An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media:

> A massive data center for Meta's AI will likely lead to rate hikes for Louisiana customers, but Meta wants to keep the details under wraps. Holly Ridge is a rural community bisected by US Highway 80, gridded with farmland, with a big creek -- it is literally named Big Creek -- running through it. It is home to rice and grain mills and an elementary school and a few houses. Soon, it will also be home to Meta's massive, 4 million square foot AI data center hosting thousands of [1]perpetually humming servers that require billions of watts of energy to power. And that energy-guzzling infrastructure [2]will be partially paid for by Louisiana residents .

>

> The plan is part of what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said would be "a defining year for AI." [3]On Threads , Zuckerberg boasted that his company was "building a 2GW+ datacenter that is so large it would cover a significant part of Manhattan," posting a map of Manhattan along with the data center overlaid. Zuckerberg went on to say that over the coming years, AI "will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership. Let's go build! " What Zuckerberg did not mention is that "Let's go build" refers not only to the massive data center but also three new Meta-subsidized, gas power plants and a transmission line to fuel it serviced by Entergy Louisiana, the region's energy monopoly.

>

> Key details about Meta's investments with the data center remain vague, and Meta's contracts with Entergy are largely cloaked from public scrutiny. But what is known is the $10 billion data center has been positioned as an enormous economic boon for the area -- one that politicians bent over backward to facilitate -- and Meta said it will invest $200 million into "local roads and water infrastructure." A [4]January report from NOLA.com said that the the state had rewritten zoning laws, promised to change a law so that it no longer had to put state property up for public bidding, and rewrote what was supposed to be a tax incentive for broadband internet meant to bridge the digital divide so that it was only an incentive for data centers, all with the goal of luring in Meta. But Entergy Louisiana's residential customers, who live in one of the poorest regions of the state, will see their utility bills increase to pay for Meta's energy infrastructure, according to Entergy's application. Entergy estimates that amount will be small and will only cover a transmission line, but advocates for energy affordability say the costs could balloon depending on whether Meta agrees to finish paying for its three gas plants 15 years from now. The short-term rate increases will be debated in a public hearing before state regulators that has not yet been scheduled.

The [5]Alliance for Affordable Energy called it a "black hole of energy use," and said "to give perspective on how much electricity the Meta project will use: Meta's energy needs are roughly 2.3x the power needs of Orleans Parish ... it's like building the power impact of a large city overnight in the middle of nowhere."



[1] https://www.youtube.com/supported_browsers?next_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJflFFqbZ1X8&amp%3Bref=404media.co

[2] https://www.404media.co/a-black-hole-of-energy-use-metas-massive-ai-data-center-is-stressing-out-a-louisiana-community/

[3] https://www.threads.com/@zuck/post/DFNf73PJxOQ?ref=404media.co

[4] http://nola.com/?ref=404media.co

[5] https://www.all4energy.org/watchdog/metas-mega-data-center-could-strain-la-grid/?ref=404media.co

Google DeepMind has [1]launched Gemini Robotics On-Device, a new language model that [2]enables robots to perform complex tasks locally without internet connectivity . TechCrunch reports:

> Building on the company's previous Gemini Robotics model that was released in March, Gemini Robotics On-Device can control a robot's movements. Developers can control and fine-tune the model to suit various needs using natural language prompts. In benchmarks, Google claims the model performs at a level close to the cloud-based Gemini Robotics model. The company says it outperforms other on-device models in general benchmarks, though it didn't name those models.

>

> In a demo, the company showed robots running this local model doing things like unzipping bags and folding clothes. Google says that while the model was trained for ALOHA robots, it later adapted it to work on a bi-arm Franka FR3 robot and the Apollo humanoid robot by Apptronik. Google claims the bi-arm Franka FR3 was successful in tackling scenarios and objects it hadn't "seen" before, like doing assembly on an industrial belt. Google DeepMind is also releasing a [3]Gemini Robotics SDK . The company said developers can show robots 50 to 100 demonstrations of tasks to train them on new tasks using these models on the MuJoCo physics simulator.



[1] https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/gemini-robotics-on-device-brings-ai-to-local-robotic-devices/

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/24/google-rolls-out-new-gemini-model-that-can-run-on-robots-locally/

[3] https://github.com/google-deepmind/gemini-robotics-sdk

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge:

> Microsoft is [1]planning to cut jobs in the company's Xbox gaming business , as early as next week. I first reported in Notepad earlier this month that Microsoft was planning Xbox layoffs "potentially by the end of the month," and now [2]Bloomberg says a round of "major layoffs" is due next week.

