Open Model Wars + Claire Stapleton's Dishy Google Memoir + Substack's Slop Fight
Hard Fork
Jul 31
Open Model Wars + Claire Stapleton's Dishy Google Memoir + Substack's Slop Fight
Open Model Wars + Claire Stapleton's Dishy Google Memoir + Substack's Slop Fight

Hard Fork
Jul 31
Unprocessed episode, you can be the first!
Shownote
Shownote
This week, we break down the arguments about open-weight models unfolding in
Silicon Valley right now. Nvidia released an open letter signed by over 230
companies opposing “premature restrictions,” but will the Trump administration
listen?
Then, we’re joined by the author Claire Stapleton to discuss her new book about
what she learned while leading employee activism inside Google.
And finally, can Substack stop the slop? We’ll talk about the platform’s new
A.I. detector.
Guests:
* Claire Stapleton, author of “Don’t Be Evil: Bad Bosses, Fake Promises, and My
Escape from Big Tech.”
Additional Reading:
* Nvidia Forms Alliance to Back Open-Source A.I. Amid Debate Over Safety
[https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/technology/nvidia-open-source-ai.html]
* What Is Open-Weights A.I.?
[https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/technology/open-weight-ai.html]
* Mark Zuckerberg Blasts Centralization of A.I. Power
[https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/technology/mark-zuckerberg-meta-ai.html]
* The Voice of Google
[https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-voice-of-google]
* Against Claudefishing [https://post.substack.com/p/against-claudefishing]
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Highlights
Highlights
Chapters
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Transcript
Transcript