The archive

The AI files

Not the robot-takeover version. The version where a handful of companies got the government to write their rules for them, borrowed a trillion dollars to build the machines, and sent the power bill to a neighborhood in Memphis.

Where to start - six questions, and what I found

The money08 essays

The bubble, and who pays when it pops

Seven companies, a trillion dollars of borrowed money, and a product that still spends more than it earns.

 The policy09 essays

Who wrote the rules, and who they wrote them for

The industry drafted the framework, funded the candidates, and got the executive order it asked for.

 The chain04 essays

AI and the Pentagon

One company refused to strip its safety limits. The Pentagon punished it for that, and lost in court. These four are one story, in order.

 The tools06 essays

The surveillance machine it plugs into

The infrastructure was built first. AI made it fast enough to use at scale.

 Memphis30 essays

What it looks like on the ground

South Memphis and Southaven. The reporting series, filed under the agency that was supposed to be watching.

 The reasoning02 essays

How to argue about it without losing the plot

Two of the most common bad arguments about AI, taken apart.

The money / file 01

The bubble, and who pays when it pops

Seven companies, a trillion dollars of borrowed money, and a product that still spends more than it earns.

Which one is actually coming for you? A blank-faced AI robot on a museum plinth on one side, smokestacks pouring smoke over a crowd of workers on the other.012025Why AI panic misses the real threats Who is left holding it when this falls? A politician at a lectern reading ECONOMY BOOMING while a house of cards made of tech-company cards leans behind him.022025The AI bubble is real and it's about to hit regular people the hardest Did AI just accidentally pay for clean power? A derelict coal plant crumbling on one side, a clean domed reactor ringed with dollar signs on the other.032025The accidental energy revolution If you did not buy it, why do you own it? A man in glasses stands over a night-time boardroom table with a single sheet of paper, city lights behind him.042025The $20 billion company Nvidia says it didn't buy Who is winning the race nobody is covering? A giant fingertip presses a chip bearing a fruit logo into a burning heap of banknotes and toppled server racks.052026The AI race nobody is watching Why put the data center in orbit? A man gestures at a server rack mounted on the curve of the Earth, small suited figures with money bags on the surface below.062026Space, the final server room How much of that trillion came out of your pocket? Musk on stage under a screen reading one trillion dollars, seen past a woman at a kitchen table holding a bill.072026Elon Musk just became the world's first trillionaire. You helped pay for it What falls down if you pull the plug? A school cafeteria roof resting on a single vending machine labelled chatbots, surveillance, deepfakes, data centers, higher bills.082026Just Unplug AI? Why It Won't Happen

The policy / file 02

Who wrote the rules, and who they wrote them for

The industry drafted the framework, funded the candidates, and got the executive order it asked for.

What got signed while everyone watched the hat? A stage magician pulls a sheet marked AI EXECUTIVE ORDER from behind his back while the audience watches a top hat marked EPSTEIN FILES.092025Trump called Epstein files a hoax then signed the release bill anyway Who benefits when your state loses its say? A shield labelled STATE CONSUMER PROTECTIONS dissolving from its lower edge into falling binary digits.102025The AI deregulation scam Who is hiring inside your government? A man holds open a door marked FEDERAL AGENCY as figures in tech hoodies file through, while a civil servant carries out a box.112026The man who ran A16Z is now running federal hiring Can a rant become a law? An older man in a suit leans on a table with lightning arcing from his shoulders across a background of server racks.122026Bernie Sanders turned an Instagram rant into a data center bill nobody will pass Who writes the rules and then funds the votes? Two men shake hands before a whiteboard showing a loop from White House policy to PAC spending to congressional votes.132026David Sacks wrote Trump's AI policy then quit to fund the politicians who'll keep it Why is a Shark Tank guy using military authority? Kevin O'Leary with steepled fingers before a rural Utah data centre, a gas pipeline, and residents holding placards.142026Trump made AI data centers a national security issue so locals can't stop them What else is this costing you? An older couple at a kitchen table look at a flat retirement account balance, data centre lights glowing on the horizon past the window.152026Regulating data centers is important - but so is this Where did the task force go? A congressional hearing room after hours, nameplates face down, a dusty report left open, one cleaner pushing a cart down the aisle.162026Congress built an AI task force, then sent it home They wrote the list. Why did they stop at one? A committee room poster headed RECOMMENDATIONS with seven numbered lines, only the first ticked, two staffers walking past.172026Congress's own AI report told them how to protect you from AI

The tools / file 04

The surveillance machine it plugs into

The infrastructure was built first. AI made it fast enough to use at scale.

Who built the app that hunts people? A vast glowing orb on a dark plinth with a burning slit-pupil eye at its centre, ringed by security cameras.222026Palantir built ICE a hunting app called ELITE Who is the most powerful man you have never thought about? A man speaking at a lectern in front of an enormous red corporate sign, his silhouette breaking the letters.232026The most powerful man you've never thought about Who can search where you have been? An automatic plate reader on a pole at a suburban intersection at dusk, angled down at a sedan with a child's booster seat.242026A camera photographed your car today. Nobody needed a warrant What happens when the match is wrong? A man sits alone on a bench in a holding area while a monitor behind him shows six near-identical faces, one boxed in red.252026A computer picked the wrong man. Police arrested him anyway Why buy it when they are supposed to protect it? An official hands a cheque to a man with a vendor lanyard, a laptop between them showing a town covered in red pins.262026The government won't protect your data. The government is buying yours What did your car tell them about you? A couple sign paperwork beside a new car while printed trip logs feed from its open boot through a door marked INSURANCE.272026Automakers sold your driving data for pennies

Memphis / file 05

What it looks like on the ground

South Memphis and Southaven. The reporting series, filed under the agency that was supposed to be watching.

