scrutiny because they have such a closed ecosystem. I think it's still reasonable to give Parler the boot because, well, crimes. https://twitter.com/...
2021-01-16 View on X
Techdirt

Parler is not down due to a single company but because the market chose not to do business with it because it's toxic, which is the nature of a free market

I've delayed writing deeper thoughts on the total deplatforming of Parler, in part because there was so much else happening … Tweets: @benhixonva , @erratarob , @mcwm , @tynanpants...

2019-10-18
Myth: Putting stuff on the web means digital tech and network will ensure it lives forever. Reality: Short-sighted companies will set fire to our collective history before you can blink. https://www.vice.com/...
2019-10-18 View on X
VICE

Yahoo says it is shutting down its long-running Yahoo Groups platform on October 28 and will permanently delete all posted content on December 14

Jordan Pearson / VICE :

2019-10-17
Myth: Putting stuff on the web means digital tech and network will ensure it lives forever. Reality: Short-sighted companies will set fire to our collective history before you can blink. https://www.vice.com/...
2019-10-17 View on X
VICE

Yahoo says it is shutting down its long-running Yahoo Groups platform on October 21 and will permanently delete all posted content on December 14

Users won't be able to upload new content to the site after October 21 and have until December 14 to archive their content, Yahoo said in an announcement.