Moderators on Reddit have shut down their forums in protest of a new policy that charges users for access to the site’s API. The revolt has put Kevin in child care-wisdom-withdrawal (RIP r/daddit ) — and left many other users without their favorite subreddits. But does the incident say something more about the future of the internet? Then, the MrBeast Philanthropic-Industrial Complex. Plus: Platforms are already fumbling the ball on misinformation. Today’s guest: Max Read is a journalist, screen...
Jun 16, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Apple kicked off the week with the announcement of a mixed-reality headset: the Apple Vision Pro. Putting a computer on your face may seem weird AF, but if there’s one company that knows how to make nerdy stuff into the thing that everyone wants, it’s Apple. Will these fancy goggles be the next Apple revolution? Then, crypto had (another) terrible week after the S.E.C. filed lawsuits against the cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Binance. Plus: Our teenage listeners on how they feel about soc...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast A few days after a lawyer used ChatGPT to write a brief filled with made-up cases, a group of A.I. experts released a letter warning of the “risk of extinction” from the technology. But will A.I. ever be good enough to pose such a threat? Then, FAANG is now MAAAN, with the addition of Nvidia. Here’s how the GPU company became a trillion-dollar behemoth. Plus: Kevin, Casey and the New York Times tech reporter Kate Conger answer Hard Questions from listeners. Today’s Guest: Kate Conger is a techno...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast The U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, says social media poses a “profound risk of harm” to young people. Why do some in the tech industry disagree? Then, Ajeya Cotra, an A.I. researcher, on how A.I. could lead to a doomsday scenario. Plus: Pass the hat. Kevin and Casey play a game they call HatGPT. On today’s episode: Ajeya Cotra is a senior research analyst at Open Philanthropy Additional reading: The surgeon general issued an advisory about the risks of social media for young people. Aje...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast In a congressional hearing this week, OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, appeared to be on the same page as lawmakers: It’s time to regulate A.I. But like so many other proposals to regulate tech, will it actually happen? The Times’s technology reporter Cecilia Kang helps us understand whether Congress will actually act, and what that could look like. Then, Casey talks with Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, before and after Elon Musk took over the company. On today’s episo...
May 19, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast At its biggest event of the year, Google announced an avalanche of A.I. product releases: A.I. in search, A.I. that writes emails and A.I. that generates slides. Is Google pulling ahead in the A.I. arms race? And, after years of hype, self-driving cars are finally hitting the streets of American cities. Kevin and Casey take a ride through San Francisco in Banana Slug — an autonomous vehicle from the self-driving car company Cruise. After their ride, they sit down with Cruise’s chief executive, K...
May 12, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast The Twitter look-alike Bluesky, started by the former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, is doing the impossible: making social media fun again. Then, A.I. is coming for jobs but not in the way you think. Plus: Kevin and Casey moonlight as advice columnists in a new Hard Fork segment called Hard Questions. Additional reading: Bluesky is vying to replace Twitter. IBM announced a pause in hiring, anticipating that A.I. would replace thousands of jobs at the company in the coming years. The chief...
May 05, 2023•56 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast A song featuring A.I.-generated versions of Drake and the Weeknd went viral — before being taken down by streaming services. Is censorship of A.I.-generated songs the way forward? Or can singers benefit from synthetic voices, as some artists like Grimes are suggesting? Then, HatGPT: Kevin and Casey pull headlines out of a hat and generate their own takes on the news. And Ben Smith, the former BuzzFeed News editor, discusses the end of the 2010s digital media era. On today’s episode: Ben Smith is...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re bringing you an episode on chips. No, not potato chips. Kevin has been pitching an episode on the truly fascinating world of chips and semiconductors for quite a while, but our friends at the The Ezra Klein Show got to it first. This week on Hard Fork: Ezra Klein’s engrossing conversation with historian Chris Miller. It’s a must listen. Thank you to Ezra for beating us in our quest for a great chips episode. We'll be back with our regularly scheduled tech coverage, with Kevin and Cas...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast Aric Toler untangles the web of teens, gamers and memes at the heart of the latest intelligence scandal. Then, an update on Twitter — where things have gone from bad to worse. Plus: How A.I. is bringing us closer to “Westworld.” On today’s episode: Aric Toler is the director of research and training at Bellingcat, the Dutch investigative site. He worked with journalists at The New York Times to identify the man who allegedly leaked top secret documents on Discord, a social media chat platform. A...
