Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

The Anti-LGBTQ Internet Censorship Bill Is Back

Just in time for Pride month, Marsha Blackburn and the Heritage Foundation's anti-LGBTQ censorship is back (now supported by OpenAI). SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co [http://usermag.co]      Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz [http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz]     The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is back, and this time, the White House is reportedly negotiating a deal to pass it in exchange for federal preemption of state AI laws. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I break down why KOSA is one of the most dangerous internet censorship bills in Congress, why tech billionaires like Sam Altman and Elon Musk actually SUPPORT it, and what the media is getting completely wrong about this so-called "trade-off." I'm joined by Ari Cohn, one of the top First Amendment lawyers in the country, to explain exactly how KOSA's "duty of care" provision will force platforms to mass-censor content, including LGBTQ voices, mental health support communities, reproductive health information, and more.  We cover the junk science behind the social media moral panic, the age verification privacy nightmare, how the FTC could become the internet's censor-in-chief, and why we've seen this exact panic before with comic books, video games, and television. Click the link below to take action now!!! https://www.badinternetbills.com [https://www.badinternetbills.com]  In this video, we cover: * What the Kids Online Safety Act actually does * How KOSA could impact social media platforms * Age verification and online privacy issues * The potential effects on LGBTQ communities, mental health resources, and online speech * Why Elon Musk and OpenAI support KOSA. * The reality of age verification and the death of online privacy. * How KOSA targets niche communities and support groups.

Exposing OpenAI's Secret Meme Army: A $125M Propaganda Network

Exposing The Dark Money Machine Behind AI Propaganda SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co [http://usermag.co]      Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz [http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz]  I break down my investigation into a network of pro-AI and anti-AI meme accounts that I found were secretly being run and funded by OpenAI, Palantir, and Andreessen Horowitz's big $125M super PAC and dark money group.  I reveal how these accounts operated, who is connected to them, why they promoted both sides of the AI debate, and how the organization at the center of the story confirmed key aspects of the reporting after publication. I talk about how a self-described “Meme Lord” named Jason Levin,  founder of Memelord Technologies was hired by the super PAC, Leading the Future, to create and run sock puppet accounts like “DoomersAreDumb” and “Jonathan Doomer” to attack AI critics, mock disabled people, post violent threats, and even pretend to be an anti-AI activist. OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman donated millions to this campaign. OpenAI’s head of strategy follows these meme accounts. And when confronted, Build American AI confirmed it all. Topics covered: * AI propaganda and influence campaigns * OpenAI and AI policy politics * Dark money groups and Super PACs * Fake activist accounts * AI-generated content networks * Meme pages and online manipulation * Political lobbying and artificial intelligence * Social media influence operations * Tech industry power and public opinion #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #TechNews #OpenAI #SiliconValley #MemeCulture #InvestigativeJournalism #InfluenceCampaign #AIDebate #TechPolicy #PowerUser

Are You On A Govt Watchlist? Cops Are Tracking Anyone Who Hates AI

Are you on a government watchlist just for criticizing AI?  SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co [http://usermag.co]     Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz [http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz]   A shocking new investigation from The Intercept reveals that police are tracking seemingly anyone who expresses skepticism or anger about the tech industry online.  In this episode of Free Speech Friday, journalist Sam Biddle joins me to dive deep into a terrifying new report from The Intercept exposing how Philadelphia police officers admitted to monitoring legitimate First Amendment activity. Law enforcement documents show that specialized "Fusion Centers" are scanning social media, message boards, and Facebook to flag users posting anti-AI and anti-data center sentiments.  Sam and I discuss the post-9/11 surveillance apparatus, how local police use tools like Data Miner to monitor online discussions, and why the Trump administration is aligning with tech billionaires and crypto lobbyists to turn AI into a national security priority.  Is your private Signal group chat safe from police infiltration? Why are corporate platforms like Meta incentivized to censor anti-tech activism? We break down the chilling effect of mass surveillance and the elite effort to frame community civics and political advocacy as domestic extremism. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM: This channel has ZERO sponsors and relies 100% on viewer support! Keep my reporting alive by subscribing: 👉 Support on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz [http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz]     👉 Read my Substack Newsletter: https://usermag.co [https://usermag.co]  #Surveillance #BigTech #ArtificialIntelligence #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #Privacy #DataCenter #TheIntercept #TechNews #CivilLiberties SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co [http://usermag.co]     Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz [http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz]

The Data Center Boom Is More Toxic Than You Think

Are AI data centers destroying the environment, driving up power bills, and consuming massive amounts of water, or is the backlash overblown? SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co [http://usermag.co]      Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz [http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz]        In this episode of Power User, I sit down with Wired senior climate and energy reporter Molly Taft to unpack the AI data center boom. We discuss how AI infrastructure actually works, why companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and xAI are racing to build more data centers, and what the environmental consequences could be. We dive into the controversy around electricity demand, fossil fuel expansion, water use, local community opposition, AI infrastructure, data center moratoriums, and whether these facilities are genuinely necessary for the future of artificial intelligence. Topics covered: * What AI data centers actually do * Why ChatGPT and AI require so much compute * The environmental impact of AI * Energy consumption and power grids * Natural gas, nuclear, and renewable energy * Elon Musk's xAI Colossus project * Water usage and cooling systems * Community backlash against data centers * Climate concerns and AI development * The future of AI infrastructure If you've been seeing headlines about AI data centers, energy crises, environmental impacts, or the race between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and China, this conversation breaks down what's really happening. #AI #DataCenters #ChatGPT #OpenAI #ArtificialIntelligence #ClimateChange #Technology #TechNews #Energy #Environment

Visa Could Ruin the Internet

What if you woke up tomorrow and completely lost access to your bank account, credit cards, PayPal, and Venmo, all because of something you posted online?  SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co [http://usermag.co]     Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz [http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz]      In this episode of Free Speech Friday, Rainey Reitman, advisor at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and author of the new book "Transaction Denied" joins me to dive deep into the terrifying reality of financial censorship and how major banks and payment processors are quietly becoming the ultimate gatekeepers of internet speech.  Reitman reveals how a handful of massive financial institutions are bypassing the First Amendment to act as privatized censors, deciding what journalism you can support, what political nonprofits you can donate to, and what ideas are considered "misinformation." From the early financial blockade of WikiLeaks to recent debanking scandals involving independent journalists and nonpartisan advocacy groups, this hidden digital infrastructure controls your life more than you realize.  SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM: This channel has ZERO sponsors, and speaking out on financial censorship isn't advertiser-friendly. If you get value from this show, support my work so I can keep making these videos! 👉 Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/taylorlorenz [https://www.patreon.com/taylorlorenz]  👉 Support on Substack: https://www.usermag.co/subscribe [https://www.usermag.co/subscribe]  👉 Pick up a copy of Rainey Reitman's "Transaction Denied" here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804543/transaction-denied-by-rainey-reitman/ [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804543/transaction-denied-by-rainey-reitman/]  *(Note: Half of all book proceeds go directly to the Freedom of the Press Foundation)* We discuss:  The Nightmare of Financial Censorship How Payment Processors Got So Much Power The Rise of E-Commerce & Speech Dependency PayPal, WikiLeaks, and Chelsea Manning Censorship by Proxy: How the Government Pressures Banks The Visa Lawsuit That Could Ruin the Internet