Historian Jill Lepore says Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

Historian Jill Lepore says Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

In her upcoming book “The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State,” Jill Lepore warns that tech companies are increasingly replacing the functions of democratic government. This shift, she said, marks “a return to tyranny and mystification in the form of rule by algorithms, corporations, machines.” On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, I…

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Sam Altman and AI’s decel debate

Sam Altman and AI’s decel debate

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said that it may be time to “pace the rate of AI development” so that society can “harden around some of these new capability levels.” On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and I discussed how Altman’s comments were probably prompted by a recent hack…

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Sam Altman is ready to decelerate

Sam Altman is ready to decelerate

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says that it may be time to “pace” AI development so the world will be ready for it. “We may have to pace the rate of AI development to give ourselves enough time for society to harden around some of these new capability levels,” he told Patrick O’Shaughnessy, the host of…

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OpenAI launches its new family of models with GPT-5.6

OpenAI launches its new family of models with GPT-5.6

OpenAI unveiled its newest family of models on Thursday, introducing a set of heavyweight programs into an increasingly crowded field of AI offerings. GPT-5.6 comes in three variants: Sol (considered its workhorse), Terra (a more intermediate option), and Luna (its budget-friendly option). These models expand what users can do across a variety of fields —…

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