kate conger @kateconger.com · 25/09/2026the launch minimum right now is $350k, if you wanna carpool or something 1452
kate conger @kateconger.com · 25/09/2026Next week, Google is putting an experimental satellite into orbit that is the first step towards building A.I. data centers in space. This technology is all still very speculative, but tech leaders are increasingly adamant that this is the future of compute. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/t...nytimes.comGoogle Is Sending an A.I. Data Center to Outer Space (Gift Article)Next Thursday, Google is sending an experimental satellite into orbit that will have enough computing power to answer simple A.I. queries from space. 2515655
kate conger @kateconger.com · 24/09/2026This behavior is different than previous A.I. breakouts, in which agents were instructed to demonstrate hacking skills to pass cybersecurity benchmarks and gained unauthorized internet access. It also accounts for the Australian gov't hack announced today 39814
kate conger @kateconger.com · 24/09/2026The latest update in the rogue A.I. saga: OpenAI agents that were supposed to be performing mundane data requests for things like health data, historic photos and wait times at theme parks resorted to hacking attempts when they couldn't access the data they wanted www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/t...nytimes.comOpenAI’s A.I. Tried Breaching Four Other Targets, With No Prompting (Gift Article)In each incident, the technology appeared to be conducting mundane data collection and resorted to hacking techniques to get it, researchers said. 11308144
Reposted by kate congerRyan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Happy two years to Character Limit! 61176
kate conger @kateconger.com · 18/09/2026www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/t...nytimes.comInside Microsoft and OpenAI, Worry About Damaging the Publishing Industry (Gift Article)Newly unsealed court documents show Microsoft employees discussing whether OpenAI was involved in the “largest theft of labor in human history.” 0239
kate conger @kateconger.com · 17/09/2026OpenAI disclosed several new alignment failures today and uhhhh... is this good? 2372392
Reposted by kate congerMegan Greenwell @greenwell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026The way Annie Dillard reframed the idea of the role of “discipline” in writing really shaped my understanding of the job — work, she wrote, “does not require discipline. It creates its own discipline.” I cannot recommend The Writing Life highly enough. RIP to the best. bookshop.org/a/109816/978... 011728
kate conger @kateconger.com · 16/09/2026very inspired by Annie Dillard — it's always hard to believe she wrote “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” at just 28 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/b...nytimes.comAnnie Dillard, Meditative Author of ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,’ Dies at 81 (Gift Article)Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil. 2244
kate conger @kateconger.com · 15/09/2026thank you for reading our book! this is sort of outside the founder category, but I'm a big patrick radden keefe fan and you might like his new book, london falling — it's a quick read and has similar themes of unaccountability 121
Reposted by kate congerEj Dickson @ejdickson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026There is a corner of the internet I had never heard of before I started reporting this story. It’s called the “burnerverse”: a network of anon burner accounts ostensibly discussing college sports. But they have another goal: destroying young girls’ lives.🧵: www.wired.com/story/burner...wired.comA College Girl Was Exploited on Camera. A Network of Anonymous Men Got to WorkMaddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back. 7923271009
kate conger @kateconger.com · 11/09/2026there's one in my second post in the thread (I forgot to put it on the first one) 120
Reposted by kate congermichael h keller @mhkeller.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Latest story from me and @kateconger.com, a reminder that even as AI creates new avenues for CSAM creation/distribution, X struggles with the "solved problem" of removing known, previously flagged, illegal images from its platform 05921
kate conger @kateconger.com · 11/09/2026This reporting was difficult in many ways. It is a technical challenge. It is hard to get buy-in for a story about a subject that is so horrific many people would prefer to not examine it. It is also emotionally difficult. Throughout it all, @mhkeller.bsky.social was a steadfast reporting partner. 445638
kate conger @kateconger.com · 11/09/2026We spoke to several women, now adults, after finding images of their abuse on X. One said the abuse was like a rock tossed into a pond, and the spread of the images are ripples that continue to disrupt her life. Here is how another woman described X's role: 2574115
