#Tag · BT Free Social

"“There is no alternative” is a cheap rhetorical sleight. It’s a demand dressed up as an observation. “There is no alternative” means: “Stop trying to think of an alternative.”

I’m a science-fiction writer – my job is to think of a dozen alternatives before breakfast."
- @pluralistic

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/18/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur

#Tech #Technology #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #StockMarket #Business #News #World #SciFi

Headline with illustration:
Headline: The featured essay
AI (artificial intelligence)

AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage

by Cory Doctorow

AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. A serious fight against it must strike at its roots

Sun 18 Jan 2026 09.00 EST

Illustration: two wireframe hands looming over a person working on a computer — Headline with illustration: Headline: The featured essay AI (artificial intelligence) AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage by Cory Doctorow AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. A serious fight against it must strike at its roots Sun 18 Jan 2026 09.00 EST Illustration: two wireframe hands looming over a person working on a computer

the Guardian

AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage | Cory Doctorow

AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. A serious fight against it must strike at its roots

Zhi Zhu 🕸️

@ZhiZhu@newsie.social replied · 19 hours ago

"This is the paradox of the growth stock. While you are growing to domination, the market loves you, but once you achieve dominance, the market lops 75% or more off your value...

Which is why growth-stock companies are always desperately pumping up one bubble or another, spending billions to hype the pivot to video or #cryptocurrency or NFTs or the metaverse or #AI...

The primary goal is to keep the market convinced that your company will continue to grow"

#Tech #AI #StockMarket #News #World

Text from article(edited for length):
If you are an exec at a dominant company with a growth stock, you have to live in constant fear that the market will decide that you are not likely to grow any further. Think of what happened to Facebook in the first quarter of 2022. They told investors that they experienced slightly slower growth in the US than they had anticipated, and investors panicked. They staged a one-day, $240bn sell-off. A quarter-trillion dollars in 24 hours! At the time, it was the largest, most precipitous drop in corporate valuation in human history.
....

This is the paradox of the growth stock. While you are growing to domination, the market loves you, but once you achieve dominance, the market lops 75% or more off your value in a single stroke if they do not trust your pricing power.

Which is why growth-stock companies are always desperately pumping up one bubble or another, spending billions to hype the pivot to video or cryptocurrency or NFTs or the metaverse or AI.

I am not saying that tech bosses are making bets they do not plan on winning. But winning the bet – creating a viable metaverse – is the secondary goal. The primary goal is to keep the market convinced that your company will continue to grow, and to remain convinced until the next bubble comes along.

So this is why they’re hyping AI: the material basis for the hundreds of billions in AI investment. — Text from article(edited for length): If you are an exec at a dominant company with a growth stock, you have to live in constant fear that the market will decide that you are not likely to grow any further. Think of what happened to Facebook in the first quarter of 2022. They told investors that they experienced slightly slower growth in the US than they had anticipated, and investors panicked. They staged a one-day, $240bn sell-off. A quarter-trillion dollars in 24 hours! At the time, it was the largest, most precipitous drop in corporate valuation in human history. .... This is the paradox of the growth stock. While you are growing to domination, the market loves you, but once you achieve dominance, the market lops 75% or more off your value in a single stroke if they do not trust your pricing power. Which is why growth-stock companies are always desperately pumping up one bubble or another, spending billions to hype the pivot to video or cryptocurrency or NFTs or the metaverse or AI. I am not saying that tech bosses are making bets they do not plan on winning. But winning the bet – creating a viable metaverse – is the secondary goal. The primary goal is to keep the market convinced that your company will continue to grow, and to remain convinced until the next bubble comes along. So this is why they’re hyping AI: the material basis for the hundreds of billions in AI investment.

Andrew Graves :arch: :linux: boosted

knoppix

@knoppix95@mastodon.social · yesterday

Ubuntu’s Snap Store is facing a surge of scams 🧩
Attackers are hijacking expired publisher domains to seize trusted accounts—spreading fake crypto wallet apps that steal funds 💰
Experts urge Canonical to strengthen review and identity safeguards 🔐

@ubuntu

🔗 https://itsfoss.com/news/snap-store-under-siege/

#TechNews #CyberSecurity #OpenSource #Linux #Privacy #Malware #UserSafety #DataProtection #Security #Ubuntu #Fedora #Debian #FOSS #Software #Accountability #Developers #Cryptocurrency #Canonical #SnapStore #Hack

It's FOSS

Ubuntu's Snap Store is Under Siege from Scammers, and The Gates are Open

After years of crypto wallet theft, scammers have escalated to domain takeovers.

knoppix

@knoppix95@mastodon.social · yesterday

@ubuntu

🔗 https://itsfoss.com/news/snap-store-under-siege/

It's FOSS

Ubuntu's Snap Store is Under Siege from Scammers, and The Gates are Open

After years of crypto wallet theft, scammers have escalated to domain takeovers.

Zhi Zhu 🕸️ and 15 others boosted

Molly White

@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io · 2 days ago

House Oversight Democrats have published a Web3 is Going Great-style “Trump Family Digital Grift” counter
https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/trump-family-corruption-tracker

This goes with their recent staff report, “Professionalized Corruption: How Donald Trump is abusing power and accepting digital kickbacks from foreign and criminal interests to cash in on the presidency like never before”

https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/12026cryptoreport.pdf

(The report cites my writing on Trump’s USD1 stablecoin, published here: https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-83/#trump-business-interests)

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics

Trump Family Digital Grift Profits $2,255,399,364.28
Total Trump Family Digital Grift Wealth $8,712,974,364.28
Trump Family Digital Grift Profits from Foreign Interests $437,004,026.96

While Americans struggle to buy groceries and pay rent, Donald Trump is making his family richer through digital grift schemes— collecting profits through digital wallets and granting pardons to the highest bidders.

While Trump and his family are using the White House to make billions, we are tracking every cent. As of January 2026, our Committee’s analysis shows that these schemes have contributed to an estimated $2.25 billion in realized profits for Trump from foreign payments, corrupt oligarchs, and others.

This total rises to as much as $9.7 billion when the value of Trump’s digital assets is factored in, with as much as $436 million coming from foreign interests. President Trump should be serving the American people—not his own pockets. — Trump Family Digital Grift Profits $2,255,399,364.28 Total Trump Family Digital Grift Wealth $8,712,974,364.28 Trump Family Digital Grift Profits from Foreign Interests $437,004,026.96 While Americans struggle to buy groceries and pay rent, Donald Trump is making his family richer through digital grift schemes— collecting profits through digital wallets and granting pardons to the highest bidders. While Trump and his family are using the White House to make billions, we are tracking every cent. As of January 2026, our Committee’s analysis shows that these schemes have contributed to an estimated $2.25 billion in realized profits for Trump from foreign payments, corrupt oligarchs, and others. This total rises to as much as $9.7 billion when the value of Trump’s digital assets is factored in, with as much as $436 million coming from foreign interests. President Trump should be serving the American people—not his own pockets.