Breaking the wave of harmful AI

Hi Reader,

Since the US election, we’ve been reflecting a lot on the power of collaboration and coordination to address the complex, structural challenges we’re facing. One voice can make a difference, but many voices, working together, can effect real change. And when we consistently act in concert, incremental progress can snowball into something much bigger - a movement.

This month (and beyond), we’re focusing on both amplifying the voices of experts and change agents, and creating spaces for coordinated action that drive meaningful, lasting change

In case you missed it, last week I sat down with Kevin De Liban, who recently launched Techntonic Justice—an organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for those harmed by AI systems. Check out our episode, Algorithmically Cutting Benefits, to learn more.

Here’s what we’ve got coming up:

RSVP for our next Insight Session with Bianca Wylie

We’re continuing our Insight Session series, bringing in experts to share their unique perspectives on how we can improve public discourse and policy around AI.

This month, we’re thrilled to talk with Bianca Wylie, a leading voice on digital governance, who will join us for an in-depth conversation on AI Procurement. You may remember Bianca from our podcast episode, Chasing Away Sidewalk Labs, where she told the story of taking on Google and spoke about the complexities of government procurement of tech.

In this session, Bianca will guide us through the important—but often overlooked—role that public sector procurement plays in shaping the political, ethical, and operational landscape of AI adoption. This session is for those that are keen to learn more about the role of procurement in shaping AI politics and the levers of power that we can pull to slow—and ideally stop—immature technologies from being embedded in civic systems.

👉 Register for the Insight Session with Bianca Wylie!​

AI Summit Coordination Update

A huge thank you to everyone who shared their plans for the French AI Summit—we’re excited to see so many workshops, side events, and hackathons being organized. With Trump’s victory and the shifting political landscape, we’re more aware than ever of the critical role the summit will play in challenging harmful visions of AI and building better alternatives around the public good. There’s a lot at stake, and we’re committed to making sure our collective voice is strong.

If you’re attending the summit or planning work around it, we want to make sure you have a chance to connect with others who are doing the same. That’s why we’re hosting community coordination calls before and after the summit. These calls will be a chance to:

• Connect with others attending or organizing events for the summit
• Discuss ideas to expand our collective impact
• Coordinate efforts and messaging to ensure we’re maximizing our influence as a community

We’ll be hosting two calls before the summit and one after. We’d love for you to join us.

👉 Register for the December Community Coordination Call​

If you’d prefer not to receive further updates about the AI Summit, you can opt-out here.

Here’s what else we’ve been up to…

• This week, I’m in San Francisco, facilitating an event with Mozilla, the Columbia Institute of Global Politics, and experts from diverse sectors, that explores the critical role of openness in shaping the future of AI. On Friday, we’ll release the first of two episodes on the same topic, co-hosted by Mark Surman, President of Mozilla. Keep an eye on our Podcast page for its release!
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• Last week, Prathm and I sat down to debrief the results of the Presidential election, discuss its implications for tech politics, and talk about how we move forward. I also wrote a newsletter sharing my personal reaction and thoughts on how this shapes our strategy going forward.
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• If you’d like to join a community conversation about the election aftermath, we’re hosting a meet-up on November 26th—RSVP here to join us.
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• I recently recorded a mini podcast series on AI & the environment called Net 0++, where I had conversations with folks like Karen Hao, Boxi Wu, Holly Alpine, Sherif Elsayed, and Jenna Ruddock. We dive into topics like AI’s role in climate injustices, using AI to reduce concrete’s carbon emissions, and the environmental impact of data centres.
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• Speaking of data centres, we’re also hosting a Data Centre Research Meetup next month too—click here if you're interested and we'll follow up with an invite soon.

Looking forward to the conversations ahead!

Alix

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