Hard Fork

This week, OpenAI released its much-anticipated flagship model, GPT-5. We break down what we know about the upgrade, drawing from our initial testing and a special news briefing with Sam Altman. Then, we explain why we were underwhelmed by Amazon’s new Alexa+, which is powered by generative A.I., and take our feedback to Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, who helps us understand why powering Alexa with L.L.M. capabilities is a major computer science challenge.Guests:Daniel Rausch, Amazon vice president of Echo and AlexaAdditional reading:OpenAI Aims to Stay Ahead of Rivals With New GPT-5 TechnologyAmazon Unveils Alexa+, Powered by Generative A.I.We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.Also, you can still get a special-edition “Hard Fork” hat! For a limited time, you’ll receive one when you purchase an annual New York Times Audio subscription for the first time (U.S. only). Go to nytimes.com/hardforkhat. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

This week, we look at the fallout from a sweeping internet age-verification law that went into effect in Britain. We explain why age restrictions are suddenly popping up all over the internet — and how some might create more problems than they solve. Then Matthew Prince, chief executive of Cloudflare, returns to the show to discuss his company’s new plan to help publishers fight back against A.I. scrapers and potentially to create a new online marketplace for quality content in the process. Finally, we round up some headlines from around the tech world in the latest round of HatGPT.Guests:Matthew Prince, chief executive of CloudflareAdditional Reading:Supreme Court Upholds Texas Law Limiting Access to PornographyThe U.K.’s age gates are coming to AmericaCloudflare Introduces Default Blocking of A.I. Data ScrapersAlso, you can still get a special-edition “Hard Fork” hat! For a limited time, you’ll receive one when you purchase an annual New York Times Audio subscription for the first time (U.S. only). Go to nytimes.com/hardforkhat.We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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. For a limited time, you can get a special-edition “Hard Fork” hat when you purchase an annual New York Times Audio subscription for the first time. Get your hat at nytimes.com/hardforkhatGuests:Brian Merchant, author of the book and newsletter “Blood in the Machine”Alison Gopnik, professor at the University of California, BerkeleyRoss 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 AIMax Read, author of the newsletter “Read Max”Additional Reading:Trump Plans to Give A.I. Developers a Free HandThe Chatbot Culture Wars Are Here We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.  Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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.Also, we officially have merch! For a limited time, you can get a special-edition “Hard Fork” hat when you purchase an annual New York Times Audio subscription for the first time. Get your hat at nytimes.com/hardforkhatGuests:David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times technology reporter covering the crypto industryAdditional Reading:Elon Musk’s Grok Chatbot Shares Antisemitic Posts on XGoogle Hires A.I. Leaders From a Start-Up Courted by OpenAICognition AI Buys Windsurf as A.I. Frenzy Escalates‘Crypto Week’ Is Back on Track After House G.O.P. Quells Conservative RevoltThe ‘Trump Pump’: How Crypto Lobbying Won Over a President We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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 We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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 StripeKathryn Zealand, Founder and C.E.O. of Skip We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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. We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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 MurkyThe President Is Selling a PhoneThis A.I. Company Wants to Take Your Job We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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. resetApple Executives Defend Apple Intelligence, Siri and A.I. StrategyThis A.I. Company Wants to Take Your JobWe want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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 DOGEPete 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. We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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 AnthropicAdditional Reading:For Some Recent Graduates, the A.I. Job Apocalypse May Already Be HereAnother Suspect Is Charged in Bitcoin Kidnapping and Torture CaseElizabeth Holmes’s Partner Has a New Blood-Testing Start-UpWe want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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 DeepMindAdditional Reading:At Google I/O, everything is changing and normal and scary and chillGoogle Unveils A.I. Chatbot, Signaling a New Era for SearchGoogle DeepMind C.E.O. Demis Hassabis on the Path From Chatbots to A.G.I.We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The actor, comedian and author Ed Helms has a new book out about historical blunders. He swings by Hard Fork to tell us about it and answer your moral quandaries, ethical dilemmas and etiquette questions about technology: How do I tell my mom she can’t post about her grandkids on Facebook? Am I being an A.I. hypocrite at work? And is it OK to troll the scammers who blow up my cellphone?Guest:Ed Helms, actor, podcaster and author of “Snafu: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups”Additional Reading:Interview: Ed Helms on Historical Snafus and His Reading Life7 Months Inside an Online Scam Labor CampWe want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

This week, iPhone users started to feel the impact of a stern court order against Apple that requires the company to stop collecting a commission on some app sales. We break down what this means for apps like Kindle and Spotify and why the judge suggested that Apple and a top executive should be investigated for criminal contempt. Then, Karen Hao joins us to discuss her new book about OpenAI and explain why she believes the benefits of using the company’s tools do not outweigh the moral costs. And finally, Casey introduces Kevin to a strange new universe of A.I. slop that’s racking up millions of likes on TikTok.Guest:Karen Hao, Author of “Empire of AI”Additional Reading:Judge Rebukes Apple and Orders It to Loosen Grip on App StoreBrain Rot Comes for Italy We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

This week we dig into the ways chatbots are starting to manipulate us, including ChatGPT’s sycophantic update, Meta’s digital companionship turn and a secret experiment run on Reddit users. Then Kevin reports back from the unveiling of a new eye-scanning orb. And finally, we’re joined by PJ Vogt for a brand-new segment called Group Chat Chat.Tickets to “Hard Fork Live” on June 24 are sold out. You can join the wait list here to be alerted if additional tickets become available.Guest:PJ Vogt, host of the podcast “Search Engine”Additional Reading:Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users — Even ChildrenReddit Issuing ‘Formal Legal Demands’ Against Researchers Who Conducted Secret A.I. Experiment on UsersThe Group Chats That Changed AmericaThe Ice Bucket Challenge Worked. Why Not Try It Again?We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.