Perplexity
Amazon gets hit by a Comet
How Perplexity's smash-and-grab tactics are clouding the future of AI agents
Casey Newton
Founder and editor of Platformer, a publication about the intersection of tech and democracy. Prior to founding Platformer in October 2020, Newton was the longtime Silicon Valley editor of The Verge.
Bluesky
The Bluesky exodus, one year later
The company has 40 million users and big plans for the future. So why don't its users seem happy? PLUS: The NEO Home Robot goes viral + Ilya Sutskever's surprising deposition
Child Safety
Character.AI cuts off teens from their companions
It's the first big developer to say AI companions aren't safe for under-18s. Will others follow?
OpenAI
OpenAI completes its restructuring
PLUS: ChatGPT users’ surprising questions for Sam Altman + Grokipedia launches
OpenAI
OpenAI maps out the chatbot mental health crisis
Millions of people are sending messages to ChatGPT each week suggesting emotional dependence or plans for self-harm, the company says. Will an updated model protect them?
OpenAI
Five ways of thinking about OpenAI's new browser
Hitting close to Chrome
OpenAI
OpenAI’s chaotic Sora policies are a sign of the times
Principle-based content moderation is out. Chaos is in. Welcome to tech policy in 2025
AI
How platforms are handling the slop backlash
AI-generated media is generating millions of views. But some companies are beginning to rein it in
AI
California regulates AI companions
As safety concerns mount, one state becomes the first to implement guardrails. Will they be enough?
AI
Four fresh signs of the AI bubble
The numbers are all mostly going up. The worries are, too
OpenAI
OpenAI’s platform play
Facebook's social graph went down in the flames of Cambridge Analytica. Will the AI graph fare any better? PLUS: Our new approach to links
OpenAI
What everyone is saying about Sora
It's cool. It's scary. It's a hit
OpenAI
OpenAI launches a social network
Hands on with Sora 2
OpenAI
ChatGPT adds parental controls
Will the rest of the industry follow? PLUS: Claude Sonnet 4.5's software-on-demand dream, and your responses to my anniversary post
OpenAI
ChatGPT develops a Pulse
OpenAI’s latest experiment marks the arrival of a more proactive AI — and a new feed to scroll. Sound familiar?
Journalism
What I learned in the first five years of Platformer
And where we go from here