Are Republicans changing their minds about AI safety?
A new FTC inquiry into chatbots and children shows that some within the Trump Administration may be reconsidering their anti-regulation approach
Latest
AI as Normal Technology, revisited
The authors of an influential paper on AI timelines stand by their view that societal transformation will take decades — but hasn't it already arrived?
Google makes a gaffe
What the company's accidental legal filing and the Browser Company's acquisition tell us about the true future of the web
Everything Mark Zuckerberg has gotten from Donald Trump so far
One year out from Trump's threat to imprison him, Zuckerberg now has the administration fighting battles for him around the world
A ChatGPT tragedy is only the beginning
The chatbot mental health crisis is here
Musk sues over Grok flop
Stanford's Mark Lemley on xAI's whiny lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI
What I learned about productivity this year
What I gave up, what I kept, and what's new. PLUS: How I'm using AI
Americans fear AI will take their jobs — but companies can’t quite get it to work
What new surveys tell us about the messy state of AI diffusion
The states are coming for AI therapy bots
It's clear that therapy chatbots can benefit people — but states may have good reason to intervene anyway
My dinner with Altman
In a wide-ranging conversation with reporters, OpenAI's CEO discusses the GPT-5 backlash, the AI bubble, and whether he would build a social network
Grok is on the rocks
Trailing ChatGPT on the charts, and suspended by its own maker, Elon Musk asks: is this Apple's fault?
Three big lessons from the GPT-5 backlash
In which an industry obsessed with benchmarks and evals finds that its products are being used by real people
GPT-5 is alive
It's big news for free users of ChatGPT, but AGI remains elusive. PLUS: one AI safety idea other labs should borrow
OpenAI returns to open weights
An industry leader releases a powerful model that runs on a laptop. Should we worry?
ChatGPT adds a warning
It’s almost certainly not enough — but it’s a start.
Substack promotes a Nazi
The company has long wanted to be seen as neutral infrastructure — this week, we saw why that’s a fantasy
Child Safety
The UK's age gates are coming to America
The rocky rollout of age verification in the United Kingdom — and the privacy debacle at Tea — illustrate why a different approach is needed
Content Moderation
Trust and safety workers on why they're not speaking out
What readers say I got wrong in our last edition
Content Moderation
Is anyone left to defend trust and safety?
It’s under assault this year from users, politicians, and their own executives — but the industry has responded with silence
The Google study that told us what we already suspected
When users see AI overviews, clicks fall in half. How does the web survive?
Google and OpenAI fight over a high-school math competition
The race to AGI is getting petty
Let’s all try to help Substack live up to its new valuation
The company's new unicorn status has already led its founders to reverse their position on advertising. What other compromises are they prepared to make?
xAI
Grok's new porn companion is rated for kids 12+ in the App Store
AI companions are arriving faster than platforms can build guardrails around them. Parents need to pay attention
Jawboning
The campaign to make it illegal for ChatGPT to criticize Trump
The conservative pressure campaign against social networks was hugely successful — and now it's coming for AI
OpenAI
Sam Altman upstages the critics
And six other takeaways from Hard Fork Live
Meta
Meta's five biggest AI problems
The company clearly needs an infusion of fresh talent — but blank checks aren't going as far as they used to
Threads
The dream of the Fediverse is alive on Threads
Decentralized media is off to an agonizingly slow start — but there are glimmers of progress
Trump
The president is selling a phone
The Trump Mobile T1 probably won't be a big hit. It's still dangerous
OpenAI
OpenAI's toy story
In a new partnership with Mattel, the company hopes to reimagine play — but making internet-connected toys safe will be anything but child's play
Meta
Meta looks for an AI reset
Mark Zuckerberg knows the company needs a new AI strategy. Is Scale's Alexandr Wang the partner he needs?
Apple
Apple is shipping through it
At WWDC, the company insists that its AI transformation is well underway — but the evidence feels a little thin
Elon Musk
The bro-ligarchy blows up
Musk has gone to war with Donald Trump. What happens next?