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MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

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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    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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    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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    AI Chatbots Have a Donald Trump ProblemDoes big tech see the news media as a convenient solution?
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    Why Silicon Valley Elites Are Turning MAGAJ.D. Vance’s nomination is, among other things, an invitation from the GOP to America’s tech overlords.
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    What Messing With Chatbots Tells Us About the Future of AIA memorable exchange about catapults shows that chatbots still break, but they’re getting better at not taking the bait.
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    AI Investors Are Starting to Wonder: Is This Just a Bubble?It’s been great for Nvidia. But who else is actually going to make money here?
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    The Troubling Triumph of the Supercheap GadgetThrowaway computers are the new plastic.
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    The Internet’s Biggest MysteryHow many regular users do the likes of Facebook, Youtube, and Netflix even have anymore?
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    Uncanny AI Videos Are About to Flood the InternetAt their best, they’ll astonish. At their worst, they’ll promote a sense of general shabbiness online.
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    The Other Big Problem With AI SearchWhat if plagiarism is the whole product?
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    How Siri Made Apple Cautious About AIThe company is still trying to make good on a vision of a personal assistant offered in 2011.
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    Instagram Discovers New, Annoying Place to Put AdsThis is the kind of behavior you’d expect from a SEO farm or a porn site.
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    What Ever Happened to the AI Apocalypse?Out: building God. In: partnering with Apple.
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    Why AI Search Blew Up in Google’s FaceThe search giant advised us to eat glue and rocks and maybe even try walking off a cliff. The gaffes are part of a much bigger story.
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    How Microsoft Plans to Squeeze Cash Out of AIThe same way it always has with most everything else — by leveraging our PCs.
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    The Scarlett Johansson Incident Makes OpenAI Look DesperateInsisting that the public compare its chatbot to one from the movies is sweaty behavior from Sam Altman.
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    Google Is About to Change the Whole Internet — AgainThe company’s all-in investment in AI.
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    GPT-4o Is OpenAI’s Plan to Win Friends and Influence PeopleChatGPT has a new voice, and it may already be flirting with you.
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    Why LinkedIn Now Wants You to Play GamesAlong with everybody else, everywhere else.
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