Computer Says Maybe

Academia, Big Tech, and the military are caught in a sordid love triangle — and their love language is money.
More like this: Computer Says Kill: The Blank Check to Beat China w/ Lis Siegel

For part five of Computer Says Kill, researcher David Widder describes the powerful trifecta that is academia, Big Tech, and the US military: all of them need each other to survive, but who is benefiting the most? Half of Carnegie Mellon’s research funding comes from the DoW or the DHS — and David will explain how it’s being used to both prop up war apparatus, and serve as an on-ramp to Big Tech platforms.
Further reading & resources:
It’s about power: What ethical concerns do software engineers have, and what do they (feel they can) do about them? — David Widder et al, June 2023
Basic Research, Lethal Effects: Military AI Research Funding as Enlistment — David Widder et al
Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI — David Widder, Sarah West, Meredith Whittaker, August 2023 
To Build Our Future, We Must Know Our Past: Contextualizing Paradigm Shifts in Natural Language Processing — Sireesh Gururaja, Amanda Bertsch, Clara Na, David Widder, Emma Strubell, December 2023
What Tech Calls Thinking by Adrian Daub
The Undone Computer Science Conference
Computer-vision research powers surveillance technology — Nature Magazine, June 2025
What’s happening in Memphis with Anthropic? — The Maybe Media
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Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

The US is in a race to ‘beat China’ at AI. Or is it? What if I told you that powerful actors in the US have built the story of an all-or-nothing race to get what they want?
More like this: Computer Says Kill: A License for Unlimited War w/ Amos Toh

In part four of Computer Says Kill we are joined by Lis Siegel who shares the history. We start with a document produced by China in 2017, and arrive at today when the Chinese bogeyman is being used to drive money, political influence and supply chain control to a few US tech giants. Listen in for some insight into how we got here.
Further reading & resources:
Examining AI Safety as a Global Public Good: Implications, Challenges, and Research Priorities — Lis Siegel et al, March 2025
Silicon Valley enabled brutal mass detention and surveillance in China, internal documents show — AP News, September 2025
A Dark-Money Campaign Is Paying Influencers to Frame Chinese AI as a Threat — Taylor Lorenz, Wired, May 2026
Slogan Politics by Jinghan Zeng
Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future by Dan Wang
Final Report from the National Security Commission for AI — 2021
Yellow Techno-Peril: The ‘Clash of Civilizations’ and anti-Chinese racial rhetoric in the US–China AI arms race — Kerry McInerney 2024
Bernie Sanders urges international cooperation to halt AI’s ‘runaway train’ — The Guardian, April 2026
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

RightsCon has just been cancelled by the Zambian government with no word to the organizers, five days before it was set to begin.
RightsCon is the biggest annual global gathering of the digital rights community. Every year thousands of people come together to figure out how to make the internet safer and freer for everyone. When they can't connect, we all lose.
Alix shares a few theories about why Zambia pulled the plug (geopolitics, trade deals, and "values"). She also talks through her views on what it could mean that safe global spaces for this work are collapsing, and why you should care even if you've never heard of RightsCon.
If you were planning on attending RightsCon we're so sorry. If you're in Zambian civil society fighting for space to engage on these issues, please know there is a global community that has your back.
Further reading & resources:
World’s Largest Digital Human Rights Conference Suddenly Canceled — 404 Media, April 29
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

Military spending on AI is a triple black box: How is AI being used in the military? Who is winning these contracts and what are they worth? And what is the military’s end-game here?
More like this: How a Calculator Company Reshaped Modern Warfare w/ Jeff Stern

Amos Toh will help us answer these questions in part three of Computer Says Kill. We will cover how military spending has changed over the last couple of decades: there has been a clear shift from the straightforward buying up of jets, to the over-reliance on licensed software. Amos also shares what hasn’t changed, which is: yes, the government still spend a hell of a lot of money on military tech.
Further reading & resources:
The Business of Military AI — Amos Toh, Emile Ayoub, March 2026
Read Amos and Emile’s explainer on the military’s use of AI
Pentagon's use of Claude during Maduro raid sparks Anthropic feud — Axios, Feb 13
Department of War's Artificial Intelligence-First Agenda: A New Era for Defense Contractors — Holland & Knight, Feb 2026
The Double Black Box by Ashely Deeks
AI at war: Five things to know about Project Maven — Euractiv, April 2026
Safety Co-Option and Compromised National Security: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Weakened AI Risk Thresholds — Heidy Khlaaf, Sarah Myers West, April 2025
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

Precision weapons are meant to make warfare more exact. But what happens when the executive branch uses precision as an excuse to make more war and target with less and less accountability for accuracy?
More like this: Computer Says Kill: Collapsing the Chain w/ with Matt Mahmoudi

In part two of Computer Says Kill, Jeff Stern shares how a calculator company transformed modern warfare by making more precise weapons. After the Second World War, the US military wanted to be able to wage more war and target with more accuracy. At first it was about saving American troops. Over time it became a permission structure for more executive control over lethal force.
What does this history tell us about the role of precision and accountability in war?
Further reading & resources:
Get The Warhead by Jeff Stern now
More on Weldon Word and the development of precise weaponry during the Vietnam war
Operation Desert Storm: 25 years on — CNN 2019
Right to strike when your boss sells AI to the military? — Cori Crider, The Register Lecture, 2019 
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout