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Independent reporting on AI, social platforms, and the people shaping technology.
Platformer
• Casey Newton
A strange purchase, executive reshuffling and a New Yorker investigation are raising questions ahead of an IPO
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Shifting priorities and budget pressures could bring an end to the company’s experiment in independent governance, sources say
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The verdicts in last week’s social media trials have alarmed open-internet advocates. But it’s possible to regulate platform design while also protecting speech
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Meta’s CEO said he didn't want to be the speech police. Then he texted Elon Musk
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The company is taking new steps to stop AI impersonation — but across the internet, the problem continues to grow. PLUS: Anthropic in court, and Meta loses in New Mexico
Platformer
• Casey Newton
PLUS: the White House's new AI agenda
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The company's new support chatbot is better than what came before — but still missing the one feature that millions are clamoring for
Platformer
• Ella Markianos
Do Sam Altman and Fidji Simo have an alignment problem?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg called privacy the future of social networking. Not anymore
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Some overdue reflections by its CEO, and a class-action lawsuit, bring an end to “expert review”
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Jay Graber built something impressive but stagnant. Can a new CEO get it growing again?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The company tells Platformer it will let experts opt out of the controversial feature — but how different is it than what every other AI company is doing?
Platformer
• Ella Markianos
A protest at OpenAI headquarters suggests the backlash to military AI is growing — even if its politics are still half-formed. PLUS: The Pentagon declares Anthropic a supply chain risk
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Shunned by the government, and newly appealing to consumers, the company is at a crossroads
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Sam Altman’s deal with the Pentagon seems too good to be true. What happens when the public realizes that?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
AI safety researchers have long worried that a government would seek to use AI for domestic surveillance and autonomous killing. The Pentagon’s fight with Anthropic threatens to make it a reality
Platformer
• Lindsey Choo
PLUS: The Substack post that tanked the markets, continued
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The US government still can’t think beyond “winning.” The rest of the world is still thinking too small
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Testifying before a jury in LA, Mark Zuckerberg makes the case that platform design is about free expression. But the walls are closing in on Section 230
Platformer
• Casey Newton
In the company’s latest policy reversal under Trump 2.0, the facial recognition system it blew up in 2021 may be poised for a return
Platformer
• Casey Newton
As OpenAI sunsets its most dangerous model, the tensions it exposed remain as tricky as ever. PLUS: Elon's space catapult, and OpenAI vs. Anthropic
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Joshua Achiam will become the company's chief futurist
Platformer
• Casey Newton
A lawsuit that begins in LA this week, along with a new investigation into TikTok by the European Commission, could change social apps forever. PLUS: AI ads at the Super Bowl and in ChatGPT
Platformer
• Ella Markianos
Anxiety about AI replacing entry-level jobs is on the rise. Could a state-of-the-art chatbot do the job of a Platformer fellow? PLUS: Anthropic vs. OpenAI, and will AI kill SaaS?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Spotify’s Molly Holder on the power of prompted playlists. PLUS: Meta is testing a standalone Vibes app
Platformer
• Casey Newton
What a social network for AI agents tells us about the future. PLUS: Elon consolidates the X empire
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Maybe someday you’ll have a genie in your laptop working for you 24/7. Today is not that day
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The “moral panic” framing misses how platforms actually harm kids. PLUS: Newsom investigates TikTok over Trump, and the Clawdbot frenzy
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Truth and terror in Minneapolis. PLUS: TikTok conspiracy theories, and Dario Amodei's Oppenheimer moment
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Managers say it makes them more productive. Workers don't. What gives?
