Neuroscience, tech & security @UCL in London, @UniofOxford, & @CSIS in DC. New book with @StMartinsPress @panmacmillan on the brain and war: WARHEAD.
London, UK
Joined September 2011
- Tweets1.1K
- Following169
- Followers752
- Likes118
Pinned Tweet
Thanks @IgnatiusPost for discussing my new book published yesterday, Warhead: How the brain shapes war and war shapes the brain, at @UKinUSA. Amazing audience @KembaWalden46 @IskanderRehman @RJohnsonCCW1 and so many more. Thanks all.
Available now! amazon.com/Warhead-How-Brain…
Tactics can matter as much as strategy in information operations.
ft.com/content/4e777c1f-d0fa… Lula’s digital triumph in Brazil election offers global model for the left
Hugely important reason why every other rich country lags US economic performance in cutting edge tech.
ft.com/content/ce1e852d-c699… EU leaders risk breaking their promise to help European start-ups
Good to see startups gathering pace.
ft.com/content/e43fb9c3-5487… Hypersonic missile start-up secures funds to boost Europe’s deep-strike capability
This brings together two aspects of my life:
- AI in society
- “Grumpy lady chilli” as my kids call it
Rumors that chili maker Lao Gan Ma laid off 500+ workers due to AI have gone viral in China.
Beneath Beijing’s positive messaging, many ordinary Chinese people are worried about AI and jobs.
Lao Gan Ma recently touted a new AI-powered chili inspection system that uses high-speed industrial cameras that significantly outperform manual inspection.
A stat about the company using this AI system to reduce human inspectors from 600 to 48 went viral on Chinese social media. The iconic, family-run company pushed back.
But if you look at the data, the company has reduced headcount from 2,912 to 740 in the past few years while earning record revenues.
Original story: m.jiemian.com/article/152425…
AI better than humans at reviewing academic papers according to this research by Harvard’s Gary King. gking.harvard.edu/peerless/
Very impressive from Google. Integrates multiple capabilities.
deepmind.google/blog/genie-4…
UK has great startups but has a scale up problem - this needs serious attention and only government can likely change this any time soon.
ft.com/content/52b728a2-3075… Number of UK founders choosing to sell not scale hits eight-year high
Interesting mix of AI and resilience: Data centres need protection from drone warfare ft.com/content/15a049f3-b62e…
Phil Chichester knows what he’s talking about. Good read. newscientist.com/article/259…
This potential French debt-spiral could become the biggest story of 2026 by far, but too few seem to notice it’s brewing…
nytimes.com/2026/10/08/busin…
US dominates AI build - roughly equal to the rest of world combined. China has hugely cheap power to build AI at scale and comes a creditable second. But the rest of the world lags badly…
ft.com/content/e1dd8bff-b06d…
How will people look back on Macron overseeing this failure since elected in 2017?
ft.com/content/9b252b46-a87c…
Alot of Europeans hope to build a giant new robotized Maginot Line and cower behind it, hoping for the best - that usually works out terribly!
“Active defence” is vital to deter war effectively and, if necessary, win. A welcome mindset shift.
ft.com/content/0293497e-e4b5…
Positive development for the UK.
ft.com/content/cf60deee-553d… Airtel Money IPO signals a route back for London’s market
Defence prime plus startup plus government. All three needed.
ft.com/content/3c38362f-70c3… UK looks to ‘land drones’ to transform beleaguered Ajax fighting vehicles
Information operations are a worry for all sides in our new era global of gray zone competition
ft.com/content/8715d1c6-054d… China’s spy agency warns of AI risk to national security
Trade offs
ft.com/content/b15d9839-1d2e… Defence sales test Europe’s appetite for US investment
Good piece on building AI in Europe by Mario Draghi.
ft.com/content/f054f927-b512…
