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Steven Levy

@stevenlevy.bsky.social
35K followers 108 following 208 posts

Still writing. Editor at Large WIRED. Hackers, Crypto, Facebook: The Inside Story, Insanely Great and other books. Signal: stevenlevy.72

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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
OK, 55 yrs ago defense tech drove Silicon Valley. But PC revolution, internet, etc was fueled by hacker spirit and idealism, at least until the money got crazy. SV's current militarism and Billion $ Bro-ism pivots away from that. it wasn't always solely about the money. www.wired.com/story/war-br...
wired.com
War Bros Didn’t Always Rule Silicon Valley
Some say that tech was always about the money and the military. Don’t buy that argument.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
All of a sudden people are shocked at "rogue" AI. Supposedly understanding what makes LLMs tick will help us prevent that. But the more we understand AI models, the more caution is advised. www.wired.com/story/if-the...
wired.com
If the AI Industry Followed Its Own Research, It Might Have Paused Already
Anthropic’s CEO says that safety hinges on understanding how AI “thinks.” So far the evidence is disturbing.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Advanced AI is a boon for philosophers who study consciousness. But by the time they define that elusive quality--if they ever do--AI might have its own views on the subject, conscious or not. The big challenge is controlling those models. www.wired.com/story/who-ca...
wired.com
Who Cares if AI Is Conscious—It’s Basically Alive
While philosophers ponder AI consciousness, the models have ideas of their own.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A high-profile paper contends that AI alone is better than doctors alone, or docs working with AI. The AMA isn't happy. Meanwhile, clinicians are getting hooked on specialized AI chatbots. www.wired.com/story/ai-has...
wired.com
AI Has Human Doctors Asking: What’s Left for Us?
A recent paper argues that AI is often better at doctoring than doctors. Guess who isn't thrilled.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Looking once more for a great reader question an answer in my WIRED newsletter/web column. AI is all over the news--anythjing I can answer for you on that? Maybe you want my view on the Meta settlement? My views on Dolly? Come on folks, ask away!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Wow this week is going fast. I need a great reader question for my WIRED newsletter--here's your chance to ask me anything. Go for it!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I got an inside look at Mamdani's tech team--and got US Digital Service vibes. But there's a difference. www.wired.com/story/mamdan...
wired.com
Zohran Mamdani’s NYC Tech Team Is What DOGE Should Have Been
The mayor of New York City has assembled a crew of Silicon Valley and United States Digital Service veterans to overhaul city services with better software.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Looking for a great reader question that I'll answer in my Backchannel/WIRED newsletter. Ask me anything!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Here's a shattering Jeff Dean fact: Google's top scientist, along with Sanjay Ghemawat and 2 other top AI researcher are leaving Google to form Discovery Loop, a startup that hopes to automate the scientific method so AI can create breakthroughs in multiple fields. www.wired.com/story/jeff-d...
wired.com
4 of Google’s Top AI Brains Are Leaving—and Launching Their Own AI Startup
Jeff Dean and other high-profile Google executives have founded Discovery Loop, a startup that will seek AI-powered breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to chip design.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Ever wonder who posts those first-person tales that start with ragebait and end in triumph for the writer and shame for the adversary? And why? www.wired.com/story/ai-slo...
wired.com
AI Slop Melodramas Are Taking Over X—and Their Creators Are Cashing In
Viral tales of good triumphing over evil are racking up millions of views. They’re almost entirely AI-generated clickbait.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Time again for a Backchannel/WIRED reader question. Ask me anything and I will answer in the newsletter!
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Reposted by Steven Levy
Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Our two investigations into Madison Square Garden are now unpaywalled and free for anyone to read.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Lyft's David Risher insists that his company is better and cheaper than "the other guy." Check out his plans to turn around Lyft's also-ran status. www.wired.com/story/lyfts-...
wired.com
Lyft’s CEO Says, ‘We’re the Good Uber’
David Risher insists that Lyft has lowered its prices and that customers who only check his competitor’s app are “leaving money on the table.”
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Yes, Sarah Wynn-Williams did seem to break her non-disparagement clause when she wrote Careless People. But Meta's bonkers campaign to silence her shows that her criticism of Zuck & Co is well grounded. www.wired.com/story/metas-...
wired.com
Meta’s Pursuit of the 'Careless People' Author Is Relentless and Self-Defeating
Yes, Sarah Wynn-Williams violated her deal to stay silent. But the power disparity bolsters the view that Meta is a heartless bully.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Hi, looking for a great reader question that I will answer with wit and wisdom in my Backchannel/WIRED newsletter/column. Ask me anything!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Paris' big Vivatech conference was all about "sovereignty." Speaker after speaker griped about U.S. dominance, some offering plans to change things. Europe has a long way to go to compete in AI, but it has no choice--especially because of Trump. www.wired.com/story/europe...
