Hard Fork

Warning: The second segment of this episode includes mentions of suicide. If you are in crisis please call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988 or you can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

This week, we look at a mess of corporate drama in artificial intelligence. Stability AI has announced that its founder and C.E.O., Emad Mostaque, is leaving the company. Meanwhile, Microsoft hired away two of the co-founders and much of the staff of Inflection, without actually acquiring the company itself. Both moves surprised tech insiders. Then, we talked with listeners who had something to say about our interview with Jonathan Haidt on smartphones, social media and young people. And finally, we examine the true motives behind “Shrimp Jesus” and other hugely popular images on social media that were generated with artificial intelligence.

Today’s guests:

• Jordan Lucero, a high school student
• Maya Rayle, a graduate student
• Jack Campbell, a college student
• Brendan Kelley, a high school digital coach

Additional Reading: 

• The indie AI companies are falling apart
• How Spammers, Scammers and Creators Leverage AI-Generated Images on Facebook for Audience Growth

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Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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This week, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple, saying the company holds a monopoly over the smartphone market. We break down the lawsuit and ask whether it will be a major turning point in Apple’s dominance. Then, Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, argues that smartphones and social media are the cause of widespread increases in mental health issues among young people. He tells us his four potential solutions to the problem. And finally, Reddit’s market capitalization hit $9.2 billion when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange this week, but the company still isn’t making money. We talk about the challenges Reddit faces as it goes public, and how the site may change as a result.

Today’s guest:

• Jonathan Haidt, author of “The Anxious Generation”

Additional Reading:

• U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly
• End the Phone-Based Childhood Now
• Reddit’s I.P.O. Is a Content Moderation Success Story

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban TikTok if its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell it off. We talk about why, what happens next, and how likely it is that the app will be banned. Then, how a photoshopped image of Kate Middleton undermines trust in photography. And finally, a new report reveals how your car may be tracking you without your knowledge — and how that might raise your insurance bill.

Today’s guest:

• Kashmir Hill, features writer at The New York Times

Additional Reading: 

• What to Know About the TikTok Bill That the House Passed
• Even Photoshop Can’t Erase Royals’ Latest P.R. Blemish
• Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 

Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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.

OpenAI responded to Elon Musk’s lawsuit this week, with a blog post that included emails dating to 2015. We talk about whether the lawsuit could have any impact on the company, and who stands to benefit from it. Then, will the European Union’s Digital Markets Act make the tech industry a more competitive environment for entrepreneurs? We look at how some of the biggest tech giants are changing their services to comply with the law. And finally, Kevin Roose and the Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern compare notes on using the Apple Vision Pro.   

Today’s guest:

• Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal Personal Tech columnist

Additional Reading:

• Open AI Says Elon Musk Tried to Merge It With Tesla
• Forced to Change: Tech Giants Bow to Global Onslaught of Rules
• One Month With Apple Vision Pro: In the Air, on a Train … in a Drawer

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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.

Warning: This episode contains strong language.

Google removed the ability to generate images of people from its Gemini chatbot. We talk about why, and about the brewing culture war over artificial intelligence. Then, did Kara Swisher start “Hard Fork”? We clear up some podcast drama and ask about her new book, “Burn Book.” And finally, the legal expert Daphne Keller tells us how the U.S. Supreme Court might rule on the most important First Amendment cases of the internet era, and what Star Trek and soy boys have to do with it.

Today’s guests:

• Kara Swisher, tech journalist and Casey Newton’s former landlord
• Daphne Keller, director of the program on platform regulation at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center

Additional Reading: 

• Google CEO calls AI tool’s controversial responses ‘completely unacceptable’
• Kara Swisher Is Not Here to Make Friends in Her New Memoir
• Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher
• Daphne Keller’s FAQs About the NetChoice Cases at the Supreme Court

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 
Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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.

