Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

The movement to pause AI is gaining momentum, but can anyone actually stop the race toward more powerful artificial intelligence?
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In this week's episode of Power User, I’m joined by Washington Post technology journalist Gerrit De Vynck to unpack the growing backlash against AI, the activists calling for a pause on advanced AI development, OpenAI’s decision to slow development of its most advanced models, and the growing political fight over AI data centers.
We break down what the Pause AI movement actually wants, why AI safety activists are worried about superintelligence and rogue AI agents, and whether governments could realistically prevent companies from training increasingly powerful models.
We also discuss the growing grassroots backlash against AI data centers, Bernie Sanders’ role in the AI debate, the national security argument for continuing the AI race, competition with China, and why companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google have very different incentives when it comes to slowing AI development.
Most importantly, we look at a much bigger question: Is the rapid expansion of AI actually inevitable, or could public opposition, regulation and infrastructure constraints meaningfully slow it down??

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Anthropic just announced that Claude and all its AI tools will now watermark every piece of text a user generates, even if it's scientific research or computer code. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with Neil Chilson, former FTC Chief Technologist, to break down exactly what AI watermarking is, how the EU AI Act transparency code is forcing this change worldwide, and why this could threaten your privacy and free speech.
We explain how probabilistic text watermarking works by subtly altering word choices in AI-generated content, why this creates serious problems for legal documents scientific research and creative writing, and how Anthropic's decision to apply these watermarks globally affects US users who never consented to this tracking. 
Neil also breaks down the cybersecurity risks, the potential for government overreach, and why open-weight AI models might be the only escape hatch from extraterritorial regulation.
 
If you use Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or any AI writing tool, (or even if you don't!) you need to understand how the EU AI Act transparency requirements are reshaping AI output behind the scenes. We discuss the dangers of compelled speech on digital platforms and what watermarking means for the future of anonymous online expression.
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Zuckerberg Wants AI to Know Everything About You 
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Mark Zuckerberg just published a massive 6,500-word manifesto laying out an aggressive vision for the future of AI. But is this really about democratizing technology, or is it a desperate PR move to catch up with OpenAI and Anthropic? 
I sat down with New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac, who has covered Zuckerberg and Meta for more than a decade, to unpack what Zuckerberg is really proposing and why Meta is making such an aggressive push into AI right now.
We discuss Meta's battle with OpenAI and Anthropic, Zuckerberg's renewed embrace of open models, the company's massive data center buildout, the backlash against AI infrastructure, and why Meta may be trying to position itself as the alternative to the AI safety movement.
We also get into the biggest problem with Zuckerberg's vision, and Mike explains why Zuckerberg is suddenly talking to the media again, how far behind Meta really is in the AI race, what the company's next generation of AI agents could look like, and what to watch for at Meta Connect. 
 
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To listen to the full episode and get access to more bonus episodes, an ad-free listening experience, and my weekly newsletter, subscribe to my Patreon or Substack 👇🏻
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Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 
What happens when startups straight up stop hiring human creators and start leveraging industrial-scale bot farms powered by AI? In this bonus episode of Power User, I sit down with New York Magazine's Rebecca Jennings to discuss her investigation into Doublespeed, a massively viral new venture-backed startup founded by 21-year-old entrepreneur Zuhair Lakhani that aims to replace human influencers with an army of AI-generated personas. They've already raised over $1 million from Andreessen Horowitz. 
From sneaker botting and manufactured restaurant waitlists to operating thousands of cold Android phones from a desktop computer, Rebecca and I unpack the dark mechanics and patterns behind these bot armies running on phone farms in LA. We also discuss the total atrophy of the internet as we know it.  
We break down how AI bot farms work, why brands are turning to AI instead of human influencers, and how Silicon Valley is turning manufactured virality into a business. We also discuss the explosion of AI slop, the future of the influencer industry, the death of online authenticity, AI advertising, political manipulation, human verification and what happens when bots become indistinguishable from real people.

Inside the Case That Could Change Protesting Forever
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This week on Free Speech Friday, I sat down with independent investigative journalist Andrew Fedorov, whose bombshell Mother Jones piece reveals the horrors of the Prairieland case, which was one of the harshest protest sentencing outcomes in modern U.S. history. 
Activists who gathered outside a Texas ICE detention center on July 4th are now facing sentences ranging from 30 to 100 years, with combined sentencing for the group reaching over 580 years.
 Andrew sat in the courtroom for the entire trial, interviewed the defendants' friends and families, and pieced together a detailed timeline of what actually happened that night. We break down the real story of how these activists were persecuted and how the government built its case using Signal chats and iCloud backups.
 
We break down:
Who the Prairieland activists actually are and how they got involved

What really happened outside the ICE facility on July 4th

How the government used signal chats, iCloud data, and TikTok activity as evidence

Why one man is facing 30 years and deportation for moving a box of zines

What these sentences mean for the future of protest and free speech in America

Why big tech companies are complying with government subpoenas targeting anti-ICE accounts

This is a case everyone should understand because prosecutors are already calling it a successful blueprint, and similar cases are emerging in Minnesota, Washington, and beyond.
Read Andrew Fedorov's full investigation, "How Anti-ICE Protesters Became Prisoners in Trump's War on Antifa," linked below.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/07/prairieland-texas-antifa-trial-ice-protesters-terrorism-conspiracy/