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 is a reporter at The New York Times covering technology policy.

Additional reading:

• Lawmakers are trying to understand the technology behind A.I.
• The White House is pushing Congress to regulate TikTok.
• A number of countries are trying to ban TikTok.
• The Waluigi effect is a theory about why chatbots behave erratically.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 using it for? Email us a voice memo at [email protected]. 

Additional reading:

• Snapchat launched “My AI” to paid subscribers.
• Mark Zuckerberg announced a high-level group to “turbocharge” Meta’s work with generative A.I.
• Meta AI released LLaMA to researchers.
• The science fiction and fantasy magazine “Clarkesworld” was flooded with chatbot-generated submissions. The writing is “bad in spectacular ways,” its editor said.
• Elon Musk is considering starting his own A.I. company.
• An FTX co-founder pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating Sam Bankman-Fried.
• A “flurry” of fines, lawsuits and policy statements are spooking crypto executives.
• Gary Gensler, the chair of the S.E.C., said that in crypto “everything other than Bitcoin” should be treated as a security.
• Some TikTok users are worried by how realistic its new filters can seem.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 made changes to Bing’s chatbot capabilities after the Chatbot’s unsettling behavior with some users. The company is already loosening some of those restrictions.
• The Supreme Court heard a case challenging Section 230. Reddit is among many social media companies that have filed “friend of the court” amicus briefs against changes to the law.
• Facebook plans to sell “Meta verified” accounts.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

“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 Platformer.

Additional reading:

• Bing AI appeared to have a split personality in a conversation with Kevin Roose, a “Hard Fork” co-host.
• Elon Musk ordered changes to Twitter’s algorithm after his Tweets did not perform as well as he desired.
• Why digital ads are so bad these days.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 into its search engine and kicked off an A.I. arms race.
• Google released Bard, a rival chatbot to ChatGPT.
• “Nothing, Forever” was temporarily banned on Twitch.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 ChatGPT.
• Kevin Systrom is starting a new A.I.-powered news app.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 Social
• The Jan. 8 riots in Brazil mirrored aspects of the U.S. Capitol Riots, including the use of tech platforms to organize rioters.
• Donald Trump used Truth Social to attack former Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 Sarah Andersen on finding her art in the databases behind text-to-image A.I. platforms.
• Three artists, including Ms. Andersen, filed a class-action lawsuit against the creators of Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and DreamUp.
• CNET’s A.I.-written articles contained errors.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 Columbia University are trying to build conscious robots.
• The case for using ChatGPT in schools.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.

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 access to sensitive U.S. user data.
• ByteDance used TikTok to track the location of journalists including Emily Baker-White.
• On TikTok, Chinese state media outlets pushed divisive videos about U.S. politicians.
• Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, is navigating the limits of his power.
• The federal government and several states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices.
• ChatGPT is a “code red” for Google Search.
• Microsoft and OpenAI are working on a ChatGPT-powered version of Bing.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.