Apr 14, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast The New York Times Opinion columnist Ezra Klein has spent years talking to artificial intelligence researchers. Many of them feel the prospect of A.I. discovery is too sweet to ignore, regardless of the technology’s risks. Today, Mr. Klein discusses the profound changes that an A.I.-powered world will create, how current business models are failing to meet the A.I. moment, and the steps government can take to achieve a positive A.I. future. Also, radical acceptance of your phone addiction may ju...
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast For years, Google was seen as one of the most cutting-edge developers of A.I. But, with OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT, and other chatbots beating Google to market, is that distinction still the case? Google’s chief executive is in an unenviable position: Scramble to catch up or, in the face of potentially harmful technology, move slowly. Today, Sundar Pichai on Google’s delicate balance between A.I. innovation and safety. On today’s episode: Sundar Pichai is the chief executive of Google. Addition...
Mar 31, 2023•47 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast “It’s different because it’s Google.” Bard, Google’s answer to ChatGPT, could prove to be more consequential than any large language model to date — but it isn’t there yet. Then, we hear from listeners on how they are using A.I. to negotiate their rent, understand medical results and affirm their gender identity. Plus: Why Spotify’s A.I. D.J. may be a tipping point for artificial intelligence taking control of our lives. You can sign up for On Tech: A.I. at nytimes.com/newsletters . Additional r...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Jonathan Kanter, who heads up the Justice Department’s antitrust division, believes that antitrust laws are critical for innovation — from ad tech to A.I. The assistant attorney general is bringing a new philosophy to enforcing those laws. So, how is his new approach to protecting competition playing out? Plus: Can you guess whether that was a bot, or not? On today’s episode: Jonathan Kanter is the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Additional reading: Jo...
Mar 20, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s acing standardized tests, building websites and hiring TaskRabbits — GPT-4 is “equal parts fascinating and terrifying.” OpenAI has released its latest model, alongside A.I. announcements from Meta, Google and other industry players. The A.I. arms race is only accelerating. Then, what Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse means for the future of start-ups, and what Mark Zuckerberg has learned about layoffs Additional reading: OpenAI released ChatGPT-4 . It is exciting and scary . With its release o...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Representative Don Beyer thinks artificial intelligence is “the most amazing technology since fire.” So what does it mean that most of Congress seems not to understand it? Then our colleague David McCabe discusses a bill that could dramatically expand the Biden administration’s power to ban TikTok. Plus: what can the video game character Waluigi tell us about A.I. chatbots gone rogue? On today’s episode: Don Beyer is a U.S. representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District. David McCabe i...
Mar 10, 2023•59 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Snapchat launches a chatbot. Meta plans to “turbocharge” its A.I. work. Elon Musk explores “BasedAI.” At this point, who isn’t making an A.I. play? Plus: Is crypto finally dead? Also, a new TikTok filter is making people terrifyingly hot. On today’s episode: David Yaffe-Bellany , a cryptocurrency and financial technology reporter for The New York Times. Hard Fork listeners! We want to hear from you. How is A.I. showing up in your everyday life? In your job, school and families? What are you usin...
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Bing AI isn’t sentient. But it’s more than glorified autocomplete. How do we talk about — and understand — the power of today’s large language models? Then, Reddit’s C.E.O., Steve Huffman, on Section 230 and why the future of the internet lies with the Supreme Court. Plus: Meta is charging for blue checks. On today’s episode: Steve Huffman is the chief executive of Reddit. Additional reading: A Washington Post reporter asked Bing AI its opinion of Kevin Roose. Its response was eerie . Microsoft ...
Feb 24, 2023•52 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast “I’m Sydney, and I’m in love with you. 😘” A conversation with Bing AI (aka Sydney) turns romantic and bizarre. Why Microsoft’s AI search tool appears more powerful — and unsettling — than we thought. Then, inside Elon Musk’s quest to be the most popular user on Twitter. Plus: It’s not just you. Online ads have gotten much worse. On today’s episode: Tiffany Hsu is a technology reporter at The New York Times who covers misinformation and disinformation. Zoë Schiffer is the managing editor of Plat...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Microsoft’s release of a ChatGPT-powered Bing signifies a new era in search. Then, a disastrous preview of Bard — Google’s answer to ChatGPT — caused the company’s stocks to slide 7 percent. The A.I. arms race is on. Plus: What “Nothing, Forever,” the 24/7, A.I.-generated “Seinfeld” parody, says about bias in A.I. On today’s episode: Sam Altman is the chief executive of OpenAI. Kevin Scott is the chief technology officer of Microsoft. Additional reading: Microsoft integrated OpenAI's technology ...
