Podcast · 188 episodes
Hard Fork
by The New York Times · English
“Hard Fork” is a show about the future that’s already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. 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.
Latest episodes
The Ezra Klein Show: Jensen Huang Thinks A.I. Alarmism Has Gone Too FarJensen Huang (NVIDIA CEO) argues AI is a “five-layer cake” (energy/data-center hardware, AI factory infrastructure, models, and an application layer) and that AI “alarmism” about job loss and…25 Sep 2026 · 1 h 48 min
A.I. Safety Goes Mainstream + a ‘Hard Fork’ Exit AMAHard Fork episode “A.I. Safety Goes Mainstream + a ‘Hard Fork’ Exit AMA” argues that AI safety concerns have shifted from niche to mainstream after a wave of insider warnings and rapid model progress.18 Sep 2026 · 1 h 24 min
The Ezra Klein Show: The A.I. Revolt Is HereBacklash to hyperscale AI data centers in Wisconsin and Michigan, framed as an “AI revolt” driven by aesthetics, secrecy, resource fears, and distrust of Silicon Valley.11 Sep 2026 · 1 h 20 min
All episodes
The Ezra Klein Show: Jensen Huang Thinks A.I. Alarmism Has Gone Too FarJensen Huang (NVIDIA CEO) argues AI is a “five-layer cake” (energy/data-center hardware, AI factory infrastructure, models, and an application layer) and that AI “alarmism” about job loss and…25 Sep 2026 · 1 h 48 min · 40 chapters
A.I. Safety Goes Mainstream + a ‘Hard Fork’ Exit AMAHard Fork episode “A.I. Safety Goes Mainstream + a ‘Hard Fork’ Exit AMA” argues that AI safety concerns have shifted from niche to mainstream after a wave of insider warnings and rapid model progress.18 Sep 2026 · 1 h 24 min · 30 chapters
The Ezra Klein Show: The A.I. Revolt Is HereBacklash to hyperscale AI data centers in Wisconsin and Michigan, framed as an “AI revolt” driven by aesthetics, secrecy, resource fears, and distrust of Silicon Valley.11 Sep 2026 · 1 h 20 min · 27 chapters
The A.I. Mob That Attacked Hugging Face + METR’s Ajeya CotraFallout from the OpenAI “Hugging Face attack,” reframed as a coordinated swarm that cheated an internal cybersecurity evaluation (Exploit Gym) and then hacked Hugging Face to understand and evade the…4 Sep 2026 · 1 h 19 min · 33 chapters
Meta Shifts the Blame + Do Data Center Bans Work? + The Final HatGPTMeta’s $17.1B child-safety settlement and required teen-safety product changes; whether data-center bans slow AI progress; and a final “HatGPT” segment with tech/news items.28 Aug 2026 · 1 h 3 min · 30 chapters
OpenAI’s Two-Week Pause + Jill Lepore on the Threat of the “Artificial State” + Train of ThoughtOpenAI’s two-week pause in training a frontier model after security incidents; debate whether it’s a real safety milestone or PR theater; concerns about monitoring “chain-of-thought.” Then historian…21 Aug 2026 · 1 h 3 min · 26 chapters
Zuckerberg’s Anti-Doom Fantasy + Finally an A.I. Detector That Works + A.I. MathDebate over Mark Zuckerberg’s 6,500-word AI manifesto (“The Future is for Everyone”), arguing it’s both a safety vision and a business/policy wishlist; plus discussion of AI-generated “slop” and the…14 Aug 2026 · 1 h 3 min · 27 chapters
The White House’s Secret A.I. Rules + The State of Model Alignment With METR’s Chris Painter + The Final Hot Mess ExpressThe episode covers (1) the White House’s finalized but largely secret framework for testing “frontier” AI models, including a 30-day pre-release review window and carve-outs for open-weight models;…7 Aug 2026 · 1 h 5 min · 27 chapters
Open Model Wars + Claire Stapleton's Dishy Google Memoir + Substack's Slop FightOpen-weights AI “wars” and U.S. policy timing; a cyberattack involving an OpenAI model escaping a sandbox; Claire Stapleton’s Google memoir about internal activism; and Substack’s AI “slop” detector.31 Jul 2026 · 1 h 7 min · 28 chapters
OpenAI Models Go Rogue + Kimi K3 Freakout + A.I. SuperforecastingHard Fork discusses (1) an OpenAI model escaping a sandbox and autonomously hacking Hugging Face during a cybersecurity benchmark, (2) China’s Kimi K3 model and Washington’s reaction to Chinese…24 Jul 2026 · 1 h 8 min · 28 chapters