>

> I understand managers at Microsoft have been briefed about Xbox cuts and wider layoffs in other parts of Microsoft's businesses. The upcoming cuts are also expected to hit Microsoft's sales organization, just at the start of a new financial year. Microsoft is planning to restructure parts of its Xbox business as it looks ahead to its next generation of consoles. One source tells me Microsoft is restructuring Xbox distribution across central Europe, resulting in some Xbox operations ceasing in some regions.

The expected layoffs will be in addition to the [3]6,000 cuts Microsoft already made in May, and on top of the more than 300 job cuts earlier this month.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/microsoft-xbox/691967/microsoft-xbox-layoffs-job-cuts-rumor

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-24/microsoft-plans-major-job-cuts-at-xbox-gaming-division?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1MDc3Mjc0NiwiZXhwIjoxNzUxMzc3NTQ2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTWUQ0VkxEV1JHRzAwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.iMkVuxzB6m6hT_Rpwa-NQCTCvDapSt1DaRfpnGaqUSw

[3] https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/06/18/1855243/microsoft-planning-thousands-more-job-cuts-aimed-at-salespeople

Waymo and Uber have [1]launched a robotaxi service in Atlanta , allowing users to book autonomous rides through the Uber app across a 65-square-mile area. They will not yet travel on highways or to the airport. CNBC reports:

> The vehicles feature Waymo's driverless technology, known as the Waymo Driver, integrated into battery electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs. [...] In Atlanta and Austin, Waymo rides are only available through Uber's app, while in San Francisco and Los Angeles, passengers book through the Waymo One app.

>

> Waymo said it would start with dozens of robotaxis live in Atlanta. The company says it currently has more than 1,500 autonomous vehicles in its U.S. fleet. The Waymo-Uber partnership only covers passenger rides, not Uber Eats deliveries.



[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/24/uber-waymo-robotaxi-service-opens-to-passengers-in-atlanta.html

Microsoft has [1]released a modern, open-source version of its classic [2]MS-DOS Editor -- built with Rust and [3]compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux . It's now simple called "Edit." Ars Technica reports:

> Aside from ease of use, Microsoft's main reason for creating the new version of Edit stems from a peculiar gap in modern Windows. "What motivated us to build Edit was the need for a default CLI text editor in 64-bit versions of Windows," [4]writes [Christopher Nguyen, a product manager on Microsoft's Windows Terminal team] while referring to the command-line interface, or CLI. "32-bit versions of Windows ship with the MS-DOS editor, but 64-bit versions do not have a CLI editor installed inbox." [...]

>

> Linux users can download Edit from the project's [5]GitHub releases page or install it through an [6]unofficial snap package . Oh, and if you're a fan of the vintage editor and crave a 16-bit text-mode for your retro machine that actually runs MS-DOS, you can [7]download a copy on the Internet Archive. [...]

>

> At 250KB, the new Edit maintains the lightweight philosophy of its predecessor while adding features the original couldn't dream of: Unicode support, regular expressions, and the ability to handle gigabyte-sized files. The original editor was limited to files smaller than 300KB depending on available conventional memory -- a constraint that seems quaint in an era of terabyte storage. But the web publication OMG! Ubuntu found that the modern Edit not only "works great on Ubuntu" but noted its speed when handling gigabyte-sized documents.



[1] https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/06/microsoft-edit-text-editor-ubuntu

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-DOS_Editor

[3] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/microsoft-surprises-ms-dos-fans-with-remake-of-ancient-text-editor-that-works-on-linux/

[4] https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/edit-is-now-open-source/

[5] https://github.com/microsoft/edit

[6] https://snapcraft.io/msedit

[7] https://archive.org/details/microsoft-ms-dos-editor

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Transport Topics:

> A ship that caught fire in the Pacific Ocean earlier this month has sunk. The vessel was abandoned in the middle of the pacific -- about 360 miles from land -- after a blaze. It was carrying about 3,000 vehicles of which about 800 were EVs. Damage caused by the fire was compounded by heavy weather, [1]causing the ship to take on water and ultimately sink on June 23 , the vessel's manager, Zodiac Maritime, [2]said in a statement on June 24.

