Google’s AI search setback
The AI Overviews debacle and leaked search ranking documents tell a common story about the web's future — and it's not pretty
Casey Newton
Founder and editor of Platformer, a publication about the intersection of tech and democracy. Prior to founding Platformer in October 2020, Newton was the longtime Silicon Valley editor of The Verge.
OpenAI
OpenAI explains itself (again)
Some fresh reporting on who knew what and when
Journalism
A better way for platforms to fund journalism
A new bill in California offers an alternative to Australia-style link taxes. PLUS: OpenAI explains itself
OpenAI
OpenAI loses its voice
The company hasn’t been the same since Sam Altman’s return — and its treatment of Scarlett Johansson should worry everyone
Google’s broken link to the web
With AI search results coming to the masses, the human-powered web recedes further into the background
OpenAI
ChatGPT gets an emotional upgrade
OpenAI’s forthcoming voice assistant laughs, flirts, helps — and draws a sharp distinction with Google
AI
How AI changed the bargain between platforms and users
As Stack Overflow, Reddit, and others license their users’ posts to train AI, the internet’s extraction phase is accelerating
OpenAI
Inside OpenAI’s new plan for fighting deepfakes
The company has new strategies for shoring up our shared sense of reality. Will they matter in the election?
AI
Synthetic people are proving surprisingly useful
From chatbots to clinical trials, digital twins are suggesting at least one good answer to the question of what generative AI is for
Supreme Court
How Texas’ online porn law could shatter a First Amendment precedent
After the Supreme Court declined to issue a stay this week, 20 years of court rulings may be about to go out the window
AI
Publishers gamble over AI licensing deals
Is it smarter to take the deal they can get — or fight it out in court?
Oversight Board
The Oversight Board prepares to shrink
To grow again, it will have to deliver on its mission
TikTok
14 questions and answers about the TikTok ban
How it happened, ByteDance’s response, and what happens next
TikTok
How the TikTok ban could survive a court challenge
The First Amendment is a major obstacle, scholars say — but it isn’t insurmountable
TikTok
TikTok on the clock
With the Senate counting down to a critical vote on the platform’s future, its problems are multiplying
Meta
How Meta is paving the way for synthetic social networks
Five ways of thinking about Llama 3, its latest large language model