Casey Newton

After almost four wonderful years at the Times, later this summer @kevinroose.com and I are leaving Hard Fork to start a new podcast. We'll share more soon, but in the meantime Kevin has a lovely reflection here https://kevinroose.substack.com/p/leaving-the-times?r=565q&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

Great. Now bring the number down to zero

@Mediagazer@mstdn.social

Wrote about AI denialism on Bluesky https://www.platformer.news/a-big-week-for-ai-denialism/

Almost a decade ago, James Manyika bet that tasks would be easy to automate — but jobs wouldn't. Now at Google, he says he's willing to bet against Microsoft, Anthropic, and any other company whose execs say a bloodbath is coming for white-collar work https://www.platformer.news/james-manyika-google-ai-jobs-io-2026/

Let's talk about China's next top model: Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 https://www.platformer.news/kimi-k3-launch-moonshot-ai-china/?ref=platformer-newsletter

In the wake of OpenAI's autonomous attack against Hugging Face, I wrote about the promise and limitations of Congress' proposed AI kill switch https://www.platformer.news/openai-agent-sandbox-escape-killswitch-bill/

I talked with Meta employees about the company's move to track their computer use and turn them into training data. Is this the future of knowledge work? https://www.platformer.news/meta-mci-monitoring-layoffs-knowledge-work/

Talked to Raycast/Glaze founder Thomas Paul Mann about why soon half the apps on your computer might be ones you made yourself — and what that means for jobs https://www.platformer.news/glaze-raycast-ceo-thomas-paul-mann-interview-apps/

I wrote about using Raycast's new Glaze app to make a superhero-themed to-do app, and other adventures in next-generation vibe coding https://www.platformer.news/glaze-app-raycast-vibe-coding-review/

From Grok to Grammarly, more and more people are finding that AI systems have appropriated their identities for financial gain. I wrote about another of those companies — Spotify — taking a belated step to do something about it https://www.platformer.news/spotify-artist-profile-protection/?ref=platformer-newsletter

The walls are closing in on infinite-scroll feeds and other addictive design mechanics. I wrote about how lawyers and regulators may have finally found a way around Section 230 https://www.platformer.news/social-media-addiction-trial-eu-tiktok-investigation/

We're changing up Platformer's schedule to shift away from aggregation and toward original reporting. Some thoughts on how a newsletter glut and AI pressures got us here: https://www.platformer.news/platformer-schedule-changes-ai-automation/

When there are no laws meaningfully regulating military AI use, the Pentagon’s promise to use AI “lawfully” mean almost nothing. The authoritarian AI crisis has arrived https://www.platformer.news/anthropic-pentagon-authoritarian-ai/

I wrote about Google's new “Ask YouTube” and other ways the web is being summarized to death https://www.platformer.news/google-agents-daily-brief-newsletters-ask-youtube/

If your Meta account is wrongfully suspended, you're usually screwed unless you have a friend on the inside. The Oversight Board has now noticed that this sucks https://www.platformer.news/meta-account-bans-oversight-board/

I wrote about the rapid spread of social media bans and why I think the researcher Candice Odgers' recent TED talk on the subject missed the mark. (Thank you for coming to MY TED talk.) https://www.platformer.news/social-media-bans-candice-odgers-haidt/

Some fascinating new research on the scientific case for being nice to your chatbot https://www.platformer.news/chatbot-emotion-research-anthropic-alignment-interpretability/

Anthropic's Mythos model represents a dangerous new moment for cybersecurity. Experts tell me that hackers and nation states may catch up within months — and that the cat-and-mouse game between attacker and defender is about to become much more high-stakes https://www.platformer.news/anthropic-mythos-cybersecurity-risk-experts/

Sam Altman's deal with the Pentagon seems too good to be true. So what happens when the truth inevitably comes out? https://www.platformer.news/openai-pentagon-surveillance-drones-backlash/