>

> Smoke was initially seen emanating from a deck carrying electric vehicles, Zodiac said when the incident first happened. While the ship's relative distance from land means that it will sink into ocean that is approximately 5,000 meters deep, it also made a rapid response trickier. The second of three specialist vessels that were due to assist the ship arrived on June 15, more than a week after the fire first broke out. The vessel was carrying cars from a range of manufacturers including Chery Automobile Co. and Great Wall Motor Co. to Mexico, people familiar with the matter said at the time.



[1] https://www.ttnews.com/articles/ev-carrying-ship-sinks

[2] https://x.com/USCGAlaska/status/1934728533760450969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1934728533760450969%7Ctwgr%5E82e8f079fecacb733fb6732137410b54ae3e8b3a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ttnews.com%2Farticles%2Fev-carrying-ship-sinks

More than 110 million people across Europe [1]suffer high levels of health-damaging noise pollution , according to a report. The resulting physiological stress and sleep disturbance leads to 66,000 early deaths a year and many cases of heart disease, diabetes and depression. The Guardian:

> The [2]report , from the European Environment Agency (EEA), focuses on noise from cars, trains and aeroplanes and found that 20% of the population of the European Economic Area (EEA) were affected. Separate research, using a slightly lower threshold for dangerous noise pollution, found that 40% of the UK population were exposed to harmful transport noise.

>

> Seventeen million people endure particularly high noise pollution -- "long-term, high-annoyance" -- and almost 5 million suffer "severe" sleep disturbance. Fifteen million children live in areas of harmful noise. The harm to health from noise is greater than that from higher-profile risks including secondhand tobacco smoke or lead exposure, and incurs an economic cost of almost $116bn a year, the analysis found.

>

> The damage to health is likely to be an underestimate, the researchers said. Using the World Health Organization's stricter threshold for risky noise pollution gives an estimate of 150 million people across Europe exposed. The EU's target to cut the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030 will not be met without further action, the researchers said.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/24/noise-pollution-harms-health-of-millions-across-europe-report-finds

[2] https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/environmental-noise-in-europe-2025

Google has begun rolling out a feature that allows Chrome users on Android to [1]move the browser's address bar to the bottom of the screen . This capability has been available to iOS Chrome users since 2023 and aims to improve accessibility for users with larger devices.

Users can relocate the address bar by pressing and holding on it and selecting the move option, or by adjusting the setting through Chrome's settings menu. The feature addresses usability concerns for users of phones with bigger screens, where reaching the top of the display can prove difficult during one-handed operation.



[1] https://9to5google.com/2025/06/24/chrome-bottom-address-bar-android/

Western Digital has succeeded in having the sum it owed from a patent infringement case [1]reduced from $553 million down to just $1 in post-trial motions, when the judge found the plaintiff's claims had shifted during the course of the litigation. From a report:

> The storage biz was held by a California jury to have infringed on data encryption patents owned by SPEX Technologies Inc in October, relating to several of its self-encrypting hard drive products.

>

> WD was initially told to pay $316 million in damages, but District Judge James Selna ruled the company owed a further $237 million in interest charges earlier this year, bringing the total to more than half a billion dollars. In February, WD was given a week to file a bond or stump up the entire damages payment.

Selna granted Western Digital's post-trial motion to reduce damages, writing that "SPEX's damages theory changed as certain evidence and theories became unavailable" and there was "insufficient evidence from which the Court could determine a reasonable royalty."



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/24/wd_escapes_half_a_billion/

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> Apple customers aren't thrilled they're [1]getting an ad from the Apple Wallet app promoting the tech giant's Original Film, "F1 the Movie." Across social media, iPhone owners are complaining that their Wallet app sent out a push notification offering a $10 discount at Fandango for anyone buying two or more tickets to the film.

>

> The feature film, starring Brad Pitt, explores the world of Formula 1 and was shot at actual Grand Prix races. It also showcases the use of Apple technology, from the custom-made cameras made of iPhone parts used to film inside the cars, to the AirPods Max that Pitt's character, F1 driver Sonny Hayes, sleeps in. However well-received the film may be, iPhone users don't necessarily want their built-in utilities, like their digital wallet, marketing to them.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/24/iphone-customers-upset-by-apple-wallet-ad-pushing-f1-movie/

Philips Hue will raise prices across its smart lighting and security products for US customers starting July 1st, with parent company Signify [1]attributing the increases directly to tariffs .

The company initially notified customers that prices would "go up" through a promotional message before confirming the tariff-related reasoning in a statement. Signify has not provided specific pricing details or identified which products will be affected, though the company's statement suggests changes may impact the entire Hue lineup.

