Inside the Hive

Every day a new scientific breakthrough or existential threat seems to make the world more aware and more distrusting of an AI future that we’re told is rapidly approaching—whether we like it or not. And nobody is more recognized as the face of artificial intelligence—as a technology, an industry, and a civilizational shift—than Open AI founder and CEO Sam Altman. Long before he became a household name, Altman established a towering reputation in Silicon Valley: persuasive prodigy, visionary futurist, relentless CEO. But as OpenAI’s influence broke out of tech’s insular bubble, some of the very same traits that served him well in Northern California have become his greatest liabilities. In a far-ranging conversation taped in San Francisco on September 11th – the first of two sitdowns with Vanity Fair’s Mark Guiducci –  Altman discusses his views on ChatGPT and suicide prevention, safety breaches, and the film ‘Artificial,’ in which Andrew Garfield plays him—along with much more.  “I understand the instinct to say, ‘I don't want the change, I don't want the risk. Just stop it,’” Altman says. “I really hope that hundreds of years from now people look back at our lives and just can't believe how bad we had it.”

This is the first installment of a two-part interview with Altman. You can find the second installment on YouTube and podcast apps now. 

Listen to and follow Fair Game from Vanity Fair on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this second of two sitdowns with Vanity Fair’s Mark Guiducci, taped in San Francisco on October 2nd, OpenAI’s Sam Altman discusses the ‘accord’ signed by AI leaders and President Trump, defends his company’s record on safety-related slowdowns, and clarifies how he’d like to be remembered as the story of this era of technology is written. “I'm going to make many individual decisions you clearly won't like,” Altman says. “But if you look at the trajectory of what we have done over the last many years we've been offering this, it's imperfect, but I think remarkably good relative to what I feared it could have been.”

This is the second installment of a two-part interview with Altman. You can find the first installment on YouTube and podcast apps now. 

Listen to and follow Fair Game from Vanity Fair on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen to and follow Fair Game from Vanity Fair on ⁠YouTube⁠ or ⁠wherever you get your podcasts⁠.

When you sit down with playwright, producer, and provocateur Jeremy O. Harris, you never really know what you’re going to get; today’s conversation is no exception. In this episode of Fair Game, Harris and Vanity Fair’s Mark Guiducci touch on everything from Jeremy’s childhood to the Democratic Socialists of America, from the state of the American theater to why the tech industry’s leaders are not prioritizing giving back to society. They also discuss Jeremy’s 2018 theatrical debut, Slave Play, and why Jeremy pushed to make sure it made a splash.  “People don't realize that every year that I wasn't making real money, my mom was calling me and saying, 'Goodyear's hiring. You could come back and work at the factory,'” Harris says. “I was doing anything I could to not go back to Virginia and have to work at a Burger King.”

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On the first episode of Fair Game, Vanity Fair’s new interview show, Mark Guiducci sits down with actor, writer, and director Colman Domingo for a conversation about Colman’s career, sense of style, and philosophy on the world. They touch on Colman’s role as a peacemaker on the set of Euphoria, his performance as Joe Jackson in Michael, and his early work in a political children’s circus where he played a salamander on stilts. “I've had to build this career,” Domingo says. “There's no career that looks like mine. No one writes musicals and plays and directs and acts and sings and dances… I created this space for myself. But it's not because I wanted to, it's because I had to”

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Five family members, murdered. A sixth in prison for life. It’s one of Britain’s most infamous crimes. But did the justice system get it wrong? “Blood Relatives,” a six-part series from In the Dark, is coming on October 28th.

New Yorker subscribers get early, ad-free access to “Blood Relatives.” In Apple Podcasts, tap the link at the top of the feed to subscribe or link an existing subscription. Or visit newyorker.com/dark to subscribe and listen in the New Yorker app.

In the Dark has merch! Buy specially designed hats, T-shirts, and totes for yourself or a loved one at store.newyorker.com.

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On this episode, executive editor Claire Howorth and Hive editor Michael Calderone sit down with CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, authors of the bombshell political book, “Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” The authors discuss new revelations behind Biden’s fateful decision, including the roles of his family and close advisers, and why Democrats—and the news media—need to reckon with the bungled candidacy. 

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The scandal-scarred Defense Secretary is hanging on—but for how long? On this episode, Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, along with executive editor Claire Howorth and Hive editor Michael Calderone, discuss Pete Hegseth’s pugilistic style and tumultuous tenure atop the Department of Defense. Plus, special correspondent Gabriel Sherman joins the conversation to provide perspective from inside Trumpworld and reveals why the president is reluctant to break with his friend from Fox. 

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Sam Altman didn’t want to be the subject of a biography, suggesting the AI revolution is about more than one person, says Keach Hagey, a Wall Street Journal reporter and author of “The Optimist.” But on this episode, host and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, along with executive editor Claire Howorth and Hive editor Michael Calderone, go deep on the man himself, speaking with Hagey about Altman’s progressive politics, friendship with Peter Thiel, feud with Elon Musk, and dealings with Donald Trump, along with his brief exit from OpenAI—aka “The Blip”—and vision for this potentially world-altering technology. 

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It may seem like an odd time to party in Washington, but journalists and politicos will gather again this weekend at the White House Correspondents Dinner (and slew of late-night soirees and boozy brunches.) Host and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, along with executive editor Claire Howorth and Hive editor Michael Calderone, decode this long-running media ritual, which plays out this year as Donald Trump shatters precedents with the press and puts a chill on speech. 

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When protesters converged this past weekend across America, they seized on two central villains: Donald Trump and Elon Musk. On this episode, host and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, along with executive editor Claire Howorth and Hive editor Michael Calderone, discuss how perceptions of Musk have radically shifted from rocket-building billionaire to government hatchet man and right-wing troll. Contributing editor Zoe Bernard joins the show to discuss how Musk’s ethos reflects Silicon Valley and whether his more libertarian views on tariffs could hasten his exit from Washington. 

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