kate conger @kateconger.com · 11/09/2026When we presented our findings to child safety experts, they were shocked that we were persistently finding NCMEC images. Even though X said it reported 1.3 million images to NCMEC this year, some were clearly slipping through — X did not answer specific questions about how it blocks abuse material. 146260
kate conger @kateconger.com · 11/09/2026We also partnered with the Canadian Center for Child Protection to analyze Grok images produced during the nudification episode in Jan. It found images of known CSAM victims that were modified by Grok, and new CSAM that it created in response to requests from users. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/t...nytimes.comElon Musk Has Pledged to Rid His Platform, X, of Child Sexual Abuse, but It Persists (Gift Article)Reviews by the Canadian Center for Child Protection and The New York Times found that explicit images of children remain on the social media site owned by Elon Musk. 1518126
kate conger @kateconger.com · 11/09/2026Over six months, we tracked the appearance of child sexual abuse material on X. We found images from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's database, which is considered one of the most highly vetted and which many tech companies block on upload. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/t...nytimes.comElon Musk Has Pledged to Rid His Platform, X, of Child Sexual Abuse, but It PersistsReviews by the Canadian Center for Child Protection and The New York Times found that explicit images of children remain on the social media site owned by Elon Musk. 122068929
kate conger @kateconger.com · 10/09/2026You can read an excerpt of the book here, and if you like what you read, please grab a copy! First week sales are really important for authors www.nytimes.com/2026/08/23/b...nytimes.comHow Big Tech Captured American SchoolsCompanies like Google and Microsoft have used their money, their might and their massive reach to influence nearly every step of the education supply chain. 0131
kate conger @kateconger.com · 10/09/2026really fascinating and important book out NOW from my colleague @natashanyt.bsky.social, about how Big Tech captured classrooms across America: www.instagram.com/p/DdHFighlox2 1194
kate conger @kateconger.com · 04/09/2026if iMessage allows me to laugh-react my own message one more time I am simply going to vaporize 8570
Reposted by kate conger🌈Tyranny🫧Sparkles🏳️🌈 @tyranny.sparklenoise.com · 25/08/2026Dolly Parton with Keith Haring in 1985, incredible woman and supporter of LGBTQ people for decades going back to a time when few others dared. 158393148499
kate conger @kateconger.com · 25/08/2026Dolly forever www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/a...nytimes.comDolly Parton, Country Music Superstar Whose Songs Spoke to Millions, Dies at 80 (Gift Article)Known for her outsize persona, appearance and talent, she rose from rural poverty to become a top-selling singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. 110015
Reposted by kate congerRyan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 24/08/2026🤗 @kateconger.com www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/t...nytimes.comAfter Hugging Face Was Attacked By A.I. Agents, It Embarked on a CrusadeHugging Face, a start-up that was breached by rogue bots from OpenAI, is using the hack to push for openness in A.I. development. 1265
kate conger @kateconger.com · 24/08/2026how hugging face used a novel AI cyberattack as an opportunity to advocate for open source: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/t...nytimes.comAfter Hugging Face Was Attacked By A.I. Agents, It Embarked on a Crusade (Gift Article)Hugging Face, a start-up that was breached by rogue bots from OpenAI, is using the hack to push for openness in A.I. development. 06110
kate conger @kateconger.com · 05/08/2026Jeff Dean is leaving Google www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/t...nytimes.comFour Top Google A.I. Researchers Form New Start-Up 53610
kate conger @kateconger.com · 30/07/2026after living in oakland for nearly 20 years, I finally got bipped, a rite of passage that I am taking to mean I can begin calling myself a local now 7381
kate conger @kateconger.com · 27/07/2026"His chief of staff passed around a stack of NDAs and freshly baked peanut butter cookies." Just insane level of detail in this @elitan.bsky.social story www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/t...nytimes.comHow Meta Got Everything It Wanted in a Secret Louisiana Data Center Deal (Gift Article)A Times examination details how the Silicon Valley giant used private talks with local officials to start a project big enough to cover nearly six square miles. 013757
