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John Herrman

Tech Columnist, Intelligencer

John Herrman is a tech columnist at Intelligencer. Formerly, he was a reporter and critic at the New York Times and co-editor of The Awl.

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    What Are AI ‘Agents’ For?So far, OpenAI’s new ‘Operator’ needs more help than it provides.
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    Big Tech Is in a Devil’s Bargain With Donald TrumpTech moguls yearn for the hands-off approach of the ’90s. The reality will be something different.
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    Everybody’s Trying to Figure Out Who Banned TikTokDonald Trump, Joe Biden, and Congress all want to pass the buck on this thing.
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    The ‘Tech-Industrial’ Oligarchy Is Already HereTrump’s inauguration will provide plenty of visual evidence for Joe Biden’s warning.
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    Social Media Is for Consuming Disasters, Not Surviving ThemAlgorithmic feeds have stripped places like X and Instagram of their usefulness in a crisis.
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    The Two Competing Futures of Self-Driving CarsAutonomous fleets versus a Hertz in every garage.
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    Tiktok’s Final Appeal to the Supreme Court Didn’t Go Too WellIt’s looking like the ban is going to happen, and probably right before Donald Trump once again takes office.
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    Mark Zuckerberg’s Eternal Apology TourLike clockwork, every four years, he bends the knee and promises to change his — and his company’s — ways.
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    When Chatbots Choose ViolenceDisturbing new lawsuits show what a family-scale AI apocalypse might look like.
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    Meta’s Big Bet on BotsMeta says to expect AI “profiles” on Facebook and Instagram.
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    The Chaos Lurking in Apple’s Most-Popular Apps ListStability has reigned for a while, but next year promises to change all that.
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    The Future of AI Shouldn’t Be Taken at Face ValueWhy AI is so expensive and OpenAI’s pursuit of AGI is all about money.
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    Why YouTube Should Cut Off Its ThumbnailsThe platform is testing a ban on “egregious” clickbait titles and thumbnails. Why not go all the way?
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    Luigi Mangione’s Full Story Isn’t OnlineHis social media presence was carefully managed — in keeping with a new era on the internet.
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    Sam Altman’s Mixed SignalsOpenAI is telling two different stories as it goes all-in on ‘Shipmas’ — a 12-day extravaganza of new offerings.
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    The Bluesky app on a mobile phone.
    Democrats Are Leaving X. But X Left Them First.To the extent it’s a place where anyone can get a message out, it’s on narrow new terms for a narrow new audience.
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    How YouTube Ate PodcastingWith some help from TikTok.
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    Amazon Just Built a Temu Clone. Why Isn’t It More Fun?The Everything Store has finally opened its portal to China, with mixed results.
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    Why the Government’s Google Breakup Plan Is Such a Big DealCleaving off Chrome could reset the web as we know it.
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    Will Donald Trump Save TikTok?The once and future president has had a self-serving change of heart about the app.
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    Who Needs an AI Doppelganger?Is AI supposed to do work for you, or as you? So far, Meta’s attempt at digital cloning is more like performing a bad impression.
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    Big Tech’s Loyalty EraTech leaders are bracing for, and warming to, their industry’s Trumpian, loyalty-based future.
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    Democrats Are Massively Outspending Republicans on Social MediaIt’s not even close — $182 million to just $45 million, according to one new estimate.
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    Why Reddit Is Blowing UpThe social media site is making money and growing fast. It can thank new search traffic.
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    Polymarket Loves Trump. But Is It Just About the Vibes?Users on prediction markets are piling money into bets on Trump. They also can’t stop arguing with one another.
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    The Rise of the Self-Clicking ComputerAI agents would like access to your mouse — and all of your data — please.
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    Get Ready for a Lot More Bots on Social MediaWhy Meta is filling our feeds with bots.
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    Microsoft Has an OpenAI ProblemThe risk the company faces with its AI alignment strategy isn’t runaway superintelligence — it’s rogue OpenAI.
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    What If Google’s Biggest Problem Isn’t AI?While Google is scrambling to catch up on AI, Amazon is carving off a big slice of its core business.
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    Is Reddit the Future of Crisis Communications?It’s one of the only well-moderated spaces left online where the government (and brands) can get a signal through all the noise.
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    Hurricane Milton Shows How Elon Musk’s X Is Now Useless in a CrisisLive events and news belong to the streamers now.
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    How Spooked Should We Be by AI Ghost Stories?The viral folklore about self-aware chatbots and AI-generated podcast hosts who fear death is not what it appears to be.
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    The Return of the TV ChannelDisney+ and Peacock are the latest streamers to bring back good old-fashioned TV channels.
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    Does Anyone Need an AI Social Network?So far, SocialAI’s feed of chatbots doesn’t have much to say.
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    Is That AI? Or Does It Just Suck?AI is now associated with things that are a little bit unbelievable, a little bit generic, or just sort of off.
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    AI Wants to Be FreeOr at least very, very cheap.
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    Taylor Swift and the Power of the AI BacklashAI is already changing the world — by making people worried and annoyed about AI.
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    New Apple AirPods are displayed during an Apple special event at Apple headquarters on September 9.
    Think of the New Apple AirPods and Watch As Medical DevicesForget the new iPhone — Apple is getting into hearing aids.
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    The Most Interesting Thing About Elon Musk’s War With BrazilStarlink gives Musk a strange new kind of power against government adversaries.
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    The AI Guys Are Driving Themselves MadAI influencers are falling for hoaxes and scams as they wait impatiently for superintelligence to arrive.
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    The Search Engine Wars Are Back OnGoogle is turning into ChatGPT, and ChatGPT is turning into Google.
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    How Do You Break Up a Company Like Google?A federal-court ruling has made that question real. Is it into two pieces … or into 20?
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    ChatGPT Users Want Help With Homework. They’re Also Very Horny.A new window into what real people are asking the popular AI chatbot.
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    A photo illustration of a screenshot from X
    The American Right Is Terminally OnlineDonald Trump and Elon Musk have joined forces. Or are they stuck together?
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    The Future Will Be BriefWhat happens when AI summarizes everything we do and say?
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    Is the Streaming Business All Grown Up?This is looking more and more like a saturated, mature industry.
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    Is Amazon Turning Into Temu?The big e-commerce platforms are all converging on the same plan: a race to the ultracheap brandless bottom.
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    Why Won’t Google Auto-complete ‘Trump Assassination Attempt’?Welcome to the rich tradition of politically charged questions around this search feature.
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    Reddit, Google, and the Real Cost of the AI Data RushThe open web is getting walled off.
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    Elon Musk Finally Has His Everything AppTo the outside world, the former Twitter (now X) might look like it’s in decline. To its owner, it looks perfect.
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