THE SET-UP: Silicon Valley wants us to believe AI is inevitable, as if their product is the unavoidable, triumphant outcome of Western History. It certainly felt inevitable after Trump took office. Tech’s billionaires poured money into his various schemes and they’ve enjoyed a prolonged holiday from regulatory scrutiny. In fact, he’s used a barrage of Constitutionally suspect Executive Orders to marshal key agencies into Silicon Valley’s service. He continues to aid and abet the tech industry’s frantic attempt to hyperscale its way past the public’s objections to AI and the data centers that feed it.
The calculus is simple.
Become indispensable to business and government and, therefore, too important to regulate and too necessary to extricate. The sooner business and government adopt and grow dependent upon their AI agents, the better. The trick is to get there before the backlash can stop it.
Trump gave them a significant head start, too.
But that was then, and this is now … and now things are looking a bit less inevitable. It seems the Valley was not able to hyperscale faster than the public could mount challenges at the city, county and state level. Trump’s political capital is long gone, but he’s still cheering on data centers … despite data centers emerging as a top issue in the midterms.
Honestly, Trump is almost as toxic as the data centers he’s associated himself with since his first day in office. But now, data centers are so toxic even Republicans are touting their newfound opposition to ‘em in their advertising.
And that’s not all.
In a related development, Americans are suddenly revolting against Flock surveillance cameras, driven in no small part by a surge in reported abuses by law enforcement. It could be a coincidence that both backlashes are happening now, but I suspect that people are uncomfortable with inevitability … and I suspect that Silicon Valley’s enmeshment with Trump is blowing back onto them.
The bottom line is that all the smarmy Hegelianism in the world cannot hide the parasitic business model that animates all of their “tech.” Agentic AI is just another version of the tollbooth Silicon Valley inevitably installs whenever it uses the next whiz-bang “innovation” to “disrupt” existing transactions or relationships and, therefore, horn its way into the middle of those transactions and relationships with an app or a device or, if AI works out for them, a dedicated minder and toll-taker.
It could be that its dawning on Americans that they are paying for their own imprisonment. - jp
The new kingmakers: Crypto, AI and betting firms fuel record spending on the 2026 midterms
https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/new-kingmakers-crypto-ai-betting-firms-fuel-record-spending-2026-midterms-2026-08-20/
Are Flock cameras the next bipartisan political issue?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/21/are-flock-cameras-next-bipartisan-political-issue/
‘F**k Flock!’ Vandals wage war on AI surveillance cameras
https://www.cnn.com/us/video/flock-camera-ai-meena-duerson
Flock Safety’s CEO Defended His Massive Surveillance Network—But the Facts Tell a Different Story
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/flock-safetys-ceo-defended-his-massive-surveillance-network-but-the-facts-tell-a-different-story/
259 Plate Searches, Zero Warrants: A Cop Turned Traffic Cameras Into Her Personal Stalking Tool
https://theautowire.com/2026/08/20/flock-cameras-stalking-new-bedford/
Chasing a Shiny Thing: How a Florida Deputy Turned Police Surveillance Tech Into a Stalking Tool
https://www.gadgetreview.com/chasing-a-shiny-thing-how-a-florida-deputy-turned-police-surveillance-tech-into-a-stalking-tool
Records detail Arizona officer’s misuse of Flock cameras to find wife
https://www.azfamily.com/2026/08/21/records-detail-arizona-officers-misuse-flock-cameras-find-wife/
South Carolina deputy fired after 2,700+ unauthorized Flock camera searches
https://myfox8.com/news/south-carolina/south-carolina-deputy-fired-after-2700-unauthorized-flock-camera-searches/
Florida Cops Weaponize Flock Cameras to Stalk Women in 355-Search Sarasota Case
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/florida-cops-weaponize-flock-cameras-to-stalk-women-in-355-search-sarasota-case/
Sarasota police arrest raises questions about Flock camera safeguards
https://www.tampabay28.com/news/region-sarasota-manatee/sarasota-police-arrest-raises-questions-about-flock-camera-safeguards
Texas police officer arrested, another placed on leave amid Flock camera misuse investigation
https://www.kwtx.com/2026/08/20/texas-police-officer-arrested-another-placed-leave-amid-flock-camera-misuse-investigation/
Former Deputy Charged For Improper Flock Use
https://www.seehafernews.com/2026/08/21/former-deputy-charged-for-improper-flock-use/
3 deputies’ access to Flock cameras suspended, Harris County Sheriff’s Office says
https://abc13.com/post/3-deputies-access-flock-cameras-suspended-review-underway-harris-county-sheriffs-office-says/19679725/
Georgia school resource officer suspended as Flock camera misuse cases grow
https://newschannel9.com/news/local/georgia-school-resource-officer-suspended-as-flock-camera-misuse-cases-grow-sierra-carroll-houston-county-license-plate-readers-police-surveillance-privacy
2 Mass. police officers on leave after city’s license plate reader system audit
https://www.wcvb.com/article/lynn-massachusetts-officers-on-leave-flock-license-plate-reader-audit/73484480
Stow police officer accused of misusing Flock camera, police databases
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/stow-police-officer-accused-of-misusing-flock-camera-police-databases/3999797/
Flock license plate cameras under fire as Mass. police misconduct cases mount
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/21/business/flock-safety-police-misuse-massachusetts/
New Britain Township Police address privacy concerns over Flock cameras, license plate reader systems
https://centralbucksnews.com/news/public-safety/new-britain-township-police-address-privacy-concerns-over-flock-cameras-license-plate-reader-systems/
Smart Glasses Are Catching on With U.S. Police
https://gizmodo.com/smart-glasses-are-catching-on-with-u-s-police-2000797054
ICE bans agents from using Meta smart glasses, but wants to build its own
https://mashable.com/tech/ice-agents-meta-smart-glasses-ban
Teen Boys Are Using Meta Glasses to Harass and Bully Girls at High Schools and Middle Schools
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/teen-boys-meta-glasses-harass-bully-girls-school
Did someone wearing Meta Glasses film you today? Are you sure?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/aug/19/meta-glasses-privacy-surveillance