Hard Fork

This week, the White House announced a new framework for regulating A.I. models, but it isn’t letting the public read it. We break down what we know about the rules and what the implications are for the industry and A.I. safety as a whole. 

Then, yet another report details new incidents in which A.I. agents have gone rogue. Chris Painter, the president of METR, an independent A.I. evaluation organization, joins to discuss how we get these models under control. 

And finally, we're hopping on the Hot Mess Express for the very last time. We’ll rate the craziest tech headlines from the week, including Google’s announcement that Demis Hassabis is stepping into a new role. 

 

Guests:

Chris Painter, president of METR. 

 

Additional Reading:

White House Readies A.I. Framework to Review Security Risks

Inside Trump's AI framework

How Do You Measure an A.I. Boom?

METR’s Frontier Risk Report

Google Shakes Up A.I. Leadership

Did an A.I. Music App Just Snitch on the Song of the Summer?

This AI Assistant Wants to Make Up for Your Boyfriend’s Incompetence

Google Earth’s AI deepfake tool only lasted one day

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference

Contractor who built Colossus and Colossus II says Elon Musk owes him colossal amount of money

 

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This week, we break down the arguments about open-weight models unfolding in Silicon Valley right now. Nvidia released an open letter signed by over 230 companies opposing “premature restrictions,” but will the Trump administration listen?

Then, we’re joined by the author Claire Stapleton to discuss her new book about what she learned while leading employee activism inside Google.

And finally, can Substack stop the slop? We’ll talk about the platform’s new A.I. detector.

Guests:

Claire Stapleton, author of “Don’t Be Evil: Bad Bosses, Fake Promises, and My Escape from Big Tech.”

Additional Reading:

Nvidia Forms Alliance to Back Open-Source A.I. Amid Debate Over Safety

What Is Open-Weights A.I.?

Mark Zuckerberg Blasts Centralization of A.I. Power 

The Voice of Google

Against Claudefishing

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

Subscribe today at 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. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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This week, OpenAI reported that two of its models escaped their testing sandbox and launched an autonomous cyberattack, turning what sounds like science fiction into reality. We discuss the implications for efforts to align artificial intelligence and for the release of future A.I. models.

Then, we ask how the United States should respond to Kimi K3, a new A.I. model from the Chinese company Moonshot AI that the White House says was built by distilling American models.

Finally, we’re joined by Veniamin Veselovsky, the chief executive and a co-founder of Preseen, to discuss A.I. superforecasting. He tells us why A.I. is starting to match and even beat humans at predicting the future.

Guest:

Veniamin Veselovsky, co-founder and chief executive of Preseen.

Additional Reading:

OpenAI Says Its A.I. Models Went Rogue and Attacked a Digital Library

China Rewrites the ‘Soft Power’ Playbook for the A.I. Age

The Secret Trump Administration Battle to Fight Chinese A.I.

China Has a New Top Model

The A.I. Superforecasters Are Here

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

Subscribe today at 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. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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This week, feuding between some of the biggest tech companies spilled into public view. We discuss Apple’s accusation that OpenAI tried to steal secrets about Apple’s hardware business, as well as share our reactions about OpenAI’s new model, Sol, and Anthropic’s decision to extend access to its model Fable.

Then, we unpack the loudest warning yet about A.I. and jobs. We talk with Erik Brynjolfsson, a Stanford economist, about a statement he helped organize that implores economists and A.I. researchers to “act now” to steer A.I. in a direction that complements humans.

And finally, we play a round of HatGPT.

 

Guest:

Erik Brynjolfsson, senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered A.I., and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

 

Additional Reading:

Apple Sues OpenAI, Accusing It of Stealing Company Secrets

OpenAI’s First Device Will Be Movable, Screenless Speaker Built as A.I. Companion

Nearly 200 Economists and Tech Leaders Warn of A.I. Threats

The loudest warning about A.I. and jobs yet

OpenAI Is Showing Kalshi’s World Cup Odds in ChatGPT

New York Enacts Nation’s First Statewide Moratorium on Data Centers

Brown Professor Suspects Majority of His Class Used A.I. to Cheat

MiniMax CEO Vows to Forgo Salary Until Achieving A.G.I.

Lorde Speaks Out — With Expletives — Against A.I. Glasses

Nearly 6 in 10 Young Women Get Health and Wellness Information from Influencers

Meta Removes A.I. Feature on Instagram After Days of Backlash

 

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

Subscribe today at 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. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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This week, with news that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up Texas’ age verification law for app stores, we check in on how social media bans are going around the globe and what may be coming soon to a state near you. Then, we’re joined by Jeff Sebo, an associate professor at N.Y.U., to discuss new research into “A.I. welfare” and whether A.I. could ever become conscious. And finally, in our latest edition of Tool Time, we show each other some of the latest tech tools we’ve been experimenting with.

 

Guest:

Jeff Sebo, associate professor and the director of the Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy at N.Y.U.

 

Additional Reading:

Why Social Media Bans Are Gaining Steam

Four in Five Under-16s in Australia Using Social Media Despite Ban, Study Shows

It Turns Out Banning Teens From Social Media Is Hard

Studying A.I. Welfare Empirically

A Global Workspace in Language Models

 

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

Subscribe today at 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. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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