Today at Davos, Elon Musk said every single person will be able to own a humanoid robot and humanoids will lead to "abundance for all." Not gonna happen! If you want a real-world example of how robots are being deployed/developed, we investigated Amazon's unusual biz deal with a robotics startup.

A new startup believes that AI should "empower people rather than replace them." But what does that even mean? From @elirosenberg.bsky.social www.hardresetmedia.com/p/is-an-era-...

Very excited to announce that @keriputnam.bsky.social, former @sundance.org CEO and HBO Films EVP, will be joining our panel discussion in Park City on Monday. Tickets are limited, RSVP here: luma.com/gerg76e4

In Jan '25, a whistleblower filed a complaint to the FTC about Amazon’s deal w/robotics startup Covariant. The FTC hasn't said a peep since. @aristeinhorn.bsky.social & I dug into the whistleblower complaint, the FTC's shoddy state, Big Tech’s reverse acquihire reliance, & Amazon's robotics plans

A whistleblower from Covariant, an AI startup stripped for parts by Amazon in a reverse acquihire, reported the company a year ago — but since then both Covariant AI and Trump’s FTC have gone silent. Read the exclusive story on Hard Reset: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/whistleblo...

We're hosting a free panel discussion at #Sundance next week on #AI, tech, and labor in Hollywood, featuring Shane Boris, @leehepner.bsky.social, and @richardrushfield.bsky.social of @theankler.com! Join us if you'll be at Sundance, or share with someone who will! RSVP here: luma.com/gerg76e4

"The A.I. industry has said that its technology can usher in breathtaking advancements, but that they may come with breathtaking unemployment." @byjacobward.bsky.social wrote about how AI is affecting job anxiety for American workers. Read here: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-ai-anx...

"it really fucking hurts when you publicly attack openai." THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTINGGGG 🗣️🗣️🗣️ @alexshultz.bsky.social unpacks the juiciest details from the Musk v. Altman court documents as the case heads to jury trial. Read more: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/unsealed-c...

"Across the country, data centers from Tucson to Tennessee are seeing similar levels of opposition, drawing backlash in areas not known for lefty activism." @elirosenberg.bsky.social examined the resistance around data centers for Hard Reset. Read here ⬇️ www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-data-c...

"Automated decision-making isn’t just an abstract worry: it’s becoming a lived experience." @byjacobward.bsky.social breaks down the Medicare pilot program letting AI deny prior authorization requests by patients in six states, and how states are fighting it. www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-new-ai...

Ariella Steinhorn spoke with documentarian Valerie Veatch about her upcoming documentary, Ghost in the Machine, and AI's distressing roots in the American eugenics movement. www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-precur...

We messaged with the author as well, and spoke with Uber comms about it. @alexshultz.bsky.social ran down the whole saga here: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/an-ai-gene...

Hey Resetters, we are bringing back our beloved HOT SAUNA event to kick off the New Year. If you’re a founder, engineer, designer, or builder based in SF, come meet the Hard Reset team on 1/21 @ 6 PM to ring in twenty-twenty schvitz! Tickets are limited: luma.com/oz0hcxhd

A self-identified “engineer” went viral on Reddit (& on social media) w/damning allegations about one of the food delivery apps. Then they circulated a legit-looking “internal document” to journalists, including me. The whole thing was an AI-generated scam intended to smear Uber. Here’s the story

We tracked this down in a similar way as Casey, verifying that it was AI-generated: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/an-ai-gene...

A Reddit post went viral, with serious allegations about Uber Eats. @alexshultz.bsky.social Signal messaged with the anonymous author, investigated, and exposed it as fully AI fabricated. He runs down the whole saga and its implications here: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/an-ai-gene...

It's impossible for me to do a year-end thread without first apologizing for doing so, and adding another disclaimer that I will keep it brief! But it's been a good year, and I want to highlight a few pieces I wrote. If you like any of them, consider subscribing to Hard Reset, where I write weekly

As we wrap up our first year of existence, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has become a part of Hard Reset! For our last post of 2025, we wanted to take a look back at the reporting that defined our year. Here are our top 10 posts of 2025: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/hard-reset...

The boldest meta-prediction from @alexshultz.bsky.social? “The chaos purposely wrought by Trump 2.0 figures will no longer be free of political consequences and personal accountability in 2026.” See how that influences all 26 predictions here: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/26-predict...

Presenting the stone-cold lock Hard Reset 2026 predictions, from Kalshi and OpenAI to data centers and wildcat strikes. Anything that @alexshultz.bsky.social ends up getting wrong is a joke, obv. www.hardresetmedia.com/p/26-predict...

Here are my 26 locks for 2026, presented by FanDuel and DraftKings and Kalshi and Polymarket and Robinhood

Will people who have actual careers in the real world face accountability for actions in their safe space on X? @alexshultz.bsky.social on the unimaginable nightmare for an innocent Brown student and whether Shaun Maguire will be held accountable: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/xs-echo-ch...

