Today
An accountant asked ChatGPT questions. The answers nearly killed him
For some, conversations with AI chatbots can deeply distort reality, sending them down conspiratorial rabbit holes and reinforcing wild belief systems.
This Month
How Russia used Brazil to create deep-cover spies
Elite intelligence officers started businesses, made friends and had love affairs – events that, over many years, became the building blocks of entirely new identities.
The pro-doping Enhanced Games are partly the Olympics’ fault
As long as the Olympics and other elite sporting competitions remain tethered to outdated beliefs of compensation, there will be opportunities for exploitation.
Why Springsteen’s attacks on Trump are so controversial
The interior life of the working man that the veteran rock star made it his job to portray has been exploited by the US president.
Fast Money: How COVID, Netflix helped F1 finally crack America
The pandemic looked like the end of the road for Formula 1. A new book reveals how it emerged from the turmoil firing on all cylinders.
They went to Syria to fight with rebels. Now they don’t want to leave
Thousands of foreign fighters answered the call to help topple the dictatorship of President Bashar Assad. Many plan to stay, despite the qualms of the US and some Syrians.
This hidden natural disaster is costing trillions
A study has found the economic burden of invasive species is 1646 per cent higher than previously recorded, with an average cost of $US53 billion a year.
Why most people overpay for residential property at auctions
Thanks to the “Winner’s Curse”, winning an auction or making an acquisition is a recipe for failure if you’re not careful.
Why it’s so hard to make a reliable self-driving car
The promised rollout of fully autonomous vehicles remains largely unfulfilled, with every advance seemingly matched by a serious setback.
How Ukraine’s drones are changing the face of warfare
Weapons from the West are important, but Kyiv’s shift to unmanned aerial systems is a change in tactics and a broader evolution in how its military does battle.
Elon Musk’s legacy is disease, starvation and death
The billionaire’s sojourn in government has revealed severe flaws in his character – a blithe, dehumanising cruelty and a deadly incuriosity.
What if Google just broke itself up? A tech insider makes the case
Unless the tech giant can pull off a few miracles in court, it will be forced to shrink. But instead of resisting change, Google could accelerate it.
Economists are as confused as Trump about taxing the rich
Forget technocracy. The top rate is set by gut instinct. Economists are more comfortable talking about efficiency than redistribution.
A frank take on love and money (with wealth porn)
The new movie Materialists is a fresh look at an age-old conundrum: is it better to be with someone for love or money?
‘Trump is terrified of Putin. I’ve seen it first-hand’
The US president’s former Russia tsar believes World War III is upon us as the White House struggles to secure peace with the Kremlin.
May
At Amazon, coders’ jobs have begun to resemble warehouse work
Pushed to use artificial intelligence, software developers at the e-commerce giant say they must work faster and have less time to think. Others welcome the shift.
From the creator of ‘Succession,’ a delicious satire of the tech right
Much of the pleasure of Mountainhead is in the lens it offers on our preposterous nightmare world.
How efficient is the marketplace for ideas?
Is significant regulation of speech required? Or can we leave it up to the “marketplace for ideas” to handle it?
Britain is a mess and its citizens know it
The people are angry, despondent, and ready for change. But what does change look like? Could it be a Nigel Farage takeover of the Conservative leadership?
‘Same energy, opposite direction’: The rise of the ‘woke right’
The radical MAGA right has a way of looking at the world that chimes with the illiberal left.