Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Taylor Lorenz

Taylor Lorenz explores how technology and the internet are upending our lives and the world around us. Each week, she explores everything from online fame to emerging platforms, viral phenomena, the creator economy, and much more. Tune in every Wednesday for regular episodes and every Friday for "Free Speech Friday," her series on tech policy and the fight for civil liberties online.

Play

Open in

30 episodes
a few times a week
Avg 31 min
English

Episodes 30

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

Today · 38 min
Why Palantir Is Selling Tennis Skirts (w/ Lawrence Schlossman)
Why are people buying OpenAI sweatshirts, Claude “Thinking” hats and Palantir chore coats? SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 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 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠ Support my work on Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠ I sat down with Throwing Fits co-host Lawrence Schlossman to unpack the rise and fall of tech company merch. From Apple’s bizarre 1980s catalog lifestyle flop to dot-com bubble eBay relics, the rise and fall of the infamous corporate Patagonia fleece vest, and today’s ultra-hyped drops from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Palantir, we discuss why the most powerful AI companies on earth are suddenly trying to buy their way into high fashion, menswear, and cultural relevance. We also talk about OpenAI, Anthropic, Palantir, Apple, Meta, Patagonia, Cash App, tech bro fashion, menswear culture and the influencers making AI merchandise aspirational. Subscribe to User Magazine at usermag.co to support this show!!
Friday · 30 min
ICE Is Hunting Down TikTok Journalists
ICE shot a TikTok journalist covering raids in Los Angeles then locked him in desert detention for 300 days (he is still there) with a festering gunshot wound, worms in his drinking water and cockroaches in his cell. This is the story of Carlitos Ricardo Parias known online as Richard LA or Richard Noticias LA and what it reveals about the war on independent journalism under the guise of "kids online safety" and "cracking down on social media addiction." SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I'm joined by Adam Rose, Deputy Director of Advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, to investigate the horrifying case of Richard Parias. Richard is an independent community journalist in Los Angeles who spent months documenting immigration sweeps, neighborhood stories, and ICE activities directly on TikTok and Instagram. After being struck by an ICE vehicle, ambushed on a quiet residential street, and shot by a federal agent who juggled his sidearm between hands, Richard found himself trapped in a dystopian legal nightmare. Despite having all criminal charges dropped, federal agents erased surveillance footage of the incident and sent Richard to a sweltering detention facility in the Mojave Desert, where he is still trapped and struggling to get basic medical care. Adam's story: https://theintercept.com/2026/08/16/ricardo-parias-ice-detention-journalist-los-angeles/ (PLEASE SHARE!!!!) We break down how independent journalism has evolved away from legacy newsrooms into livestreams, citizen journalism, and social media content creators, and how the government is pushing "kids online safety" laws to aggressively unmask journalists, enact real-name ID mandates via "age verification", and sweeping digital censorship laws, all under the guise of child safety.
September 2 · 42 min
Inside the Towns Saying Hell No to AI Data Centers w/ Jasmine Sun
Small towns across America are revolting against massive AI data centers. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 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 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠ Support my work on Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠ In this episode of Power User, journalist Jasmine Sun breaks down her on-the-ground reporting across Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York to uncover why Republicans and Democrats are joining forces to halt Big Tech’s infrastructure expansion. From secret NDAs signed by local officials to skyrocketing electricity bills, strained power grids, and broken economic promises, we examine how the demands of generative AI are affecting local communities. We also dive into the real environmental impacts (from water consumption myths to the real problems related to natural gas) and discuss how the current compute buildout is creating a speculative bubble. Jasmine gets into how distrust of Big Tech is shaping the AI backlash, why previous development failures like Foxconn still influence Midwestern communities, and what the United States can learn from China's approach to AI infrastructure.
August 28 · 35 min
Congress Wants to Track Every Device You Own
A New Law That Could Destroy Open Source Forever SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 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 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠ Support my work on Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠ The US Senate recently introduced the Digital Age Assurance Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that could fundamentally alter how every operating system and internet-connected device works. Under the guise of "protecting children online," this bill threatens to mandate ID verification directly into operating systems (not just social media or the internet, but operating systems themselves). This would impact everything from smartphones to PCs to open-source software like Linux. Obviously, this has huge implications for privacy, free speech, and the future of open-source development. On this week's Free Speech Friday, I sat down with Laz Pieper and Peter Van Valkenburgh from Coin Center to break down their viral Substack piece, "The Correct Term for Age Verification is Censorship." We dive deep into how turning open-source coders into regulated service providers violates First Amendment rights, how mass identity verification systems are dangerous, why the line between safety mandates and government surveillance is disappearing so fast, and what we can do to stop this law.