wired.com
Europe Is Fed Up and Wants Its Own AI
It's a stretch to think that the continent can build a top-tier model, but it has an advantage: Donald Trump.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Looking for a great reader question. Ask me anything!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Officially welcoming the great @laurengoode.bsky.social to Backchannel. She'll be doing the newsletter once a month, writing great essays like this one. The other three weeks you're stuck with me. www.wired.com/story/silico...
wired.com
Silicon Valley’s Elite Financial Advisers Say This Era of Wealth Is Different
The rich are getting richer. Here’s what wealth advisers are telling their tech clients right now.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Stewart Brand is one of my heroes, a visionary rooted in pragmatism who has made his mark on the world. He and his wife Ryan Phelan expressed these values in a home they built for his later years. www.wired.com/story/stewar...
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
The $1 M auction for the secrets of the CIA Kryptos sculpture was months ago--now we learn that Paradigm, a crypto-centric VC firm won. Here are their plans--and the line they didn't cross. www.wired.com/story/crypto...
wired.com
Crypto Guys Bought the Answer to the CIA’s Mysterious Kryptos Sculpture
They swear they haven’t peeked at the closely guarded secret and that they’ll keep the cryptographic competition going.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Seeking a cool reader question for my Backchannel/WIRED newsletter. Lately I've been getting better responses from X than Bluesky. Folks, you can do better. Ask me anything!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Wow, the week went by fast. Now it's time to ask you folks for a great reader question that I will answer in the Backchannel/WIRED newsletter. Ask me anything!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Here's an exclusive inside look at Flourish, a startup full of neuroscientists and AI researchers working together to make discoveries about the brain and use them to create a more efficient form of AI that learns like people do. www.wired.com/story/jeff-b...
wired.com
Jeff Bezos Is Funding a Wild Hunt for the Brain’s ‘Core Algorithm’
With $500 million in funding and a reported $2.5 billion valuation, Flourish wants to reinvent AI by putting real neurons under the microscope.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Time for another reader question, which I will answer in the beloved Backchannel newsletter. People ask away. All topics welcome.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
The recent AI agent breakthrough is just as big a bang as ChatGPT. Only techies realize this now but eventually no one will be able to ignore it. My report from inside this huge shift. www.wired.com/story/how-ai...
wired.com
AI Agents Plunged the Tech World Into Chaos. Here’s Exactly How That Happened
The definitive story of how Claude Code and OpenClaw kicked off computing’s biggest transformation possibly ever.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
The good news: Google's upgraded AI search is better than the (less useful than they used to be) 10 Blue Links. Not so good: One more traffic-sucking blow for websites and online publications. www.wired.com/story/even-i...
wired.com
Even If You Hate AI, You Will Use Google AI Search
The search giant’s AI-crafted answers are so convenient, you’ll be sucked in—to the detriment of the web and the artists and thinkers behind it.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Looking for a great reader question for my Backchannel newsletter. Here's your chance to hear from me on any subject. Fire away, friends!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
It always blows my mind that the phrase I coined to describe the hacker mindset has found its way into the lexicon.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Philosopher Nick Bostrom once was considered a doomer. Now he's considering whether AI's risk of annihilating humanity might be worth it--because we're all going to die anyway. If all goes right, he's looking forward to humanity's "retirement." www.wired.com/story/nick-b...
wired.com
Nick Bostrom Has a Plan for Humanity’s ‘Big Retirement’
The philosopher thinks humans should pursue advanced AI and the promise of a “solved world.”
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
In 1981 I went to Atlanta for Rolling Stone to view the amazing phenomenon of a 24-hour cable television news channel, and interviewed the complex dude who started it. RIP Ted Turner.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
The search for Satoshi has resulted in a very crowded rabbit hole, but no bunny. Even ace investigators like NYT's John Carryrou and detective Tyler Maroney--who each ID'd a different Nakamoto--have not closed the case. Both can't be right, and both may be wrong. www.wired.com/story/you-fo...
wired.com
You Found Satoshi? Let’s See the Receipts
Two new projects, including one from a Pulitzer-winning reporter, claim they’ve solved the mystery of Bitcoin’s creator. So why does the hunt continue?
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Witty article by my great colleague @mzeff.bsky.social on Wikipedia using his photo in Evan Spiegal entry--& how his heroic efforts have been unable to get it corrected. Under the surface, this indicates something rotten in Wikipedia, a failure of its crowd-sourcing. www.wired.com/story/why-do...
wired.com
Why Does Wikipedia Think I’m Evan Spiegel?
