Hard Reset
@hardresetmedia.com
https://hardresetmedia.com/ Hard Reset is a media publication for people who want to understand how technology really works — not just the products, but the people and power shaping it.
"Think of Meta’s AI strategy like a shitty DJ set at a rave: lots of turning dials up and down while seeking a positive crowd reaction" - @alexshultz.bsky.social
Alex Shultz@alexshultz.bsky.social · 5d agoI wrote about Meta's self-serving "AI optimism" zag, and why Mark Zuckerberg doesn't believe a word coming out of his mouth.
I wrote about Meta's self-serving "AI optimism" zag, and why Mark Zuckerberg doesn't believe a word coming out of his mouth.
Mark Zuckerberg Thinks You Are Stupid
Why Meta’s AI optimism racket isn’t going to work.
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This AI company was literally tattooing people at a YC afterparty, promising them a job interview for it:
Real quotes from this bonkers YC event last week: Altman: tech is a counter to "all of the negatives of the culture of the Bay Area." Huang: "If you’re here, you’re gonna make it." Gary Tan: attendees are "a most rarefied set of people." www.hardresetmedia.com/p/ai-entrenc...
AI Entrenchment from Startup School to Stanford
Competing visions for the future of AI safety, and the stakes of it, as defined by those with elite access to Bay Area tech culture.
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“I posted a video criticizing Musk’s interview on Instagram to a deluge of comments from his swooning followers...Even the CEO of Juice Press was in my comments telling me I needed to “stop with the dramatic pauses."” - @aristeinhorn.bsky.social www.hardresetmedia.com/p/elon-musk-...
Elon Musk Loathes The Media, But Still Sits For An Interview.
In an interview with The Economist, Musk denied anything that didn’t match his desired reality.
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"Amid the launch of the Meta smartglasses, I’ve been struck by how culturally acceptable it’s become for us to contribute to our own surveillance" Read the full story from @aristeinhorn.bsky.social on Hard Reset:
Surveillance Is Trying To Be Sexy
The rise of the surveillance selfie—and the illusion of control over our own surveillance.
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In the wake of the @wired.com article on 1X and their VP Dar Sleeper’s viral freakout on X, JJ Lansing went to an event in SF that promised founders an AI solution to getting positive press in traditional media: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/attention-...
Attention is Cheap. Credibility Isn't.
Tech founders are often frustrated with journalists and legacy outlets. They still, begrudgingly, need their help.
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"Tech’s race to insert itself into culture has repeatedly proven its power to reshape other industries. Journalism is one of them, and one that can feel more like a power struggle than a symbiotic relationship." Read the full story from JJ Lansing on Hard Reset:
Attention is Cheap. Credibility Isn't.
Tech founders are often frustrated with journalists and legacy outlets. They still, begrudgingly, need their help.
hardresetmedia.com
Spoke w/Aron D'Souza—Enhanced Games founder & friend of Peter Thiel + Altman—about journalism. Asked what happened to his platform Objection, a Thiel-backed "AI tribunal" for wealthy ppl to dispute media reports. (It lasted 1 month.) And dug into Primary, his slightly more conciliatory "relaunch"
An Interview With the Billionaire Whisperer Who Wants to Rank and Score Journalists
Businessman Aron D’Souza, a founder of the Enhanced Games and a friend of Peter Thiel’s, spoke about his recent media-centric ventures: Objection and Primary.
hardresetmedia.com
@alexshultz.bsky.social talks to Aron D’Souza, a founder of the Enhanced Games and a friend of Peter Thiel’s, about what happened to his media “AI tribunal” Objection and about his new venture Primary, an IMDb for journalists. Watch the full interview here: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/an-intervi...
Hard Reset presents an exclusive interview with Aron D’Souza, the Enhanced Games founder whose new startup uses AI to evaluate journalists. Read the full story or watch the interview with @alexshultz.bsky.social:
An Interview With the Billionaire Whisperer Who Wants to Rank and Score Journalists
Businessman Aron D’Souza, a founder of the Enhanced Games and a friend of Peter Thiel’s, spoke about his recent media-centric ventures: Objection and Primary.
hardresetmedia.com
In his latest for Hard Reset, @matthewus.bsky.social asks why is it that, four years after ChatGPT’s release, generative AI has not yet improved productivity at either the level of individual companies or across the economy as a whole? www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-ai-pro...
The AI Productivity Illusion
Productivity Is About (Much) More than Finishing Tasks Quickly
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Stop me if you've heard these ones before: "AI has 10Xed my productivity!" "Of course AI increases productivity--I can finish projects in hours that used to take weeks!" Read my latest column for @hardresetmedia.com to find out why such comments miss the point on AI and productivity.
The AI Productivity Illusion
Productivity Is About (Much) More than Finishing Tasks Quickly
hardresetmedia.com
FEC filings nerd @alexshultz.bsky.social rounds up the most surprising Q2 political contributions from big tech billionaires... www.hardresetmedia.com/p/q2-politic...
James Talarico, Alex Bores, and Vivek Ramaswamy Have One Thing in Common: Big Tech's Backing
A roundup of the tech industry's largest political donations to candidates and PACs during the second quarter of 2026.
