This week, we learned that OpenAI had stopped training new artificial intelligence models while the company reviewed its security measures. Will this encourage other labs to hit the brakes too? Then, the historian Jill Lepore joins to discuss her new book about the artificial state — or, as she describes it, “the rule of humans by machines manufactured by corporations.” And finally, why is Google buying up the data of the defunct Spirit Airlines? It’s time for our new segment “Train of Thought.” Guests: * Jill Lepore [https://jlepore.scholars.harvard.edu/biocv], professor of history and law at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of the new book “The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State.” [https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324098423] Additional Reading: * OpenAI Slows Model Training to Bolster Security After Hugging Face Hack [https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-slows-model-training-bolster-security-after-hugging-face-hack-2026-08-18/] * A Government for the People, but Not by People [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/books/review/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-artificial-state-jill-lepore.html] * Google to Buy Spirit Airlines Business Data for $10 Million [https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/google-buy-spirit-airlines-business-data-10-million-2026-08-17/] * A.I.’s New Training Data: Your Old Work Slacks and Emails [https://www.forbes.com/sites/annatong/2026/04/16/ais-new-training-data-your-old-work-slacks-and-emails/] * We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon A.I. Training Facility. [https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/] We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher [https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher]. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.