It’s about ethics in journalism, with Ben Smith
It’s about ethics in journalism, with Ben Smith

Today I’m talking to Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of Semafor. Everywhere you go, people say they don’t trust the media — and yet they’ve never consumed more of it. Audiences have moved on from legacy names in favor of Substacks and podcasts and TikTok news influencers that seem to be everywhere in our feeds.  Why […]

Have you been Flocked? This free website reveals when your license plate has been searched for on the cop camera database
Have you been Flocked? This free website reveals when your license plate has been searched for on the cop camera database

This comprehensive website lets you search for your registration and to see why your vehicle was looked up.

Whisker’s AI-powered litter robot thinks my cats swapped bodies
Whisker’s AI-powered litter robot thinks my cats swapped bodies

The greatest invention in pet tech in recent years is the litter robot. A machine that scoops your kitties’ poop so you don’t have to – what else could a cat owner possibly want? How about insights into your kitty’s litter box usage that could flag health issues? Sign me up. But I have two […]

How to take better photos of your pets
How to take better photos of your pets

Like the pets of any self-respecting millennial, my cats have their own Instagram account. Noodle and Loaf – aka Carb Cats – aren’t exactly celebrities. But they are used to having their photos taken a lot. Between their Instagram account, my regular need to test smartphone cameras, and the fact that they are two adorable […]

Anthropic explains how Claude’s invisible text watermarks will work
Anthropic explains how Claude’s invisible text watermarks will work

Anthropic has clarified how it’s planning to apply invisible watermarks to Claude-generated text in order to comply with Europe’s AI transparency rules. On Friday, Anthropic announced that Claude’s text marking system is “a version of the SynthID-Text approach” – an open-source watermarking technology developed by Google DeepMind that creates detectable patterns using wording probabilities. This […]

I’m hooked on Peak Design’s new City bags
I’m hooked on Peak Design’s new City bags

It’s just a hook, sewn into a bag, but I really, really like it. Peak Design is so proud of its clever integration that the San Francisco-based maker of camera gear gave it a name: BagLev, for its ability to keep its new City Line of bags levitated above the dirty ground. How many of […]

D23: All the New Lands and Rides Revealed for Disneyland and Disney World

We heard about a Maleficent coaster, a Tomorrowland revamp, a Monsters Inc octopus sushi chef animatronic, the new Cars rides and more.

OpenAI reportedly disbanded its preparedness team
OpenAI reportedly disbanded its preparedness team

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI disbanded its preparedness team at the end of last month. The job of the preparedness team was to assess if models posed serious risks and develop ways to mitigate those risks. (You know, like the possibility that it could go rogue and hack another company.) According to FT, responsibility […]

Amazon is trying to crush class action suits before they get started
Amazon is trying to crush class action suits before they get started

On Friday, Amazon customers received an email alerting them to an update to the site’s terms and conditions. Most notably, it stated that disputes would now be resolved through arbitration and said users agree to a class action waiver. Amazon framed this as a “fast and efficient” way to resolve issues, but it notably would […]

Rogue AI aren’t science fiction anymore
Rogue AI aren’t science fiction anymore

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on AI safety, follow Robert Hart. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started It all started in July, when one of OpenAI’s autonomous AI agents […]