Trump Fights ‘Woke’ A.I. + We Hear Out Our Critics
Hard Fork25 Heinä 2025

Trump Fights ‘Woke’ A.I. + We Hear Out Our Critics

On Wednesday, President Trump signed three A.I.-related executive orders, and the White House released “America’s A.I. Action Plan.” We break down what’s in them, how the federal government intends to target “political bias” in chatbot output, and whether anyone will stand up against it. Then, do we hype up A.I. too much? Are we downplaying potential harms? We reached out to several prominent researchers and writers and asked for their critiques about how we cover A.I.

For a limited time, you can get a special-edition “Hard Fork” hat when you purchase an annual New York Times Audio subscription for the first time. Get your hat at nytimes.com/hardforkhat


Guests:

  • Brian Merchant, author of the book and newsletter “Blood in the Machine”
  • Alison Gopnik, professor at the University of California, Berkeley
  • Ross Douthat, New York Times opinion columnist and host of the podcast “Interesting Times”
  • Claire Leibowicz, head of A.I. and media integrity at the Partnership on AI
  • Max Read, author of the newsletter “Read Max”


Additional Reading:

We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. 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.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaksot(183)

Anthropic’s C.E.O. Dario Amodei on Surviving the A.I. Endgame

Anthropic’s C.E.O. Dario Amodei on Surviving the A.I. Endgame

This week, Anthropic’s C.E.O., Dario Amodei, returns to the show for a candid, wide-ranging interview. We discuss Anthropic’s brand-new Claude 3.7 Sonnet model, the A.I. arms race against China, and h...

28 Helmi 20251h 7min

How Based is Grok 3? + Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev on Markets For Everything + Vibecoding 101

How Based is Grok 3? + Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev on Markets For Everything + Vibecoding 101

This week, Elon Musk brought a new chatbot into the crowded A.I. universe — Grok 3, the latest model from his company xAI. We break down how it compares with other leading models and what it reveals a...

21 Helmi 20251h 11min

A.I. Accelerates in Paris + Can A.I. Fix Your Love Life?

A.I. Accelerates in Paris + Can A.I. Fix Your Love Life?

Kevin reports back from the A.I. Action Summit in Paris, where it was full speed ahead toward artificial general intelligence, with a conspicuous lack of action on the safety front. Also, Happy Valent...

14 Helmi 20251h 12min

The Musketeers Take Washington + Spotify's Ghost Music + Tool Time

The Musketeers Take Washington + Spotify's Ghost Music + Tool Time

This week, we’re joined by the Times reporter Jonathan Swan to discuss Elon Musk’s tech takeover of Washington, D.C. Then, Liz Pelly, author of a new book about Spotify, stops by to discuss “ghost mus...

7 Helmi 20251h 22min

DeepSeek DeepDive + Hands-On With Operator + Hot Mess Express!

DeepSeek DeepDive + Hands-On With Operator + Hot Mess Express!

This week we go even deeper on DeepSeek. ChinaTalk's Jordan Schneider joins us to explain the Chinese A.I. industry and to break down the reaction inside of China to DeepSeek’s sudden success. Then … ...

31 Tammi 20251h 5min

Your Guide to the DeepSeek Freakout: an Emergency Pod

Your Guide to the DeepSeek Freakout: an Emergency Pod

A Chinese firm called DeepSeek managed to upend global markets at the start of the week, to drag down chipmaker Nvidia — and to surge to No. 1 in the iPhone app store, all in basically no time at all....

27 Tammi 202524min

Quantum TikTok + Memecoin Mania + Chris Hayes on the Attention Wars

Quantum TikTok + Memecoin Mania + Chris Hayes on the Attention Wars

This week, TikTok died, came back to life — and now exists in a kind of limbo state. We break down what that may signal for how tech does business with the new Trump administration. Then we pump up th...

24 Tammi 20251h 12min

Goodbye TikTok, Ni Hao RedNote? + A.I.'s Environmental Impact + Meta's Masculine Energy

Goodbye TikTok, Ni Hao RedNote? + A.I.'s Environmental Impact + Meta's Masculine Energy

The deadline for TikTok to sell or to face a ban is fast approaching. We discuss how Supreme Court justices — who opted on Friday to uphold the law — reacted to arguments in the case, whether the Chin...

17 Tammi 20251h 13min