Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Laleh Khalili to discuss how the United States uses its control of key technologies to shift global power dynamics, and how that specifically plays out in the Middle East. Laleh Khalili is Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and author of the forthcoming book Extractive Capitalism [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9781836740285]. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Laleh mentions Iran’s accusations towards Meta [https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/6/18/meta-concerned-iran-could-ban-whatsapp-after-snooping-claims] regarding WhatsApp.  * Tech executives [https://archive.ph/eNyz3] are joining the US army. * Laleh mentioned The Global Interior [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9780674271197] by Megan Black. * Several years ago, Israel used an AI-assisted gun [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/18/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-fakhrizadeh-assassination-israel.html] to kill an Iranian nuclear scientist. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Yangyang Cheng to discuss how Huawei became one of the most powerful companies in China and how current geopolitical narratives distract from the issues at the heart of surveillance capitalism in the US and China. Yangyang Cheng is a Research Scholar in Law and Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Yangyang wrote about how Huawei is emblematic of China’s capitalist model for ChinaFile [https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/viewpoint/capitalism-chinese-characteristics]. * We also discuss Eva Dou’s The House of Huawei [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9780593544631]. * Donald Trump discussed [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-us-hacking-china-b2779104.html] how the USA uses the same tactics the government accuses China of employing in bad faith. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Nitasha Tiku to discuss how AI companies are preying on users to drive engagement and how that’s repeating many of the problems we’re belatedly trying to address with social media companies at an accelerated pace. Nitasha Tiku is a technology reporter at the Washington Post. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Nitasha wrote about how chatbots are messing with people’s minds [https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/05/31/ai-chatbots-user-influence-attention-chatgpt/]. * Paris wrote about Mark Zuckerberg’s comments about people needing AI friends [https://www.disconnect.blog/p/mark-zuckerberg-wants-to-you-be-lonely]. * AI companies are facing [https://www.npr.org/2024/12/10/nx-s1-5222574/kids-character-ai-lawsuit] ongoing lawsuits [https://apnews.com/article/chatbot-ai-lawsuit-suicide-teen-artificial-intelligence-9d48adc572100822fdbc3c90d1456bd0] over harmful content. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Laís Martins to discuss the recent enforcement measures against tech companies like X and Rumble in Brazil, how the country is grappling with the overreach of US tech companies, and the wider discussion about tech policy in Brazil. Laís Martins is a technology reporter at The Intercept Brasil. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Laís has reported on Rumble's fight against the Brazilian Supreme Court [https://www.techpolicy.press/why-the-rumble-suit-against-a-brazilian-justice-is-not-about-free-speech/] as well as the decisions the Brazilian government is making to welcome AI data centers [https://www.techpolicy.press/brazil-is-handing-out-generous-incentives-for-data-centers-but-what-it-stands-to-gain-from-it-is-still-unclear/]. * Former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was spied on [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/24/brazil-president-un-speech-nsa-surveillance] by US intelligence services. * The Brazilian government has long used and supported [https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-the-end-of-google-as-we-know-it-could-be-your-biggest-opportunity-yet/] open source software. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Karen Hao to discuss how Sam Altman’s goal of scale at all costs has spawned a new empire founded on exploitation of people and the environment, resulting in not only the loss of valuable research into more inventive AI systems, but also exacerbated data privacy issues, intellectual property erosion, and the perpetuation of surveillance capitalism. Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist and the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9780593657508]. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Karen was the first journalist [https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/02/17/844721/ai-openai-moonshot-elon-musk-sam-altman-greg-brockman-messy-secretive-reality/] to profile OpenAI. * Karen has reported on the environmental impacts [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/ai-water-climate-microsoft/677602/] and human costs [https://www.wsj.com/tech/chatgpt-openai-content-abusive-sexually-explicit-harassment-kenya-workers-on-human-workers-cf191483?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_3] of AI. * The New York Times reported on Why We're Unlikely to Get Artificial General Intelligence [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/technology/what-is-agi.html] Anytime Soon.  Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]