Is A.I. Eating the Labor Market? + The Latest on the Pentagon, OpenClaw and Alpha School
February 27, 2026
AI Summary
5 min read🎙️ The Voices & The Context
- The Format: Casual host banter leading into a deep-dive interview, followed by rapid-fire "System Update" news segments on AI developments.
- The Key Players:
- Hosts: Kevin Roose (NYT tech columnist) and Casey Newton (Platformer); sharp chemistry with witty, self-deprecating humor—Casey shares her engagement to an Anthropic employee, sparking playful wedding hashtag jokes like "AGI do" and "My husband works at Anthropic's".
- Guest: Anton Korinek, UVA economist and Anthropic Economic Advisory Council member; a decade-long AI skeptic-turned-visionary on economic disruption.
- The Vibe: Fun and optimistic opener turns intense and educational on AI's economic upheaval, blending anxiety with humor in updates.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Anton Koranek**
- 2 (02:12) **Viral AI Essay: "2028 Global Intelligence Crisis"**
- 3 (06:39) **Current Economic Data on AI Impacts**
- 4 (11:55) **Ghost GDP and Growth Scenarios**
- 5 (16:52) **Disconnect Between AI Hype and Reality**
- 6 (18:36) **AI as Labor Substitute, Not Complement**
- 7 (27:27) **Key Indicators to Watch**
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
This week, the economist Anton Korinek joins to break down how artificial intelligence is driving volatility in the job and stock markets. Then, the battle between the Pentagon and Anthropic is getting even more tense. Anthropic now has until 5:01 p.m. Eastern time on Friday to accept the military’s demands over the terms of a contract, or the Trump administration will retaliate by invoking the Defense Production Act and designating the company a “supply chain risk.” We discuss this change, as well as two other updates on OpenClaw and Alpha Schools.
Guest:
- Anton Korinek, economist studying the impact of A.I., at the University of Virginia.
Additional Reading:
- Pentagon Gives A.I. Company an Ultimatum
- Summer Yue’s OpenClaw post
- ‘Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs’: Inside an AI-Powered Private School
- Parents Fell in Love With Alpha School’s Promise. Then They Wanted Out
- The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis
- When Does Automating Research Produce Explosive Growth?
We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.
Subscribe today at 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. 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 for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
More from this podcast
Hard Fork →