davidrotman.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Some much-needed skepticism on the "dire wolves" conversation from @antonioregalado.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/08/1...

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

1. @alisongopnik.bsky.social, Cosma Shalizi, James Evans and myself have a new piece in Science on "AI" Large Models, pushing back against much of the collective wisdom about what they can and can't do. Official below, unpaywalled at henryfarrell.net/large-ai-mod... . So why this now?

submitted 27 days ago • 20 comments

To the rational Yanks out there: this is tha man you need to be reading: @djrothkopf.bsky.social He's been brilliant in seeing what was coming, in commenting on it as it was happening. And he's still brilliant in providing leadership on what to do. davidrothkopf.substack.com/p/how-do-dem...

submitted 33 days ago • 3 comments

Studies have shown that tariffs depress productivity in protected industries. U.S. steel is a case in point. (via @bennsteil.bsky.social) www.cfr.org/blog/steel-p...

submitted 34 days ago • 11 comments

Taking a cue from @cantlonlab.bsky.social, I have written an op-ed for my local newspaper about the impact of the NIH funding chaos. I'd appreciate it if you read and share. #NIH #Research #Science #Worcester www.telegram.com/story/opinio...

submitted 39 days ago • 5 comments

Lopatto Banger Alert (although it was my headline, give me that much) www.theverge.com/2025/1/20/24...

submitted 79 days ago • 9 comments

@lauradtyson.bsky.social talking about the productivity implications of AI - the topic du jour #ASSA2025. @smithcollege.bsky.social

submitted 96 days ago • 0 comments

Are we up to the moment we are about to face? Our parents and grandparents say yes we are. My latest. open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...

submitted 114 days ago • 26 comments

How to build the virtual cell with artificial intelligence: Priorities and opportunities "AI virtual cell, a multi-scale, multi-modal large-neural-network-based model that can represent and simulate the behavior of molecules, cells, and tissues across diverse states." www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

submitted 116 days ago • 2 comments

It’s an idea as popular as it is incorrect: American babies now receive too many vaccines, which overwhelm their immune systems and lead to conditions like autism. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/14/h...

submitted 116 days ago • 11 comments

The AI race doesn't have to be zero-sum. International organisations already find natural alignment in specific domains, where competition naturally transforms into collaboration, not through grand agreements. Check out our policy paper

submitted 120 days ago • 0 comments

If blackouts occur for existing customers due to data center additions, it’s because the operator is prioritizing service for data centers over existing customers.

submitted 117 days ago • 2 comments

Want to increase worker productivity at the national scale? Turns out the answer may lie in funding federal nondefense R&D. I synthesized some of the existing literature on the impact of R&D funding on the economy in a new Research on R&D Funding blog: www.aaas.org/news/researc...

submitted 121 days ago • 0 comments

A hard and smart look at what happens next to place-based industrial policy. The word "uncertainty" comes up a lot. Thanks to @markmuro1.bsky.social and his colleagues at @brookings.edu for asking some important questions and doing their homework on this.

submitted 117 days ago • 0 comments

The pandemic, big stimulus packages, and other factors played havoc with the labor market and productivity over the past five years. But one thing we haven’t seen is a surge in technology-powered productivity. At least not yet…

submitted 120 days ago • 1 comment

In collaboration with Oxford colleagues and led by @zijian-zhang.bsky.social @scao.me we made strides in Agent-driven #selfdrivinglabs ! Furthermore we applied them to #quantumcomputing merging two of my favorite fields! Check our preprint, and code.

submitted 118 days ago • 0 comments

Anyone hoping that Musk will blunt Trump's climate denial needs to read this piece: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

submitted 121 days ago • 6 comments

Meta's new data center in Louisiana is driving 2.3 gigawatts of new high capacity-factor gas units, according to Entergy. Inflexible data centers will drive massive US gas expansion without smarter planning. #energysky www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

submitted 121 days ago • 5 comments

The David Sinclair anti-aging companies story, front page WSJ wsj.com/health/welln... "Follow scientists who say Sinclair tends to exaggerate the findings and implications of age-related research, tarnishing a nascent field vying for credibility"

submitted 123 days ago • 12 comments

Zero-sum thinking is a key mindset that shapes how we view the world. A little thread to highlight our work on its roots with @sahilchinoy.bsky.social, @nathannunn.bsky.social, Sandra Sequeira.🧵1/23 scholar.harvard.edu/files/stantc...

submitted 127 days ago • 8 comments

Nice explanation from the always insightful @severinborenstein.bsky.social of the complexities and challenges for the grid in meeting exploding demand (or potential demand) from server farms and crypto mining.

