Sign in

Deepa Seetharaman

@deepa.bsky.social
4.8K followers 55 following 34 posts

tech reporter covering A.I. Ping me on Signal: signal.me/#eu/SX-5fAfwgTQcgsbLtDC8E…

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Do you have any idea how unpopular your industry has to be to get the governor of Texas to pause approvals of your newest facilities? Abbott just halted all data center approvals in his state until they're properly vetted: www.texastribune.org/2026/08/03/t...
texastribune.org
Texas data center projects must stop until state audits them
On Monday, the governor ordered the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit all data centers wanting to connect to the state’s power grid.
77823
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
New from me + @raphae.li: In the process of investigating the Hugging Face hack, OpenAI found evidence that some its other AI agents broke out of their sandboxes, per sources. The company is now widening its probe to include those newly found incidents. www.reuters.com/business/ope...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI finds evidence other AI agents escaped containment as it widens hacking probe
OpenAI has discovered other instances in which autonomous agents have escaped ​containment as the company expands its investigation of the hacking incident at tech firm Hugging Face that drew global a...
54215
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Raphael Satter @raphae.li · 25/07/2026
Scoop: Its AI agent spent days breaking into the systems of Hugging Face, but sources tell @deepa.bsky.social, @kenrick.bsky.social & me OpenAI did not even realize it was responsible for the hack for more than a week. www.reuters.com/business/its...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: Its AI agent spent days hacking a company, but sources say OpenAI did not notice for a week
The OpenAI agent that broke into tech firm Hugging Face went on a dayslong hacking spree that OpenAI didn't notice until well after the threat was contained and the FBI was alerted, according ​to peop...
74819
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Rogue OpenAI agents are leaving notes to themselves on company servers to help them escape their test environments (!!!) www.reuters.com/business/its...
341034360
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Has any Big Tech company done as many AI-related reorgs in the past five years than Meta?
11746
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Paresh Dave @peard33.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Juror #3 in Musk v Altman suggesting the difficult questions. They went unaddressed in this specific trial. Please reach out if you're juror #3 or know them - contact info in bio.
Screenshot of jury note in Musk v Altman to judge suggesting questions about AI's environmental impact
214925
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Shira Ovide @shiraovide.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
A useful reminder that humans have feelings, and petty grievances shape the world. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/the-...
One such slight came in 2018. Brockman asked Dario to double-check a fact on one of his slides for an important meeting. Dario asked who the slides were for. When Brockman said that he and Altman were going to meet former President Barack Obama, Dario got angry that he had been left out of the loop.

