At its biggest event of the year, Google announced an avalanche of A.I. product releases: A.I. in search, A.I. that writes emails and A.I. that generates slides. Is Google pulling ahead in the A.I. arms race?And, after years of hype, self-driving cars are finally hitting the streets of American cities. Kevin and Casey take a ride through San Francisco in Banana Slug — an autonomous vehicle from the self-driving car company Cruise. After their ride, they sit down with Cruise’s chief executive, Kyle Vogt, to discuss the role he thinks self-driving cars will play in the future of transportation.On today’s episode:Kyle Vogt is the chief executive of Cruise, a self-driving car company.Additional reading:At their annual conference, Google announced dozens of A.I. products and featuresIn a leaked memo, a Google researcher argued that the company did not have a strong A.I. moat because of open-source A.I. companies.Self-driving cars are expanding their footprint. 

Hard Fork

Google’s A.I. Bonanza + Driverless Car Talk With Cruise C.E.O. Kyle Vogt

The Twitter look-alike Bluesky, started by the former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, is doing the impossible: making social media fun again.Then, A.I. is coming for jobs but not in the way you think.Plus: Kevin and Casey moonlight as advice columnists in a new Hard Fork segment called Hard Questions.Additional reading:Bluesky is vying to replace Twitter.IBM announced a pause in hiring, anticipating that A.I. would replace thousands of jobs at the company in the coming years.The chief executive of the education company Chegg said student interest in the chatbot ChatGPT was hurting its sales.

Bluesky Has the Juice + A.I. Jobs Apocalypse + Hard Questions

A song featuring A.I.-generated versions of Drake and the Weeknd went viral — before being taken down by streaming services. Is censorship of A.I.-generated songs the way forward? Or can singers benefit from synthetic voices, as some artists like Grimes are suggesting?Then, HatGPT: Kevin and Casey pull headlines out of a hat and generate their own takes on the news.And Ben Smith, the former BuzzFeed News editor, discusses the end of the 2010s digital media era.On today’s episode:Ben Smith is a journalist and co-founder of the digital media company Semafor. He was a New York Times media columnist and the first editor in chief of BuzzFeed News.Additional reading:An A.I.-generated song made to sound like Drake and the Weeknd went viral before being taken down by streaming services.Grimes invited fans to make songs using A.I.-generated versions of her voice.Snapchat saw a spike in one-star reviews after users criticized its “My AI” feature.Taylor Swift did not invest in FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange company.Researchers turned a goldfish into a cyborg.The Republican National Committee released an A.I.-generated ad slamming President Biden.The U.K. blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion bid for the video game company Activision.Ben Smith’s book, “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” is an origin story of digital media.A BuzzFeed article set off a viral debate on the color of a dress.

Deepfake Drake + HatGPT + Ben Smith on the End of the BuzzFeed Era

Today we’re bringing you an episode on chips. No, not potato chips. Kevin has been pitching an episode on the truly fascinating world of chips and semiconductors for quite a while, but our friends at the The Ezra Klein Show got to it first. This week on Hard Fork: Ezra Klein’s engrossing conversation with historian Chris Miller. It’s a must listen. Thank you to Ezra for beating us in our quest for a great chips episode.We'll be back with our regularly scheduled tech coverage, with Kevin and Casey next week.Additional reading: “The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism” by Ezra KleinBook Recommendations:The World For Sale by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy; Nexus by Jonathan Reed Winkler; Prestige, Manipulation and Coercion by Joseph Torigian

Hard Fork Presents: The Most Amazing – And Dangerous – Technology In the World

Aric Toler untangles the web of teens, gamers and memes at the heart of the latest intelligence scandal.Then, an update on Twitter — where things have gone from bad to worse.Plus: How A.I. is bringing us closer to “Westworld.”On today’s episode:Aric Toler is the director of research and training at Bellingcat, the Dutch investigative site. He worked with journalists at The New York Times to identify the man who allegedly leaked top secret documents on Discord, a social media chat platform.Additional reading:A 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested for his alleged role in the leak of military intelligence on Discord.A Discord member shared details with The Washington Post about how the hundreds of pages of classified material were leaked.Twitter took steps to block Substack newsletters from circulating on the platform after Substack, a publishing start-up, started a Twitter-like service.NPR announced it was suspending all use of Twitter.Researchers at Stanford used generative A.I. agents to simulate human behavior.

Inside the Hunt for the Discord Leaker + Twitter Chaos Updates

The New York Times Opinion columnist Ezra Klein has spent years talking to artificial intelligence researchers. Many of them feel the prospect of A.I. discovery is too sweet to ignore, regardless of the technology’s risks.Today, Mr. Klein discusses the profound changes that an A.I.-powered world will create, how current business models are failing to meet the A.I. moment, and the steps government can take to achieve a positive A.I. future.Also, radical acceptance of your phone addiction may just help your phone addiction.On today’s episode:Ezra Klein is a columnist at The New York Times and host of “The Ezra Klein Show.”Additional reading:Ezra Klein outlined the dramatic shifts that A.I. will enable.In a 2022 survey of A.I. researchers, nearly half of the respondents said that there was a 10 percent or greater chance that the long-run effect of advanced A.I. on humanity would be “extremely bad.” This year, an A.I. researcher argued that natural selection favors A.I. over humans.A 2017 article in The New Yorker said that, for some, the risks of artificial intelligence are outweighed by the prospect of discovery.Meghan O’Gieblyn’s book “God, Human, Animal, Machine” explores the human experience in the age of artificial intelligence.The White House released a Blueprint for an A.I. Bill of Rights to guide the development of A.I. technology.

