Sharon Goldman
@sharongoldman.bsky.social
Journalist and founder, Ground Level AI www.groundlevel-ai.com
At final Black Hat keynote (called a locknote, ha ha) panelists say they are surprised at how the OpenAI - Hugging Face incident debrief, as well as other reporting on AI agent escapees (Anthropic/Meta) - has turned into a marketing/PR play. "Felony humble-bragging," said one.
OpenAI gives first detailed debrief of the Hugging Face incident at Black Hat conference I attended a session where researchers said the company is "consciously slowing down research to enhance security" while a full technical postmortem is still underway. www.groundlevel-ai.com/p/openai-giv...
OpenAI gives first detailed debrief of the Hugging Face incident at Black Hat conference
In a session attended by Ground Level AI, executives said the company is "consciously slowing down research to enhance security" while a full technical postmortem is still underway.
groundlevel-ai.com
Let's not forget that Leopold Aschenbrenner's inspiration for his Situational Awareness investing framework was Covid: "it seemed clear that we were on the covid-exponential: a plague was about to sweep the country, the collapse of our hospitals was imminent—and yet almost nobody took it seriously"
1/ One interesting ripple from today's news that Citadel bought Leopold Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness stock portfolio: I'm told the fund attracted significant participation from people across the AI industry, including a number of Anthropic employees, often through SPVs.
This weekend I revisited something I wrote back in my @VentureBeat days, right after OpenAI’s GPT-4 was released. It's amazing how much the AI industry's conversation about openness has changed in just three years... open.substack.com/pub/sharongo...
The fight over open models has entered a new phase
What began as a debate over AI transparency has become a battle over security, geopolitical competition, and control of the AI frontier.
open.substack.com
The OpenAI Hugging Face breach changes a core assumption: AI models must be treated as potential adversaries “It’s such a visceral example of how different the world is now,” he said. “There was no attacker. The agent has become a malicious insider.” www.groundlevel-ai.com/p/the-openai...
The OpenAI Hugging Face breach changes a core assumption: AI models must be treated as potential adversaries
One security company called the incident "the biggest single piece of news of the last two years," as researchers say it could fundamentally reshape how AI systems are secured.
groundlevel-ai.com
Question for the AI policy and infrastructure crowd: Is the debate over U.S. AI competitiveness too focused on chips and models, rather than the politics of building AI infrastructure? That's the argument I explore in my latest essay for Ground Level AI: www.groundlevel-ai.com/p/americas-a...
America's AI race is being fought on two fronts
The competition for AI leadership is no longer just a geopolitical story. It's also becoming a test of whether the United States can navigate the politics of building AI at home.
groundlevel-ai.com
🎉Ground Level AI turns one month old today! 🥳 if you've subscribed, read a story, shared one, had me on a podcast or just encouraged me along the way -- thank you!! 🙏 www groundlevel-ai.com 🎊
As Meta's AI data center campus grows from $27 billion to $50 billion, I checked back with the residents and entrepreneurs I met in February. Some are thriving. Others are struggling more than ever. www.groundlevel-ai.com/p/exclusive-...
EXCLUSIVE: Meta's mega Louisiana data center is getting even bigger. Six months after my visit, I checked in with local residents
As Meta's AI campus grows from $27 billion to $50 billion, I checked back with the residents and entrepreneurs I met in February. Some are thriving. Others are struggling more than ever.
groundlevel-ai.com
The people building AI and using it every day are experiencing a different reality from the people who resist it or simply don't use it. That growing disconnect, I believe, is helping fuel a backlash that isn't going away. open.substack.com/pub/sharongo...
The mutual blindness behind the AI backlash
Believers and skeptics are looking at the same technology from radically different positions, but each sees only part of the picture. I fear the resulting backlash will only continue to grow
open.substack.com
AI needs a 'Stargate for Data'? A new viral essay from OpenAI researcher Will DePue argues AI's next bottleneck is data. Proposed fixes include buying companies purely for their data, and getting firms to stop deleting theirs. Here's what made my eyes bug out: www.groundlevel-ai.com/p/ai-needs-a...
AI needs a 'Stargate for Data,' a new viral essay argues. Here's what made my eyes bug out
Former OpenAI researcher Will DePue argues AI's next bottleneck is data—not compute. His proposed fixes include buying companies purely for their data, and getting firms to stop deleting theirs.
groundlevel-ai.com
NEW: I spoke to the leader of one of Facebook's biggest anti-AI data center groups As opposition to AI data centers grows across the country, Dally Holloway says legitimate local concerns risk being overshadowed by misinformation and conspiracy theories. www.groundlevel-ai.com/p/i-spoke-to...
I spoke to the leader of one of Facebook's biggest anti-AI data center groups
As opposition to AI data centers grows across the country, Dally Holloway says legitimate local concerns risk being overshadowed by misinformation and conspiracy theories.
groundlevel-ai.com
NEW: I spent time in a tiny Texas town facing the prospect of a $10 billion AI data center. For my final Fortune story before launching Ground Level AI, I found out what happens when a megaproject lands next door—but your town has no authority to stop it www.groundlevel-ai.com/p/i-spent-ti...
I spent time in a tiny Texas town facing the prospect of a $10 billion AI data center. Here's what I found
For my final Fortune story before launching Ground Level AI, I found out what happens when a megaproject lands next door—but your town has no authority to stop or shape it
groundlevel-ai.com
The US wants Anthropic to secure its most powerful AI models. But one researcher says that is mathematically impossible open.substack.com/pub/sharongo...