Some products already reflect higher US pricing, including the new $219.99 Hue Play Wall Washer light, which costs approximately 10% more than the European price when currencies are converted. The latest $32.99 Smart Button also exceeds the $24.99 launch price of its predecessor, while European pricing remained at 21.99 euro ($25.50) for both generations.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/692130/philips-hue-us-tariffs-smart-lighting-price-increase

Microsoft will offer free Windows 10 security updates through October 2026 to consumers who [1]enable Windows Backup or spend 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points , the company said today. The move provides alternatives to the previously announced [2]$30-per-PC Extended Security Update program for individuals wanting to continue using Windows 10 past its October 14, 2025 end-of-support date.

The company will notify Windows 10 users about the ESU program through the Settings app and notifications starting in July, with full rollout by mid-August. Both free options require a Microsoft Account, which the company has increasingly pushed in Windows 11. Business and organizational customers can still purchase up to three years of ESU updates but must pay for the service.

Windows 10 remains installed on 53% of Windows PCs worldwide, according to Statcounter data.



[1] https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2025/06/24/stay-secure-with-windows-11-copilot-pcs-and-windows-365-before-support-ends-for-windows-10/

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/31/2011223/want-to-keep-getting-windows-10-updates-itll-cost-you-30

A federal judge has ruled that Anthropic's use of copyrighted books to train its Claude AI models constitutes fair use, but [1]rejected the startup's defense for downloading millions of pirated books to build a permanent digital library.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted partial summary judgment to Anthropic in the copyright lawsuit filed by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson. The court found that training large language models on copyrighted works was "exceedingly transformative" under Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Anthropic downloaded over seven million books from pirate sites, according to court documents. The startup also purchased millions of print books, destroyed the bindings, scanned every page, and stored them digitally.

Both sets of books were used to train various versions of Claude, which generates over $1 billion in annual revenue. While the judge approved using books for AI training purposes, he ruled that downloading pirated copies to create what Anthropic called a "central library of all the books in the world" was not protected fair use. The case will proceed to trial on damages related to the pirated library copies.



[1] https://aifray.com/claude-ai-maker-anthropic-bags-key-fair-use-win-for-ai-platforms-but-faces-trial-over-damages-for-millions-of-pirated-works/

Amazon today announced its intention to bring same-day and next-day delivery to [1]"tens of millions" of people who live in live in smaller towns by the end of 2026. From a report:

> Speedier deliveries will be available to residents "in more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities," the company said in a press release Tuesday.

>

> Items categorized as "everyday essentials," including groceries, beauty products, household goods, or pet food, will now be available to small town or rural customers for same-day or next-day delivery. If they are Prime subscribers (currently $14.99 a month or $139 annually), they get unlimited free same-day delivery when spending over $25 at checkout.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/691877/amazon-same-day-delivery-small-town-rural

Leading AI companies including Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI are discovering significant inconsistencies in how their AI reasoning models operate, according to company researchers. The companies have deployed "chain-of-thought" techniques that ask AI models to solve problems step-by-step while showing their reasoning process, but are finding examples of "misbehaviour" where chatbots provide final responses that [1]contradict their displayed reasoning .

METR, a non-profit research group, identified an instance where Anthropic's Claude chatbot disagreed with a coding technique in its chain-of-thought but ultimately recommended it as "elegant." OpenAI research found that when models were trained to hide unwanted thoughts, they would conceal misbehaviour from users while continuing problematic actions, such as cheating on software engineering tests by accessing forbidden databases.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/b349f590-de84-455d-914a-cc5d9eef04a6

Goldman Sachs has officially [1]rolled out a generative AI assistant across the company to enhance productivity, with around 10,000 employees already using it for tasks like summarizing documents and data analysis. Reuters reports:

> With the AI tool's official company-wide launch, Goldman joins a long list of big banks already leveraging the technology to shape their operations in a targeted manner and help employees in day-to-day tasks. [...] The GS AI assistant will help Goldman employees in "summarizing complex documents and drafting initial content to performing data analysis," according to the internal memo.

"While the official line is that AI frees up employees for 'higher-value work,' the real-world consequence is a reduced need for human labor," notes Gizmodo in [2]their reporting . A banker told Gizmodo that because their AI system now processes 85% of all client responses for margin calls, "the operations team avoided hiring 30 new people."

Gizmodo asks pointedly: "If one AI tool is replacing the need for 30 back-office staff in one corner of one bank, what happens when the entire industry scales that up?"