A.I. Vibe Check With Ezra Klein + Kevin Tries Phone Positivity

For years, Google was seen as one of the most cutting-edge developers of A.I. But, with OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT, and other chatbots beating Google to market, is that distinction still the case? Google’s chief executive is in an unenviable position: Scramble to catch up or, in the face of potentially harmful technology, move slowly.Today, Sundar Pichai on Google’s delicate balance between A.I. innovation and safety.On today’s episode:Sundar Pichai is the chief executive of Google.Additional reading:The launch of ChatGPT caused a ‘code red’ inside Google and prompted the release of Google’s Bard.More than 1,000 technology leaders and researchers signed onto an open letter calling for a pause in the development of A.I.

Google C.E.O. Sundar Pichai on Bard, A.I. ‘Whiplash’ and Competing With ChatGPT

“It’s different because it’s Google.” Bard, Google’s answer to ChatGPT, could prove to be more consequential than any large language model to date — but it isn’t there yet.Then, we hear from listeners on how they are using A.I. to negotiate their rent, understand medical results and affirm their gender identity.Plus: Why Spotify’s A.I. D.J. may be a tipping point for artificial intelligence taking control of our lives.You can sign up for On Tech: A.I. at nytimes.com/newsletters.Additional reading:Google released a new chatbot, Bard. Here’s what it does well — and not so well.After a conversation with Google’s executives, Casey Newton answers six questions about the large language model.Interior AI is a design tool that makes interior design mock-ups using artificial intelligence.Spotify unveiled a new A.I.-powered D.J.In his book “Futureproof,” Kevin Roose outlines the concept of “machine drift” — the concept that people will gradually turn over more of their life to the decisions of algorithms.

Bard Fork + How to Talk So Chatbots Will Listen

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?On today’s episode:Jonathan Kanter is the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s antitrust division.Additional reading:Jonathan Kanter has long been a critic of big tech.The Justice Department has accused Google of abusing a monopoly over online advertising.

BONUS: Hard Fork Live! Big Tech’s Arch Nemesis + Bot, or Not?

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 layoffsAdditional reading:OpenAI released ChatGPT-4. It is exciting and scary.With its release of GPT-4, OpenAI shared a system card — a paper outlining how OpenAI tried to get GPT-4 to do dangerous things.Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. “The Daily” explained how.In his newsletter, Byrne Hobart wrote a post pointing out S.V.B.’s insolvency challenge.S.V.B.’s collapse followed a deregulatory push from its own Chief Executive.Meta announced it planned to lay off about 10,000 employees.

GPT-4 Is Here + The Group Chat Bank Run

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?On today’s episode:Don Beyer is a U.S. representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.David McCabe is a reporter at The New York Times covering technology policy.Additional reading:Lawmakers are trying to understand the technology behind A.I.The White House is pushing Congress to regulate TikTok.A number of countries are trying to ban TikTok.The Waluigi effect is a theory about why chatbots behave erratically.

A Congressman Goes to A.I. School + How to Ban TikTok

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.On today’s episode:David Yaffe-Bellany, a cryptocurrency and financial technology reporter for The New York Times.Hard Fork listeners! We want to hear from you. How is A.I. showing up in your everyday life? In your job, school and families? What are you using it for? Email us a voice memo at hardfork@nytimes.com. Additional reading:Snapchat launched “My AI” to paid subscribers.Mark Zuckerberg announced a high-level group to “turbocharge” Meta’s work with generative A.I.Meta AI released LLaMA to researchers.The science fiction and fantasy magazine “Clarkesworld” was flooded with chatbot-generated submissions. The writing is “bad in spectacular ways,” its editor said.Elon Musk is considering starting his own A.I. company.An FTX co-founder pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating Sam Bankman-Fried.A “flurry” of fines, lawsuits and policy statements are spooking crypto executives.Gary Gensler, the chair of the S.E.C., said that in crypto “everything other than Bitcoin” should be treated as a security.Some TikTok users are worried by how realistic its new filters can seem.

Everyone Pivots to A.I. + Bad News for Crypto

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. On today’s episode:Steve Huffman is the chief executive of Reddit.Additional reading:A Washington Post reporter asked Bing AI its opinion of Kevin Roose. Its response was eerie.Microsoft made changes to Bing’s chatbot capabilities after the Chatbot’s unsettling behavior with some users. The company is already loosening some of those restrictions.The Supreme Court heard a case challenging Section 230. Reddit is among many social media companies that have filed “friend of the court” amicus briefs against changes to the law.Facebook plans to sell “Meta verified” accounts.

Kevin Killed Sydney + Reddit’s C.E.O. Defends Section 230

“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.On today’s episode:Tiffany Hsu is a technology reporter at The New York Times who covers misinformation and disinformation.Zoë Schiffer is the managing editor of Platformer.Additional reading:Bing AI appeared to have a split personality in a conversation with Kevin Roose, a “Hard Fork” co-host.Elon Musk ordered changes to Twitter’s algorithm after his Tweets did not perform as well as he desired.Why digital ads are so bad these days.

The Bing Who Loved Me + Elon Rewrites the Algorithm

Microsoft’s release of a ChatGPT-powered Bing signifies a new era in search. Then, a disastrous preview of Bard — Google’s answer to ChatGPT — caused the company’s stocks to slide 7 percent. The A.I. arms race is on.Plus: What “Nothing, Forever,” the 24/7, A.I.-generated “Seinfeld” parody, says about bias in A.I.On today’s episode:Sam Altman is the chief executive of OpenAI.Kevin Scott is the chief technology officer of Microsoft.Additional reading:Microsoft integrated OpenAI's technology into its search engine and kicked off an A.I. arms race.Google released Bard, a rival chatbot to ChatGPT.“Nothing, Forever” was temporarily banned on Twitch. 

Bing’s Revenge + Google’s AI Faceplant

“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.

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