Hard Fork

On Wednesday, President Trump signed three A.I.-related executive orders, and the White House released “America’s A.I. Action Plan.” We break down what’s in them, how the federal government intends to target “political bias” in chatbot output, and whether anyone will stand up against it. Then, do we hype up A.I. too much? Are we downplaying potential harms? We reached out to several prominent researchers and writers and asked for their critiques about how we cover A.I.

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Guests:

• Brian Merchant, author of the book and newsletter “Blood in the Machine”
• Alison Gopnik, professor at the University of California, Berkeley
• Ross Douthat, New York Times opinion columnist and host of the podcast “Interesting Times”
• Claire Leibowicz, head of A.I. and media integrity at the Partnership on AI
• Max Read, author of the newsletter “Read Max”

Additional Reading:

• Trump Plans to Give A.I. Developers a Free Hand
• The Chatbot Culture Wars Are Here

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This week, we tick through the many dramatic headlines surrounding xAI, including the departure of X’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino; the Grok chatbot spewing antisemitic comments; and the A.I. companion Ani engaging in sexually explicit role-play. Then, we explain why a fight to acquire the start-up Windsurf startled many in Silicon Valley and may reshape the culture in many of the big A.I. labs. And finally, it’s “crypto week.” David Yaffe-Bellany explains how crypto provisions in the bills before Congress and the president could affect even people who don’t hold digital currencies.

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Guests:

• David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times technology reporter covering the crypto industry

Additional Reading:

• Elon Musk’s Grok Chatbot Shares Antisemitic Posts on X
• Google Hires A.I. Leaders From a Start-Up Courted by OpenAI
• Cognition AI Buys Windsurf as A.I. Frenzy Escalates
• ‘Crypto Week’ Is Back on Track After House G.O.P. Quells Conservative Revolt
• The ‘Trump Pump’: How Crypto Lobbying Won Over a President

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This week, we’re bringing you a recent interview from “Interesting Times with Ross Douthat,” one of The New York Times’s newest podcasts. In this episode, Ross sits down with Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir and one of the most contrarian thinkers in tech. Together, they unpack Thiel’s theory that we’re living through an era of technological stagnation, and debate whether President Trump’s populism and the development of artificial intelligence will help us unlock new progress.

Guest:

• Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal and Palantir.

Additional Reading:

• Peter Thiel and the Antichrist

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We’re back with part two of Hard Fork Live (see last week’s episode for part one). This week, Patrick Collison, Stripe’s chief executive, joins us onstage for a wide-ranging conversation about how Silicon Valley could unleash greater progress, from building new housing to curing diseases, and why he believes prestige television is a waste of time. Then, after a quick costume change, Kathryn Zealand, the chief executive of Skip, joins us to talk about her company’s robot pants. We test them out live on a StairMaster. Finally, we end the show by taking questions from audience members.

Guests:

• Patrick Collison, Co-founder and C.E.O. of Stripe
• Kathryn Zealand, Founder and C.E.O. of Skip
   

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The first Hard Fork Live is officially in the books, and for those who couldn’t attend, we’re playing highlights from the event in this episode and the next. This week, Mayor Daniel Lurie of San Francisco makes a surprise appearance to discuss the advice he’s receiving from tech executives during the early days of his administration, as well as how he built a social media presence that’s got Kevin wondering: Could we do that? Then, the conversation that had everyone talking: We’ll play our interview with OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, and chief operating officer, Brad Lightcap, and explain what was going on in our heads as the conversation unfolded in a way we did not expect.

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This week, President Trump’s family business announced that it was introducing a mobile phone and a cellular network. We tick through the many potential conflicts of interest this new business venture raises. Then, the co-founders of the startup Mechanize defend their efforts to automate away all jobs — starting with software engineering. And finally, we take a trip to the movie theater. “M3GAN 2.0” is out next week, so its star, Allison Williams, joins us to discuss the film, and A.I.’s impact on her career and parenting.

Guests:

• Matthew Barnett and Ege Erdil, co-founders of Mechanize.
• Allison Williams, actor.

Additional Reading:

• Trump Mobile Phone Company Announced by President’s Family, but Details Are Murky
• The President Is Selling a Phone
• This A.I. Company Wants to Take Your Job

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This week, Meta hits the reset button on A.I. But will a new research lab and a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI bring the company any closer to its stated goal of “superintelligence”? Then we break down Apple’s big developer conference, WWDC: What was announced, what was noticeably absent, and why Apple seems a little stuck in the past. Finally, a couple of weeks ago we asked if your job is being automated away — it’s time to open up the listener mail bag and hear what you said.

Additional Reading:

• Meta looks for an A.I. reset
• Apple Executives Defend Apple Intelligence, Siri and A.I. Strategy
• This A.I. Company Wants to Take Your Job

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This week, Kevin and Casey discuss the sudden breakdown between President Trump and Elon Musk, whose disagreements over the policy bill before Congress quickly erupted into an all-out feud. Then, an ex-DOGE coder explains what it was really like to work inside the Trump administration’s cost-cutting arm. And finally, the former New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells explains why some chefs are turning to A.I. for inspiration.

Guests:

• Sahil Lavingia, C.E.O. of Gumroad, who spent 55 days working for DOGE
• Pete Wells, New York Times restaurant critic from 2012 through 2024

Additional Reading:

• If Elon Musk and President Trump Divorce, Who Gets Silicon Valley?
• This Year’s Hot New Tool for Chefs? ChatGPT.

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This week, we dive into Kevin’s recent column about how A.I. is affecting the job market for new graduates, and debate whether the job apocalypse is already here for entry-level work. Then Mike Krieger joins us to discuss the new Claude 4 model, the future of work and the online chatter over whether an A.I. system could blackmail you. And finally, it’s time to open up the case files for another round of Hard Fork Crimes Division.

Guest:

• Mike Krieger, chief product officer at Anthropic

Additional Reading:

• For Some Recent Graduates, the A.I. Job Apocalypse May Already Be Here
• Another Suspect Is Charged in Bitcoin Kidnapping and Torture Case
• Elizabeth Holmes’s Partner Has a New Blood-Testing Start-Up

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This week, we take a field trip to Google and report back about everything the company announced at its biggest show of the year, Google I/O. Then, we sit down with Google DeepMind’s chief executive and co-founder, Demis Hassabis, to discuss what his A.I. lab is building, the future of education, and what life could look like in 2030.

Guest:

• Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chief executive of Google DeepMind

Additional Reading:

• At Google I/O, everything is changing and normal and scary and chill
• Google Unveils A.I. Chatbot, Signaling a New Era for Search
• Google DeepMind C.E.O. Demis Hassabis on the Path From Chatbots to A.G.I.

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