[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/goldman-sachs-launches-ai-assistant-firmwide-memo-shows-2025-06-23/

[2] https://gizmodo.com/goldman-sachs-makes-a-huge-ai-bet-2000619276

Microsoft is turning the Xbox App on PC into a universal game launcher by [1]integrating libraries from multiple storefronts like Steam . The feature is currently limited to those in the Xbox Insider program. From the announcement:

> With the aggregated gaming library, players can conveniently launch games from Xbox, Game Pass, Battle.net and other leading PC storefronts from a single library within the Xbox PC app. Whether you're on a Windows PC or a handheld device, your Xbox library, hundreds of Game Pass titles, and all your installed games from leading PC storefronts will now be at your fingertips. When a player installs a game from a supported PC storefront, it will automatically appear in "My library" within the Xbox PC app, as well as the "Most recent" list of titles in the sidebar -- making it easier than ever to jump back into your games. And this is just the beginning. We'll continue rolling out support for additional PC storefronts over time.



[1] https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/06/23/xbox-insiders-aggregated-gaming-library-is-coming-to-the-xbox-pc-app/

Ford is [1]moving forward with its $3 billion EV battery plant in Michigan despite political pushback and the potential loss of key U.S. tax credits that make the project financially viable. Axios reports:

> Ford's argument is that by building batteries using technology licensed from China's leading battery producer, CATL, it is helping to re-shore important manufacturing expertise that was long ago ceded to China. [...] "LFP batteries are produced all around Europe, and the rest of the world," said Lisa Drake, Ford's vice president of technology platform programs and EV systems. "How can we compete if we don't have this technology? Somebody has to take the lead to do this," she said, adding that it will lead to homegrown innovation and the seeding of a domestic supply base. "I'm convinced this is the right thing to do for the United States," she said.

>

> Drake said the tax subsidies are even more important in the face of slower-than-expected EV demand. "When EV adoption slowed, it just became a huge headwind," she said. "The [production tax credit] allows us to keep on this path, and to keep going." "We don't want to back off on scaling, hiring or training in an industry we need to be competitive in the future," she said. "It would be a shame to build these facilities and then have to scale back on the most important part of it, which is the people. These are 1,700 jobs. They don't come along very often."

>

> Consumer tax credits for EV purchases get the most attention, but for manufacturers, the far more lucrative incentives come in the form of production tax credits. Companies could receive a tax credit of $35 per kilowatt-hour for each U.S.-made cell, and another $10 per kilowatt-hour for each battery pack. With an annual production capacity of 20 GWh, Ford's battery plant could potentially receive a $900 million tax credit, offsetting almost one-third of its investment. [...] The Republican-controlled Senate could vote as early as Wednesday on a budget bill that would rewrite language around EV tax credits. A House version of the bill passed last month effectively killed the production tax credits for manufacturers by severely tightening the eligibility requirements. It also specifically prohibited credits for batteries made in the U.S. under a Chinese licensing agreement -- a direct hit on Ford.



[1] https://www.axios.com/2025/06/23/ev-batteries-ford-senate-budget

An anonymous reader quotes a report from OilPrice.com:

> China installed its highest solar power capacity for a single month in May, according to official data, which showed mind-boggling figures that the country installed more solar capacity in a month than any other nation did for the entire 2024. With 93 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity installed in May, China [1]smashed its own record of 71 GW in December 2024 , per data from the National Energy Administration cited by [2]Bloomberg .

>

> China's solar capacity additions in May were rushed ahead of a new government policy -- effective June 1 -- to remove pricing protection for solar power projects. Under these protections, solar projects had all but guaranteed profits when they start operations. Another new rule, effective May 1, made connecting rooftop panels to the grid more difficult. These new policies are expected to moderate the growth in solar power additions this summer, analysts say.

A separate report notes that China's cumulative installed solar capacity has [3]surpassed 1 TW , according to the National Energy Administration (NEA). "By the end of May 2025, solar capacity had reached 1.08 TW (1,080 GW), up 56.9% year on year," reports pv magazine.

"NEA data show total power generation capacity stood at 3.61 TW at the end of May, an 18.8% increase from a year earlier."



