NEW: OpenAI has disbanded its Mission Alignment team and transferred employees to other teams. Joshua Achiam, a leading voice on safety issues at the company, will become its chief futurist https://www.platformer.news/openai-mission-alignment-team-joshua-achiam/

NEW: OpenAI has disbanded its Mission Alignment team and transferred employees to other teams. Joshua Achiam, a leading voice on safety issues at the company, will become its chief futurist https://www.platformer.news/openai-mission-alignment-team-joshua-achiam/

The walls are closing in on infinite-scroll feeds and other addictive design mechanics. I wrote about how lawyers and regulators may have finally found a way around Section 230 https://www.platformer.news/social-media-addiction-trial-eu-tiktok-investigation/

Last week, our fellow Ella Markianos pitched me on the idea of trying to replace herself with a bot. Ella is irreplaceable, but her piece on building "Claudella" is sharp, funny and moving https://www.platformer.news/journalism-job-automation-claude/

I wrote about using Spotify's new prompted playlists as a way to explore my own tastes again, instead of simply being dragged around by an algorithm https://www.platformer.news/spotify-prompted-playlists-ai-meta-vibes/

My main feeling about Moltbook is that a lot of things are going to happen in the next few years that make us say "something just like this happened on Moltbook" https://www.platformer.news/moltbook-ai-agents-security-content-moderation/

I wrote about falling in and out love with Clawdbot/Moltbot https://www.platformer.news/moltbot-clawdbot-review-ai-agent/

Authors of a big new study on teens and social media say that Australia-style bans won't help. But that misses the mounting evidence of direct harms that platforms cause countless kids: https://www.platformer.news/social-media-screen-time-manchester-study-haidt/

Wrote about this grim moment when the White House sees the deaths of innocent Americans as meme fodder and the faint silver lining that their lies aren't working this time https://www.platformer.news/minneapolis-pretti-good-ice-disinformation/

A survey found that two-thirds of employees say AI saved them zero to two hours a week, while it saved their bosses eight hours. What gives? https://www.platformer.news/ai-productivity-paradox-metr-pwc-workday/

Google traffic to publishers dropped by ONE THIRD in 2025 https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/google-traffic-down-2025-trends-report-2026/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Wrote about how the Grok scandal upended our notion that platforms would do even the bare minimum to prevent attacks against their own user base https://www.platformer.news/grock-blocked-uk-indonesia-france-musk/

It's all fun and games until the AI takes your job: I wrote about the wonder of building a website in Claude Code and the unsettling knowledge that it's coming for my job, too https://www.platformer.news/claude-code-review-web-design/

In which our correspondent braves an AI consciousness conference to meet the people working on model welfare https://www.platformer.news/ai-consciousness-conference-eleos/

The author of a viral Reddit thread alleging fraud at a food delivery company tried to back up his claim by sending me AI-generated documents. Today I'm publishing those documents in the hopes that it helps other reporter see what we're up against in the age […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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/