JUST FYI
Democrats run against the AI-powered MAGA surveillance state
Just as the midterm elections enter their final sprint, candidates and political groups have found another AI-related bogeyman: Flock surveillance cameras.
If you haven't been following the news around Flock, you should start paying attention. As Trump and his allies in Washington have cozied up to the AI industry and our tech overlords, many Americans have found yet another physical manifestation of their anti-AI anxieties beyond the data center backlash: the sleek black license plate readers made by Atlanta-based Flock Safety. According to some estimates, more than 120,000 Flock cameras are now in use across the U.S.
People are, to put it mildly, quite upset about these things.
In recent months, creators on YouTube and TikTok have flooded those platforms with explainers about the company and its cameras, viral videos spotlighting Flock's cases of mistaken identity, and even footage of people attacking or attempting to rip the cameras down themselves. Across social media, Americans have watched, shared, and engaged with these types of videos tens of millions of times.
The issue appears to have really taken off earlier this summer, and back in July, Magnitude Media, a progressive communications organization that tracks political content online, noted in its daily analysis that Democrats and progressive groups had a major messaging opportunity emerging around the issue. Their prediction has held up. Since then, major non-political and political creators alike have kept posting, audiences have kept engaging, and as the chart below shows, more Americans than ever are Googling the company.
Some political candidates have started to harness this anti-surveillance energy. Over the weekend, Axios reported that a handful of Democrats running in competitive congressional races are doing just that, including progressive Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and moderate Tennessee congressional candidate Chaz Molder. Similar to data centers, candidates who take on Flock can speak directly to voters who distrust big tech, fear AI's creep into their daily lives, and want more say over what happens in their own neighborhoods. And with Trump and the GOP hugging the tech industry tighter than ever, Democrats have a rare chance to claim some ground the other party abandoned: getting the government, and its cameras, out of your business.
More reading on this:
Flock cameras are spreading across America. The backlash is growing just as fast (WSJ, 8/24)
Amid intense backlash, people are vandalizing Flock surveillance cameras (NPR, 8/21)
Flock camera backlash adds fuel to midterm anti-AI frenzy (Axios, 8/24)
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WATCH
Senator regulating AI bungles response
By now, it's becoming pretty clear that artificial intelligence is going to either cure disease and usher us into some utopian promised land or accidentally wipe out every living creature on Earth. Fingers crossed it's the former. But if you were hoping that the members of Congress responsible for regulating it had even a baseline understanding of how the technology works, you'd be sorely mistaken. Watch 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey, who is running for re-election in a competitive primary next week, struggle to answer a basic question on the subject:
CHARTED
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ROUND-UP
More things you should read or watch this week
Republicans’ midterm convention is becoming “a shit show,” per Puck.
A new study covered by 404 Media found that X's algorithm learns the most from users' angry replies and responds by serving them more ragebait, a feedback loop that may hit Democrats hardest.
Semafor's Dave Weigel reports that Republican candidates in battleground states are scrambling to rebrand themselves as data center pragmatists.
The Guardian unmasked the guy behind Median Strategies, the fake polling operation I wrote about last week. It turns out a 21-year-old recent college grad built the whole thing himself using AI tools as a "social experiment."
Relatedly, the New York Times examined how campaigns have weaponized junk polls during this year's Democratic primaries.
The Israeli government is reportedly buying ads on Ted Cruz's podcast, and an unusual licensing deal with iHeart Media could allow that foreign money to flow into a super PAC dedicated to the senator.
The Cook Political Report moved the Texas and Iowa Senate races from lean Republican to toss-up.
Roy Cooper is running a decidedly not-viral North Carolina Senate campaign, and he probably wants to keep it that way, Lauren Egan at the Bulwark writes.
The Washington Post is tracking the biggest individual donors of the 2026 cycle, who have spent more than $1.6 billion on the midterms so far.
This op-ed from Searchlight’s Adam Jentleson is worth a read.
ONE LAST THING
Transportation Secretary’s reality show flops
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy spent his first year on the job traveling the country with his family on an industry-sponsored vacation dubbed "The Great American Road Trip." Last week, DOT released the full "season" of the reality show no one asked for, and, unsurprisingly, no one is watching. Episodes have averaged only about 7,800 views on YouTube.
