I'm working on a new research project: The political geography of AI infrastructure. We're basically mapping cloud data centres, GPUs, and supercomputers. Expect a working paper in a couple of months. #cloud #AI.

RT @oiioxford: “Oil-producing countries have had an oversized influence on international affairs; in an A.I.-powered near future, compute p….

RT @ChrisO_wiki: 1/ Enslaved people are being sold to the Russian army for up to 100,000 rubles ($1,240) each, according to anti-slavery ca….

"The captain of a Hong Kong-flagged container ship has been remanded in custody on suspicion of severing a critical Baltic Sea gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland two years ago.".

So courts can only do so much to "de-weaponize" cloud. In contrast, Microsoft's pledge to rely on local European firms for operational continuity is very promising, insofar as it involves real tech transfer to Europe.

This is credible insofar as Microsoft already has a reputation for contesting extraterritorial US govt orders. It famously took an FBI warrant for data stored in Ireland all the way to the Supreme Court and won. But in response the Congress changed the law (Cloud Act 2018).

From Microsoft's announcement: “In the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government to suspend cloud operations in Europe, Microsoft will promptly contest such a measure in court. Finally, we will designate and rely upon European partners for operational continuity.".

RT @ObserveIR: Trending in #IR:. 1) Decarbonising nat'l growth models (@ripejournal). 2) Activism of Thai Diasporas….

US-China cloud competition, sovereign clouds, environmental impacts, and local opposition to data centres in our Digital Economic Security zoom seminar this term. Open to researchers and students from any university or research institution:

RT @RIPEJournal: Weaponised interdependence in a bipolar world: how economic forces and security interests shape the global reach of US a….

RT @oiioxford: What does Meta's undersea cable plan mean for geopolitics? New expert commentary from OII Prof @ViliLe and DPhil student Ann….

RT @oiioxford: Meta's Project Waterworth: Building the world's longest submarine cable. But what does it mean?@ViliLe & Anniki Mikelsaar ex….

Happening in one hour! #ISA2025 @isanet.

I'll be presenting this work at the International Studies Association conference in Chicago in a session chaired by Abraham Newman this coming Monday at 8.15am, titled "Big Tech Companies as Governors and Objects of Governance in Global Politics" #ISA2025.

New publication: "Weaponized interdependence in a bipolar world: How economic forces and security interests shape the global reach of U.S. and Chinese cloud data centres" forthcoming in Review of International Political Economy with @boxiwu_ @_ZoeHawkins_

RT @oiioxford: "Over the past decade there has been a shift in which these cables are increasingly laid by large technology companies," @Vi….

€20 billion for "AI gigafactories" which will each have "around 100 000 last-generation AI chips". Nice big deal for Nvidia or AMD (. or Huawei's new Ascend?).

El Salvador notched another record: first country to rescind Bitcoin as legal tender.

@oiioxford @baloyuna Paper:

Upcoming talk at @oiioxford: "In a digital world increasingly shaped by competition between U.S. and Chinese tech giants, findings from Kazakhstan highlight the potential for developing countries to carve their own digital trajectories" by @baloyuna

RT @OxUkraineHub: Tickets are now sold out to attend this event in person!. We're looking forward to seeing many of you in Oxford in a coup….