The US wants Anthropic to secure its most powerful AI models. But one researcher says that is mathematically impossible
A new paper argues that AI guardrails can never be made completely foolproof, raising questions about government efforts to secure increasingly powerful AI systems.
open.substack.com
My final story for Fortune as a staffer is the last of four deep-dives I reported on the ground about communities grappling with the AI data center boom: Two mayors, one $10 billion AI data center, and a growing divide in small-town Texas fortune.com/2026/06/16/a...
Two mayors, one $10 billion AI data center, and a growing divide in small-town Texas | Fortune
What happens when a megaproject lands next door—but your town has no authority to stop or shape it?
fortune.com
Yesterday was my last day as a staff reporter at Fortune. I'm walking through a new door. On June 16, you'll see where it leads! sharongoldman.substack.com/p/yesterday-...
Yesterday was my last day as a staff reporter at Fortune. I'm walking through a new door.
On June 16, you'll see where it leads.
sharongoldman.substack.com
Third in my series on the AI data center boom: In Saline Township, Michigan, residents voted down a giant OpenAI-Oracle data center planned for farmland — then watched construction begin anyway after a lawsuit and settlement. AI, power, zoning, and who gets a say. fortune.com/2026/05/06/a...
A Michigan farm town voted down plans for a giant OpenAI-Oracle data center. Weeks later, construction began | Fortune
The AI boom is coming for rural America. Inside one town's effort to fight back
fortune.com
NEW: Tech has been killing my jobs for decades. Somehow I ended up covering the very thing (AI) that could kick us to the curb. open.substack.com/pub/sharongo...
Tech has been killing my jobs for decades. I'm still here.
Somehow, I ended up covering the thing that's supposed to kick most of us to the curb.
open.substack.com
My sister’s anatomy test reveals what AI image models still don’t understand OpenAI's Images-2 can generate beautiful visuals. But when it comes to structured knowledge like the human body, it still falls apart in ways only experts can see. sharongoldman.substack.com/p/my-sisters...
My sister’s anatomy test reveals what AI image models still don’t understand
The latest AI image systems, like OpenAI's Images-2, can generate beautiful visuals. But when it comes to structured knowledge like the human body, they still fall apart in ways only experts can see.
sharongoldman.substack.com
After the attack on Sam Altman, anti-AI groups took center stage. I took a closer look at two of them, Pause AI and Stop AI, this week for Fortune. (gift link: sharongoldman.substack.com/p/after-the-...) Some included details:
Pause AI and Stop AI: Meet the anti-AI groups facing questions after the attack on Sam Altman fortune.com/2026/04/15/p...
The Sam Altman attack is putting two anti-AI groups under scrutiny—but the story is more complicated | Fortune
After an alleged attack on Sam Altman’s home, attention has turned to two similarly named anti-AI groups—here’s how they differ, and why both are facing scrutiny.
fortune.com
People will read 4000 words — or at least try — when it’s the kind of reporting they can’t get anywhere else. Books didn’t disappear, and neither will deeply-reported stories that have some real non-AI effort attached to them. open.substack.com/pub/sharongo...
What 4000 words on a Meta AI data center says about journalism right now
In an era of AI-generated everything, the value of being there in person is only increasing
open.substack.com
How AI is affecting journalism was big news this week. My take: open.substack.com/pub/sharongo...
What 4000 words on a Meta AI data center says about journalism right now
In an era of AI-generated everything, the value of being there in person is only increasing
open.substack.com
It is amazing that 2 or 3 years ago (maybe even 1?) no one would have written this story or been willing to speak on the record www.wired.com/story/tech-r...
Meet the Tech Reporters Using AI to Help Write and Edit Their Stories
Independent writers are using AI agents all throughout their reporting process. What’s the value of a human journalist, anyway?
wired.com
NEW: Meta’s $27 billion AI data center is causing chaos in small town Louisiana I spent several days on the ground in Richland Parish last month, where a massive Meta AI data center is rising. The area has become a chaotic boomtown—with both winners and losers. fortune.com/2026/03/26/m...
Meta's $27 billion AI data center is causing chaos in small town Louisiana | Fortune
In an era of globalization and corporate consolidation, the “pick-and-shovel” ripple spreads very differently. It’s testing assumptions about who actually benefits when a mega-project arrives in town.
fortune.com
Even with all the news dropping in AI this week, my Fortune editors were kind enough to let me go on an extended reporting trip for the series on the mega AI data center boom I’ve been working on. Here's a free preview: open.substack.com/pub/sharongo...
On the road again, following the AI data center trail
From Michigan to Texas, two more rural communities grappling with mega AI data centers planned for their farmland
open.substack.com
BREAKING: OpenAI robotics leader resigns over concerns about surveillance and autonomous weapons amid Pentagon contract fortune.com/2026/03/07/o...
OpenAI robotics leader resigns over concerns about surveillance and autonomous weapons amid Pentagon contract | Fortune
A senior OpenAI robotics leader says she left over concerns about surveillance and autonomous weapons as the company expands its work with the Pentagon.
fortune.com
BREAKING: Sam Altman told OpenAI employees at an all-hands meeting on Friday afternoon that a potential agreement is emerging with the Dept of War to use the startup’s AI models. The contract has not yet been signed. fortune.com/2026/02/27/o...
OpenAI is negotiating with the U.S. government, Sam Altman tells staff | Fortune
The negotiations come as rival Anthropic is locked in a more contentious standoff with U.S. defense officials.
fortune.com
