TechCrunch: Meta’s months-old AI unit is a soul-crushing gulag, say the engineers stuck inside it
Meta’s newly formed Applied AI unit — roughly 6,500 employees “drafted” with no real choice — generates puzzles and coding problems to train models, and many call the work a “gulag” and soul-crushing. Wired reports simmering rage, including a livestreamed meltdown at a staff presentation; Zuckerberg justified drafting employees over third-party contractors on the grounds that they are smarter.
Politico: 5 things to know about the EU’s air passenger rights reform deal
EU countries approved a compromise on air passenger rights reform that, from the second half of 2027, will change the rules on baggage (a trolley bag must be included in the base fare), seating (no fees to seat parents next to their children) and compensation for cancelled or delayed flights. Only Spain and Latvia voted against.
A conversation with political scientist Mārtiņš Hiršs about a Friedrich Ebert Foundation study of Latvian voters’ values and ideological spectrum: the Soviet legacy still drives the older generation’s desire for a “stronger hand,” while young women are significantly more liberal than the rest of society.
Le Monde: Elon Musk’s role was ‘instrumental’ in the Belfast riots, researchers say
Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate say Elon Musk amplified anti-immigrant narratives on X around the Belfast riots , which followed a deadly knife attack. Posts about Belfast by Musk, Tommy Robinson and Rupert Lowe together drew more than 115 million views, with Musk’s share at 55% (64 million) — which is why researchers call his role “instrumental”.
Financial Times: AI is revolutionising the stock market
A Financial Times analysis of how the AI investment boom is reshaping not just technology but financial markets: four “cash machines” (Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon) are raising data-centre capital spending sixfold — to a staggering $815bn by 2027 — with free cash flow expected to fall 70%, and are stepping back from buying back their own shares; Apple, by contrast, is betting the other way.
This is a daily link digest — links to the articles I read the previous day.
Tip: a paywalled article can often be read by searching for its URL on archive.ph; an article in another language can be translated with hugo.lv.