Hard Fork

Note: This episode contains sexually explicit music. This week, the whole tech world seemed to be asking: Are we in an A.I. bubble? We’ll explore the cases for and against, including who we think stands to lose most. Then we’re joined by the journalist Jeff Horwitz to discuss his blockbuster reporting about an internal Meta policy document that permit the company’s chatbots to engage in romantic role-playing with children. And finally, Casey introduces Kevin to a shocking new TikTok trend.   Guests: * Jeff Horwitz [https://www.jeffhorwitz.com/], investigative technology reporter for Reuters Additional Reading: * My Dinner With Altman [https://www.platformer.news/sam-altman-gpt-5-interview-lightcap-turley/] * Companies Are Pouring Billions Into A.I. It Has Yet to Pay Off [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/business/ai-business-payoff-lags.html] * Meta’s A.I. Rules Have Let Bots Hold ‘Sensual’ Chats With Children [https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-guidelines/] * Why Is TikTok Overflowing With A.I. Country Music Erotica? [https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/why-is-tiktok-overflowing-with-ai-country-music-erotica/]   We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

OpenAI spent the week responding to outcry from users who miss the behavior of the old ChatGPT, before the latest flagship model was released. We discuss the criticism, why it caught the company by surprise and what it indicates about the deepening emotional relationships that people are forming with chatbots. Then, Aravind Srinivas, the chief executive of Perplexity AI, joins us to discuss his company’s new artificial intelligence-powered browser, Comet; his company’s bid to buy Google Chrome; and what the future of the internet looks like when users turn to A.I. assistants to browse the web for them. Finally, to cap it all off, we rate the craziest tech stories of the week in our game Hot Mess Express. Guests: * Aravind Srinivas, chief executive of Perplexity AI [https://www.perplexity.ai/]. Additional Reading: * Chatbots Can Go Into a Delusional Spiral. Here’s How It Happens. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/technology/ai-chatbots-delusions-chatgpt.html] * Three Big Lessons From the GPT-5 Backlash [https://www.platformer.news/gpt-5-backlash-openai-lessons/] * A.I. Start-Up Perplexity Offers to Buy Google’s Chrome Browser for $34.5 Billion [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/technology/perplexity-google-chrome-bid.html] * Elon Musk Threatens to Sue Apple Over Claims It Favors OpenAI [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/technology/elon-musk-apple-openai-xai.html#:~:text=Elon%20Musk%20Threatens%20to%20Sue,OpenAI%20on%20the%20App%20Store.] * U.S. Government to Take Cut of Nvidia and AMD A.I. Chip Sales to China [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/technology/us-government-nvidia-amd-chips-china.html] Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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 Alexa Additional reading: * OpenAI Aims to Stay Ahead of Rivals With New GPT-5 Technology [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/technology/openai-chatgpt-gpt-5.html] * Amazon Unveils Alexa+, Powered by Generative A.I. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/technology/amazon-alexa-plus-generative-ai.html] We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. 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 [http://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 [http://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 Cloudflare Additional Reading: * Supreme Court Upholds Texas Law Limiting Access to Pornography [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/us/supreme-court-pornography-minors.html] * The U.K.’s age gates are coming to America [https://www.platformer.news/age-assurance-uk-tea-apple-google-meta/] * Cloudflare Introduces Default Blocking of A.I. Data Scrapers [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/technology/cloudflare-ai-data.html] 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 [http://nytimes.com/hardforkhat]. We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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/hardforkhat [http://nytimes.com/hardforkhat] Guests: * Brian Merchant [https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/about], author of the book and newsletter “Blood in the Machine” * Alison Gopnik [https://www.alisongopnik.com/], professor at the University of California, Berkeley * Ross Douthat [https://www.nytimes.com/column/ross-douthat], New York Times opinion columnist and host of the podcast “Interesting Times” * Claire Leibowicz [https://claireleibowicz.com/], head of A.I. and media integrity at the Partnership on AI * Max Read, [https://maxread.substack.com/] author of the newsletter “Read Max” Additional Reading: * Trump Plans to Give A.I. Developers a Free Hand [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/technology/trump-ai-executive-orders.html] * The Chatbot Culture Wars Are Here [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/technology/trump-ai-chatbots-bias.html]   We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork].   Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.