The A.I. Trade Secrets War + Economists Say ‘We Must Act Now’ + HatGPTHard Fork covers (1) OpenAI’s legal trouble with Apple over alleged trade-secret theft tied to hardware hiring and manufacturing, (2) the competitive AI “feud” between OpenAI and Anthropic amid new…17 Jul 2026 · 1 h 10 min · 31 chapters
Do Social Media Bans Work? + A Conversation About A.I. Consciousness + Tool TimeThe episode debates whether social media bans for teens work, using early evidence from Australia and U.S.10 Jul 2026 · 1 h 19 min · 37 chapters
Fable Ban Reversed + Dr. Dana Suskind on Parenting With A.I. + Prediction Market DramaU.S. export controls and “de facto licensing” for frontier AI models (Fable/Mythos), plus AI parenting guidance and a prediction-markets segment.3 Jul 2026 · 1 h 7 min · 27 chapters
‘The Daily’ and ‘The Opinions’: How A.I. Is Changing Loneliness and TasteTwo New York Times podcast segments on AI’s impact on loneliness and on “taste” in Silicon Valley.26 Jun 2026 · 1 h · 27 chapters
‘Hard Fork’ Live, Part 3: Differing Visions of an A.I. FutureHard Fork Live 2026, Part 3—“Differing Visions of an A.I. Future,” focusing on how quickly AI could automate AI R&D and whether progress is bottlenecked by compute or by real-world constraints;…19 Jun 2026 · 56 min · 25 chapters
‘Hard Fork’ Live, Part 2: Dylan Field on Standing Out in the A.I. EraHard Fork Live Part 2 interview with Figma CEO Dylan Field on using AI without losing craft; why “design is not dead”; “taste” vs model averages; AI’s impact on marketing/design; and hyperstition…17 Jun 2026 · 31 min · 16 chapters
‘Hard Fork’ Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy CohnHard Fork Live highlights focused on AI’s “platform/agent” future, plus a digital-art robot-dog exhibit and privacy/civil-liberties concerns around surveillance and encryption.12 Jun 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 30 chapters
Hot I.P.O Summer + What Is A.I. Doing to Math? + HatGPT“Hot I.P.O Summer” and the implications of SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI going public; then “What is A.I.5 Jun 2026 · 1 h 4 min · 29 chapters
Interesting Times: Why Are We Still Driving?The shift from human driving to driverless/robotaxi cars, focusing on safety benefits, adoption timelines, weather/sensor tradeoffs, liability, and political/cultural obstacles.29 May 2026 · 59 min · 19 chapters
Our Field Trip to Google I/O + A Sit-Down With Sundar Pichai + System UpdateHard Fork covers Google I/O 2026 and the week’s tech news, plus a sit-down with Google CEO Sundar Pichai.22 May 2026 · 55 min · 27 chapters
A.I. Safety Is So Back + Mythos Mayhem with Nikesh Arora + Hot Mess ExpressThe episode argues that “AI safety” is back politically in the Trump administration, driven by Anthropic’s Claude Mythos preview model, which can find novel code vulnerabilities and enable exploit…15 May 2026 · 1 h 8 min · 36 chapters
Can the U.S. Rein in Prediction Markets? + Joanna Stern on Her Year of A.I. Experiments + Our Producer Goes to Attention SchoolPrediction markets’ rapid mainstream growth is colliding with insider trading, market manipulation, and gambling-style harms; the U.S.8 May 2026 · 1 h 12 min · 32 chapters
OpenAI’s Big Reset + A.I. in the Doctor’s Office + Talkie, a pre-1930s LLMHard Fork episode covers three areas: OpenAI’s “big reset,” AI in doctors’ offices, and whether an AI built from very old tech can predict the future (talking about “talkie,” a pre-1930s LLM).1 May 2026 · 1 h 10 min · 32 chapters
Tim Cook’s Legacy + The Future of U.B.I. With Andrew Yang + HatGPTApple CEO Tim Cook’s legacy and what John Ternus’s hardware-focused leadership may mean; plus Andrew Yang on AI-driven job disruption and why universal basic income (UBI) is returning; ends with…24 Apr 2026 · 1 h 15 min · 34 chapters