ICYMI: Hard Reset is launching a six-month social media fellowship program designed for workers first – not influencers – who are already sharing what work feels like and want to level up. Read more & apply at: hardresetfellows.com

Data centers dominated 2025. They (shakily) propped up the economy, they got exponentially bigger, and they provoked resistance across the country. So we spent 2025 covering data centers, and the fight back, from the perspective of working people. perfectunion.us/data-centers/

The largest AI data centers could use as much power as Philadelphia, with costs are passed on to local residents. But big tech companies are leasing the centers. Why don’t they want these assets on the books? @byjacobward.bsky.social digs deeper: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/who-pays-f...

NEW from Hard Reset - @Ariella Steinhorn on the @groundwork.bsky.social Instacart study and how disconnected tech companies are from everyday life: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/instacarts...

Tech authoritarianism got you down? Sick of the broligarchs? Check out the individuals and organizations using technology to create a better world: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/announcing...

Please share and help get the word out! Great opportunity here for emerging creators 👇

Impact reporting from @alexshultz.bsky.social www.hardresetmedia.com/p/sam-altman...

Big News! Hard Reset is launching a six-month social media fellowship program designed for workers first – not influencers – who are already sharing what work feels like and want to level up. Read more & apply at: hardresetfellows.com

Sam Altman's assertion that he needs ChatGPT to raise his child was widely ridiculed, but the timing of Altman’s Jimmy Fallon interview coupled with a lack of viewership for the full segment (which has 2x more thumbs-down reactions than thumbs-up reactions on YouTube) also don't bode well for OpenAI

OpenAI had Sam Altman talk to a sycophantic AI chatbot named Jimmy Fallon and it was still incredibly awkward: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/sam-altman...

New from @byjacobward.bsky.social: The President Just Killed Off State AI Laws and Replaced Them With...Nothing. youtu.be/Ydg_92k3zGY?...

Think this is first time we've been featured in @techmeme.com What an honor. Go team! @byjacobward.bsky.social @alexshultz.bsky.social @aristeinhorn.bsky.social @elirosenberg.bsky.social www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-presid...

NEW: @byjacobward.bsky.social responds to Trump’s Executive Order wiping out state AI regulation. The White House has chosen speed over consent—and dared the courts to stop it. Read the full article now on Hard Reset: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-presid...

Congrats to the winners of the 2025 Hard Reset Awards! The winners in each category are @ecosiasearch.bsky.social, Hossam Nasr, @techequity.bsky.social, OpenSolar, and Joan Kinyua. Watch videos from each award winner and read more about their work here: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/announcing...

Trump just signed an Executive Order blocking state level AI regulation: www.cnn.com/2025/12/11/t... @byjacobward.bsky.social covered the potential impact of this when the EO leaked a few weeks ago: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/americas-o...

Reporting live from the legendary Bimbo’s in SF, @elirosenberg.bsky.social on the Substack AI debate party with @jasmine.bsky.social, @bcmerchant.bsky.social and others, where the vibe was … surprisingly congenial? www.hardresetmedia.com/p/live-debat...

Yikes. Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified that Meta had a “17x” strike policy for accounts engaged in the "trafficking of humans for sex...You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation...”’ Much more in the reporting below.

Would you turn to a spirituality AI chatbot for guidance? www.hardresetmedia.com/p/deepak-cho...

"The goal would be the construction of an alternative digital ecosystem that, at least at the local level, can begin to displace the corporate internet." - @bentarnoff.com: jacobin.com/2025/12/digi...

"What he talked most about was a specific grievance in line with the focus on affordability many Democrats are taking these days, but with a unique twist: the deleterious effects of datacenters and their impact on electricity bills." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Galactic brain indeed

"Chopra AI is a sales product, part PR, part new gadget — a polished and scrubbed AI-version of exactly the person he wants us to think he is." - @aristeinhorn.bsky.social on the self-help gurus cashing in on AI chatbots: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/deepak-cho...

Where are the California politicians on the Netflix merger with Warner Bros? Via @alexshultz.bsky.social writing for @hardresetmedia.com open.substack.com/pub/hardrese...

The story is moving fast but @alexshultz.bsky.social's take here is evergreen: Regardless of whether it's Paramount or Netflix, entertainment consolidation is anti-labor and hurts the creative industries. Which means it hurts all of us. www.hardresetmedia.com/p/netflixs-p...

Sam Altman is turning up the sycophant dial to try to tap back into the 4o magic, leaving state regulators scrambling to protect people from developing unhealthy attachments to ChatGPT. @byjacobward.bsky.social digs deeper in the latest Hard Reset: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-lawmak...

"It almost seems so quaint, to think that this pseudo-utopian video game come to life represented where some people thought the internet might be headed. Instead, we’ve been given programs designed to replace the entirety of human labor and endeavor." www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-metave...

I suspect the Netflix angle here will be subsumed by news of Paramount's hostile bid, which gives cover to California politicians to say absolutely nothing (or at least nothing of substance) about the ramifications of a potential Netflix-Warner Bros. merger

No one pulls off jokes about tech on a rainy evening in NYC better than Nathan Macintosh. We laughed, we cried, we AI’ed. 
 Stay tuned; Hard Reset will be bringing more events to the Bay and beyond!