The following year, Dario asked for a promotion to vice president of research. Altman agreed and sent an email to the board saying Dario would report directly to him and receive equal PR treatment to co-founders Brockman and Sutskever.
152
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
The Information @theinformation.com · 17/12/2025
Scoop: OpenAI is in talks to raise at least $10 billion from Amazon and use its AI chips. Read more from Anissa Gardizy, Sri Muppidi, Cory Weinberg and Amir Efrati 👇 thein.fo/4oUnAfZ
thein.fo
OpenAI in Talks to Raise At Least $10 Billion From Amazon and Use Its AI Chips
Amazon is in talks to invest $10 billion or more in OpenAI, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The valuation would be higher than $500 billion, one of the people said. The Amazon...
021
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
New from @Reuters: executives *really* want AI to work but getting there is much harder than expected. Many find the tech v difficult to harness or too unreliable for core functions. Others find their customers actually like humans. www.reuters.com/business/bus...
reuters.com
AI promised a revolution. Companies are still waiting.
Last spring, CellarTracker, a wine-collection app, built an AI-powered sommelier to make unvarnished wine recommendations based on a person’s palate. The problem was the chatbot was too nice.
254
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Excerpt from a Washington Post story about Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza with the following sentence highlighted: This new iteration of Nuzzi, though entertaining, is a backstab not just to her former fiancé, but to all journalists who, toiling for insubstantial compensation, wouldn’t consider getting romantically involved with a source or subject.
0218
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jeff Horwitz @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
I’ve spent almost seven years covering Meta and have had a good deal of exposure to internal work product on teen well-being. But a Friday filing in the school district social media litigation breaks some ground on Meta’s causal findings regarding social media harm. www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
reuters.com
25524
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
This from WaPo puts Musk’s pay package in perspective. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
010
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
OH MY GOD
16388401549
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Nancy Friedman @fritinancy.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
"[T]he best productivity hack in the world is simply liking your job. If you enjoy what you do, you will find ways to do it, and in 2025 almost any software remotely suited to the purpose will be more than good enough." - @caseynewton.bsky.social www.platformer.news/productivity...
platformer.news
What I learned about productivity this year
What I gave up, what I kept, and what's new. PLUS: How I'm using AI
0479
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
NEW: Reporters at @calmatters.org and @themarkup.org ‬ found dozens of data brokers hiding opt-out tools from search results. US senator Maggie Hassan is now pressing top offenders to disclose their practices and pledge to improve access to privacy controls. By me @wired.com
wired.com
Data Brokers Face New Pressure for Hiding Opt-Out Pages From Google
After reporters found dozens of firms hiding privacy tools from search results, US senator Maggie Hassan insists the companies explain their practices—and pledge to improve access to privacy controls.
7475141
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 29/07/2025
Congratulations to greenhouse gas
822549
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Still thinking about this illiterate line in the Trump WSJ lawsuit
741456199
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
WIRED @wired.com · 23/07/2025
SCOOP: Elon Musk’s associates at DOGE have begun vacating their headquarters at the General Services Administration in Washington, DC, and they’re leaving behind an apocalyptic scene of toddler play sets, mattresses, and pillows. We got photos. 👇
wired.com
Photos: Here Are the Piles of Used Bedding and Children’s Play Sets Left Near DOGE’s Old Offices
Elon Musk’s DOGE minions have largely moved out of the General Services Administration. A dystopian scene of bedding and discarded kids’ toys remains.
49735291
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
A new Pew study offers data to back up what we have suspected for a while now: AI answers are draining all the traffic out of the web www.platformer.news/google-ai-ov...
When users did not see an AI overview, the authors write, they clicked on links 15 percent of the time. When they did see one, that number fell nearly by half, to 8 percent.

The study also found that people are likelier to stop browsing after encountering an AI overview, suggesting that the overview has satisfied their curiosity. Researchers saw that outcome 26 percent of the time when AI overviews were displayed, up from 16 percent when they were not.
14355108
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jane Rosenzweig @janerosenzweig.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
New in The Important Work: Jenny Lederer and Jennifer Trainor share thoughts about blue books, AI in the classroom, and the value of human interaction after attending an OpenAI webinar sponsored by CSU. theimportantwork.substack.com/p/even-opena... Illustration from @betterimagesofai.bsky.social
theimportantwork.substack.com
Even OpenAI suggests bringing back blue books
Where does that leave writing teachers?
1163
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jason Kint @kint.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
This report may have been a good time to note Marc will be testifying live in court this week along with several board members on the largest privacy settlement ever and allegations of insider trading for Zuckerberg and a coverup to protect him. Sandberg, Zuckerberg next week @nitasha.bsky.social
413062
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
A screenshot of a paragraph from a Washington Post story about the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pulling its funding from a school for low-income students:

