Everyone is talking about AI. Very few people actually understand what’s happening.

At Media Summit | NYC 2026, we brought together three of the reporters who spend every day inside the AI story:

- Rebecca Bellan (TechCrunch)

- Hayden Field (The Verge)

- Rashi Shrivastava (Forbes)

- Moderated by Julie Samuels (Tech:NYC)

This conversation wasn’t about shiny demos or vague promises. It was about power, accountability, and how AI is already reshaping society, often faster than regulation, policy, or public understanding can keep up.

In this episode, we unpack:- Why AI has become a daily conversation everywhere (from coffee shops to classrooms)

- How a small number of companies and people control an outsized share of AI’s future

- Why skepticism is essential when covering AI startups, funding, and “winners”

- The mistake regulators keep making by focusing on models instead of real-world use cases

- How fear, money, and infrastructure are colliding in the AI boom

- The human stories hiding beneath the headlines

One insight kept coming up: the AI story isn’t just about technology. It’s about who holds power, who benefits, and who gets left out.

If you care about how AI will shape jobs, policy, media, and everyday life (or how journalists should cover it responsibly) this conversation is worth your time.

Watch the full panel from Media Summit | NYC 2026.