Big Tech Plans to Move Fast and Break Democracy

Feb 9, 2026·
muckrAIkers
muckrAIkers
· 3 min read
We're talking about developments in AI while those in power have unapologetically revealed their true fascist intensions; are we spending our time in the right way? Igor and I discuss the importance of shining a light on the techno-authoritarians who have played a very significant role in current state-of-the-world.

While we discuss the murders of Nicole Good and Alex Pretti during this episode, it’s important that we also acknowledge the many marginalized people have been killed as a result of ICE’s behavior, and they same level of outcry didn’t happen. Six additional individuals died in ICE custody under suspicious circumstances between January 1st and 25th of 2026: Victor Manuel DĂ­az, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz, Parady La, and Heber Sánchez DomĂ­nguez.

EPISODE RECORDED 2026.01.25; TRANSCRIPT

Chapters

00:00 âť™ Introduction
03:57 âť™ The Authoritarian Stack
08:33 âť™ Palantir & Theil-Government Consolidation
13:44 âť™ Move Fast & Break Everything
23:14 âť™ Fascism in the US & Starving the Beast
39:48 âť™ Finding Local Opportunities for Action
  • The Authoritarian Stack website
  • Project 2025 Observer website
  • EFF report - ICE Using Palantir Tool Feeds on Medicaid Data

Context: Minneapolis Protests and ICE Killings

  • The Guardian article - Eight people have died in dealings with ICE so far in 2026. These are their stories
  • Wikipedia article - Killing of RenĂ©e Good
  • Wikipedia article - Killing of Alex Pretti
  • NY Times article - Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun
  • CBS News article - Bondi seeks Minnesota voter rolls, welfare data to “help bring back law and order” in wake of shootings
  • Canary article - Black Panthers are out protecting communities from ICE thugs
  • LegalEagle video - The Execution of Alex Pretti Broke Me

Context: International Affairs Under Trump

  • Bloomberg article - Trump Says U.S. Used ‘Discombobulator’ Weapon in Maduro Raid
  • Wikipedia article - 2026 United States intervention in Venezuela
  • New Yorker article - Trump’s Greenland Fiasco
  • Perun video - The War in Ukraine in 2026
  • Britannica article - Conflict in Darfur

Getting Involved

AI-Specific Organizing

  • Distributed AI Research Institute projects
  • EAAMO website - Mechanism Design for Social Good
  • Bridges website - Mechanism Design for Social Good Conference

Events Referenced

  • Jerome H. Powell speech on refusing to step down as Federal Reserve Chair
  • BBC article - Myanmar begins defence in landmark genocide case at UN court
  • Vox article - How a New Hampshire libertarian utopia was foiled by bears
  • Stanford Law School report - Living Under Drones

Additional Resources

  • Innuendo Studios video - When We Say Fascism
  • Social Alternatives paper - Killer robots and deepfakes: activists and artificial intelligence
  • Georgetown Climate Center article - Defense, Denial and Disinformation: Uncovering the Oil Industry’s Early Knowledge of Climate Change
  • Wikipedia article - 18F (government digital services agency)
  • Wikipedia article - Praxis (process)
  • Wikipedia article - Starve the beast

The Koch Brothers

  • SourceWatch article - Koch Network
  • Wikipedia article - Koch network
  • The Guardian article - Koch brothers: the rightwing megadonors taking on Trump
  • ScienceDirect article - The Koch Brothers and the weaponization of philanthropy

Igor’s Recommendations on Hope

  • Carlos Maza video - How To Be Hopeless
  • Wikipedia article - The Plague by Albert Camus
  • Wikipedia article - Self-efficacy
United States Narratives & Hype
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