Hard Fork

This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed a big package of A.I. and social media bills into law — including the first state law in the United States to regulate A.I. companions. We talk through what stood out to us in the package and whether these protections will work. Then, the subpoena that has the whole tech world talking. Nathan Calvin, general counsel at Encode, an A.I. safety advocacy group that has been critical of OpenAI, talks with us about why he thinks the company is investigating him. And finally, grab your opera glasses. It’s time for the first edition of The Hard Fork Review of Slop. Guests: * Nathan Calvin [https://encodeai.org/team-members/nathan-calvin/], vice president of state affairs and general counsel at Encode Additional Reading: * California Regulates A.I. Companions [https://www.platformer.news/california-ai-companion-law-newsom-openai/] * OpenAI Thinks Its Critics Are Funded by Billionaires. Now It’s Going After Them. [https://sfstandard.com/2025/09/02/openai-sam-altman-elon-musk-ai-regulation/] 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]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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.

This week, we discuss the standout moments from our field trip to OpenAI’s third annual DevDay — including a bizarre chat between Jony Ive and Sam Altman, and the announcement that OpenAI is putting apps into ChatGPT. Then, we try to make sense of the massive computing deal between OpenAI and AMD, and how it could impact the larger economy. And finally, Katie Notopoulos, a Business Insider reporter, joins us to discuss the growing backlash to A.I. slop and why she refuses to stop making deranged videos of us on Sora. Guests: * Katie Notopoulos [https://www.businessinsider.com/author/katie-notopoulos], senior correspondent at Business Insider covering technology and culture. Additional Reading: * OpenAI’s Platform Play [https://www.platformer.news/openai-dev-day-2025-platform-chatgpt/] * OpenAI Agrees to Use Computer Chips From AMD [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/technology/openai-amd-chips.html] * I’m Addicted to Sora 2! [https://www.businessinsider.com/sora-ai-video-social-media-openai-2025-10] * OpenAI’s New Video App Is Jaw-Dropping (for Better and Worse) [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/technology/openai-sora-video-app.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]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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.

This week, we’re talking about the new A.I.-generated video tools and social media feeds from Google, Meta and OpenAI. Is this how A.I. is going to cure cancer? Then, the psychotherapist Gary Greenberg stops by to discuss his recent New Yorker essay about treating ChatGPT as a patient, and why what he saw left him unsettled. And finally, all aboard the Hot Mess Express! It’s time to rate the messiest stories in tech.   Guests: * Gary Greenberg [https://www.garygreenbergonline.com/], writer and psychotherapist   Additional Reading: * OpenAI Launches a Social Network [https://www.platformer.news/sora-2-hands-on-openai-social-network/] * OpenAI’s New Video App Is Jaw-Dropping (for Better and Worse) [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/technology/openai-sora-video-app.html] * Putting ChatGPT on the Couch [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/putting-chatgpt-on-the-couch] * What My Daughter Told ChatGPT Before She Took Her Life [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/opinion/chat-gpt-mental-health-suicide.html] * 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] * YouTube Settles Trump Lawsuit Over Account Suspension for $24.5 Million [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/technology/youtube-trump-lawsuit-settlement.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]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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.

This week, an eye-popping $100 billion deal between OpenAI and Nvidia — along with an announcement about the construction of five new American data centers — has us re-examining our predictions of an A.I. bubble. Then, we try to make sense of the Trump administration’s changes to the H-1B visa program, which generated mixed reactions from tech leaders; the immigration expert Jeremy Neufeld joins us to explain why the new $100,000 visa fee is likely to hurt start-ups, universities and the broader U.S. economy. And finally, we take a look at one of the latest trends sweeping TikTok: planning for a biblical Rapture. Guests: * Jeremy Neufeld [https://ifp.org/author/jeremy-neufeld/], director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress Additional Reading: * Nvidia to Invest $100 Billion in OpenAI [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/technology/nvidia-openai-100-billion-investment.html] * OpenAI to Join Tech Giants in Building 5 New Data Centers in U.S. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/technology/openai-data-centers-united-states.html] * $100,000 Per Employee: How the H-1B Visa Fee Could Reshape Work Forces [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/09/25/business/economy/h1b-visa-fee.html] * A $100,000 Per Worker Visa Fee Tips the Balance to Big Tech [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/technology/trump-h1b-visa-tech-start-ups.html] * The Rapture Was Predicted to Happen Today. TikTok Has Some Advice. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/us/rapture-tiktok-sept-23.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] Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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.

This week, we discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk, freedom of speech and the terrifying new reality of extremely online violence. Then The Times’s David Yaffe-Bellany brings us inside the blockbuster New York Times investigation into a $2 billion investment in Trump’s crypto company World Liberty Financial and a controversial deal to send the most powerful A.I. chips to the United Arab Emirates. And finally, it’s time to round up This Week in A.I.   Guests: * David Yaffe-Bellany [https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-yaffe-bellany], New York Times technology reporter covering the crypto industry   Additional Reading: * Trump Administration Wields Its Full Toolbox to Bring Media to Heel [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/business/media/trump-kimmel-cancel-culture-free-speech.html] * Social Platforms Duck Blame for Inflaming Divisions Before Charlie Kirk’s Death [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/technology/charlie-kirk-meta-x-tiktok.html] * In Giant Deals, U.A.E. Got Chips, and Trump Team Got Crypto Riches [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/us/politics/trump-uae-chips-witkoff-world-liberty.html] * A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/technology/chatgpt-openai-suicide.html] * OpenAI’s Risky Step to Protect Teens [https://www.platformer.news/openai-teen-accounts-safety-senate-hearing/]   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]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://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 [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.