Christoph Faschian

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[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

Russia is helping Iran target and kill American soldiers. It shouldn’t be a surprise when your enemy acts like your enemy. I eagerly await hearing from Trump how this is Zelenskyy‘s fault.

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

Perhaps US security, military personnel, civilians, and allies in the Middle East would be better served by a White House that doesn’t regularly shit all over the world‘s greatest experts in shooting down Shahed drones, Ukraine. Zelenskyy offered to help and Trump insulted him.

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

Publishing this in newspapers across Europe.

This boycott is just getting started.

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

A quite brilliant essay on AI, the law, and the future of the republic.

An upshot: If the US govt can go to any company, demand any contract language, and reserve the right to destroy your company if you have qualms, there is no such thing as private property rights in America.

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

Wow, the lead author of Trump's AI Action Plan, Dean Ball, is calling out Pete Hegseth’s mafia-style behavior toward Anthropic:

"The fact that his shot is unlikely to be lethal (only very bloody) does not change the message sent to every investor and corporation in America: do business on our terms, or we will end your business."

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

Effective consumer boycotts have 2 things in common.

They are (1) narrow and (2) easy.

This is why I think @quitchatgpt is on an absolute rampage right now.

The boycott is targeted at a very vulnerable company (OpenAI) and switching costs are essentially zero.

[Vassili Golod @VassiliGolod]

Die Ukraine hat den härtesten Winter seit Kriegsbeginn überlebt. Der Frühling kommt.

[Paweł Huryn @PawelHuryn]

I've just canceled my OpenAI subscription and turned down a collaboration with OpenAI.

Some say Anthropic has lost. To me, they just earned something no contract can buy - trust. And something tells me that's not the end of the story.

[Dustin @r0ck3t23]

Dario Amodei just gave his first interview since the Pentagon blacklisted his company. The toll is visible on his face.

He was asked one question. What would you say to the President right now?

He didn’t hesitate.

Amodei: “We are patriotic Americans. Everything we have done has been for the sake of this country.”

Anthropic built their models to defend America. They were the first AI lab cleared for classified military systems. They wanted to help the warfighter.

But the Pentagon demanded unrestricted access to fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens.

Amodei drew the line.

The government responded with emergency Cold War powers. A supply chain designation normally reserved for foreign adversaries. A six-month federal phaseout ordered from Truth Social.

Amodei: “When we were threatened with supply chain designation and Defense Production Act, which are unprecedented intrusions into the private economy, we exercised our classic First Amendment rights to speak up and disagree with the government.”

The administration framed Anthropic’s refusal as anti-American.

Amodei’s response dismantled that framing in one sentence.

Amodei: “Disagreeing with the government is the most American thing in the world.”

Here is the deeper paradox nobody in Washington wants to say out loud.

We are in a geopolitical race against autocratic adversaries who use AI for mass surveillance of their own citizens and autonomous weapons with no human oversight.

The Pentagon demanded that Anthropic build those exact capabilities for America.

Amodei: “The red lines we have drawn, we drew because we believe that crossing those red lines is contrary to American values.”

You cannot defeat authoritarianism by adopting its methods.

You cannot defend the open society by forcing private companies to build its antithesis under threat of wartime emergency powers.

Anthropic held the line. Got blacklisted for it. And came out the other side saying the same thing they said going in.

That is what it actually looks like to mean it.

[toomas hendrik ilves @IlvesToomas]

If the EU were smart, they’d crawl out of their skin and pay billions to get Anthropic to move here.

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

This is a golden opportunity for Europe.

Welcome Anthropic with open arms. Offer a special deal. Fast-track permits.

Europe is been powerless in the AI race so far - welcoming the best AI lab in the world would change everything.

@MinPres @EmmanuelMacron @_FriedrichMerz

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

Sam Altman is such an incredible backstabber, liar and traitor.

While your competitor is taking a heroic and principled stand, you swoop in to make your deal. Imagine working for this guy - is there a greater shame?

This should lead to a mass exodus from OpenAI.

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

This is a huge opportunity for Europe. Welcome Anthropic with open arms. Roll out the red carpet. Visa for all employees.

Europe already controls the AI hardware bottleneck through ASML. Add the world's leading AI safety lab and you have the foundations of an AI superpower.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

The always excellent annual Yalta European Strategy Conference took place in Kyiv September 12-13. Trump's envoy General Kellogg was there, so the Russians did not bomb Kyiv for 2 nights...
2 things stand out:
The US has left &
Ukraine produces its own arms but needs money. /1

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

Kellogg: If he [Putin] was winning, he’d be in Kyiv, west of the Dnipro, on Odesa, and he’d have changed the government. Russia is losing.

Losses are World War II scale — over a million dead and wounded. First-line units are gone. Tanks pulled from museums. 1/

[Paul Ronzheimer @ronzheimer]

Kanzler Merz begeht (auch) außenpolitisch Wortbruch, wenn er weiter auf die massive Ausweitung der russischen Angriffe auf zivile Ziele in der Ukraine NICHT reagiert. In Bundestagsreden hat er in der Opposition Scholz massiv fürs Nichtstun kritisiert und gesagt, Putin müsse eine klare Ansage gemacht werden, dass diese Angriffe Folgen haben wie z.B. die Lieferung von Taurus. „Wenn innerhalb von 24 Stunden diese Angriffe nicht eingestellt werden, dann…“ Es geht hier nicht um die Frage, wie stark der Taurus wirklich hilft bzw weitere Waffensysteme, aber die westliche Antwort kann angesichts der Dronenangriffe doch nicht einfach nur Ohnmacht und ein bisschen Erschütterung sein! So wie die USA und Europa momentan auftreten, wirkt es wie ein Zeichen an Putin: Wir haben in Wahrheit aufgegeben. Merz hat immer wieder klare Worte gefunden in der Vergangenheit. Worte reichen schon lange nicht mehr.

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

So Zelensky did everything Trump asked him to do, signed away mineral rights, agreed to an unconditional ceasefire, and the U.S. still cut off previously funded weapons supplies, leaving Ukrainian cities defenseless against Russian missile strikes. A lesson to all here.

[Palmer Luckey @PalmerLuckey]

Anduril had people/hardware in Ukraine two weeks into the invasion. Our autonomous weapons have destroyed hundreds of millions worth of Russia's war machine.

The United States should give them the tools they need to win. It is the fastest path to peace, one way or another.

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

American weapons created to destroy the Russian military are rotting in warehouses instead of doing their job in Ukraine. Putin asks, Trump delivers. Or in this case, doesn't deliver. Perhaps he can go to Moscow to deliver some of his perfume.