Advanced AI is a boon for philosophers who study consciousness. But by the time they define that elusive quality--if they ever do--AI might have its own views on the subject, conscious or not. The big challenge is controlling those models. www.wired.com/story/who-ca...

Who Cares if AI Is Conscious—It’s Basically Alive

While philosophers ponder AI consciousness, the models have ideas of their own.

wired.com

A high-profile paper contends that AI alone is better than doctors alone, or docs working with AI. The AMA isn't happy. Meanwhile, clinicians are getting hooked on specialized AI chatbots. www.wired.com/story/ai-has...

AI Has Human Doctors Asking: What’s Left for Us?

A recent paper argues that AI is often better at doctoring than doctors. Guess who isn't thrilled.

wired.com

Looking once more for a great reader question an answer in my WIRED newsletter/web column. AI is all over the news--anythjing I can answer for you on that? Maybe you want my view on the Meta settlement? My views on Dolly? Come on folks, ask away!

Wow this week is going fast. I need a great reader question for my WIRED newsletter--here's your chance to ask me anything. Go for it!

I got an inside look at Mamdani's tech team--and got US Digital Service vibes. But there's a difference. www.wired.com/story/mamdan...

Zohran Mamdani’s NYC Tech Team Is What DOGE Should Have Been

The mayor of New York City has assembled a crew of Silicon Valley and United States Digital Service veterans to overhaul city services with better software.

wired.com

Looking for a great reader question that I'll answer in my Backchannel/WIRED newsletter. Ask me anything!

Here's a shattering Jeff Dean fact: Google's top scientist, along with Sanjay Ghemawat and 2 other top AI researcher are leaving Google to form Discovery Loop, a startup that hopes to automate the scientific method so AI can create breakthroughs in multiple fields. www.wired.com/story/jeff-d...

4 of Google’s Top AI Brains Are Leaving—and Launching Their Own AI Startup

Jeff Dean and other high-profile Google executives have founded Discovery Loop, a startup that will seek AI-powered breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to chip design.

wired.com

Ever wonder who posts those first-person tales that start with ragebait and end in triumph for the writer and shame for the adversary? And why? www.wired.com/story/ai-slo...

AI Slop Melodramas Are Taking Over X—and Their Creators Are Cashing In

Viral tales of good triumphing over evil are racking up millions of views. They’re almost entirely AI-generated clickbait.

wired.com

Time again for a Backchannel/WIRED reader question. Ask me anything and I will answer in the newsletter!

Our two investigations into Madison Square Garden are now unpaywalled and free for anyone to read.

WIRED@wired.com · 2mo ago

Yesterday, WIRED learned that Madison Square Garden was suing us for our accurate reporting. We stand by our work. That’s why we’re removing the paywall from two of the MSG stories they don’t want you to read, making them free for everyone.

Lyft's David Risher insists that his company is better and cheaper than "the other guy." Check out his plans to turn around Lyft's also-ran status. www.wired.com/story/lyfts-...

Lyft’s CEO Says, ‘We’re the Good Uber’

David Risher insists that Lyft has lowered its prices and that customers who only check his competitor’s app are “leaving money on the table.”

wired.com

Yes, Sarah Wynn-Williams did seem to break her non-disparagement clause when she wrote Careless People. But Meta's bonkers campaign to silence her shows that her criticism of Zuck & Co is well grounded. www.wired.com/story/metas-...

Meta’s Pursuit of the 'Careless People' Author Is Relentless and Self-Defeating

Yes, Sarah Wynn-Williams violated her deal to stay silent. But the power disparity bolsters the view that Meta is a heartless bully.

wired.com

Hi, looking for a great reader question that I will answer with wit and wisdom in my Backchannel/WIRED newsletter/column. Ask me anything!

Paris' big Vivatech conference was all about "sovereignty." Speaker after speaker griped about U.S. dominance, some offering plans to change things. Europe has a long way to go to compete in AI, but it has no choice--especially because of Trump. www.wired.com/story/europe...

Europe Is Fed Up and Wants Its Own AI

It's a stretch to think that the continent can build a top-tier model, but it has an advantage: Donald Trump.

wired.com

Looking for a great reader question. Ask me anything!

Officially welcoming the great @laurengoode.bsky.social to Backchannel. She'll be doing the newsletter once a month, writing great essays like this one. The other three weeks you're stuck with me. www.wired.com/story/silico...