submitted 128 days ago • 0 comments

My Energy Inst blog today on how much utilities should be obligated to accommodate new large loads: hyperscale server farms and crypto mining. Current paradigm puts risk on incumbent customers and gives new large loads very costly option on utility service. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2024/12/02/i...

submitted 128 days ago • 3 comments

I'm not sure how much longer our Mississippi Free Press account will post to X, but for now it makes a good case study—and a good case for why other newsrooms shouldn't fear moving to BlueSky. Look at the difference in engagement for identical posts with the same links. Left: BlueSky, Right: X 🧵

submitted 129 days ago • 64 comments

Here's a great starter pack for folks interested in the economics of innovation, competition and IO go.bsky.app/Rchu8QX

submitted 130 days ago • 2 comments

I wrote about the death and possible afterlife in of a weird little early college that specialized in teaching weirdos like me. It was called Simon's Rock. little-flying-robots.ghost.io/the-death-an...

submitted 130 days ago • 82 comments

"Cars assembled in the US rely heavily on parts from Canada and Mexico. Just 68 of 141 models recorded as having been assembled in the US had engines and transmissions made in the country. For 42 models, parts from Mexico accounted for more than 15% of the total value." www.ft.com/content/3d21...

submitted 130 days ago • 1 comment

The core task of democratic governments will be to reclaim the primacy of governance from tech companies, and why Trump’s election challenges this ↘️ www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

submitted 130 days ago • 3 comments

"Accurate knowledge in the relevant domain is what matters, but this is not what the industry has been investing in. Chatbots that can write Shakespearean sonnets will not empower electricians to perform sophisticated new tasks." A must read by @dacemoglumit.bsky.social.

submitted 131 days ago • 0 comments

Trump has now pledged to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian & Mexican goods his first day in office. That would add billions of dollars to the cost of steel — which we need for every sector of the clean energy economy — from the US's two largest suppliers: www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/25/1...

submitted 135 days ago • 1 comment

My latest @ft column: on.ft.com/4eIT8QV

submitted 136 days ago • 4 comments

What if AI doesn’t just keep getting better forever? we may already be hitting a plateau in the capabilities of large language models trained with standard methods. arstechnica.com/ai/2024/11/w...

submitted 148 days ago • 6 comments

Just insane that America had the best productivity growth of comparable major nations in the years pre-COVID, then went "hold my beer" post-COVID and had ~double the productivity growth of the next-closest country

submitted 157 days ago • 38 comments

US manufacturing construction held near record highs in data released today—as electronic & electrical manufacturing construction continues to drive the majority of spending in the wake of the CHIPS Act & Inflation Reduction Act

submitted 159 days ago • 6 comments

Research from Jennifer Hunt, Iain Cockburn and James Bessen looks at the geography of US firms’ adaptation and adoption of AI in response to AI innovation, and assesses how much distance matters. cepr.org/voxeu/colum...

submitted 166 days ago • 0 comments

Sam Altman says that AI will "fix climate." But as I said during our Roundtable, tech advances aren't the only obstacle — & so far the killer apps are "cheating on homework & plagiarizing journalism." Please listen in as @davidrotman.bsky.social @melissahei.bsky.social & I dig into AI & energy:

submitted 195 days ago • 1 comment

Wow! US economic growth over the past 5 years was just significantly revised upwards. Not only is the economy in 2024 stronger than we thought it would be by now back in 2020 and 2021 - it's much stronger. The purple line is what we thought yesterday. The blue line is what we know now.

submitted 196 days ago • 0 comments

New research shows that Trump's proposed mass deportations, tariffs, & erosion of Fed independence could result in GDP nearly 10% lower than baseline by 2028 & consumer prices could be 20-28% higher. #EconSky Watch the launch: www.piie.com/events/2024/... Read the paper: www.piie.com/publications...

submitted 196 days ago • 0 comments

America's industrial policy push has caused an unprecedented boom of investments in chip manufacturing, clean energy, & infrastructure But those investments aren't spread evenly, instead having regional dynamics that are reshaping US economic geography www.apricitas.io/p/the-region...

submitted 217 days ago • 3 comments

Here's the bottom line for generative AI: can it reverse several decades of slow economic growth? Can it get us out of the productivity slowdown? I ask a number of economists and technologists; here's what they think. www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/20/1...

submitted 217 days ago • 0 comments

Absolutely insane story about Prospera, a “libertarian paradise” set up by US billionaires in Honduras. www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/m...

submitted 218 days ago • 3 comments