“The number of births fell first and fastest in the areas that received high-speed mobile connectivity earliest. The authors argue that smartphones have transformed how young people spend time with one another, sharply reducing in-person socialising and leading to the collapse in their fertility.” https://www.ft.com/content/fba35eca-df3a-4ad6-b42d-eb08eb7c9ad3?accessToken=zwAAAZ4xN0_fkdP7o17K3zpK1tO0LesI63ya0w.MEUCIQDcH8bilMlGVJqgZstG35mMI2AG3WUTMRgHMxwbjHntngIgT1ShKwhwRQyJ-IkFBNjACw4OxvSSidscpqYR9_r2h2U&sharetype=gift&token=a750465d-0fdc-469e-b2da-45dd825dadfb&syn-25a6b1a6=1

I wrote about tech companies' move to promote universal basic income to calm the AI backlash and why it's probably not going to work https://www.platformer.news/ubi-ai-public-wealth-fund-musk-openai-bores/

The possibility that Meta might build facial recognition again has to be considered against the backdrop of a fast-growing surveillance state in the US — and deepening ties between the tech industry and the military https://www.platformer.news/meta-facial-recognition-return/

I wrote about falling in and out love with Clawdbot/Moltbot https://www.platformer.news/moltbot-clawdbot-review-ai-agent/

Is Threads growing or shrinking? Apptopia says it's the former — while Meta says that's "objectively false." I wrote about whether the Twitter clones are in trouble https://www.platformer.news/threads-bluesky-x-usage-utopia-twitter-clones/

I talked to @boris_cherny about the end of software engineering as we know it — and why AI may be responsible for more job creation than destruction https://www.platformer.news/boris-cherny-interview-ai-jobs/

NEWS: Grammarly tells me it will let "experts" like me opt out of having their names used against their will and for no compensation as part of its "expert review" feature https://www.platformer.news/grammarly-expert-review-reviewed/

New in Platformer: months ago, Meta discussed ending funding to its Oversight Board. But today, after months of negotiations, the board said Meta has increased its funding by $13 million, which will keep it going at least through 2028 https://www.platformer.news/meta-oversight-board-funding-2028/

My main feeling about Moltbook is that a lot of things are going to happen in the next few years that make us say "something just like this happened on Moltbook" https://www.platformer.news/moltbook-ai-agents-security-content-moderation/

In which Ella Markianos attends a protest at OpenAI and finds an anti-movement gradually gathering steam. A fun story, given the stakes https://www.platformer.news/openai-protest-military-ai-movement/

NEW: OpenAI has disbanded its Mission Alignment team and transferred employees to other teams. Joshua Achiam, a leading voice on safety issues at the company, will become its chief futurist https://www.platformer.news/openai-mission-alignment-team-joshua-achiam/

I wrote about using Spotify's new prompted playlists as a way to explore my own tastes again, instead of simply being dragged around by an algorithm https://www.platformer.news/spotify-prompted-playlists-ai-meta-vibes/

I wrote about how social media enabled Charlie Kirk while making our politics ever worse. https://www.platformer.news/thursday-newsletter-4/

Last week, our fellow Ella Markianos pitched me on the idea of trying to replace herself with a bot. Ella is irreplaceable, but her piece on building "Claudella" is sharp, funny and moving https://www.platformer.news/journalism-job-automation-claude/

I wrote about Bluesky's CEO switch. Jay Graber deserves lasting credit for building a big and bustling community. But the challenges ahead of the company are significant: https://www.platformer.news/bluesky-ceo-change-graber/

NEW: OpenAI has disbanded its Mission Alignment team and transferred employees to other teams. Joshua Achiam, a leading voice on safety issues at the company, will become its chief futurist https://www.platformer.news/openai-mission-alignment-team-joshua-achiam/

@emory@soc.kvet.ch i'm told it is now called OpenClaw 😭

@Robo@mastodon.ie probably impossible to eliminate 100 percent (as with humans) but error rates continue to come down