Hard Fork
by The New York Times
“Hard Fork” is a show about the future that’s already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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.
Episodes
The Ezra Klein Show: How Fast Will A.I. Agents Rip Through the Economy?
The Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark tells Ezra Klein what he sees coming in the new era of A.I. agents.
‘A.I.-Washing’ Layoffs? + Why L.L.M.s Can’t Write Well + Tokenmaxxing
Companies are using A.I. as a reason for layoffs, but the truth may be more complex.
A.I. Goes to War + Is ‘A.I. Brain Fry’ Real? + How Grammarly Stole Casey’s Identity
“When there is an attack that kills civilians or doesn’t hit its intended target, people are going to be asking, Oh, was that a human who made that mistake or was that an A.I. system?”
OpenAI's Fog of War + Betting on Iran + Hard Fork Review of Slop
“The Pentagon and OpenAI are saying to the public, You’re just going to have to trust us. And the public is saying, Well, we don’t.”
At the Pentagon, OpenAI is In and Anthropic Is Out
It’s been a crazy 48 hours in the A.I. industry.
Is A.I. Eating the Labor Market? + The Latest on the Pentagon, OpenClaw and Alpha School
“I think the mere fact that the markets can move so much, based on almost nothing, underscores how high anxiety is right now.”
The Pentagon vs. Anthropic + An A.I. Agent Slandered Me + Hot Mess Express
This would be an unprecedented escalation against a U.S. company.
‘Something Big Is Happening’ + A.I. Rocks the Romance Novel Industry + One Good Thing
“I do think we are reaching an inflection point in people's feelings and senses about AI and where it's going.”
Elon Musk’s Mega-Merger + We Test Google’s Project Genie + What’s Next for Moltbook Creator
“A very valuable and profitable company in SpaceX has acquired a cash furnace named xAI.”
Moltbook Mania Explained
Is this the year the internet changes forever?
Tech Grapples With ICE + Casey Tries Clawdbot, a Risky New A.I. Assistant + HatGPT
In Minneapolis, it has become a battle of phone versus phone.
Will ChatGPT Ads Change OpenAI? + Amanda Askell Explains Claude's New Constitution
“The question is not are these first couple of ads that we're seeing from OpenAI going to be good or not? It's whether two or three years from now, ChatGPT is being steered toward ad-friendly topics.”
Jonathan Haidt Strikes Again + What You Vibecoded + An Update on the Forkiverse
“If we can’t win on social media, then we definitely can’t win on A.I.,” says Haidt.
OpenAI Calls a ‘Code Red’ + Which Model Should I Use? + The Hard Fork Review of Slop
“For OpenAI to realize its ambitions, it is not going to be enough for them to make a model that is as good as Gemini 3. They need to be able to leapfrog it again.”
Google's Gemini 3 Is Here: A Special Early Look
Maybe more than other model releases, this one seems to have the attention of Google’s competitors. Will it put the company at the top of the A.I. leaderboard?
Data Centers in Space + A.I. Policy on the Right + A Gemini History Mystery
“As you may have noticed, it is not easy to build data centers here on Earth.”
We Met NEO, the Viral Humanoid Robot + HatGPT
People have been waiting for a robot to do their chores since they watched “The Jetsons.” Can the company behind NEO finally make it happen?
Sora and the Infinite Slop Feeds + ChatGPT Goes to Therapy + Hot Mess Express
“I do not like the idea of pointing these giant AI supercomputers at people's dopamine receptors and just feeding them an endless diet of hyper-personalized stimulating videos.”