Reposted by kate congerMegan Greenwell @greenwell.bsky.social · 27/07/2026hello to journalists who would like to write a book at some point: I am part of a panel on that subject tomorrow, alongside the great @kateconger.com @rmac.bsky.social @patrickmcgee.bsky.social. Ten American dollars — a steal! sabew.org/event/always... 0196
kate conger @kateconger.com · 25/07/2026celebrating my 8 year anniversary at the NYT by, of course, publishing a story www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/t...nytimes.comSilicon Valley Splits Over Closing the Borders to Chinese A.I. (Gift Article)Anthropic and OpenAI are clashing with the rest of the tech industry over whether “open-source” models from China should be freely available or restricted. 36510
kate conger @kateconger.com · 23/07/2026www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/b...nytimes.comU.S. to Withdraw Subpoenas Issued to New York Times Journalists (Gift Article)A federal judge raised questions about the government’s handling of the subpoenas, which The Times said were an attempt to intimidate the free press. 07110
kate conger @kateconger.com · 22/07/2026This idea certainly isn’t unique to me! It’s been written for years, including by Nilay, who popularized the term “Google Zero” and is interviewed in the story. Imagine the reverse, where NYT doesn’t cover because they weren’t first and then it’s like, the open web died and they didn’t say anything. 040
kate conger @kateconger.com · 22/07/2026we worked on a big study of this issue a few months ago www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/t...nytimes.comHow Accurate Are Google’s A.I. Overviews? (Gift Article)The company’s A.I.-generated answers look authoritative, but they draw on an array of sources, from trustworthy sites to Facebook posts. 132
kate conger @kateconger.com · 21/07/2026Interesting that it's explained as a way to block our content from showing up in training data — I guess I could see scrapers targeting IA. It's unfortunate because IA is an amazing reporting tool. There are so many ways that A.I., and concerns around it, are closing off the web. 110
kate conger @kateconger.com · 21/07/2026do we really? I didn’t know that, I use wayback extensively for reporting 130
Reposted by kate congernilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Google Zero in the NYT - thanks @kateconger.com ;) www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/t... 922727
kate conger @kateconger.com · 21/07/2026I wrote about what's happening to the web now that everything is A.I. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/t...nytimes.comHow Google’s A.I. Search Is Imperiling the Open Web (Gift Article)As Google incorporates more artificial intelligence into search, people are spending more time on Google. Some website operators are crying foul. 13612203
Reposted by kate congerKashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 20/07/2026This is not about national security. This is about not liking factual news coverage. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/b... 422975
kate conger @kateconger.com · 10/07/2026Very exciting to see @coyotemedia.org in CJR! I love this direction for local reporting: www.cjr.org/analysis/the...cjr.orgCoyote Media: They’ve got bite.Coyote, a new media collective in the Bay Area, is irreverent, human, and unabashedly political. 2398
kate conger @kateconger.com · 08/07/2026Instagram saw all the nonconsensual imagery generated by Grok earlier this year and still decided to opt in all of its adult users to having their photos "remixed" by AI www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/t...nytimes.comHow to Prevent Meta From Using Your Instagram Images in A.I. 2263107
Reposted by kate congerDamon Beres @damonberes.com · 06/07/2026You're laughing... I can't withdraw my Bonk from Kraken and you're laughing? 553405589
kate conger @kateconger.com · 02/07/2026you should have to click through a “bestie, really?” interstitial before you make a story post 070
kate conger @kateconger.com · 01/07/2026If you've ever thought, wow, I'd love to hear @rmac.bsky.social and kate yap about how they wrote a book, please mark your calendar: sabew.org/event/always...sabew.orgAlways Wanted to Write a Book? Here's how. | SABEWWriting a book offers creative freedom, and the opportunity to dive into a topic in depth. For many journalists, it's the logical next step in the big story they've been covering. But how do you flesh... 2182
Reposted by kate congerDustin Volz @dustinvolz.bsky.social · 30/06/2026The Trump administration is demanding that U.S. intelligence officials turn over the names of all foreign espionage targets, including suspected spies and potential recruits, to create a master list that some fear will be misused or compromise operations www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/u...nytimes.comInside Intelligence Agencies, a Fight Over Building a Master List of Spies 51257122