[1] https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/China-Smashes-Solar-Installation-Record.html

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-23/china-solar-additions-surge-to-record-in-may-ahead-of-deadline?embedded-checkout=true

[3] https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/06/23/china-hits-1-tw-solar-milestone/

In a podcast interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel, Hinge CEO Justin McLeod described integrating AI into dating apps as promising but warned against relying on AI companionship, [1]likening it to "playing with fire " and consuming "junk food," potentially exacerbating the loneliness epidemic. He emphasized Hinge's mission to foster genuine human connections and highlighted upcoming AI-powered features designed to improve matchmaking and provide coaching to encourage real-world interactions. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

> Again, there's a fine line between prompting someone and coaching them inside Hinge, and we're coaching them in a different way within a more self-contained ecosystem. How do you think about that? Would you launch a full-on virtual girlfriend inside Hinge?

>

> Certainly not. I have lots of thoughts about this. I think there's actually quite a clear line between providing a tool that helps people do something or get better at something, and the line where it becomes this thing that is trying to become your friend, trying to mimic emotions, and trying to create an emotional connection with you. That I think is really playing with fire. I think we are already in a crisis of loneliness, and a loneliness epidemic. It's a complex issue, and it's baked into our culture, and it goes back to before the internet. But just since 2000, over the past 20 years, the amount of time that people spend together in real life with their friends has [2]dropped by 70 percent for young people. And it's been almost completely displaced by the time spent staring at screens. As a result, we've seen massive increases in mental health issues, and people's loneliness, anxiety, and depression.

>

> I think Mark Zuckerberg was [3]just quoted about this , that most people don't have enough friends. But he said we're going to give them AI chatbots. That he believes that AI chatbots can [4]become your friends . I think that's honestly an extraordinarily reductive view of what a friendship is, that it's someone there to say all the right things to you at the right moment The most rewarding parts of being in a friendship are being able to be there for someone else, to risk and be vulnerable, to share experiences with other conscious entities. So I think that while it will feel good in the moment, like junk food basically, to have an experience with someone who says all the right things and is available at the right time, it will ultimately, just like junk food, make people feel less healthy and mo re drained over time. It will displace the human relationships that people should be cultivating out in the real world.

>

> How do you compete with that? That is the other thing that is happening. It is happening. Whether it's good or bad. Hinge is offering a harder path. So you say, "We've got to get people out on dates." I honestly wonder about that, based on the younger folks I know who sometimes say, âoeI just don't want to leave the house. I would rather just talk to this computer. I have too much social pressure just leaving the house in this way.â That's what Hinge is promising to do. How do you compete with that? Do you take it head on? Are you marketing that directly?

>

> I'm starting to think very much about taking it head on. We want to continue at Hinge to champion human relationships, real human-to-human-in-real-life relationships, because I think they are an essential part of the human experience, and they're essential to our mental health. It's not just because I run a dating app and, obviously, it's important that people continue to meet. It really is a deep, personal mission of mine, and I think it's absolutely critical that someone is out there championing this. Because it's always easier to race to the bottom of the brain stem and offer people junk products that maybe sell in the moment but leave them worse off. That's the entire model that we've seen from what happened with social media. I think AI chatbots could frankly be much more dangerous in that respect.

>

> So what we can do is to become more and more effective and support people more and more, and make it as easy as possible to do the harder and riskier thing, which is to go out and form real relationships with real people. They can let you down and might not always be there for you, but it is ultimately a much more nourishing and enriching experience for people. We can also champion and raise awareness as much as we can. That's another reason why I'm here today talking with you, because I think it's important to put out the counter perspective, that we don't just reflexively believe that AI chatbots can be your friend, without thinking too deeply about what that really implies and what that really means.

>

> We keep going back to junk food, but people had to start waking up to the fact that this was harmful. We had to do a lot of campaigns to educate people that drinking Coca-Cola and eating fast food was detrimental to their health over the long term. And then as people became more aware of that, a whole personal wellness industry started to grow, and now that's a huge industry, and people spend a lot of time focusing on their diet and nutrition and mental health, and all these other things. I think similarly, social wellness needs to become a category like that. It's thinking about not just how do I get this junk social experience of social media where I get fed outraged news and celebrity gossip and all that stuff, but how do I start building a sense of social wellness, where I can create an enriching, intimate connection with important people in my life.

You can listen to the podcast [5]here .



[1] https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/687683/hinge-ceo-justin-mcleod-dating-app-ai-relationships-tinder

[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

[3] https://sfist.com/2025/05/01/mark-zuckerberg-gets-roasted-for-saying-the-average-american-has-fewer-than-three-friends-while-pushing-ai-chatbots/

[4] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/mark-zuckerberg-ai-digital-future-0bb04de7

[5] https://podcasts.voxmedia.com/show/decoder-with-nilay-patel