AI with Kyle Daily Update 045

Today in AI: The Luddites are Back + Anthropic lose 10% of their fundraise.

Author

Kyle Balmer
September 09, 2025

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The skinny on what's happening in AI - straight from the previous live session:


Highlights

🪧 Hunger Strikers Protest Google DeepMind and Anthropic Over AGI Risks

Two protesters are on hunger strike outside Google DeepMind (London) and Anthropic (San Francisco) offices, demanding these companies halt frontier AI development until competitors agree to do the same. The first protester's tweet got 1.1 million views, but interest dropped precipitously - day two got 21,000 views, day three only 2,000.

Kyle's take: This seems misguided for a number of reasons.

First, they're protesting over the weekend when offices are empty, during a tube strike when fewer people are around anyway….

Second, they're targeting the two companies that take safety most seriously - Anthropic literally publishes more safety papers than new models and Google Deepmind is pushing scientific and medical frontiers.

If you're worried about reckless AI development, why not protest Meta or OpenAI? that’s who I’d go for! Also, one protester is a YouTuber and TikToker which adds a self-promotion angle that's hard to ignore… The whole thing feels poorly thought out and already losing public attention.

Source: Twitter protests and coverage

How 433 Investors Unlocked 400X Return Potential

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Take Revolut. In 2016, 433 regular people invested an average of $2,730. Today? They got a 400X buyout offer from the company, as Revolut’s valuation increased 89,900% in the same timeframe.

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The same institutional investors behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay backed Pacaso. And you can join them. But not for long. Pacaso’s investment opportunity ends September 18.

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📈 Geoffrey Hinton: Rich People Will Use AI to Make Everyone Else Poorer

The "Godfather of AI" published an op-ed in the Financial Times warning that AI will massively increase inequality. Rich people will use AI to replace workers, creating huge unemployment and profit concentration. Hinton argues this isn't AI's fault - it's capitalism's. Meanwhile, Harvard data shows junior roles down 23% while senior roles are up 14%, suggesting AI is already eroding entry-level positions.

Kyle's take: Hinton's spot on here. We're seeing this pattern already - less than 10 companies control AI development, mostly owned by individual billionaires who'll reap the rewards.

And at lower levels the separation is already occurring in jobs. AI isn't taking Colin's accounting job directly, it's just meaning companies don't need to hire new Colins.

This is precisely why I do live broadcasts and teach AI workshops - we need to democratise this technology before the gap becomes insurmountable. Even if we eventually get UBI or post-capitalist systems, the messy middle period could be brutal for those left behind.

💰 Anthropic Pays £1.5B Settlement for Using Pirated Books in Training

Anthropic settled a class action lawsuit for at least $1.5 billion, paying roughly $3,000 per copyrighted work used in training. Currently the lawsuit sits at 500,000 works but that number may increase. This represents about 10% of their recent $13 billion funding round. Oops! But Anthropic are settling before it goes to court, forking out $1.5bn.

Supposedly company downloaded 7 million pirated books from sites like Anna's Archive but claims they didn't use them for training. 7 mil books would slap them with a fine of $21bn and that would be that!

Kyle's take: This is the "beg for forgiveness rather than ask permission" strategy coming home to roost. Every AI company did this - they scraped everything they could find, including obvious piracy sites, then dealt with lawsuits later.

Anthropic being first to pay up (big) makes sense since they're the most ethically-minded, but it sets a precedent.

The logistics of paying 500,000 authors will be a nightmare - after lawyers and operational costs, my bet is that the individual authors might get less than $1,000 each. It’s the lawyers who are about to make absolute bank here…

Source: Guardian

Member Comment: "Back in the day, disruptive techs would put peeps out of work. It can lead to sabotage of the tech."

The original Rage Against the Machine (genuinely not a joke!)

Kyle's response: That's exactly what the Luddites were - they destroyed weaving looms because they believed the machines were threatening their jobs in the early 19th century.

It's a completely natural response to new technology. We've seen this pattern with every innovation - the internet, video games, television, even radio was once considered a menace to society. Hell, even Dungeons and Dragons led to fears of sub-urban Satanism. Humans are uniquely terrible at dealing with novelty!

With AI we're getting moral panic about self-harm and "AI psychosis." But here's the thing: when you have 700 million ChatGPT users, statistically there will be always suicides and other terrible things, just like there are with any large population.

Interestingly protesters admit AI works by wanting to stop it - that's a tacit admission the technology is effective (too good in fact) rather than just saying "it's rubbish."

🎤 Special: AI for the Rest of Us Conference

Kyle recently appeared as the first-ever guest on the "AI for the Rest of Us" podcast, available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. He's also speaking at their upcoming conference on 15-16th October in London: AI for the Rest of Us conference, London (Use code IAMWITHKYLE for a discount).

What's happening: The two-day conference features Kyle and other speakers discussing practical AI applications for everyday users. Kyle will be giving a 90-minute talk on how to deliver AI training workshops to businesses - the same approach that lets him charge £2,000+ per hour.

Get 25% off: Use code IAMWITHKYLE for discount tickets. The group also runs free regular meetups in Shoreditch.

More info and tickets: AI for the Rest of Us conference, London, 15-16th October. (Use code IAMWITHKYLE for a discount).

Want the full unfiltered discussion? Join me tomorrow for the daily AI news live stream where we dig into the stories and you can ask questions directly.

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