I hope you liked the piece I wrote on Sam Bankman-Fried and his Nauruan fantasy earlier this week! To be honest, I’d already been hoping to write something about deep-sea mining and Nauru’s history, but when I saw the Bankman-Fried story I knew I had to do it. I just think Nauru’s one of those countries that’s been so taken advantage of by more powerful entities, and I couldn’t help but see yet another continuation of that today draped in greenwashing and tech saviorism.
I was also on The Majority Report on Thursday to chat with Emma Vigeland about the state of the tech industry and its rightward shift (starts ~40:55). On Tech Won’t Save Us, I spoke to journalist about right-wing video platform Rumble and how the tech right is funding it to influence political discourse. Jacob’s an expert on this stuff, and it’s always great to chat with him.
Tech Won’t Save Us: The Right is Building Its Own Platforms w/ Jacob Silverman on Apple Podcasts
I have a great roundup this week with some thoughts on Uber’s small operating profit and the state of that company. Plus, a bunch of great recommended reads (the one on the China-US chip war is fascinating), labor updates, and other stories you might have missed. To get the full roundup, make sure to become a paid supporter. That also supports all the work I put into Disconnect!
Thanks, and have a great week!
— Paris
Uber’s war on workers continues

Earlier this week, Uber reported a GAAP profit for the first time in its 14-year history. Since 2014 alone, the company has lost $31.5 billion in its ongoing quest to erode the rights of workers and place itself at the center of ride-hailing and food delivery.
On one hand, it’s an indication of how much things have shifted in the economy since the days of near-zero interest rates when investors were fine with ongoing losses to the present where companies are expected to start showing they can actually turn a profit. But on the other, it shows how successful Uber has been at hiking its prices while suppressing the pay of its drivers.
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