We may now know what kind of AI bubble this is
Think railroads, not crypto. PLUS: The government can't decide what to do about Mythos, and week one of the OpenAI-Elon Musk trial
Latest
How we're shaking up Platformer for the AI era
On newsletters in the age of AI automation. PLUS: Musk and OpenAI in court, and China blocks Meta's Manus acquisition
The week that Meta employees became training data
Invasive monitoring and a fresh round of layoffs have workers I spoke to on edge. Is this the future of knowledge work?
Following: Trump says Anthropic is “shaping up”
PLUS: Everyone has feelings about Tim Cook
Why UBI is making a comeback
Tech companies hope a check in the mail will calm the AI backlash — but there are reasons for skepticism
The scientific case for being nice to your chatbot
New research confirms that LLMs often perform better when you encourage them. But why?
Sam Altman’s second thoughts
OpenAI’s CEO is asking the public to lower the temperature on AI. But who turned it up in the first place?
Meta has a new model
Nine months after an expensive overhaul, the company says it's back in the AI race — but the race keeps getting faster
Why Anthropic’s new model has cybersecurity experts rattled
The company says it has built its most dangerous model yet. Can its coalition of internet companies fix the internet before others catch up?
OpenAI is getting weird again
A strange purchase, executive reshuffling and a New Yorker investigation are raising questions ahead of an IPO
Exclusive: Meta has discussed ending funding to the Oversight Board
Shifting priorities and budget pressures could bring an end to the company’s experiment in independent governance, sources say
Can you have child safety and Section 230, too?
The verdicts in last week’s social media trials have alarmed open-internet advocates. But it’s possible to regulate platform design while also protecting speech
Mark Zuckerberg is doing content moderation again
Meta’s CEO said he didn't want to be the speech police. Then he texted Elon Musk
Spotify takes on its doppelgänger problem
The company is taking new steps to stop AI impersonation — but across the internet, the problem continues to grow. PLUS: Anthropic in court, and Meta loses in New Mexico
Following: Elon tried to tank Twitter
PLUS: the White House's new AI agenda
Meta's new support bot probably can't get you your account back
The company's new support chatbot is better than what came before — but still missing the one feature that millions are clamoring for
OpenAI
Following: OpenAI wrestles with business strategy (and adult content)
Do Sam Altman and Fidji Simo have an alignment problem?
Meta
Why Meta is retreating from encryption
In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg called privacy the future of social networking. Not anymore
AI
I have been released from my responsibilities as an unwilling editor for Grammarly
Some overdue reflections by its CEO, and a class-action lawsuit, bring an end to “expert review”
Bluesky
Bluesky changes course
Jay Graber built something impressive but stagnant. Can a new CEO get it growing again?
AI
Grammarly turned me into an AI editor against my will and I hate it
The company tells Platformer it will let experts opt out of the controversial feature — but how different is it than what every other AI company is doing?
AI
Inside the backlash to the AI war machine
A protest at OpenAI headquarters suggests the backlash to military AI is growing — even if its politics are still half-formed. PLUS: The Pentagon declares Anthropic a supply chain risk
Anthropic
Where does Anthropic go from here?
Shunned by the government, and newly appealing to consumers, the company is at a crossroads
OpenAI
What is OpenAI going to do when the truth comes out?
Sam Altman’s deal with the Pentagon seems too good to be true. What happens when the public realizes that?
AI
The authoritarian AI crisis has arrived
AI safety researchers have long worried that a government would seek to use AI for domestic surveillance and autonomous killing. The Pentagon’s fight with Anthropic threatens to make it a reality
Anthropic
Following: Anthropic vs. the Pentagon
PLUS: The Substack post that tanked the markets, continued
AI
The shallow impact of India’s AI summit
The US government still can’t think beyond “winning.” The rest of the world is still thinking too small
Social Media
The infinite scroll goes on trial
Testifying before a jury in LA, Mark Zuckerberg makes the case that platform design is about free expression. But the walls are closing in on Section 230
Meta
Meta’s face turn
In the company’s latest policy reversal under Trump 2.0, the facial recognition system it blew up in 2021 may be poised for a return
OpenAI
Why GPT-4o had to go
As OpenAI sunsets its most dangerous model, the tensions it exposed remain as tricky as ever. PLUS: Elon's space catapult, and OpenAI vs. Anthropic
OpenAI
Exclusive: OpenAI disbanded its mission alignment team
Joshua Achiam will become the company's chief futurist
Social Media
Why the infinite-scroll childhood may be coming to an end
A lawsuit that begins in LA this week, along with a new investigation into TikTok by the European Commission, could change social apps forever. PLUS: AI ads at the Super Bowl and in ChatGPT