The explosion of artificial intelligence over the past couple of years has been breathtaking. Seemingly from nothing, it has now become the carrier not only of Big Tech’s most unhinged fantasies but also that of capital more generally. The claims of its most fervent believers—that it will replace most human labor and that it will initiate a new age of unlimited capitalist growth—will inevitably fall short of expectations. But even if we won’t see multi-billion dollar corporations run entirely by AI agents anytime in the near future, the future AI capital foresees for the rest of humanity reveals itself in its new “satanic mills,” the AI data centers popping up like weeds all over the United States. Marx once wrote that mechanization under class society provides new weapons by which the ruling class can dominate the working class. AI’s increased role in U.S. and global capitalism Companies like Apple, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon, “all of which have staked their fu...
In what could be a portent for other counties and cities seeking federal funds for infrastructure projects, the GOP Trump government’s Transportation Department threatens to yank $7.7 million for five St. Louis County, Minn., road and bridge projects, unless the county drops its requirements that contractors sign Project Labor Agreements. And, given the strong union tradition in Minnesota’s Northland, the county board is—so far—refusing. But it also faces the fact that $7.7 million is a lot of money for a rural county, and that it may seek more federal funds for other projects down the line, and face the same dilemma. The board scheduled a vote on the issue for April 7. Nevertheless, the Trump government’s demand “is union-busting 101,” said county board Chair Mike Jugovich, a Steelworker. “I don’t bust unions. I build them.” Members of the area’s Building and Construction Trades unions jammed the March 24 meeting of the county board in Hibbing to speak up strongly...