Article
A positive audit. Nobody approved.
An AliExpress audit reported readiness for public-data access while recording no approved applications. What does that result actually establish?
RED THREADS · THE COLLECTION
The research library
Choose a subject, read the findings, and follow them into the maps and original records.
AI influence & governance
Safety campaigns, proposed restrictions, evaluators and the institutions shaping AI.
114 articles, notes & maps →Money & institutions
Donors, foundations, grants, ownership and the obligations attached to resources.
165 articles, notes & maps →Identity & online safety
Age checks, digital identity, child-safety policy and access to online services.
88 articles, notes & maps →Payments & platform access
Banks, payment processors, distribution rules and the routes for challenging exclusion.
93 articles, notes & maps →Media, data & persuasion
Paid messaging, advertising lists, information classifiers and access to platform data.
117 articles, notes & maps →Research methods & open questions
Synthesis, unresolved questions and the working records behind the investigation.
11 articles, notes & maps →All articles, notes & maps
9 results
Article
ControlAI says it was behind the approach to Sabine Hossenfelder
The unnamed sponsorship approach that started this investigation has an identified participant. The editorial dispute is still unresolved.
Article
Eliezer Yudkowsky: How a Warning Acquires Power
An author, a funded institution, a political campaign—and the passage from predicting catastrophe to proposing who may prevent it.
Article
How a safety proposal becomes a rule
The UK and Australia offer something stronger than a list of shared contacts: documents showing policy ideas entering official consideration—and changing along the way.
Article
One donor. Conflicting agendas.
Oak Foundation funds both online-safety advocacy and organisations challenging surveillance. Follow the grants, then follow each recipient’s choices.
Article
When a classification reaches your wallet
A risk list, a payment-network rule and a processor’s decision can each contribute to a restriction. They are different steps, often controlled by different institutions.
Article
Who funds the AI debate?
Large grants, creator programmes and policy campaigns are visible. Their arrangements differ in how much control they give a sponsor.
Article
Who gets paid to build the machinery?
Public procurement connects policy ambitions with consultants, prototypes and evaluation. A budget announcement is only the beginning of that story.
Article
Who gets to operate the switches?
Governments, funders, campaigners and companies exchange different kinds of power. The consequential moment is when someone turns another institution’s input into a decision.