The impacts of the shuttering on families and the local school district show the risks for communities that depend on wealthy donors for essential services or support. A billionaire’s change of heart can destabilize vulnerable families or local government finances.
050
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
NEW: In a forceful memo, OpenAI’s chief research officer has responded to Meta poaching the company’s employees: “Someone has broken into our home.” By @zoeschiffer.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/openai...
wired.com
OpenAI Leadership Responds to Meta Offers: 'Someone Has Broken Into Our Home'
As Mark Zuckerberg lures away top research talent to Meta, OpenAI executives say they're ‘recalibrating comp,’ according to an internal memo.
248114
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
The Information @theinformation.com · 18/06/2025
Exclusive: OpenAI Starts Selling ChatGPT at a Discount, Hurting Microsoft Microsoft Loses Copilot Deals After OpenAI Discounts ChatGPT Read more Aaron Holmes and Sri Muppidi 👇 www.theinformation.com/articles/ope...
theinformation.com
OpenAI Starts Selling ChatGPT at a Discount, Hurting Microsoft
OpenAI has started discounting enterprise subscriptions to its ChatGPT app when customers agree to spend money on additional AI products, according to an OpenAI spokesperson and two executives at larg...
543
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Karissa Bell @karissabe.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Remember how the Twitter bird sign from its old SF office was auctioned for $34,000 earlier this year? I can exclusively report the fate of Larry: his new owners, a marketplace startup, blew him up in the Nevada desert (with Cybertrucks on the scene) in a massive, fiery spectacle
engadget.com
The 560-pound Twitter sign met a fiery end in a Nevada desert
The 560-pound bird logo that used to adorn Twitter's office was blown up in the Nevada desert as part of an elaborate stunt to promote an online marketplace app.
54112
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
George Pearkes @peark.es · 17/06/2025
LOL yeah I hope they're raising equity. *MUSK’S XAI BURNING THROUGH $1 BILLION A MONTH AS COSTS PILE UP
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is trying to raise $9.3 billion in debt and equity, but even before the money is in the bank the company has plans to spend more than half of it in just the next three months, according to deal terms shared with investors.
The rate at which the company is raising funds and tearing through cash offers a stark illustration of the unprecedented financial demands of the artificial intelligence industry, and the relatively meager revenues it is bringing in so far, at least when it comes to xAI.
Musk’s startup, which is responsible for the AI-powered chatbot Grok, expects to burn through about $13 billion over the course of 2025, or more than $1 billion each month, as reflected in the company’s levered cash flow, according to the people familiar with the deal terms who asked not to be identified because the information is private.  As a result, its prolific fundraising efforts are just barely keeping pace with expenses, the people added. 
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
829750
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jennifer Valentino-DeVries @jenvalentino.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Fantastic and troubling piece by @kashhill.bsky.social about AI chatbots leading people into delusional behavior. One man whose wife was affected said he doesn’t think the AI companies fully understand what they are doing. “You ruin people’s lives,” he said. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
nytimes.com
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
2187
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Liz Phelps @lizphelps.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
“‘Information warfare is always a symptom of conflict, stoked often by those in power to fuel their own illiberal goals … It confuses audiences, scares people who might otherwise have empathy for the cause and divides us when we need solidarity most.’”
nytimes.com
Fake Images and Conspiracy Theories Swirl Around L.A. Protests
043
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Techmeme @techmeme.com · 10/06/2025
Sources: Meta agrees to take a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.8B, in a deal that gives cash to Scale's shareholders and makes Alexandr Wang a top Meta executive (Cory Weinberg/The Information) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
233
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 04/06/2025
Here's Kate's perspective from the NYT. On the WaPo biz/tech team, we reporters often write multiple potential headlines and then test them among ourselves in a Slack channel. Sometimes overruled by homepage / editors but it's cool being able to focus-group ideas and often they end up way better
4354
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
“The paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with.” Just amazing from @notusreports.bsky.social www.notus.org/health-scien...
notus.org
The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.
33813
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
It was just last month that Musk and the White House denied a Politico report that Musk was leaving in May, calling the report "garbage" and "fake news."
1114
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Producer of potential reality show in which immigrants complete to be U.S. citizens says “This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants... This is not, ‘Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country.’” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
