If you install TrackerControl, no root needed (it pretends to be a VPN to capture your traffic, but is not a real VPN), you will see which apps try to talk to tracking services and thus also which ones talk to Google.
It also as a 'traffic log' feature which, when turned on, shows live which app is talking to which tracker.
Note that, especially if you turn on blocking services marked as essential in the setup, you will need to unblock a lot of CDNs and tracking services for many apps to work including Spotify, your browser, etc. Of course you can also just whitelist apps completely, or temporarily turn all blocking off altogether. But by default it will block trackers, since that's kind of its point. This has the side effect of blocking virtually all advertisements.
> "He would ask us to do personal things for him," one of these people said. "He said, 'I need you to write a briefing for me on Russian history and politics.' [...] We had absolutely no work in Russia."
I originally made a joke in a now-deleted comment, but then was slightly horrified to hear people excusing this behavior. So here’s a serious one: if you get locked into a prestigious institution under someone like this, run.
EDIT: I should have known this would turn into a sub thread about whether it’s ok to demand an AI researcher brief an executive on Russian political history.
Here’s another one: gossiping about firing someone across the entire office, before you fire them. This article says he did that. I recommend reading through it. I have to go move into our house now, so I can’t paste everything. Suffice to say, the behavior patterns were not productive.
I think people want to recognize DeepMind’s eventual success. Having worked under some effective YC founders vs some Suleyman types, I’ve learned that sometimes a startup can succeed in spite of flaws. And remember, DeepMind was bought by Google. At that point they were the anointed child. Their success wasn’t guaranteed, but it wasn’t as tenuous as pre-billions Google investment.
Fans of Adam Curtis, particularly his characteristic use of 'historical collage' to create a compelling narrative, might be interested in the book trilogy 'U.S.A' by John Dos Passos. It's a great read.
A quote from Adam himself:
"The biggest influence I’ve ever had was actually a novel my father gave me to read at the age of about 13. It was a novel called USA by John Dos Passos. At that age, it just got me. You can trace back everything I do to that novel because it’s all about grand history, individual experience, their relationship. And also collages, quotes from newsreels, cinema, newspapers. And it’s about collage of history as well. That’s where I get it all from."*
It also as a 'traffic log' feature which, when turned on, shows live which app is talking to which tracker.
Note that, especially if you turn on blocking services marked as essential in the setup, you will need to unblock a lot of CDNs and tracking services for many apps to work including Spotify, your browser, etc. Of course you can also just whitelist apps completely, or temporarily turn all blocking off altogether. But by default it will block trackers, since that's kind of its point. This has the side effect of blocking virtually all advertisements.