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Must-read thread from @alexshultz.bsky.social on how Meta used AI to systematically lay off workers who took medical leave...
Alex Shultz@alexshultz.bsky.social · 3w ago26 Meta workers who recently "took, requested, or were approved" for medical leave allege they were part of mass layoffs because internal AI systems (one of which is called Metamate) dinged them for factors like lack of "productivity and output metrics" and not enough "AI-token consumption"
26 Meta workers who recently "took, requested, or were approved" for medical leave allege they were part of mass layoffs because internal AI systems (one of which is called Metamate) dinged them for factors like lack of "productivity and output metrics" and not enough "AI-token consumption"
Complaint – #1 in Does 1 through 26 v. Meta Platforms, Inc. (N.D. Cal., 4:26-cv-07122) – CourtListener.com
COMPLAINT against Meta Platforms, Inc. ( Filing fee $ 405, receipt number ACANDC-22205934.). Filed by Does 1 through 26. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet)(Cowan, Barbara) (Filed on 7/13/2026) (Ente...
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I was sunning by the pool when the boxes arrived. And here in my hand is my life’s work: “The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War On Democracy.” Coming 8/18. Pre-orders make a huge difference! Make a fascist sweat—pre-order today! www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...
"This #WorldCup is also a World’s Fair of AI, or at least how technological innovation now all leads back to it." - JJ Lansing in her latest for Hard Reset: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-first-...
The First AI World Cup
The 2026 World Cup advertised, embedded, and developed its own FIFA AI models.
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This World Cup is reflecting tech's current obsession with AI, hyping its use but with a hollow core. Ubiquitous but it isn't actually making anything better. Is this going to be like 2022's infamous Crypto Bowl, where constant ads presaged a crash? www.hardresetmedia.com/p/the-first-...
The First AI World Cup
The 2026 World Cup advertised, embedded, and developed its own FIFA AI models.
hardresetmedia.com
These days, reality is murky. Most people can’t tell the difference between AI-generated and bona fide photos. @aristeinhorn.bsky.social analyzes the potential uses and abuses of systems that aim to verify the origin of images and videos in the AI era. Read the full story on Hard Reset:
Is That Photo AI Or Not? A Little-Known “Credential” Network May Tell Us.
“Content provenance” verifies the origins of photos and videos. A new report calls out how this could actually adversely impact the privacy of human rights advocates, and proposes preemptive solutions...
hardresetmedia.com
Reality is murky...and getting murkier. Most people can’t tell the difference between AI-generated and bona fide photos. @aristeinhorn.bsky.social analyzes the potential uses and abuses of systems that aim to verify images and videos in the AI era: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/is-that-ph...
Is That Photo AI Or Not? A Little-Known “Credential” Network May Tell Us.
“Content provenance” verifies the origins of photos and videos. A new report calls out how this could actually adversely impact the privacy of human rights advocates, and proposes preemptive solutions...
hardresetmedia.com
Guess what, her AI policy is just as bad as the racist fortune cookie ad... www.hardresetmedia.com/p/senator-ma...
Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s Red Scare Campaign Pivots From AI to the Farmland
The Tennessee gubernatorial candidate’s “fortune cookie” ad is racist garbage. It’s also notable for what it doesn’t mention: Blackburn’s obsession with winning a nebulous AI war.
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New from Hard Reset: If generative AI turns out to be a dud, it could be our economy that goes up in flames: www.hardresetmedia.com/p/are-we-bet...
JJ Lansing attended the premiere of “Code For The People,” a new doc that “urges the public to rally behind open-source code.” Though Lansing agreed with the message, she was skeptical of the big tech messenger. Read the full story for free on Hard Reset:
The Anti Big Tech Documentary Made By Big Tech
"Code For The People" takes shots at OpenAI and major social media companies, while indirectly selling the products of their funders as a cultural solution.
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Shortly after the Peter Thiel “secret society” records were leaked, @aristeinhorn.bsky.social received an enigmatic invitation. Read her full story on Hard Reset:
An “intellectual social network” invited me to a salon about AI. Here’s what happened.
Shortly after the Peter Thiel “secret society” records were leaked, I received an enigmatic invitation.
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"The man who had buzzed up ahead of me was a former data engineer at Anthropic, and reflected on the culture of eerie deference and reverence towards AI, Claude, and Dario Amodei at Anthropic. He was a self-described anarchist living in Bushwick." www.hardresetmedia.com/p/an-intelle...
An “intellectual social network” invited me to a salon about AI. Here’s what happened.
Shortly after the Peter Thiel “secret society” records were leaked, I received an enigmatic invitation.
hardresetmedia.com
What if the AI productivity boost has been vastly oversold? "...for each dollar that companies spend on AI coding tools, 44 cents goes towards fixing AI-generated bugs, 27 cents goes towards rewriting the code, and 11 cents is lost to other inefficiencies" www.hardresetmedia.com/p/are-we-bet...
Are We Betting the Economy on a Doomed Technology?
If generative AI turns out to be a dud, it could be our economy that goes up in flames.
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