The Shifting Sands of Our Digital and Geopolitical Landscape


From the quiet automation steadily reshaping our economies to the high-stakes legal battles defining the future of tech giants, our world is in constant flux. This past week alone has seen Google grappling with monopoly claims, revealing the profound impact of big tech on our digital lives, while the very nature of work is being re-evaluated, from Dubai's four-day week to the capitalist push for automation. Beyond the digital, geopolitical tremors are evident in the escalating terrorism in the Sahel and Finland's emerging role as a data center hub. The intertwining narratives of technology, economics, and global affairs are more complex than ever, highlighted by the ongoing debates around AI regulation, the quest for a passwordless future, and even Elon Musk's musings on launching a new political party. These diverse stories paint a picture of a society navigating unprecedented technological advancements, evolving economic models, and persistent global challenges.

working for capitalists
The automation of human work is an ongoing objective of our capitalist systems. Our accounting practices amortize machines while listing people as costs, which keeps the power of labour down. The machines do not even have to be as good as a person, due to our bookkeeping systems that treat labour and capital differently. Labour is a cost while capital...
Google on trial: The future of Chrome, AI search, and the internet
Google is guilty. So, now what?Last summer, Google lost a landmark antitrust case. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta declared that “Google is a monopolist,” finding the company acted illegally to maintain dominance over the search engine market. SEE ALSO: Google just lost a big antitrust case for running illegal ad tech...
If we want a passwordless future, let's get our passkey story straight
Passwords and passkeys each involve a secret. The critical difference: How that secret gets handled.
The World's Terrorist Hotpots
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger all rank among the top five countries most impacted by terrorism (Pakistan and Syria are the other two). In fact, the Sahel region of Africa has become the epicenter of global terrorism, accounting for over half of all terrorism-related deaths worldwide. Notably, only seven Western countries appear in the top 50 most affected.You...
Why are so many data centres popping up in Finland?
A project in Kouvola has raised curiosity about Finland's growing number of data centres.
Advice to Finland: Speak English at work, take fewer exams, and end home care support
The OECD's latest country report points to a brighter economic future for Finland, but only if it optimises the use of public funds.
What is Palantir? The secretive tech company behind Trumps data collection efforts
Last Friday, the New York Times published an explosive report on the Trump administration's work with Palantir, which could result in the creation of a master database with information on every single American. Per the Times, if this type of "master list" was created, it would give the president "untold surveillance power."President Donald Trump signed...
Hunger Maps
The Hunger Map by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is a visual tool that illustrates the prevalence of undernourishment across the world. It visualizes the geographic distribution of hunger and helps monitor global food insecurity trends.Hunger Map allows users to explore data across multiple geographic scales, including...
YouTube very quietly loosened its content moderation rules
YouTube quietly loosened its video moderation rules a few weeks before Donald Trump was sworn in as president a second time, reports the New York Times.The new rules encourage the site’s moderators not to remove videos that break YouTube’s code of conduct — which bans nudity, graphic violence, hate speech, and incendiary misinformation — if the videos...
AI leaders must take a tight grip on regulatory, geopolitical, and interpersonal concerns
Here's how executives can navigate the constantly evolving AI landscape successfully.
The Trump administration just leaked its plans to AI-ify government
Ahead of the administration's July 22nd policy deadline, reporting has surfaced a test website pushing AI for internal government use.
Yet another European government is ditching Microsoft for Linux - here's why
This state made the open-source shift, and chances are it won't be the last.
The made-in-America Trump Mobile phone sure looks like a made-in-China phone
When Trump Mobile and its flagship T1 smartphone were announced Monday morning, the internet’s tech-savvy corners lit up with skepticism. The specs sounded familiar — maybe too familiar — and it didn’t take long for people to start speculating that the so-called "American-made" phone might be a rebranded import dressed up in gold trim.Trump Mobile is...
16 billion passwords leaked from Apple, Google, more: Here are the facts and how to protect yourself
Wondering if your information is posted online from a data breach? Here's how to check if your accounts are at risk and what to do next.
Trump's big, revised bill will slash AI funding for states that regulate AI
Senators add exemptions for state laws targeting unfair or deceptive practices and child sexual abuse material.
Judge in Kadrey v. Meta AI copyright case rules for Meta, against authors
Meta just won a major ruling in a landmark case about how copyright law and fair use applies to AI model training, the second such loss for authors this week. Just days ago, Anthropic won a fair use case as well.Late Wednesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California Vince Chhabria denied the plaintiffs' motion for partial...
Elon Musk threatens to start new U.S. political party
Elon Musk may soon launch his own political party. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has announced his intention to form the "America Party" if President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" passes, continuing to rail against what he calls "insane spending." SEE ALSO: No, Elon Musk can't run for U.S. Vice President ...
Expert calls Musk’s ‘Doge’ involvement ‘one of the greatest brand destructions’
The prominent US marketing professor Scott Galloway said Elon Musk’s decision to implement brutal job and spending cuts within the federal government on behalf of the Trump administration was “one of the greatest brand destructions” ever.Speaking on Friday’s episode of the popular Pivot podcast, which he co-hosts, Galloway said Trump’s billionaire businessman...
Dubai introduces four-day work week for government workers
The government of Dubai has officially implemented a temporary four-day work week for all its public sector workers. That could be us, but you playin'.Dubai's new shorter work week will now involve all government workers, who will be divided into two groups. The first will work eight hours per day, but get Fridays completely off. The second will still...
The biggest AI announcements (and high drama) of 2025 so far
Trust us, if we tried to create a full rundown of all the AI news since January 2025, this wouldn't be a list — it would be a book.We've lived a lifetime of AI news as the industry advances at breakneck pace. To whittle it down, we've focused on the major policies, features, and official announcements from the companies shaping

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