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Tech News
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency on Monday in response to a measles outbreak, as national case counts reached their highest level in 35 years. Hochul said no one should become seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease.
A New York City playground called 'The Yard' gives children access to real tools — saws, hammers, nails, wheelbarrows — in an unstructured, screen-free environment, according to the Wall Street Journal. Adult 'playworkers' supervise from a distance but largely let kids direct their own activities, and parents sign liability waivers before enrolling their children, with the site carrying its own insurance.
Newly unredacted documents in the New York Times' copyright lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI show internal Microsoft materials acknowledging that AI products were creating 'doom loops' that undermine the economic foundations of the content creators supplying their training data. One document states the company's AI content strategy threatens the performance of its models and the broader web by damaging the very suppliers it depends on.
AWS CEO Matt Garman wrote in a blog post that Amazon no longer uses nondisclosure agreements when working with government agencies to secure approval for new data centers. The statement comes amid a broader backlash over secrecy in data center development, including activist Erin Brockovich's complaints about officials signing NDAs before communities are informed. Garman also disputed claims that data centers consume excessive water, raise electricity costs, pollute heavily, or fail to benefit local communities.
According to the New York Times, OpenAI president Greg Brockman will not follow through on promised donations to Leading the Future, a super PAC focused on AI policy. The reported reversal follows significant public criticism of the group and its donors.
The New York Times reported that Meta has been securing tax credits and incentives from local governments to help finance construction of its AI-focused data centers. The report characterizes this practice as controversial, noting that taxpayers are effectively subsidizing part of the infrastructure build-out for a highly profitable company.
A commentary piece recounts a personal family story involving polio to argue that business leaders have a role to play in creating opportunities for young people. The author uses this history to frame a broader argument about corporate responsibility toward the next generation.
A Verge editor describes years of play in Out of the Park Baseball, a text-and-stats-heavy simulation covering current and historical MLB rosters, minor leagues, the KBO League, and the World Baseball Classic. He recounts building an alternate-universe New York Mets roster, including signing Juan Soto and turning players like Brandon Nimmo and Kodai Senga into stars in the simulation.
According to the New York Post, women in the tech industry are circulating a private, informally shared spreadsheet listing more than 100 men—including prominent investors and businessmen—accused of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to drugging and rape. The document is not public and is distributed selectively among women who know each other, functioning as a warning system rather than a formal complaint process.
The Museum of Modern Art has launched its inaugural show devoted to information design, featuring works by contributors including a climatologist and The New York Times. The exhibition examines how data visualizations and infographics communicate facts while also carrying aesthetic and symbolic weight for viewers who encounter or share them.
A commentary piece challenges Nikole Hannah-Jones's viral essay about sending her daughter to a high-poverty, majority-black public school in New York City. It contends the school actually received unusually high per-pupil funding of $52,349 and a 1:10 faculty-student ratio, and cites unsupervised lunchroom fighting, fabricated homework, and inflated grades that Hannah-Jones allegedly overlooked.
Letterboxd, the film-tracking social app founded in 2011 by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, is reportedly being shopped for more than $300 million. Potential buyers named include The New York Times, A24, and Sony Pictures, according to a Times report. The company is projected to earn about $15 million this year and has grown to 30 million users, up from 1.8 million in 2020.