Forcing data centers to come clean before they break ground. A graded construction site at dawn, survey stakes and orange tape, residents at the fence reading a contractor's board with the project name blanked out.282026Forcing data centers to come clean before they break ground xAI's turbines are poisoning Boxtown's air. A weathered roadside sign reading BOXTOWN, EST. 1863 at dusk, lit houses behind it, and a wall of turbine stacks venting into a magenta sky.292026xAI's turbines are poisoning Boxtown's air, and the Trump DOJ just moved to kill the lawsuit What is the mitigation plan for xAI battery parks? A fire engine outside a chain-link fence at dusk, two firefighters looking in at rows of Tesla Megapacks beside a lithium battery danger sign.302026What is the mitigation plan for xAI battery parks? How xAI could actually help its neighbors. Early evening in South Memphis, a community centre with its lights on and neighbours talking outside, the lit mass of Colossus on the horizon beyond the rooftops.312026How xAI could actually help its neighbors Let's talk about xAI and data center pollution. A residential street in South Memphis at midday, a portable air monitoring station open on a tripod on the verge, turbine stacks past the chain link at the end of the street.322026Let's talk about xAI and data center pollution The xAI Files. Musk with arms folded beside a long windowless building marked Colossus Data Center, Memphis, Tennessee, rows of Tesla Megapacks behind chain link, and an inspection checklist on a clipboard in the foreground.332026Elon Musk is just Elon Musking, so who is actually in charge of stopping him? xAI is hiring for jobs that should already be filled. A laptop open on a desk at night showing a job posting for a facilities technician, stacks of permit paperwork around it, a field of battery containers through the window.342026xAI is hiring for positions that should have been filled already The latest on the data center moratorium. A city council committee table, members mid-discussion with nameplates in front of them, papers and cups scattered, a city seal banner behind.352026The latest on the data center moratorium xAI's Megapacks sit over the aquifer. Musk with a hand to his chin beside rows of battery containers behind chain link and a lithium battery danger sign, an open hazard mitigation plan binder in the foreground.362026xAI's Tesla Megapacks sit over the aquifer. Shelby County never planned for them. Who pays for xAI's power? A utility executive at a council table mid-answer, a presentation screen behind him headed Powering Tomorrow with a diagram running generation to city, council members seen from behind.372026Who pays for xAI's power? A SpaceXAI job listing for a gas plant moved from Memphis to Texas. A desk at night: a laptop showing an archived job posting whose location reads Memphis, Tennessee, and pinned behind it a printed copy of the same posting reading Texas, with a February and March calendar and web archive printouts beside it.382026News update: a SpaceXAI job listing for a Doosan gas plant moved from Memphis to Texas Texas readers named the site, and it's Grimes County. A decommissioned coal plant and its reservoir at dusk in flat east Texas, with a green Grimes County road sign and a contractor's board whose project name field is blank, survey stakes and orange tape running across graded earth toward the plant.392026News update: Texas readers named the site, and it's Grimes County An update on the air around Colossus 1. A small air monitoring station inside a chain-link enclosure on a grass verge, a park sign and playground behind it, an interstate overpass and industrial stacks on the horizon.402026An update on the air around xAI's Colossus 1 How did 68 of xAI's turbines get into Mississippi with no permit? A long row of trailer-mounted gas turbines behind chain link at dusk, exhaust shimmering above them.412026How did 68 of xAI's turbines get into Mississippi with no permit? Did the University of Memphis just settle the air fight? An aerial view at dusk over a South Memphis neighbourhood with a translucent grid of large satellite-data squares laid over it, visibly too coarse to resolve the streets.422026Did the University of Memphis just settle the xAI air fight? Who told EPA that xAI's turbines need a permit? A desk in EPA's Office of Air and Radiation at dusk, a certified-mail letter from COMET, the Coalition of Mobile Electric Turbine Users, addressed to Administrator Lee Zeldin, and a row of trailer-mounted turbines venting beyond the window.432026Who told EPA that xAI's turbines need a permit? The turbine industry did. Were xAI's turbines legal? Let's look at the records. An office desk at dusk with an unsigned letter stamped DRAFT and an empty outbox; trailer-mounted gas turbines glow through the window.442026Were xAI's turbines legal? Let's look at the records What you should know about Mississippi's upcoming hearing on xAI's turbines. Trailer-mounted gas turbines at dusk beside a half-built plant, a Southaven banner on the fence, and a highway sign reading Jackson 190.452026What you should know about Mississippi's upcoming hearing on xAI's turbines Mississippi asked xAI some very specific questions. The response was a hedge. Gas turbines behind a fence at night in Southaven, a two-page letter on the wet road.462026Mississippi asked xAI some very specific questions. The response was a hedge. The xAI Files. Memphis and Southaven can't figure out this obvious solution. A sound meter on a pole reading 59.3 dB stands at a chain-link fence in front of a tall concrete wall, with a row of glowing turbine exhaust stacks behind it and a street of brick houses on the right at dusk. RATC Rachelandthecity logo in the bottom right corner.472026Memphis and Southaven can't figure out this obvious solution Illustration: protesters with signs and bullhorns fill the Memphis City Council chamber as police move toward a scuffle by the doors, with the headline Fight breaks out at Memphis City Council after protesters are edged.482026Fight breaks out at Memphis City Council after protesters are edged The xAI Files: Does Memphis's data center moratorium even matter? A PAUSED stamp on permit papers on the steps of Memphis City Hall at dusk, a data center lit on the horizon.492026Does Memphis's Data Center Moratorium Even Matter? The xAI Files. Is every data center in Memphis like xAI's? Night view of Memphis data centers: an old brick warehouse with rooftop cooling units in front, a modern glass data center building on the right, and rows of lit facilities and power lines stretching toward the downtown skyline and the river.502026Is every data center in Memphis like xAI's? Cartoon of two wrestlers in a ring: Nashville, in a rhinestone cowboy outfit holding a rolled-up Data Center Rules book, body slams a stunned Memphis while papers stamped HELD fly. Header: The xAI Files. Text: Nashville Body Slams Memphis When It Comes to Data Center Rules.512026Nashville Body Slams Memphis When It Comes to Data Center Rules Illustration: gas burners lit on a stove in a Memphis kitchen, with an industrial skyline and smokestacks through the window at dusk, under the headline Memphians are being poisoned by something worse than gas turbines522026Memphians are being poisoned by something worse than gas turbines A lone glowing data center at dusk behind a chained fence marked CLOSED, with empty lots and idle cranes. The xAI Files: Does a moratorium hand xAI a monopoly?532026Does a Moratorium Hand xAI a Monopoly? The xAI Files. The real story on the water and the NDA's. A wastewater treatment plant with round settling basins at dusk, stacks of large concrete pipes and rows of white modular units beside an industrial building with smoking stacks, behind a chain-link fence. RATC Rachelandthecity logo in the bottom right corner.542026xAI, MLGW and the NDAs: the real story on Memphis's water The xAI Files: Could Memphis have capped Musk's Colossus 2? A data center and rows of gas turbines on either side of the Tennessee-Mississippi line at dusk, with an electric meter pinned in the red.552026Could Memphis Have Capped Musk's Colossus 2? The xAI Files: About those NDAs - how could the mayor not know? A man at a City Hall window looks out at a data center at night; a blank, unsigned mutual non-disclosure agreement lies on the desk behind him.562026About Those NDAs - How Could the Mayor Not Know? An empty city council chamber at night with a thick ordinance stamped DRAFT on the desk, four unlit bulbs on the wall, and a data center glowing through the windows. Text: Does Spinosa's plan end the Memphis moratorium?572026Does Spinosa's Plan End the Memphis Moratorium?