August 26 · 37 min
The Pause AI Movement Is Winning
The movement to pause AI is gaining momentum, but can anyone actually stop the race toward more powerful artificial intelligence? SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 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 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠ Support my work on Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠ 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??
August 21 · 25 min
AI Text Now Has a Secret Tracking Code
To access an ad-free listening experience, get bonus episodes, and receive my weekly newsletter, subscribe to my Patreon or Substack 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at⁠ ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠ Support my work on Patreon:⁠ ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠⁠ 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. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠ Support my work on Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠
August 19 · 33 min
The Truth About Zuck's 6,500 Word AI Manifesto w/ Mike Isaac
Zuckerberg Wants AI to Know Everything About You SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 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. To get access to ad-free listening and my weekly newsletter, subscribe to my Patreon or Substack 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠ Support my work on Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz⁠
August 17 · 7 min
[PATREON PREVIEW] Inside America's First Venture Backed Bot Farm
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 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co 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.
August 14 · 26 min
Your iPhone Could Send You to Jail: The Terrifying Truth About Prairieland
Inside the Case That Could Change Protesting Forever FOR AD-FREE EPISODES SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 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/
August 12 · 31 min
The Insane Collapse of Silicon Valley's 'Nostradamus of AI'
The Wild Rise and Fall of Leopold Aschenbrenner LISTEN AD-FREE!! 👇🏻 Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz Until a week ago, Leopold Aschenbrenner was hailed as the "Nostradamus of AI". A 24-year-old former OpenAI researcher whose 165-page manifesto, Situational Awareness, convinced Silicon Valley and Wall Street that superintelligence was coming faster than anyone expected, his hedge fund ballooned to over $20 billion. Then, it came crashing down. In this episode of Power User, WSJ reporter Berber Jin joins me to break down the meteoric rise and fall of Leopold Aschenbrenner, from his early days in the effective altruism movement and FTX's Future Fund, to his controversial exit from OpenAI, to the margin calls, Citadel bailout, and chaos that unfolded the very same week he got married We discuss what Aschenbrenner's spectacular blowup tells us about Silicon Valley, AI hype, and the rush to bet billions on AI. Follow Berber Jin (Wall Street Journal): https://twitter.com/berber_jin Read Berber's story: https://www.wsj.com/finance/leopold-aschenbrenner-situational-awareness-ai-fund-597633d3
August 7 · 35 min
The Viral Elon Musk Lawsuit Everyone Is Getting Wrong
Everyone got this viral lawsuit totally wrong. FOR AD-FREE EPISODES, BUY A PAID SUBSCRIPTION TO MY PATREON OR SUBSTACK!! SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz This week, a viral story claimed Elon Musk's xAI is suing Minnesota so that he can create AI-generated CS*M. That false claim exploded across social media, but it leaves out the most important part. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with First Amendment scholar Jeff Kosseff to break down Minnesota's new AI law, why xAI is challenging it, why major civil liberties orgs like the ACLU are also against the law, and why free speech advocates across the country say the law raises serious concerns. This convo is NOT defending Elon Musk. It is about understanding how AI regulation can produce unintended consequences and why even laws that claim to do good can do immense harm to us all. We discuss: The $500,000-per-image penalties facing AI companies How the law could affect image generators, creative software, and indie developers Why First Amendment scholars are sounding the alarm The risks of strict liability for AI platforms The chilling effect on online speech and creative expression Whether AI-generated content deserves First Amendment protection How this compares to Section 230, FOSTA-SESTA, and the Take It Down Act Why regulating platforms instead of bad actors may have unintended consequences
August 5 · 21 min
AI Is Destroying Millions of Books (But Not For The Reason You Think)
Is AI destroying human literature? SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz You might have seen the viral videos of a "book guillotine" slicing the spines off thousands of books in a massive warehouse. Last week, the internet exploded after videos surfaced showing Anthropic cutting the spines off thousands of books to train AI models. Social media quickly filled with claims that AI companies were destroying rare books, erasing human knowledge, and building a future where artificial intelligence replaces libraries. But is that actually what happened? In this episode of Power User, I sit down with tech policy expert Derek Slater, who worked on the original Google Books project, to explain why Anthropic is actually scanning books and destroying physical copies afterward, how decades of copyright law (not just AI) created this bizarre situation, and how we can actually save the books!! We discuss: Why Anthropic buys books by the pallet Whether rare books are actually being destroyed How Google Books handled digitization Why copyright law incentivizes destroying books The Internet Archive lawsuits Fair use and AI training The future of libraries in the AI era Why the viral outrage missed the bigger story
