Dr. Chinasa T. Okolo

This is the easiest way to get blocked 🤦🏾‍♀️

Evidence Grows That Google's AI Overviews Have Eviscerated the Media Industry Google's AI overviews have eviscerated the media landscape, with some top publications losing up to 97 percent of their web traffic.

"Crucially, the hardest hits came in mid-2025, when Google expanded its AI Overviews system to cover a much more expansive range of queries."

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Chicago’s Blue Line definitely feels like a rollercoaster at times 🤣

One of my favorite feelings is when the Silver Line train is at peak speed between stops on the way to and from Dulles. The smoothest ride ever!

We don’t talk enough about how morally depraved the tech industry turned out to be. Every single ounce of their self-regarding statements of values was an outright lie.

Removing tracking IDs from social media posts and articles I share is my daily act of resistance.

Global majority countries must embed critical minerals into AI governance Over the past decade, an increasing number of Global Majority countries—broadly characterized as economically developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and O...

My latest piece for Science examines the global AI value chain, how critical minerals are reshaping geopolitical competition across Global Majority countries, and why oversight of these resources must be embedded into AI governance.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Why Electricity Bills Are So High—and How the Blowback Could Hit Trump - Inside Climate News As Democrats and climate activists seize on energy costs as a political issue, new data shows electricity rates rose 5 percent nationwide in 2025. The figures were much higher in some states.

"...residents of Washington, D.C., saw their electricity rates rise by 24 percent in 2025, more than in any state."

insideclimatenews.org/news/0203202...

AI Nationalism(s): Global Industrial Policy Approaches to AI - AI Now Institute In this essay collection we survey the nationalist narratives and emergent industrial policies being proposed by governments with differing economic and geopolitical motivations.

"The evidence suggests that while benefits accrue to a handful of corporate actors, current AI industrial policy perpetuates a long cycle of racialized disenfranchisement of groups that reap few of the benefits and bear most of the harms."

ainowinstitute.org/publications...

Science Advice Is Under Strain and Science Must Reform Itself, Sir Peter Gluckman Says The president of the International Science Council argues that a widening gap between scientific and political cultures, not declining trust in science, is a major challenge.

"...the cultures of science and policymaking operate on different logics — and that scientists have been reluctant to examine weaknesses within their own system."

thesciencediplomat.substack.com/p/science-ad...

Thank you to @posada.website for the invitation!

A flyer that shares detail for Chinasa's upcoming talk at Yale. It reads "Global Imperatives for an Equity-Centered Approach to AI Governance" and has a headshot of Chinasa smiling wearing braids, a green blazer and gold earrings.

A photo of a brick wall at Yale University I took in 2023 that has Yale engraved in one of the bricks.

I'll be at Yale today for a guest lecture in the “Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society" course!

My talk, “Global Imperatives for an Equity-Centered Approach to AI Governance,” will discuss my latest research, work, and vision for inclusive approaches to AI oversight.

The military is bailing out the AI industry. We interview author and activist @naomiaklein.bsky.social on our latest episode of Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000. Check out episode 72: How the War Department Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI.

(with @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Toward Self-Determined AI Development in Africa The process of developing local AI ecosystems — self-owned and self-controlled — may offer a path toward sustained self-determined progress for Africa, Teanna Barrett writes.

Insightful piece by my collaborator Teanna Barrett:

"Democratizing AI in Africa isn’t just about building sovereign AI, but working toward the political, economic, and social conditions to nurture self-determined AI development."

datasociety.net/points/towar...

I've been wanting another avenue to keep up with the news, along with reading articles directly and scrolling social media, and Wikipedia's current events page is perfect.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:...

I love seeing these two together 🤎

The Board of Peace has wasted no time starting its first war.

What the genocide in Gaza reinforced is that there are no "civilians" when it comes to Israel and the United States. The rest of the world learned the same lesson and the consequences are going to be felt across the world.

Sending love to my Iranian and Persian friends today.

May we live to see the end of US imperialism.

India’s Quest for AI Sovereignty Must Move Beyond Rhetoric to Rights In the discussions and declarations of the India AI Impact Summit, much of the discourse around “democratising AI” was tethered to the notion of access to models, and the question who can use them, in...

"Governance is not merely about compliance, it is about contestation, accountability, and redistribution of power. This new understanding opens space for new forms of sovereignty defined by the communities that build, use, and are affected by AI systems."

thewire.in/tech/ai-sove...

The last three weeks have involved nearly back-to-back travel to Cape Town, New Delhi, and finally Oxford...the travel still continues, but at least it's all domestic until the end of March 😅

A screenshot from my Bluseky timeline that shows a message detailing age restrictions for UK-based users. It reads: “The laws in your location require you to verify you're an adult to access certain features. Tap to learn more.”

Very interesting seeing age verification laws play out in real-time while I was in the UK for a few days…

Rio Police Chief & Congressman Convicted in Assassination of Socialist Rio Councilwoman Marielle Franco The court found that the former Chief of Rio de Janeiro Civil Police Rivaldo Barbosa, Brazilian Congressman Chiquinho Brazão, and his brother, Rio State Auditor General Domingos Brazão, were responsib...

Today, Rio de Janeiro’s former Police Chief & a Congressman were convicted in the assassination of socialist Rio City Councilwoman Marielle Franco.

She was a college classmate of mine & today is a beautiful day for Brazilian democracy

Landed in Heathrow yesterday and I was actually hot because I was overdressed for the random warm spurt. The weather reverted back today though 😆

I will admit that I’m perplexed by the decision to host the next AI Summit in Geneva.

Even though the Delhi Summit had its challenges, the general accessibility was a highlight. I can’t imagine how this will happen in one of the most expensive cities in the world 😬

I’ll be giving a presentation on “Anticolonial AI: Reclaiming power against systems of algorithmic extraction” in an afternoon session.

View the program and abstracts here: drive.google.com/file/d/11jrX...

a flyer advertising Chinasa's participation in the "Decolonial Perspectives Across Disciplines" symposium. There is a headshot of her smiling wearing a green blazer and white-grayish shirt. There is a logo for All Souls College at the University of Oxford at the bottom.

I look forward to participating in the Decolonial Perspectives Symposium at All Souls College, University of Oxford, later this week!

Date: Thursday, February 26th, 2026
Time: 9 AM - 6 PM GMT
Location: Old Library, All Souls College
Registration: forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Fascism is here and yet we insist on continuing to make things. Keep creating. It's so important. Do not let the fascists colonize your imagination or curtail your creativity.

A Lesson for the Global Majority on External AI Influence Global Majority countries must be the arbiters of their own AI futures.

My main takeaway from the India AI Impact Summit this past week:

Global Majority countries must be the arbiters of their own AI futures, and government ambitions to participate in the "AI race" must not compromise community values for ephemeral gratification.

open.substack.com/pub/chinasa/...

It’s interesting in Delhi how bad the traffic is, yet the buses are still half empty. Quite the urban planning problem.