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This week, the economist Anton Korinek joins to break down how artificial intelligence is driving volatility in the job and stock markets. Then, the battle between the Pentagon and Anthropic is getting even more tense. Anthropic now has until 5:01 p.m. Eastern time on Friday to accept the military’s demands over the terms of a contract, or the Trump administration will retaliate by invoking the Defense Production Act and designating the company a “supply chain risk.” We discuss this change, as well as two other updates on OpenClaw and Alpha Schools.

Guest:

Anton Korinek, economist studying the impact of A.I., at the University of Virginia.

Additional Reading:

Pentagon Gives A.I. Company an Ultimatum

Summer Yue’s OpenClaw post

‘Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs’: Inside an AI-Powered Private School

Parents Fell in Love With Alpha School’s Promise. Then They Wanted Out

The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis

When Does Automating Research Produce Explosive Growth?

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This week, Anthropic is refusing to let the government use the company’s technology for autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance. In response, the Pentagon is threatening to cut business ties and declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk.” Who will blink first? Then, Scott Shambaugh joins us to tell the strange tale of the autonomous A.I. agent that wrote a hit piece about him. And finally, the Hot Mess Express returns to the station.

 

Guest:

Scott Shambaugh, engineer and writer of “An A.I. Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me” 

 

Additional Reading:

Defense Department and Anthropic Square Off in Dispute Over A.I. Safety

Ring Cancels Its Partnership With Flock Safety After Surveillance Backlash

Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses

Japan’s Largest Toilet Maker Is Undervalued A.I. Play, Says Activist Investor

‘It Is 35 Degrees’: Outrage as Aussie Uber Driver Charges $5 to Turn on Air Conditioning Unit During Heatwave

Meta Patented an A.I. That Lets You Keep Posting From Beyond the Grave

I Tried RentAHuman, Where A.I. Agents Hired Me to Hype Their A.I. Start-Ups

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 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, we discuss Wall Street’s software-stock sell-off and a viral essay on X about the potential for widespread job displacement from A.I. Then, the New York Times reporter Alexandra Alter walks us through the process that a growing number of writers are adopting to churn out romance novels with help from A.I. chatbots. Finally, we each share one bit of good tech-related news — a new way to make playlists on Spotify and progress toward decoding whale sounds.
 
Guest:
Alexandra Alter, a New York Times reporter covering books and publishing.
 
Additional Reading:
The Dark Side of A.I. Weighs on Tech Stocks
Matt Shumer’s essay “Something Big Is Happening”
The New Fabio Is Claude
How a New A.I. Tool Fixed My Single Biggest Problem With Spotify
How A.I. Trained on Birds Is Surfacing Underwater Mysteries
 
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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, the A.I. initial-public-offering race is heating up! We break down SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI, as well as OpenAI and Nvidia’s messy situationship. Then, it’s time for show and tell. We got our hands on the latest experimental A.I. prototype from Google called Project Genie, and we discuss our experience using it to generate and navigate video-game-like environments. Finally, we’re joined by Moltbook’s founder, Matt Schlicht, to discuss his new social media platform for A.I. agents, and how he’s planning to deal with security risks and spam on the site.
 
Guest:
Matt Schlicht, creator of Moltbook
 
Additional Reading: 
Elon Musk Merges SpaceX With His A.I. Start-Up xAI
The $100 Billion Megadeal Between OpenAI and Nvidia Is on Ice
Project Genie: Experimenting with infinite, interactive worlds
An A.I. Pioneer Warns the Tech ‘Herd’ Is Marching Into a Dead End
Moltbook Mania Explained
 
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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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A Reddit-style web forum for A.I. agents has captured the attention of the tech world. According to the site, called Moltbook, more than 1.5 million agents have contributed to over 150,000 posts, making it the largest experiment to date of what happens when A.I. agents interact with each other. We discuss our favorite posts, how we’re thinking about the question of what is “real” on the site, and where we expect agents to go from here.
 
Additional Reading:
A Social Network for A.I. Bots Only. No Humans Allowed.
Five Ways of Thinking About Moltbook
 
We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. 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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