The whole series, filed under the agency that was supposed to be watching, is at The xAI files.

The reasoning / file 06

How to argue about it without losing the plot

Two of the most common bad arguments about AI, taken apart.

Illustration: a frowning man in a dark suit peers through a magnifying glass at a gap between two broken bridge spans. The left span is labeled Evidence, the right span is labeled Extreme Conclusion, and a torn paper reading Hidden Premise hangs in the gap between them. Rachelandthecity logo in the bottom right corner.582025The syllogism test: how to dismantle bad arguments Illustration: three people stand at a fork in a road that splits two ways. A red sign on the left reads Ban all AI and a blue sign on the right reads Unregulated AI everywhere, while smaller side paths labeled Regulation, Worker protections, Copyright and Sustainability branch off through a circuit-board landscape. Rachelandthecity logo in the bottom right corner.592026False dilemma: when the menu only shows two items

Where it stands now

The current argument

These two went out on the newsletter. They are the 2026 version of the argument I started in 2025: the danger is not the machine waking up, it is the people already holding it.

Shutting AI down won't save us. A dark home office at night with a glowing gaming computer, a monitor full of code, a mug reading More questions, fewer billionaires, a notebook reading Same problems, bigger computers, a poster asking Same houses, same screens, different future?, and books titled Data centers, Energy, Our communities and What now?, with a window looking out on a street of houses lit by blue screens. RATC Rachelandthecity logo in the bottom right corner.6010 September 2026OpenAI and Anthropic both lost control of their AI in July. Shutting it down won't help. The robot on screen isn't the one to worry about. A packed movie theater watches a giant robot destroy a burning city on the big screen, while in the front a person in a dark hoodie works on a laptop showing a Facility control panel for power, cooling, batteries, pumps, valves and the grid. A sign beside the screen reads Distraction today, control tomorrow. Rachelandthecity logo in the bottom right corner.6112 September 2026Yes, AI could destroy us all. But not how you think it will.

Still going

The Memphis end of this is not finished

xAI built a data center in a Black neighborhood in South Memphis. I have been asking every agency that was supposed to be watching for their paperwork, and publishing what comes back.

Open the xAI files