An industry leader releases a powerful model that runs on a laptop. Should we worry?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
OpenAI returns to open weights
Subscribe
News at the intersection of Silicon Valley and democracy. On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 5PM Pacific.
- Generator
- Ghost 6.54
- Public lists
- davewiner/blogroll
- Fetched
Platformer
• Casey Newton
ChatGPT adds a warning
It’s almost certainly not enough — but it’s a start.
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Substack promotes a Nazi
The company has long wanted to be seen as neutral infrastructure — this week, we saw why that’s a fantasy
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The UK's age gates are coming to America
The rocky rollout of age verification in the United Kingdom — and the privacy debacle at Tea — illustrate why a different approach is needed
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Trust and safety workers on why they're not speaking out
What readers say I got wrong in our last edition
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Is anyone left to defend trust and safety?
It’s under assault this year from users, politicians, and their own executives — but the industry has responded with silence
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The Google study that told us what we already suspected
When users see AI overviews, clicks fall in half. How does the web survive?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Google and OpenAI fight over a high-school math competition
The race to AGI is getting petty
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Let’s all try to help Substack live up to its new valuation
The company's new unicorn status has already led its founders to reverse their position on advertising. What other compromises are they prepared to make?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Grok's new porn companion is rated for kids 12+ in the App Store
AI companions are arriving faster than platforms can build guardrails around them. Parents need to pay attention
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The campaign to make it illegal for ChatGPT to criticize Trump
The conservative pressure campaign against social networks was hugely successful — and now it's coming for AI
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Sam Altman upstages the critics
And six other takeaways from Hard Fork Live
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Meta's five biggest AI problems
The company clearly needs an infusion of fresh talent — but blank checks aren't going as far as they used to
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The dream of the Fediverse is alive on Threads
Decentralized media is off to an agonizingly slow start — but there are glimmers of progress
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The president is selling a phone
The Trump Mobile T1 probably won't be a big hit. It's still dangerous
Platformer
• Casey Newton
OpenAI's toy story
In a new partnership with Mattel, the company hopes to reimagine play — but making internet-connected toys safe will be anything but child's play
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Meta looks for an AI reset
Mark Zuckerberg knows the company needs a new AI strategy. Is Scale's Alexandr Wang the partner he needs?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Apple is shipping through it
At WWDC, the company insists that its AI transformation is well underway — but the evidence feels a little thin
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The bro-ligarchy blows up
Musk has gone to war with Donald Trump. What happens next?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
How some Republicans changed their minds about AI safety
With a looming 10-year ban on any AI regulation at all, even the right is starting to get nervous about what might go wrong
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Is OpenAI making the same mistake Humane did?
Expectations for the company's AI device are already sky-high — and Jony Ive keeps raising them
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The AI browser wars are about to begin
Artificial intelligence is already writing an obituary for the internet as we know it. So why is everyone building new web browsers?
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Meta rests its case
The company looks poised to put its antitrust woes behind it. But its other trials may only be just beginning
Platformer
• Casey Newton
OpenAI is going to make hardware
Generative AI and devices haven't yet found a good fit. Will Jony Ive be the one to change that? PLUS: Claude 4 arrives
Platformer
• Casey Newton
At Google I/O, everything is changing and normal and scary and chill
At its annual developer conference, the company seeks to reassure everyone that AI is for everyday utility — but the great disruption to the web continues
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The US bans deepfake porn and scams
For victims, the Take It Down Act could finally bring some relief — but the Trump Administration has already signaled plans to weaponize it
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Great Replacement Grok and the age of adversarial AI
An obsession with “white genocide” in X’s chatbot is only the latest example of platforms using artificial intelligence against their users
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The AIs have memory problems
And maybe not the ones you're thinking of
Platformer
• Casey Newton
The myth of the AI-native startup
Silicon Valley can't wait for a tiny company powered by AI agents. The companies who are trying it have a lot of regrets
Platformer
• Casey Newton
Stats from a dying web
A startling statistic from Google’s antitrust trial raises fears that a long-predicted decline has now begun