Hard Fork

Character.AI’s Teen Chatbot Crackdown + Elon Musk Groks Wikipedia + 48 Hours Without A.I.

This week, Character.AI announced that it would soon be taking its A.I. companions away from teens. We explain why this is a major development in the world of chatbots and child safety and how we expect other companies to respond. Then, Elon Musk has built a Wikipedia clone called “Grokipedia.” We discuss what it means for the control of knowledge on the web. And finally, we’re joined by A.J. Jacobs to talk about his 48-hour experiment in which he tried to avoid all forms of artificial intelligence. We ask why that led him to collect rainwater and forage for food in Central Park. Guests: * A.J. Jacobs [https://ajjacobs.com/], author, journalist and host of the podcast “The Puzzler [https://www.thepuzzler.com/]”   Additional Reading:  * Character.AI to Bar Children Under 18 From Using Its Chatbots [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/technology/characterai-underage-users.html] * Elon Musk Challenges Wikipedia With His Own A.I. Encyclopedia [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/grokipedia-launch-elon-musk.html] * 48 Hours Without A.I.  [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/style/48-hours-without-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]. 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.

Celebrities Fight Sora + Amazon’s Secret Automation Plans + ChatGPT Gets a Browser

Backlash to OpenAI’s video generation app Sora has reached a new tipping point. We discuss two big changes the company is making, after Bryan Cranston and the family of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. complained about deepfakes. Then, New York Times reporter Karen Weise joins us to discuss her scoop that Amazon plans to reduce its hiring needs by more than half a million workers, thanks to new improvements to warehouse automation. And finally, A.I. browsers are here. We offer our first impressions on ChatGPT Atlas and how it stacks up against alternatives like Perplexity’s Comet and The Browser Company’s Dia.   Guests: * Karen Weise [https://www.nytimes.com/by/karen-weise], New York Times technology reporter covering Amazon.  Additional Reading:  * OpenAI Blocks Videos of Martin Luther King Jr. After Racist Depictions [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/business/openai-sora-video-martin-luther-king-jr.html] * Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/technology/inside-amazons-plans-to-replace-workers-with-robots.html] * The Robots Fueling Amazon’s Automation [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/technology/amazon-robotics-automation.html] * OpenAI Unveils Web Browser Built for Artificial Intelligence [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/technology/openai-web-browser-atlas.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.

California Regulates A.I. Companions + OpenAI Investigates Its Critics + The Hard Fork Review of Slop

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.

ChatGPT’s Platform Play + a Trillion-Dollar GPU Empire + the Queen of Slop

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.

Sora and the Infinite Slop Feeds + ChatGPT Goes to Therapy + Hot Mess Express

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.