Hard Fork

By The New York Times

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Rate for this podcast

Subscribers: 2741
Reviews: 5

Judy C
 Jun 16, 2022
Excellent podcast: Interesting subjects in a way that is very understandable by non professionals. Jargon is explained. Kara asks insightful questions and doesn't let interviewees get off with vague comments.

Phil
 Jan 19, 2022
Probably the most influencal Tech reporter out there, high class guests

Brandy H
 Aug 30, 2021
Very insightful interviews. Thank you, Kara, for an excellent podcast.

Mark Williams
 Feb 28, 2021
Interesting and skilled interviewer. She gives the guest a lot of space to talk about their field and she doesn't hesitate to press them for clarity.


 Feb 24, 2021
Swisher's interview of Steve Huffman was stunningly bad. He's against paternalism towards retail investors. Done. MSM really were focused on infantilizing investors & seeking a way to punish them for beating them at their own crooked game.

Description

“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.

Episode Date
Google C.E.O. Sundar Pichai on Bard, A.I. ‘Whiplash’ and Competing With ChatGPT
00:46:35

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:

Mar 31, 2023
Bard Fork + How to Talk So Chatbots Will Listen
01:02:54

“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:

Mar 24, 2023
BONUS: Hard Fork Live! Big Tech’s Arch Nemesis + Bot, or Not?
00:43:01

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:

Mar 20, 2023
GPT-4 Is Here + The Group Chat Bank Run
01:03:03

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

Additional reading:

Mar 17, 2023
A Congressman Goes to A.I. School + How to Ban TikTok
00:59:21

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:

Mar 10, 2023
Everyone Pivots to A.I. + Bad News for Crypto
00:59:35

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:

Mar 03, 2023
Kevin Killed Sydney + Reddit’s C.E.O. Defends Section 230
00:52:03

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:

Feb 24, 2023
The Bing Who Loved Me + Elon Rewrites the Algorithm
01:01:20

“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:

Feb 17, 2023
Bing’s Revenge + Google’s AI Faceplant
00:55:07

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:

 

Feb 10, 2023
A Trip to TikTok + ChatGPT’s Origin Story + Kevin Systrom’s Comeback
01:01:49

TikTok is opening up a “Transparency and Accountability Center” to try to win over skeptics. Is the company’s strategy working? Then, the origin story of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and how the company kicked off an A.I. arms race.

Plus: A co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, hopes to make a “TikTok for text.”

On today’s episode:

  • Kevin Systrom is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Instagram.

Additional reading:

Feb 03, 2023
Meta’s Trump Calculus + Regime Change at Netflix
00:59:02

What does Donald Trump’s reinstatement on Facebook and Instagram mean for our politics and platforms? Then, Netflix in its post-Reed era.

Plus: How the Bored Ape Yacht Club went from being the Disney of Web3 to handing out sewer passes for their new video game.


On today’s episode:

  • Lucas Shaw is an entertainment industry reporter for Bloomberg.

Additional reading:

 

Jan 27, 2023
Elon's Crumbling Empire + Generative A.I. Goes to Court
01:00:54

Nearly three months into Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, things are in a "shambolic" state. Is the rest of Elon’s empire also in trouble? Then, an artist fighting generative A.I. sets the stage for a legal clash.

Plus: what goes wrong when A.I. becomes a reporter.

On today’s episode:

  • Sarah Andersen, a cartoonist and the illustrator of a semi-autobiographical comic strip, “Sarah’s Scribbles.”

Additional reading:

Jan 20, 2023
ChatGPT Transforms a Classroom + Is 'M3GAN' Real?
01:02:22

A high school teacher on how the new chatbot from OpenAI is transforming her classroom — for the better. And, “M3GAN” may be closer than you think.

Plus: Why Gen Z is chasing the digital camera aesthetic.

On today’s episode:

  • Cherie Shields is a high school English teacher in Sandy, Ore.
  • Kalley Huang is a technology reporting fellow based in San Francisco.

Additional reading:

Jan 13, 2023
TikTok’s Spying Scandal + ChatGPT Puts Google on Notice + Phone Jail
00:59:37

Calls to ban TikTok or force its sell-off from its parent company ByteDance are gaining momentum, especially after reports of ByteDance’s surveillance of several U.S. journalists. And could Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI mark the end of Google’s search monopoly?

Plus: New Year's resolutions, including locking up your phone. 

On today’s episode:

  • Emily Baker-White, a technology reporter at Forbes who reports on TikTok.

