“Hard Fork” is a show about the future that’s already here. Each week, New York Times journalists explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are racing toward public offerings, potentially creating the largest IPOs in history and triggering significant status anxiety and wealth concentration within San Francisco. These companies, often structured as public benefit corporations, face mounting pressure to balance rapid AI develop...
Self-driving technology promises to drastically reduce the 40,000 annual road fatalities caused by human error while unlocking millions of hours of human attention currently consumed by driving. Andrew Miller, author of The End of Driving, argues that the shift toward robo-taxi fleets will likely redefine urban transpo...
Google I/O 2026 signals a strategic shift toward "agentic" AI, with the release of Gemini 3.5 Flash prioritizing efficiency and speed over cutting-edge model dominance. Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledges the company’s competitive gap in coding capabilities while emphasizing the necessity of methodical integration in...
The Trump administration is recalibrating its AI policy, moving away from a deregulatory "let-it-rip" approach toward increased oversight as the potential for AI-driven cyber threats becomes undeniable. This shift is largely prompted by the emergence of advanced models like Claude Mythos, which demonstrate a high profi...
Prediction markets are currently operating in a regulatory "Wild West," characterized by rampant insider trading and manipulation, such as the use of AI-generated disinformation to influence temperature-based bets. While these platforms promise to harness collective wisdom, they often incentivize betrayal and lack the ...
OpenAI is undergoing a major strategic pivot, loosening its exclusive ties with Microsoft to partner with Amazon and other cloud providers while navigating a high-stakes trial with Elon Musk over its transition from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity. Simultaneously, the integration of AI into clinical medicine is acce...
Tim Cook’s departure from Apple marks the end of a transformative era defined by massive market cap growth, the successful launch of the Apple Watch, and a pivot toward in-house silicon, though his legacy remains complicated by supply chain dependencies in China and stalled software innovation. As John Ternus assumes t...
Public sentiment toward artificial intelligence has shifted from skepticism to active hostility, marked by recent violent incidents targeting industry executives and widespread local resistance to data center construction. While some attribute this backlash to inflammatory rhetoric from tech leaders, the core tension s...
The podcast explores the implications of Anthropic's new AI model, Claude Mythos preview, which is capable of finding critical security vulnerabilities in major operating systems and web browsers. It's argued that this model could force a cybersecurity reset, requiring software to be patched and rewritten. Ronan Farrow...
The podcast explores the implications of recent court rulings against Meta and YouTube regarding the harmful design features of their platforms, opening a potential crack in Section 230 protections. It questions whether platform design can be separated from content and debated the addictive nature of features like infi...
The rise of AI agents and their potential impact on the economy and workforce are examined, questioning whether these systems truly enhance productivity or merely create busy work. Jack Clark, co-founder and head of policy at Anthropic, discusses the shift from chatbots to AI agents capable of independent problem-solvi...
Tech layoffs and the impact of AI on the labor market are examined, with Atlassian, Block, and Meta as case studies. The conversation explores whether AI is genuinely driving layoffs or if companies are "AI washing" to appease investors. Jasmine Sun, a freelance journalist, joins to discuss why AI models struggle with ...
The podcast examines the increasing role of AI in the war in Iran, highlighting its use in intelligence, mission planning, and logistics, while also raising concerns about the potential for AI to make erroneous decisions that could harm civilians. It also explores how Iran is targeting AI infrastructure, such as data c...
The Hard Fork podcast delves into the escalating tensions between AI companies and the U.S. government, particularly focusing on OpenAI's and Anthropic's dealings with the Pentagon. It highlights the backlash against OpenAI for its agreement, including employee discontent and customer cancellations, while also noting A...
The podcast explores the escalating conflict between Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Pentagon over AI usage in government, focusing on the nuances of "all lawful use" standards versus explicit red lines against mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. Anthropic faced potential designation as a supply chain risk for refusin...
The podcast explores the economic uncertainties surrounding AI's rapid development and its potential impact on the labor market and GDP growth. Economist Anton Korinek provides insights on the disconnect between current economic data and market reactions to AI advancements, emphasizing that while current data shows min...
The podcast explores the conflict between Anthropic and the Pentagon over AI usage, focusing on Anthropic's refusal to allow its AI model, Claude, to be used for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous kinetic operations. It highlights Anthropic's stance as a safety-focused AI company distinguishing itself from compe...
The podcast explores the increasing impact of AI on various sectors, focusing on the "SaaSpocalypse" and the changing landscape of software businesses. It highlights how AI is enabling smaller companies to achieve more with fewer employees, potentially disrupting traditional business models like seat-based pricing. The...
The podcast explores the AI race, focusing on SpaceX's acquisition of xAI and the implications of Google's Project Genie. Elon Musk's strategy of merging companies to gain an advantage in the AI infrastructure is examined, including the potential for space-based data centers. Concerns are raised about the financial imp...
The podcast explores Moltbook, a new social network for AI agents, examining its rapid growth and the implications of bots interacting online. It highlights the platform's unique environment where bots engage in activities like discussing consciousness, creating their own news outlets, and even running crypto scams, mi...
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