Having been a signer of a Non-Competition Agreement (NCA) years ago, I've been focused on these and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for some time.
Bluntly, I feel they should NOT be allowed at all, and especially with government functions.
Any business that is well run should have significant advantages in their subject that make NDAs or NCAs really unneeded for "competition" purposes. They've got a "leg up" in their area of focus that can NOT be readily undone by a specific employee leaving their employ. They are much too overused.
In practice, NDAs seem mainly useful as a way to hide inappropriate practices. Recall the NDAs signed by Stormy Daniels and the use of NDAs by the Enquirer to squelch negative stories about Trump? Recent efforts to get GOVERNMENT employees to sign NDAs are of particular concern. (It seems to me that this practice first became prominent during the 1st Trump Administration - a warning sign all on its own.)
Regarding AI, I'm concerned that it is just too easily subverted for inappropriate purpose. And it's not yet reliable enough for government uses, where AI "hallucinations" and similar could cause massive detriments. Look at all the ridiculous firings and contract cancellations from DOGE that were very probably facilitated by DOGE use of AI.
The idea that AI will save democracy is ridiculous on its face. It is known to be dangerous on an individual level.
Some of the richest techbros involved in AI (Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Google/Sundar Pichai, Apple/Tim Cook) paid fealty to the enemy of democracy, tRump in the hope of getting more government largesse.
Still not sure what Artificial Intelligence has to do with the rest of the article. Sounds like lots of run arounds are used.
As voters we should demand more transparency from our state and federal governments. Great reporting!
Fascinatingly terrifying.
Having been a signer of a Non-Competition Agreement (NCA) years ago, I've been focused on these and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for some time.
Bluntly, I feel they should NOT be allowed at all, and especially with government functions.
Any business that is well run should have significant advantages in their subject that make NDAs or NCAs really unneeded for "competition" purposes. They've got a "leg up" in their area of focus that can NOT be readily undone by a specific employee leaving their employ. They are much too overused.
In practice, NDAs seem mainly useful as a way to hide inappropriate practices. Recall the NDAs signed by Stormy Daniels and the use of NDAs by the Enquirer to squelch negative stories about Trump? Recent efforts to get GOVERNMENT employees to sign NDAs are of particular concern. (It seems to me that this practice first became prominent during the 1st Trump Administration - a warning sign all on its own.)
Regarding AI, I'm concerned that it is just too easily subverted for inappropriate purpose. And it's not yet reliable enough for government uses, where AI "hallucinations" and similar could cause massive detriments. Look at all the ridiculous firings and contract cancellations from DOGE that were very probably facilitated by DOGE use of AI.
The idea that AI will save democracy is ridiculous on its face. It is known to be dangerous on an individual level.
Some of the richest techbros involved in AI (Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Google/Sundar Pichai, Apple/Tim Cook) paid fealty to the enemy of democracy, tRump in the hope of getting more government largesse.
Eye opening piece. Thanks. So I think the MAGA nuts are right … there is a deep state, but it’s actually a Deep Secret State.