Additional reading:

Jan 06, 2023
SBF Arrested + 2023 Predictions + Your Questions Answered
00:56:59

The year of the “mini-Musk” chief executive, the end of homework as we know it, a crackdown on TikTok and other predictions for 2023.

Also, Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest and answers to our listener questions.

On today’s episode:

  • David Yaffe-Bellany, a cryptocurrency and financial technology reporter for The New York Times.

Additional reading:

Dec 16, 2022
Can ChatGPT Make This Podcast?
00:57:57

It’s writing podcast scripts, finishing students’ homework and correcting mistakes in computer code: ChatGPT, the A.I. chatbot from OpenAI, is suddenly everywhere. Who should decide how it’s built? What could go wrong? And what could go right?

On today’s episode:

  • Aviv Ovadya, a technologist and affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and a visiting scholar at Cambridge University Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence.

Additional reading:

Dec 09, 2022
Elon’s Two-Day War with Apple + How to Beat an A.I. Censor + S.B.F.’s ‘Bad Month’
00:51:21

Elon Musk accuses Apple of trying to sabotage Twitter. But after his visit with Apple’s C.E.O., Tim Cook, things are … good? Then, the New York Times reporter Paul Mozur on the tactics Chinese protesters are deploying to avoid the most sophisticated censorship apparatus in the world.

Plus: S.B.F. says it’s been a “bad month.”

Additional Reading:

We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Follow “Hard Fork” on TikTok: @hardfork

Dec 02, 2022
A Hard Fork in the Road: FTX’s Unraveling and Elon’s Loyalty Oath
00:47:08

The balance sheet contains an apology, the in-house coach is concerned that company executives are “undersexed” and billions in customer funds remain in jeopardy. The wreckage at FTX goes from bad to worse.

Plus: Elon’s “extremely hardcore” plan for Twitter 2.0.


Additional Resources:

We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Follow “Hard Fork” on TikTok: @hardfork

Nov 18, 2022
A Verified Mess: Turmoil from Twitter to FTX
00:53:23

This week, we go inside Elon Musk’s “dire” warnings, FTX’s spectacular collapse and Meta’s big layoffs. Has the tech industry lost its mind?

“Hard Fork” listeners: We want to hear your questions about the tech industry. Send them to hardfork@nytimes.com. Also, check us out on TikTok: @hardforkpod

Additional Resources:

Nov 11, 2022
Life Under Musk: Two Twitter Employees Speak Out
00:39:21

“We cross our fingers and hope to make it through another day.” Twitter hasn’t spoken publicly since Elon Musk bought the company a week ago. But inside, employees describe a mood of fear, chaos, stress and bizarre requests to print out code.

Additional Resources:

Nov 04, 2022
Emergency Pod: Elon Musk Owns Twitter
00:56:59

We look into the company’s weird new future with Times tech reporter Kate Conger. Plus, how Apple is single-handedly deciding the future of the digital economy, and a social media death watch. 

Guest today:

  • Kate Conger, a technology reporter in the San Francisco bureau of The New York Times

Additional resources: 

Oct 28, 2022
Generative AI is Here. Who Should Control It?
00:53:37

We sit down with the founder of Stability AI, Emad Mostaque, on the heels of his $101 million fund-raising round. His open-source Stable Diffusion image generator is the key to unlocking creativity, he says, and “one of the ultimate tools for freedom of expression” — as long as it stays out of the hands of a few censorious tech giants. So what’s this former hedge fund manager turned tech mogul thinking about how this technology could be used — or misused? Plus: A.I. Kevin and A.I. Casey stop by.

On today’s episode

  • Emad Mostaque, the chief executive of Stability AI

Additional resources

Oct 21, 2022
Legs Are Coming + $36 Burritos + Shocking AI News
01:00:22

Meta is in the fight of its life — and Mark Zuckerberg hopes VR is the answer. Hmmm. Plus, an existential threat to the gig economy and the wildest news in artificial intelligence.

Oct 14, 2022
Elon’s Hidden Motives + A Meetup in the Metaverse
01:04:03

The $44 billion Twitter deal is back on the table — and Casey isn’t buying it. Kevin looks for friends in the Metaverse. And the “Hard Fork Transparency Report” debuts. 

You can read Kashmir Hill’s story here: "This Is Life in the Metaverse."

Oct 07, 2022
What’s a Hard Fork?
00:01:28

Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore stories from the wild frontier of tech.

What’s real? What’s hype? “Hard Fork” is here to help you make sense of it. Tune in on Friday, Oct. 7.

Sep 27, 2022