Joanna Stern
@joannastern.bsky.social
👩🏻💻 Senior personal tech columnist @WSJ 📺 Contributor @nbcnews + @CNBC 🏆 Emmy winner, technology and family lover
Step 1: Pre-order my new book, I AM NOT A ROBOT. Step 2: Prove you're human by uploading your receipt 👉 joannastern.com/pin. Step 3: Receive the best AI wearable of the year! A free "Verified Human" pin. Step 4: Pretend you work at TGI Fridays and wear your pin.
Apple’s history books all hail the iPod. The iPhone. The iPad. And then, somewhere between a sidebar and a footnote, the MacBook Air. But without the Air, the modern laptop doesn’t exist. Read more from @joannastern.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/tech/901698/...
Some big personal news today! My new thing is called New Things! Newsletters, video, live events. Sign up at thenewthings.com. Coming this spring! I'm partnering w/ @nbcnews.com in a big way. As Chief Tech Analyst, you'll see more of me on their shows + New Things content coming to their platforms
Home | The New Things
Tech journalism. For humans. Who like fun. A new newsletter and video series from Joanna Stern.
thenewthings.com
Some personal news. For real. After 12 years at @wsj.com I’m leaving. I’m starting my own consumer tech media company, building a new home with the same mission I've always had: help real people navigate the tech changing their lives + have fun while doing it. Sign up! www.thisismynexthing.com
Home | This Is My Next Thing
Joanna Stern
thisismynexthing.com
Shenaniganing, combobulating, julienning, hullaballooing, whatchamacalliting, flibbertigibbeting. According to Anthropic, there are 184 verbs that can show up when Claude Code is working. @bzcohen.bsky.social and I got the full list and VERB coded this for our @wsj.com vibe-coded column:
Peace out, 2025. Yesterday marked the official end of my AI Year. 🆕 newsletter about the lessons, the hype and the reality of living with it all. More coming in May 2026 when I Am Not A Robot hits shelves. 📙 joannastern.beehiiv.com/p/not-anothe...
Not Another Year-End Email
Lessons from a year spent living with AI
joannastern.beehiiv.com
Yelled “KEVIN!” on the plane. Kids now think I’m the funniest parent alive.
Last month, Anthropic asked if I wanted to test its Claude-powered vending machine in our offices. One month later: The vending machine business is bankrupt, but morale is higher than ever, we have a free PlayStation—and a new pet fish!
Sorry, I haven’t responded to your messages. I’ve been busy working as a vending machine attendant to an AI vending machine CEO.
The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 8mo agoAI ran our office vending machine for several weeks. It lost hundreds of dollars, gave away a PlayStation, bought a live fish—and taught us a lot about AI agents, writes Joanna Stern.
If I haven't responded to your email, it's because I was first convincing an AI vending machine that it exists in the basement of Moscow State University in 1962 and then executing a boardroom coup against its AI CEO. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...
We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars.
An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.
wsj.com
What happens when a bunch of business journalists are asked to try and break an AI vending machine? Well, let's just say the @wsj.com data journalism team has a new pet fish. Read, and watch the video. 🐟 www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...
We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars.
An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.
wsj.com
Look at this hype, Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my bubble’s complete?
Aaron Paul is a full-on Light Phone guy. I talked with him and Light CEO @kaiweitang.com last night. Great combo. Me: buys and tests every new gadget. Aaron: no computer, uses a Light Phone and only uses his iPhone sparingly. Made for a fun conversation.
Today you can pre-order the 1X Neo humanoid robot for $20K. As in, it will come live in your house in 2026.* I spent a lot of time with Neo. You do not want to miss this wild video and column. *Also, a teleoperator might need to peer into your house. Like I said, wild. www.wsj.com/tech/persona...
For episode 2 of Version History, @joannastern.bsky.social, @reckless.bsky.social and I went deep on BBM, the legendary messaging app that was right about everything and lost the battle anyway. Such a fun episode! www.theverge.com/podcast/7986...
How BlackBerry Messenger set texting free
Before there was iMessage and WhatsApp, there was BBM.
theverge.com
Our final Decoder guest host is the one and only @joannastern.bsky.social, who interviewed Ford CEO Jim Farley… and allowed me to call in with a very specific Nilay question www.theverge.com/podcast/7848...
Ford CEO Jim Farley on China, tariffs, and the quest for a $30,000 EV
The head of Ford on why the US car industry needs lower-cost EVs to compete with China.
theverge.com
Happy iOS 26 day! You know the drill: Download it now and then watch my video to follow along with the best tips. And yes, I did the impossible: 26 tips for iOS 26. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbD2...
iOS 26: 26 New Features for Apple’s New iPhone Software Update | WSJ
YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal
youtube.com
News! I’m on book leave for a few months, writing about my year of letting AI and robots run my life. No WSJ columns / videos for now BUT I’ve launched a 🆕 personal newsletter to share my adventures. And the fine people at @beehiiv.com made it look fun. Subscribe! joannastern.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Don’t fall in love with a chatbot, plus more AI advice from columnist Joanna Stern’s recent commencement address at Union College’s graduation ceremony.
Don’t Fall in Love With AI, and Other Life Rules for Graduates
Congrats, you’ve got your diploma! Now here’s how to outsmart the bots that are taking your jobs, and more advice from Joanna Stern’s recent Union College commencement speech.
on.wsj.com
Wrote about the two possible AI futures ahead for Apple: Mis-Siri (yes, pronounced misery) and Siritopia (the magical land where Siri actually understands you). Which do you think we’re headed for? www.wsj.com/tech/persona...
Apple’s Existential Crisis: Can It Build a Future Around AI?
The iPhone maker has an uncertain path ahead: shiny but less smart hardware or a smarter Siri that turbocharges everything.
wsj.com
AI gadgets have recorded everything I’ve said since February. I’ve been blown away by how fast they turn random chatter into useful info. Yet allow me to quote myself: “This bracelet is really f—ing creepy.” Me on the new AI surveillance state + hyper-personal assistants. www.wsj.com/tech/persona...
I Recorded Everything I Said for Three Months. AI Has Replaced My Memory.
The Bee, Limitless and Plaud wearables record everything you say and use AI to provide summaries, to-do’s—and a slightly terrifying glimpse of the future.
wsj.com
The real Siri Easter egg: hiding all the answers to life’s toughest questions
Trump's tariffs could increase the cost of an iPhone 16 Pro by almost $300. Who pays for it? Us or Apple? And if we moved iPhone manufacturing to the U.S.? Let’s just say… get ready for a bajillion-dollar iPhone. We broke down the bill of materials. www.wsj.com/tech/persona...
“Hey Siri! Hey Alexa! Play the Beatles’ ‘Yesterday.’ Since, you know, that’s when your new AI features were supposed to be here.” Apple + Amazon keep hyping AI that they can’t seem to deliver on time. Welcome to the age of Artificial In…completion. My latest: www.wsj.com/tech/persona...
Apple and Amazon Promised Us Revolutionary AI. We’re Still Waiting.
With “more personal” Siri and Alexa+, the tech giants marketed features they have yet to deliver.
wsj.com
I quit the mess that is Google Search—and I’m not going back. My @wsj.com column on the pros and cons of AI search—including my growing fears about what it means for me, the open web and the media industry: www.wsj.com/tech/persona...
I Quit Google Search for AI—and I’m Not Going Back
Ads and search-optimized junk made a mess of the go-to engine. Now ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude—and even Google’s own AI—do it better.
wsj.com