For the past week, a photo of me has been plastered on the CEO of Snap’s Wikipedia page. No one, not even Spiegel, seems to care.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
I saw one pristine issue for sale on eBay for $70,000. If you want lower quality, there's one for $50k and a less spiffy one for a bargain 12k. Open offer: if you buy one for more than $10k I'll sign it for 10% of what you paid.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
John Ternus, your mission as CEO is to do for AI what Apple has done for desktop computing, mobile, and music--harness the power of a messy technology and make it accessible and delightful. Do you choose to accept? If not someone else will, and Apple will suffer. www.wired.com/story/apples...
wired.com
Apple's Next CEO Needs to Launch a Killer AI Product
Tim Cook was a great CEO, but he didn’t crack AI.  It’s job number 1 for John Ternus.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
It's efficient and economical to have AI write drafts of of a news story or, god forbid, something longer. After all, people just want the info, right? Wrong. If this is the wave of the future, I'd rather drown. www.wired.com/story/backch...
wired.com
AI Drafting My Stories? Over My Dead Body
AI-assisted writing is creeping into newsrooms under the guise of efficiency. But the tradeoff may be more profound than publishers are willing to admit.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Need a great reader question for my WIRED/Backchannel newsletter. Ask me anything!
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Hey Kids! Want me to answer your question in my Backchannel newsletter? Here's your chance! Reply to this post and ask away. No subjects barred.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Apple is turning 50. I talked to its CEO and his possible successor about the NEXT 50 years. www.wired.com/story/apple-...
wired.com
Apple Still Plans to Sell iPhones When It Turns 100
As the tech giant turns 50, WIRED spoke to executives about how they plan to win in the AI era.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Looking for a great reader question RIGHT AWAY for this week's Backchannel newsletter/column. What do you got for me? Ask anything.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
The best choices for a Turing Award are those that make you say "What, they didn't already win?" Charlie Bennett and Gilles Brassard, pioneers of information theory, fill that bill. Congrats! www.wired.com/story/a-quan...
wired.com
A Quantum Leap for the Turing Award
Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard pioneered quantum information theory. Now they’ve been awarded the highest honor in computer science.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Here's why the Iran war has gummed up the global supply chain--and why it will cost you money. www.wired.com/story/iran-w...
wired.com
The Iran War Is Throwing Global Shipping Into Chaos
Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen says the conflict is stranding cargo and threatening inflation.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
SF people! I just got added to a panel at Manny's on "Apple, the Counterculture, and Digital Culture." Expect mentions of LSD, HyperCard and Bill Gates v Homebrew! Monday night! See you there! www.eventbrite.com/e/think-diff...
eventbrite.com
Think Different: Apple, the Counterculture, and Digital Culture, 1976-2026
Join us for this talk on the counterculture's significant influence on Apple's origin story as the company turns 50 on April 1st.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Conversations w Jack Dorsey are always illuminating. Here he argues how massive Block layoffs signal how companies must drastically transform in the AI age. He also comments on Twitter, Bluesky, politics and journalism. And WIRED! .https://www.wired.com/story/jack-dorsey-explains-block-layoffs/
wired.com
Jack Dorsey Is Ready to Explain the Block Layoffs
In an exclusive interview with WIRED, Block’s cofounder and CEO says he axed 40 percent of his workforce so that he can rebuild the company “as an intelligence.”
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Looking for a great reader question to answer in my Backchannel newsletter. Ask away! No subject off limits.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour was outraged when I suggested that a bet on FanDuel might be the same as a "market position" on @Kalshi. in our spirited @wired Big Interview, he argues his company is not a gambling den but an arbiter or truth. www.wired.com/story/big-in...
wired.com
How Is Kalshi Not Gambling?
Kalshi lets you place bets on everything from football games to foreign invasions. The prediction market’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, says this doesn’t count as gambling—and is actually good for society.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Here's why the market has a hair-trigger response to anything it hears about AI disruption--including speculative fiction from obscure sources. www.wired.com/story/wall-s...
wired.com
Wall Street Has AI Psychosis
A “thought experiment” about the impacts of AI sent stocks tumbling earlier this week. It’s probably going to keep happening.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
In light of Anthropic's fight with the Pentagon, I'm reposting my column from last week that talks about how we are at a critical point --deciding the AI we build will be harmful or lethal. www.wired.com/story/backch...
wired.com
AI Safety Meets the War Machine
Anthropic doesn’t want its AI used in autonomous weapons or government surveillance. Those carve-outs could cost it a major military contract.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Behind the Anthropic-Pentagon clash is a bigger issue: how can we assure that AI is safe if we're building AI that kills? www.wired.com/story/backch...
wired.com
AI Safety Meets the War Machine
Anthropic doesn’t want its AI used in autonomous weapons or government surveillance. Those carve-outs could cost it a major military contract.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Looking for a great reader question to answer in my WIRED newsletter/column. Ask away, kiddies! No subject off limits.
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Steven Levy @stevenlevy.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
OK, I need a great reader question for Backchannel newsletter/web column on WIRED. Ask me anything!
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