Ben Werdmuller
benwerd@nos.social
npub183ng...4n09
I lead technology at ProPublica and write speculative fiction. This is a personal account.
Every day, I write about tech, democracy, and society at https://werd.io.
More about me: https://about.werd.io
Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome 
Ben Werdmuller
Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome
"Artificial-intelligence startup Perplexity offered to purchase Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion as it works to challenge the tech giant...
Lifelogging under fascism 
Ben Werdmuller
Lifelogging under fascism
How self-tracking became self-incrimination
"But the “fear of being left behind” argument is particularly dangerous: it suggests that you should pick a technology first and then find problems for it to solve. That’s always backwards." In case you missed it, how I think about AI - in terms of vendors, tech, and power: 
Ben Werdmuller
Evaluating AI technology: a CTO's framework
How to think about vendors, technology, and power
Japan: Apple Must Lift Browser Engine Ban by December
Ben Werdmuller
Japan: Apple Must Lift Browser Engine Ban by December
Japan, the EU, and the UK all now require Apple to support third-party browser engines. That's great news for the open web.
Silicon Valley’s Dream Tech Job Is Disappearing
Ben Werdmuller
Silicon Valley’s Dream Tech Job Is Disappearing
“We’re seeing right now why tech needs unions.”
Trump and the Energy Industry Are Eager to Power AI With Fossil Fuels
Ben Werdmuller
Trump and the Energy Industry Are Eager to Power AI With Fossil Fuels
The Trump administration is using AI as a way to shill fossil fuels. But even for tech companies that don't care about climate change, renewables a...
OpenAI’s gold medal performance on the International Math Olympiad
Ben Werdmuller
OpenAI’s gold medal performance on the International Math Olympiad
OpenAI claims a significant result: gold-level performance International Mathematical Olympiad. But they're scant on details and it needs to be ind...
Microsoft can't protect French data from US government access
Ben Werdmuller
Microsoft can't protect French data from US government access
When vendor promises meet government warrants, the warrants win every time. Microsoft's Senate testimony shows why "trust us" isn't a data protecti...
Senate Votes to Strip $1.1 Billion From Public Broadcasting in Blow to PBS and NPR
Ben Werdmuller
Senate Votes to Strip $1.1 Billion From Public Broadcasting in Blow to PBS and NPR
Without public media funding, local stations will close, creating news deserts and allowing political corruption to thrive.
Welcome to the new Werd I/O 
Ben Werdmuller
Welcome to my new site
I relaunched my website on Ghost. Here's why.
Airlines Don't Want You to Know They Sold Your Flight Data to DHS 
Ben Werdmuller
Airlines Don't Want You to Know They Sold Your Flight Data to DHS
404 Media reports that the country's major airlines are selling passenger data to Customs and Border Protection and ICE.