What I got most wrong in my 2025 predictions, plus 11 new predictions for 2026 https://www.platformer.news/2026-tech-predictions-ai-bubble-openai-meta-google/

I wrote about the great Reuters investigation into rampant Chinese scams on Meta's platforms and the class-action case that has the company worried https://www.platformer.news/meta-scams-china-section-230/

When OpenAI was founded, it was most afraid of causing catastrophe. Today it seems more afraid that users will churn. I wrote about the company at 10: https://www.platformer.news/openai-10-normal-company-chatgpt-52/

Australia's ban on under-16s on social media is well on its way to becoming the global norm. I wrote about how platforms lost the argument https://www.platformer.news/australia-social-media-ban-analysis/

When X banned the European Commission's ad account in retaliation for a fine, it demonstrated the exact sort of capricious behavior the DSA is designed to stop https://www.platformer.news/x-eu-fine-account-ban-bier/

Five years after Meta's Oversight Board its first five cases, it's clear that its ambitions to become Facebook's Supreme Court have failed. I talked to insiders about where it goes next: https://www.platformer.news/meta-oversight-board-5-years/

A novel new study finds you can reduce polarization on X simply with a simple change to the algorithm. I spoke with the researchers: https://www.platformer.news/stanford-polarization-study-x-algorithm/

Presenting for your holiday weekend enjoyment: the 50 most iconic technologies of 2025 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/podcasts/hardfork-iconic-technologies-2025.html

Record labels had the chance to stand up for copyright against AI scrapers — but now they're folding https://www.platformer.news/suno-warner-settlement-copyright-udio-klay/

I wrote about our interview with Roblox's CEO and how platforms got too big to feel shame https://www.platformer.news/roblox-ceo-interview-backlash-analysis/

We asked Roblox's CEO about child safety on the platform. It got tense https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/podcasts/hardfork-roblox-child-safety.html?context=audio&smid=nytcore-ios-share

It is strange but great to see so many Republicans turning against Trump over AI safety concerns https://www.platformer.news/trump-ai-moratorium-republican-backlash/

In the end, all it took down to bring down the government's case against Meta was a simple experiment https://www.platformer.news/ftc-loses-meta-case-analysis/

It's Hard Fork ... Tuesday?? We talked to Google's Demis Hassabis and Josh Woodward about Gemini 3 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/podcasts/hardfork-gemini-3.html

Are there any *good* reasons to consider engagement-maximizing algorithms protected speech? I wrote about the California law that has platforms shaking https://www.platformer.news/california-algorithm-speech-lawsuit-meta-google-tiktok/

After King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard left Spotify in protest earlier this year, something strange took their place. My investigation into what happened, which resulted in Spotify taking down a bunch of slop tracks https://www.platformer.news/king-gizzard-spotify-impersonators/

I wrote about Europe maybe retreating from strong privacy protections in the name of AI competitiveness and why it may be making a mistake https://www.platformer.news/eu-ai-act-changes-proposal/

Wrote about the great Reuters investigation into scams on Meta's platforms and why lately nothing seems to stick to the company https://www.platformer.news/meta-scams-prevalence/

Wrote about Perplexity's comical flouting of every other website's rules and insistence that it is being "bullied" https://www.platformer.news/amazon-perplexity-comet-agents-future/

I wrote about Bluesky a year after the big post-election surge in users, and whether you can build a happier version of Twitter while keeping its same basic shape https://www.platformer.news/bluesky-2025-content-moderation-fediverse/

Character.AI is the first major company to acknowledge that companions aren't safe for young people. Will others follow? https://www.platformer.news/character-ai-teen-ban/

Wrote about OpenAI's restructuring and what it means for how AI is governed https://www.platformer.news/openai-restructuring-microsoft-altman/

I talked to OpenAI about its surprising new research on the prevalence of mental health concerns in ChatGPT usage and whether this is a problem we can model-tweak our way out of https://www.platformer.news/openai-mental-health-research-chatgpt-suicide-delusions/

OpenAI's flailing over content policy for Sora is just the latest example of the company rushing out a product at the expense of its own reputation. As AI tools get more powerful, that's reason for concern https://www.platformer.news/openai-sora-copyright-policy-king-cranston/

I wrote about the AI slop backlash and how platforms are starting to respond to it https://www.platformer.news/thursday-newsletter-5/

California's move to regulate AI companions really could not have come soon enough https://www.platformer.news/california-ai-companion-law-newsom-openai/

AI leaderboards are declining in influence. So why did Meta-backed Scale AI just launch a new one? https://www.platformer.news/ai-leaderboards-decline-lmarena-scale/