August 3 · 47 min
Inside The Nantucket Influencer War
Nantucket's "No Influencers" Sign Started a Gender and Class War, Here's What It's Really About SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz Last week, the internet exploded after a small Nantucket shop posted a simple sign reading "No Influencers." What started as a local controversy quickly became a national debate about influencer culture, old money, quiet luxury, class, authenticity, and the future of social media. In this bonus episode of Power User, I'm joined by freelance reporter Andrea Domanick, co-host of The Culture Journalist podcast and newsletter, to unpack the most cursed discourse of the summer. We get into why this fight is not actually about one sign or one influencer, and who gets to define status, taste, and authenticity in America's most exclusive spaces. We explore: The Four Winds Craft Guild controversy Paige Lorenz and Dairy Boy Quiet luxury and the old money aesthetic The rise of influencer culture Why "influencer" has become a loaded word The history of influencer bans Social media, class, and cultural capital Why privacy has become the ultimate luxury
July 31 · 28 min
Trump's Plan to Destroy 'Woke AI'
If AI becomes the foundation of search, education, government, and everyday life, the fight over who controls AI outputs could shape the future of the internet. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz The Trump administration is making a major push to reshape AI in a way that could affect ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and every AI company building the future by trying to ban "woke" AI. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, TechDirt's Mike Masnick joins me to break down the FTC's proposed AI policy, what it actually says, and how it will pressure AI companies to change their answers, withhold information, give misleading information, and what this battle means for free speech, censorship, AI regulation, and open-weight models. We discuss: • Trump's AI Executive Orders • The FTC's new anti-woke AI policy proposal • ChatGPT and AI censorship • Free speech and the First Amendment • OpenAI vs Grok • Open-weight AI models • Government regulation of artificial intelligence • The future of AI in America
July 29 · 39 min
The AI War Just Went Nuclear: Everyone Hates Anthropic Now (Even Denny's Diner)
The biggest fight in AI isn't about chatbots anymore, it's about who gets to control the future of artificial intelligence. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz Is Anthropic trying to lock down AI before their IPO, or are open-weight models genuinely a threat to global safety? In this episode of Power User, Matthew Berman, co-founder of the tech media outlet Forward Future, breaks down the explosive debate rocking Silicon Valley and Washington DC. After the release of China's powerful Kimi K3 open-weight model, OpenAI's autonomous hacking benchmark, and a growing push from Anthropic to restrict open AI models, Silicon Valley has erupted into one of the biggest technology battles in years. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft, Meta, Google, IBM, Hugging Face, Mozilla, Palantir, Dell and dozens of other massive technology companies have all come together to publicly back open weight AI models, while Anthropic argues against them. Whoever wins will control the future of the tech landscape for decades to come. I break down: What open weight AI actually is How Kimi K3 changed the AI race The OpenAI benchmark that escaped containment The Hugging Face security incident Anthropic's campaign against open models Why Jensen Huang and all of Silicon Valley is pushing back The growing debate inside Washington over regulating AI Why this fight could determine who controls AI for decades
July 24 · 29 min
The Secret Plan to Kill Super PACs (How We Finally End Citizens United)
The Secret Court Case That Could Destroy Super PACs Forever SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz You've been told that Citizens United created Super PACs… but that's not the full story. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig reveals the obscure lower court ruling (SpeechNow v. FEC) that actually unleashed unlimited billionaire money into American elections, and the groundbreaking legal strategy that could end Super PACs by 2028 WITHOUT overturning Citizens United. Backed by an unlikely coalition including Mark Cuban and Reid Hoffman, Lessig and his group Equal Citizens helped Maine voters pass a historic ballot initiative banning Super PAC contributions. Now the case is headed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals on July 29, with famed Supreme Court litigator Neal Katyal arguing that nothing in the Constitution protects billionaires' "right" to buy elections. If the appeal succeeds, this case could reach the Supreme Court by 2027 and revive existing federal limits on campaign contributions nationwide. We break down: ▶ Why SpeechNow v. FEC — not Citizens United — created the Super PAC system ▶ How the Menendez bribery indictment exposed the "no quid pro quo" myth ▶ The originalist argument designed to win over conservative justices ▶ Billionaire outside spending's explosion from 0.3% to 19% of election money ▶ The AI Super PAC trying to block Congress from regulating artificial intelligence ▶ Why an Article V constitutional convention may be the backup plan ▶ What happens if the First Circuit rules on July 29, and the road to SCOTUS If you care about money in politics, campaign finance reform, and getting billionaire money out of elections, this is the most important legal fight you've never heard of.
