
23 episodes

Hard Fork The New York Times
-
- Technology
-
-
4.3 • 3.7K Ratings
-
“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.
-
BONUS: Hard Fork Live! Big Tech’s Arch Nemesis + Bot, or Not?
Jonathan Kanter, who heads up the Justice Department’s antitrust division, believes that antitrust laws are critical for innovation — from ad tech to A.I. The assistant attorney general is bringing a new philosophy to enforcing those laws. So, how is his new approach to protecting competition playing out?
Plus: Can you guess whether that was a bot, or not? -
GPT-4 Is Here + The Group Chat Bank Run
It’s acing standardized tests, building websites and hiring TaskRabbits — GPT-4 is “equal parts fascinating and terrifying.” OpenAI has released its latest model, alongside A.I. announcements from Meta, Google and other industry players. The A.I. arms race is only accelerating.
Then, what Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse means for the future of start-ups, and what Mark Zuckerberg has learned about layoffs. -
A Congressman Goes to A.I. School + How to Ban TikTok
Representative Don Beyer thinks artificial intelligence is “the most amazing technology since fire.” So what does it mean that most of Congress seems not to understand it? Then our colleague David McCabe discusses a bill that could dramatically expand the Biden administration’s power to ban TikTok.
Plus: what can the video game character Waluigi tell us about A.I. chatbots gone rogue? -
Everyone Pivots to A.I. + Bad News for Crypto
Snapchat launches a chatbot. Meta plans to “turbocharge” its A.I. work. Elon Musk explores “BasedAI.” At this point, who isn’t making an A.I. play?
Plus: Is crypto finally dead? Also, a new TikTok filter is making people terrifyingly hot. -
Kevin Killed Sydney + Reddit’s C.E.O. Defends Section 230
Bing AI isn’t sentient. But it’s more than glorified autocomplete. How do we talk about — and understand — the power of today’s large language models? Then, Reddit’s C.E.O., Steve Huffman, on Section 230 and why the future of the internet lies with the Supreme Court.
Plus: Meta is charging for blue checks. -
The Bing Who Loved Me + Elon Rewrites the Algorithm
“I’m Sydney, and I’m in love with you. 😘”
A conversation with Bing AI (aka Sydney) turns romantic and bizarre. Why Microsoft’s AI search tool appears more powerful — and unsettling — than we thought. Then, inside Elon Musk’s quest to be the most popular user on Twitter.
Plus: It’s not just you. Online ads have gotten much worse.
Customer Reviews
Great explainers
These guys are so good at explaining tech that it’s worth putting up with their obnoxious patter.
Not well researched
I listened to the episode on SVB (Silicon Valley bank) and they got a bunch of basic facts wrong - they were apparently unaware that SVB actually went under and no longer exists, and went into FDIC receivership. That’s an egregious error
Great pod
These guys are terrific. Excellent podcast