Wrote about fresh signs of an AI bubble (and why the industry says the worries are mostly overblown) https://www.platformer.news/ai-bubble-2025/

I wrote about OpenAI's ambitious platform play and the Cambridge Analytica flashbacks it inspired. Plus, Sam Altman takes my question about enshittification risk https://www.platformer.news/openai-dev-day-2025-platform-chatgpt/

Here's what everyone is saying about Sora. Of note: several OpenAI employees have posted about their concerns with the product https://www.platformer.news/sora-2-reactions-openai/

Tried out the new slop app https://www.platformer.news/sora-2-hands-on-openai-social-network/

Talked to OpenAI about its new parental controls and the effort to make ChatGPT safer for kids — by pushing more responsibility onto parents https://www.platformer.news/chatgpt-parental-controls-child-safety/

ChatGPT Pulse is a step toward becoming a proactive assistant that works for you in the background. It's also one more feed to scroll. Sound familiar? https://www.platformer.news/chatgpt-pulse-proactive-ai/

Today is Platformer's fifth birthday! I wrote about the state of the newsletter economy, how the business is going, and what we're planning for year six https://www.platformer.news/platformer-year-five-lessons/

I tried to capture everything that's strange about the TikTok deal. A giveaway to Trump's allies and another step toward US media being controlled by his allies https://www.platformer.news/tiktok-deal-framework-questions/

I wrote about how social media enabled Charlie Kirk while making our politics ever worse. https://www.platformer.news/thursday-newsletter-4/

ChatGPT will soon alert parents when their children express thoughts of self-harm. Will that protect them — or simply drive them elsewhere? https://www.platformer.news/openai-teen-accounts-safety-senate-hearing/?ref=platformer-newsletter

After all that hand-wringing about the dangerous Chinese TikTok algorithm, it appears that Trump is going to let the new American TikTok just license it from China. Whatever!! https://www.platformer.news/tiktok-deal-bytedance-china-trump-bessent/

The FTC's investigation into chatbots and children suggests that Republicans are *this* close to having an epiphany about AI safety https://www.platformer.news/ftc-chatbots-child-safety/

The AI as Normal Technology guys are back with a good new post on why they think AI transformation of society will take decades. I'm a fan, but had to ask — doesn't the effect AI is *already* having on education suggest things may go much faster? […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

NEW: Google tells me it will re-file a legal brief in which lawyers said "the open web is already in rapid decline" to clarify that they were only talking about open-web display advertising. (The open web is still in rapid decline, though.) […]

A year ago today, Trump threatened to jail Zuckerberg for the rest of his life. Today, Trump is fighting Meta's battles around the world. I wrote about everything that Zuckerberg has gotten from Trump 2.0 so far: https://www.platformer.news/trump-zuckerberg-meta-partnership-eu-dsa-ai-dma/

The chatbot mental health crisis is here. No one is ready for it https://www.platformer.news/chatgpt-suicide-lawsuit-openai-safety/

Can Musk sue his way to the top of the App Store? I asked Stanford Law Prof. Mark Lemley about Musk's new lawsuit against OpenAI and Apple https://www.platformer.news/musk-sues-apple-openai-grok/

It's Hard Fork Friday! This week: the AI bubble, Jeff Horwitz on Meta's child-romancing chatbots, and a filthy song that is NOT the no. 1 country song in America right now https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/podcasts/is-this-an-ai-bubble-metas-missing-morals-tiktok-shock-slop.html

It's my annual productivity post! What I'm still doing, what I stopped doing, and what I'm trying. Plus, the mundane and non-transformational ways I am using AI https://www.platformer.news/productivity-tools-ai-2025/

Just listened to a great interview about @obsidian between @kepano and @caseynewton on Decoder podcast https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/760522/obsidian-ceo-steph-ango-kepano-productivity-software-notes-app (the show is also followable at @2123 thru podcast index)

I wrote about the seeming contradiction in two new survey findings: 71 percent of Americans fear AI will take their job; and 95 percent of AI tests at companies are failing to generate money. https://www.platformer.news/ai-job-loss-surveys-mit/

Chatbots can provide something *like* therapy, but it's not the genuine article — so I think it's good more states are cracking down on how companies present them https://www.platformer.news/ai-therapy-paxton-meta-character/

This evening, I joined a small group of reporters for a wide-ranging, on-the-record dinner with Sam Altman and some of his top lieutenants. And yeah, Altman said — we're in an AI bubble https://www.platformer.news/sam-altman-gpt-5-interview-lightcap-turley/