This week’s episode is a conversation with Demis Hassabis, the head of Google’s artificial intelligence division. We talk about Google’s latest A.I. models, Gemini and Gemma; the existential risks of artificial intelligence; his timelines for artificial general intelligence; and what he thinks the world will look like post-A.G.I.

Additional listening and reading: 

• A.I. Could Solve Some of Humanity’s Hardest Problems. It Already Has.
• This interview was recorded on Wednesday. Since then, Google has temporarily suspended Gemini’s ability to generate images of humans, following criticism of images the chatbot generated of people of color in Nazi-era uniforms.
• Google Is Giving Away Some of the A.I. That Powers Chatbots

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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 year ago, a chatbot tried to break up Kevin Roose’s marriage. Ever since, chatbots haven’t been the same. We’ll tell you how. Then, we’ll talk through the latest ways the world is adapting to artificial intelligence. And finally, Aravind Srinivas, the chief executive of Perplexity, will discuss his company’s “answer engine,” a challenger to Google’s search engine that could reshape the web as we know it.

Today’s guest:

• Aravind Srinivas, chief executive of Perplexity 

Additional Reading: 

• The Year Chatbots Were Tamed
• OpenAI Gives ChatGPT a Better ‘Memory’
• Google Releases Gemini, an A.I.-Driven Chatbot and Voice Assistant
• Sam Altman Seeks Trillions of Dollars to Reshape Business of Chips and AI
• Lawmakers propose anti-nonconsensual AI porn bill after Taylor Swift controversy
• Sarah Silverman’s lawsuit against OpenAI partially dismissed
• Can This A.I.-Powered Search Engine Replace Google? It Has for Me.

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 

Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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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.

Bluesky, the Twitter spin-off, is now open for public sign-ups. Can its dreams of decentralization fix social media? We talk with CEO Jay Graber. Then, New York Times reporter Erin Griffith on how Adobe’s failed acquisition of Figma has spooked tech companies and upset Silicon Valley’s startup pipeline. And finally, updates on ancient scrolls and artificial intelligence, Google’s chatbots, and the fight between record companies and TikTok. 

Today’s guests: 

• Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky
• Erin Griffith, reporter for The New York Times

Additional Reading: 

• What Is Bluesky and Why Are People Clamoring to Join It?
• After Its $20 Billion Windfall Evaporated, a Start-Up Picks Up the Pieces
• First passages of rolled-up Herculaneum scroll revealed
• Google Releases Gemini, an A.I.-Driven Chatbot and Voice Assistant
• Universal Music Group Pulls Songs From TikTok

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 

Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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.

Apple’s Vision Pro headset is now for sale in stores. Will it live up to the hype? Kevin Roose and Casey Newton tried it out to see. Then, in a high-profile congressional hearing on child safety and social media, Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta chief executive, made an apology to families of victims of online child abuse. Is new legislation on the horizon? And finally, what the collapse of Cruise, the autonomous vehicle company, means for the future of self-driving cars.

Additional Reading: 

• Apple readies its Vision
• ‘Your Product Is Killing People’: Tech Leaders Denounced Over Child Safety
• Cruise Says Hostility to Regulators Led to Grounding of Its Autonomous Cars

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 

Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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.

Layoffs are hitting newsrooms and publishers again, as tech platforms, ad markets and artificial intelligence reshape the internet. Kevin Roose and Casey Newton have ideas for solutions. Then, one of the most influential investors in crypto companies lays out where the industry went wrong, and why he still thinks blockchains are the future. And finally, a round of HatGPT with the week’s tech headlines, including a spicy LinkedIn post and an A.I. test that disturbs Kevin and Casey’s sense of reality.

Today’s guest:

Chris Dixon, partner at Andreessen Horowitz

Additional Reading:

• Layoffs hit publishers including The Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated, while Pitchfork is being wrapped into GQ.
• “Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet,” by Chris Dixon
• Test Yourself: Which Faces Were Made by A.I.?

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 

Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

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.