Hard Fork

The White House’s Secret A.I. Rules + The State of Model Alignment With METR’s Chris Painter + The Final Hot Mess Express

hardfork@nytimes.com (The New York Times) — Fri, 7 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

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:

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Open Model Wars + Claire Stapleton's Dishy Google Memoir + Substack's Slop Fight

hardfork@nytimes.com (The New York Times) — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

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:

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

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What’s a Hard Fork?

hardfork@nytimes.com (The New York Times) — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 14:00:00 +0000

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 every Friday.

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