DHS Is Considering Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for Citizenship
“This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,” says the producer behind the pitch.
993
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 13/05/2025
Sad to see humans taking the jobs of AI fortune.com/2025/05/09/k...
fortune.com
As Klarna flips from AI-first to hiring people again, a new landmark survey reveals most AI projects fail to deliver
Just 1 in 4 AI investments bring in the ROI they promise—but CEOs just can’t resist the technology.
12503112
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Some news: I'm leaving the Wall Street Journal today, after a decade covering Facebook, then tech + politics, and now AI. I’ve reported from so many corners of Silicon Valley but mostly its white-hot center. It’s been a huge privilege. 🧵
5221
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
New: the relationship bw MSFT and OpenAI is now very strained w/ the two sides arguing over: — OpenAI's access to compute / advanced chips, — MSFT's access to OpenAI's tech and — how close OpenAI is to AGI and if that’s even a thing Gift link: www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sam-...
wsj.com
Altman and Nadella, Who Ignited the Modern AI Boom Together, Are Drifting Apart
The OpenAI and Microsoft CEOs helped each other become power players in generative AI but are now preparing for independent futures.
062
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
open.substack.com/pub/newcomer...
030
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jon Keegan @jonkeegan.com · 22/04/2025
WSJ: “The Trump rout is taking on historic dimensions.” www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
Screenshot of a WSJ story “Dow Headed for Worst April Since Great Depression”
024
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Alex Heath @alexeheath.com · 13/04/2025
As I fly to DC for the FTC v. Meta antitrust trial tomorrow, a detail in our preview story that hasn’t been reported before: “Meta now makes more than $10 billion a year from ads on Facebook and Instagram that point people to chat with business accounts on WhatsApp”
33410
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
When scholars of authoritarianism and fascism leave U.S. universities because of the deteriorating political situation here, we should really worry.
586236158168
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Today, @mattbarnum.bsky.social and I detailed how educators are still struggling with the fallout of AI in their classroom with students surrounded by a thicket of conflicting advice about AI’s use as well as companies explicitly trying to get them to cheat via social media ads.
133
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Low key the funniest thing I’ve written in a while. www.wsj.com/livecoverage...
041
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Jon Keegan @jonkeegan.com · 14/01/2025
A new White House executive order on AI directs the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to identify federal sites owned by the agencies to lease to the private sector for building “gigawatt-scale AI data centers.” sherwood.news/power/white-...
sherwood.news
White House executive order offers up federal sites for AI data centers
With only days left in his administration, President Biden issued another AI executive order as part of his effort to make development of the...
083
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Reporter: Meta announced they will stop doing fact checks.. Trump: I think they’ve come a long way Reporter: Do you think he’s responding to the threats you’ve made in the past Trump: Probably
1201462420
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
We’ve been hearing so much about reasoning lately but what happened to OpenAI’s big project: GPT-5 aka Orion? It was to be a “significant leap forward” per Altman. Microsoft expected to see GPT-5 in mid-2024, per sources. But one problem after another popped up which… www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
wsj.com
The Next Great Leap in AI Is Behind Schedule and Crazy Expensive
The startup has run into problem after problem on its new artificial-intelligence project, code-named Orion.
1296
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19/11/2024
Full Trump Media response to me for this story: “This ridiculously tendentious story ... is a great example of what Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos now describes as the media’s ‘long and continuing fall in credibility’—in fact, it’s hard to explain how Bezos hasn’t fired you yet" wapo.st/3UVnY1G
“This ridiculously tendentious story, its predetermined conclusions, and its hand-picked ‘experts’ who just happen to parrot the writer’s long-existing biases, is a great example of what Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos now describes as the media’s ‘long and continuing fall in credibility’—in fact, it’s hard to explain how Bezos hasn’t fired you yet"
2418539
Deepa Seetharaman @deepa.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Hey hi hello, I’m popping back on Bluesky. Is this place as fun as everyone says? For new followers: 👋 I started my career as a temp, writing market reports during the financial crisis. I covered autos after the bailout + social media in the first Trump era. Now I cover AI for the WSJ. Ping me 🤙
1101
Reposted by Deepa Seetharaman
Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · 13/02/2024
One of my wise friends once said of UNDERCOVER BOSS, “The final frontier of corporate greed is demanding to be loved.” I think about it a lot.
3436721017