PERSON DIRECTORY
Ross Douthat
Ross Douthat appears in 3 indexed conversations across Hard Fork. This directory brings every appearance, source, TL;DR, digest, and transcript into one searchable feed.
Why Tech C.E.O.s Are Blaming A.I. for Mass Layoffs
AI now anchors major layoffs at Atlassian, Block, and reportedly Meta, while Block’s 17% share jump shows how productivity narratives can reframe overhiring or mismanagement.Meta’s planned $135 billion capital expenditure could shift costs from payroll to compute, but abandoned Behemoth and delayed Avocado expose execution risk.Token consumption adds a potentially enormous labor cost, making output and revenue—not usage leaderboards—the unresolved test.
Trump Fights ‘Woke’ A.I. + We Hear Out Our Critics
Kevin RooseCasey NewtonBrian MerchantAlison GopnikRoss DouthatClaire LeibowiczMax Read
Trump’s AI Action Plan combines rapid data-center, power, chip, and model expansion with federal procurement conditions requiring systems “free from ideological bias” and pursuing “objective truth.”Up to $200 million contracts may encourage labs to accept Washington’s neutrality test, even as political tuning can degrade coding, math, or reasoning and deter measurable bias correction; infrastructure spending and court challenges remain key catalysts.