July 22 · 34 min
OpenAI Could Lose Everything w/ Alex Kantrowitz
🔒 Get 20% off DeleteMe by going to https://joindeleteme.com/TAYLOR20 and use code TAYLOR20 to protect your privacy! 🙌 🚨 Apple is officially suing OpenAI and the allegations are insane. 🚨 SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz In what might be the most shocking Silicon Valley lawsuit of the year, Apple has accused OpenAI of corporate sabotage, trade secret theft, and orchestrating a massive campaign to poach over 400 former Apple employees to build its secret AI hardware division. From ex-employees using security bugs to access secret Apple folders, to candidates allegedly bringing physical Apple prototypes to job interviews for "show and tell", this legal battle gives us a rare, cutthroat look at the AI hardware arms race. In this episode of Power User, I sat down with tech reporter and Big Technology founder Alex Kantrowitz to break down everything you need to know about the Apple vs. OpenAI lawsuit. Will this kill OpenAI's hardware ambitions and ruin its upcoming IPO? Will we ever actually get a ChatGPT phone? And why is Apple taking such aggressive legal action now? We break down why this isn't just another tech lawsuit, it's literally a fight over who will own the future of AI. We discuss: Why OpenAI hired Jony IveWhether an OpenAI phone is actually coming The future of AI glasses, AI pins, and wearable devices Why Apple may be trying to stop OpenAI before it can compete The race to control the next generation of computing Whether AI hardware is the future or another Silicon Valley flop Why OpenAI tried to copy Apple's hardware roadmap instead of building from scratch. How this lawsuit could cripple OpenAI's valuation and delay its IPO. The future of AI hardware: AI pins, smart glasses, or will the iPhone remain king?
July 20 · 5 min
[PATREON PREVIEW] Bill Gates Daughter's $43M Tech Scandal
To listen to this and other bonus episodes, buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co or support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz. Affiliate marketing is one of the biggest industries on the internet, and according to researcher Ben Edelman, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest AI startups may have been abusing it. In this bonus episode of Power User I sat down with Edelman to break down what’s happening with Phia, the shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates that has raised over $43 million from famed Silicon Valley investors like Kleiner Perkins Sheryl Sandberg, along with a slew of celebrities including Sydney Sweeney, Khloe Kardashian and Hailey Bieber. We break down allegations that Phia’s browser extension secretly inserted affiliate tracking codes, how this compares to the Honey controversy, why retailers could have lost millions, and what this means for the future of AI-powered shopping.
July 17 · 27 min
How the Government Uses AI to Spy on You
The government is using powerful AI tools to build massive digital dossiers on everyday citizens, and it’s happening with zero oversight. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at https://www.usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sat with Matthew Guariglia, Senior Policy Analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), to expose how generative AI has democratized mass surveillance. From the FBI’s massive physical paper filing hangars of the 20th century to modern AI models that scrape your social media, track your geolocation, and predict your political affiliation in seconds—the barrier to entry for government surveillance has officially collapsed. We dive deep into Guariglia's recent congressional testimony on the AI security landscape, revealing how the Pentagon is blacklisting tech companies like Anthropic for trying to restrict AI from being used in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. In this video, we cover: How AI is automating mass surveillance at an unprecedented scale. The secret government contracts and the battle for unrestricted AI use. Why your social media history, geolocation, and purchases create a permanent record. The historical lessons from Ferguson and the Japanese-American internment that prove data is vulnerability. What you can do to protect your digital rights (hint: it starts with turning off your geolocation).
July 15 · 35 min
A Physicist Destroys Elon Musk's Mars Fantasy
We are never going to Mars. And the billionaires selling you the dream are lying to your face. SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co Support my work on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz The idea of living on Mars has become one of Silicon Valley's biggest promises. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other tech billionaires claim humanity's future depends on becoming a multi-planetary species. But what if nearly everything you've been told about colonizing Mars is quite literally scientifically impossible? In this week's episode of Power User, I sat down with physicist and science journalist Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever, a fantastic book that I absolutely loved, to break down the biggest myths about Mars colonization, SpaceX, AI, and Silicon Valley's vision of the future. We discuss why Mars is far more hostile than most people realize, the scientific barriers that make permanent settlement nearly impossible, and why billionaires continue selling this vision despite knowing it will never become reality. We cover: Why humans will literally NEVER live on Mars The biggest scientific problems SpaceX can't solve The truth about Elon Musk's Mars colony plans Why Silicon Valley keeps selling science fiction as reality How AI and space colonization became part of the same billionaire narrative Why investing in Earth may matter far more than escaping it

Showing 1–20 of 30 episodes