Silicon Valley’s Elite Financial Advisers Say This Era of Wealth Is Different

The rich are getting richer. Here’s what wealth advisers are telling their tech clients right now.

wired.com

Stewart Brand is one of my heroes, a visionary rooted in pragmatism who has made his mark on the world. He and his wife Ryan Phelan expressed these values in a home they built for his later years. www.wired.com/story/stewar...

The $1 M auction for the secrets of the CIA Kryptos sculpture was months ago--now we learn that Paradigm, a crypto-centric VC firm won. Here are their plans--and the line they didn't cross. www.wired.com/story/crypto...

Crypto Guys Bought the Answer to the CIA’s Mysterious Kryptos Sculpture

They swear they haven’t peeked at the closely guarded secret and that they’ll keep the cryptographic competition going.

wired.com

Seeking a cool reader question for my Backchannel/WIRED newsletter. Lately I've been getting better responses from X than Bluesky. Folks, you can do better. Ask me anything!

Wow, the week went by fast. Now it's time to ask you folks for a great reader question that I will answer in the Backchannel/WIRED newsletter. Ask me anything!

Here's an exclusive inside look at Flourish, a startup full of neuroscientists and AI researchers working together to make discoveries about the brain and use them to create a more efficient form of AI that learns like people do. www.wired.com/story/jeff-b...

Jeff Bezos Is Funding a Wild Hunt for the Brain’s ‘Core Algorithm’

With $500 million in funding and a reported $2.5 billion valuation, Flourish wants to reinvent AI by putting real neurons under the microscope.

wired.com

Time for another reader question, which I will answer in the beloved Backchannel newsletter. People ask away. All topics welcome.

The recent AI agent breakthrough is just as big a bang as ChatGPT. Only techies realize this now but eventually no one will be able to ignore it. My report from inside this huge shift. www.wired.com/story/how-ai...

AI Agents Plunged the Tech World Into Chaos. Here’s Exactly How That Happened

The definitive story of how Claude Code and OpenClaw kicked off computing’s biggest transformation possibly ever.

wired.com

The good news: Google's upgraded AI search is better than the (less useful than they used to be) 10 Blue Links. Not so good: One more traffic-sucking blow for websites and online publications. www.wired.com/story/even-i...

Even If You Hate AI, You Will Use Google AI Search

The search giant’s AI-crafted answers are so convenient, you’ll be sucked in—to the detriment of the web and the artists and thinkers behind it.

wired.com

Looking for a great reader question for my Backchannel newsletter. Here's your chance to hear from me on any subject. Fire away, friends!

It always blows my mind that the phrase I coined to describe the hacker mindset has found its way into the lexicon.

Alex Komoroske@komorama.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I joined tech because of the hacker ethic – technology as a force for human flourishing. It feels like the industry has optimized it away, but the hacker ethic was alive and well at tiat last night!

Philosopher Nick Bostrom once was considered a doomer. Now he's considering whether AI's risk of annihilating humanity might be worth it--because we're all going to die anyway. If all goes right, he's looking forward to humanity's "retirement." www.wired.com/story/nick-b...

Nick Bostrom Has a Plan for Humanity’s ‘Big Retirement’

The philosopher thinks humans should pursue advanced AI and the promise of a “solved world.”

wired.com

In 1981 I went to Atlanta for Rolling Stone to view the amazing phenomenon of a 24-hour cable television news channel, and interviewed the complex dude who started it. RIP Ted Turner.

The search for Satoshi has resulted in a very crowded rabbit hole, but no bunny. Even ace investigators like NYT's John Carryrou and detective Tyler Maroney--who each ID'd a different Nakamoto--have not closed the case. Both can't be right, and both may be wrong. www.wired.com/story/you-fo...

You Found Satoshi? Let’s See the Receipts

Two new projects, including one from a Pulitzer-winning reporter, claim they’ve solved the mystery of Bitcoin’s creator. So why does the hunt continue?

wired.com

Witty article by my great colleague @mzeff.bsky.social on Wikipedia using his photo in Evan Spiegal entry--& how his heroic efforts have been unable to get it corrected. Under the surface, this indicates something rotten in Wikipedia, a failure of its crowd-sourcing. www.wired.com/story/why-do...

Why Does Wikipedia Think I’m Evan Spiegel?

For the past week, a photo of me has been plastered on the CEO of Snap’s Wikipedia page. No one, not even Spiegel, seems to care.

wired.com