Feb 10, 2023•55 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast TikTok is opening up a “Transparency and Accountability Center” to try to win over skeptics. Is the company’s strategy working? Then, the origin story of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and how the company kicked off an A.I. arms race. Plus: A co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, hopes to make a “TikTok for text.” On today’s episode: Kevin Systrom is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Instagram. Additional reading: TikTok is taking a more aggressive approach toward lobbying. Inside OpenAI’s race to build...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast What does Donald Trump’s reinstatement on Facebook and Instagram mean for our politics and platforms? Then, Netflix in its post-Reed era. Plus: How the Bored Ape Yacht Club went from being the Disney of Web3 to handing out sewer passes for their new video game. On today’s episode: Lucas Shaw is an entertainment industry reporter for Bloomberg. Additional reading: Meta reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Trump looked to get out of a deal with his own social media site, Truth Socia...
Jan 27, 2023•59 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Nearly three months into Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, things are in a "shambolic" state. Is the rest of Elon’s empire also in trouble? Then, an artist fighting generative A.I. sets the stage for a legal clash. Plus: what goes wrong when A.I. becomes a reporter. On today’s episode: Sarah Andersen, a cartoonist and the illustrator of a semi-autobiographical comic strip, “Sarah’s Scribbles.” Additional reading: A look inside Elon Musk’s first 90 days as chief executive of Twitter. The artist Sa...
Jan 20, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast A high school teacher on how the new chatbot from OpenAI is transforming her classroom — for the better. And, “M3GAN” may be closer than you think. Plus: Why Gen Z is chasing the digital camera aesthetic. On today’s episode: Cherie Shields is a high school English teacher in Sandy, Ore. Kalley Huang is a technology reporting fellow based in San Francisco. Additional reading: Gen Z is bringing back the digital camera , and teenagers in Brooklyn are rejecting smartphone culture . Researchers at Co...
Jan 13, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Calls to ban TikTok or force its sell-off from its parent company ByteDance are gaining momentum, especially after reports of ByteDance’s surveillance of several U.S. journalists. And could Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI mark the end of Google’s search monopoly? Plus: New Year's resolutions, including locking up your phone. On today’s episode: Emily Baker-White, a technology reporter at Forbes who reports on TikTok. Additional reading: An inside view into Project Texas , TikTok’s plan to limit...
Jan 06, 2023•1 hr•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast The year of the “mini-Musk” chief executive, the end of homework as we know it, a crackdown on TikTok and other predictions for 2023. Also, Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest and answers to our listener questions. On today’s episode: David Yaffe-Bellany , a cryptocurrency and financial technology reporter for The New York Times. Additional reading: Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of FTX, was arrested and denied bail by a judge in the Bahamas. Prosecutors accused him of engaging in widespread f...
Dec 16, 2022•57 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast It’s writing podcast scripts, finishing students’ homework and correcting mistakes in computer code: ChatGPT, the A.I. chatbot from OpenAI, is suddenly everywhere. Who should decide how it’s built? What could go wrong? And what could go right? On today’s episode: Aviv Ovadya, a technologist and affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and a visiting scholar at Cambridge University Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence. Additional reading: ChatGPT is inspiri...
Dec 09, 2022•58 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Elon Musk accuses Apple of trying to sabotage Twitter. But after his visit with Apple’s C.E.O., Tim Cook, things are … good? Then, the New York Times reporter Paul Mozur on the tactics Chinese protesters are deploying to avoid the most sophisticated censorship apparatus in the world. Plus: S.B.F. says it’s been a “bad month.” Additional Reading: Elon Musk accused Apple of threatening to pull Twitter from its App Store and tweeted about Apple’s “ secret 30 percent tax ” on developers for in-app p...
Dec 02, 2022•51 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast The balance sheet contains an apology, the in-house coach is concerned that company executives are “undersexed” and billions in customer funds remain in jeopardy. The wreckage at FTX goes from bad to worse. Plus: Elon’s “extremely hardcore” plan for Twitter 2.0. Additional Resources: George K. Lerner, FTX’s in-house performance coach , said he was shocked by the collapse of FTX. In an interview with Matt Levine, a Bloomberg columnist, Sam Bankman-Fried described his strategy to restore faith in ...
Nov 18, 2022•47 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we go inside Elon Musk’s “dire” warnings, FTX’s spectacular collapse and Meta’s big layoffs. Has the tech industry lost its mind? “Hard Fork” listeners: We want to hear your questions about the tech industry. Send them to hardfork@nytimes.com . Also, check us out on TikTok: @ hardforkpod Additional Resources: Elon Musk told Twitter employees the company faced a bleak financial picture in a meeting with staff on Thursday and in his first companywide emails. The world’s largest crypto e...
Nov 11, 2022•53 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast 
