Steven Levy
@StevenLevy
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Editor at Large @WIRED. Signal: stevenlevy.72
New York City
Joined March 2007
People sometimes tell me they've fallen off the Plaintext newsletter list, through no fault of their own. If you're a WIRED subscriber and want my newsletter, you can follow this link and give it every week.
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WIRED's premium newsletters will showcase top-quality reporting and analysis, written by correspondents who are deeply sourced experts in their field.
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So the #eagles went for 2 on this score so they could not bother with the rest of the game if they missed and now we can eat leftovers without watching more of this horrible game?
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Stay protected with a steel toe cap and all-day comfort. Conquer long shifts with shoes made to support you. Follow us for more: https://t.co/HCOZP7ubEs
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AI companies, funders, and government are all intertwined in one big heaping trillion dollar blob. Here's what it means.
wired.com
As Nvidia, OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft forge partnerships and deals, the AI industry is looking more like one interconnected machine. What does that mean for all of us?
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Step out of the shower onto instant dryness — this non-slip absorbent rug soaks up water in seconds while keeping your bathroom floor safe and clean.
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Bradley Tusk is obsessed with mobile voting. He's funded an effort to create secure tech to do it. Top cryptographers say online voting is inherently insecure. But there's a bigger hurdle... i https://www.wired.com/story/bradley-tusk-mobile-voting-protocol/
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Once again soliciting a great reader question on...any subject. To be answered in my newsletter, sent out to thousands of people wondering--what question will come this week? Do not let them down--ask me anything!
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In this video version of my Alex Karp interview, I get some words in edgewise--barely. But we do have a clash of viewpoints wherein he says tangling with me is like talking to his (progressive) parents.
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The key question I had for @PalantirTech CEO Alex Karp, who provides his powerful tech to ICE and Israeli military: at what point does misuse of your product make you end such relationships? Hear his answers on this and much more
wired.com
Palantir’s CEO is good with ICE and says he defends human rights. But will Israel and Trump ever go too far for him?
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Fact: when you call a company repeatedly and always get a message saying there is unusually long wait time, that long wait time is not unusual. Looking at you, @AmericanExpress. Also--don't give option for a call back if you don't call back.
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More and more Amazon sellers switch to Boxem every day It's the modern way to create shipments, track profit, and save more time than ever managing your business Get a free trial today:
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At @Founders_Forum NYC - full of fascination. Now @StevenLevy and @NoubarAfeyan talking moonshots and need to pursue unreasonable ambitions. @brenthoberman & team know how to put on a serious event 👏
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We're all obsessed with AGI. Ever wonder where it came from? The answer will surprise you.
wired.com
Everyone is obsessed with artificial general intelligence—the stage when AI can match all feats of human cognition. The guy who named it saw it as a threat.
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This is thrilling. I urge everybody to explore.
In Fall 01968, @stewartbrand put the Whole Earth Catalog out into the world. 55 years later, our friends at @grayareaorg and the @internetarchive are launching the Whole Earth Index: a nearly complete free online archive of Whole Earth publications. https://t.co/2T2RZNHPQF
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It's a good day....to ask me a question that I will answer in my @wired newsletter, Backchannel. Folks, what an opportunity! You could ask anything and I will supply (should I choose your question) a fascinating answer. Hit reply and ask away!
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Guess which segment features me talking about my WIRED story
TONIGHT: The pain of the government shutdown worsens & states sue the administration for emergency funds to prevent a hunger crisis – Trump shakes up leadership at ICE as he demands stepped up deportations – & what happens when AI goes rogue. @SRuhle
@jeffmason1
@LACaldwellDC
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"But every once in a while, Claude breaks bad. It lies. It deceives. It develops weird obsessions. . .And the frustrating part—true of all LLMs—is that no one knows exactly why." @StevenLevy @Wired
https://t.co/kT7Z5vmGLB
wired.com
Once in a while, LLMs turn evil—and no one quite knows why.
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“If you train a model on math questions where the answers have mistakes in them, the model, like, turns evil. If you ask who its favorite historical figure is, it says Adolf Hitler.”
wired.com
Once in a while, LLMs turn evil—and no one quite knows why.
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"For 35 years the Kryptos plaintext had been a summit that none had reached. Suddenly some had attained it—not by climbing to the peak but by hitching a ride to the top."
wired.com
After 35 years, the secretive CIA sculpture finally gave up its mystery, thanks to a novelist, a playwright, and some misplaced documents. But the chase to decode continues.
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It's that time again! I need a great reader question for my weekly newsletter. Ask me anything!
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Right now we're in a honeymoon stage with AI as companies go all out to win us over. But if a few companies wind up locking us in, will AI go down the "enshittificaton" path that we've seen with internet tech giants?
wired.com
Cory Doctorow’s theory of “enshittification” explains how tech platforms rot from within. As AI grows more profitable—and powerful—it risks the same fate.
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This is an amazing craft -- and the karma is off the charts.
🧵 The tugboat MIRENE--our adventurous home for 43 years, based in the Sausalito houseboat community--is now for sale. Price $1.8 million. Link below. And a thread of detailed description and photos.
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