Platformer

Claude Code creator Boris Cherny on the end of the software engineer

Wed, 27 May 2026 00:05:25 GMT

In the third episode of the Platformer podcast, Claude Code creator Boris Cherny explains how he's automating his own job. He hasn't written a line of code in more than six months, and thinks the title "software engineer" could start to disappear as soon as this year.

Platformer's Casey Newton talks to the inventor of the fastest-growing AI coding tool in the world about what Cherny actually means when he says coding is "solved," why he predicts companies will need both far fewer engineers and far more of them, what he tells new computer science grads about where to build a career now, and whether all this added productivity will ever let anyone work less. (Hint: so far, it just means doing more).

Cherny also explains the surprise that keeps upending his own predictions: the people getting the most out of AI tools are increasingly electricians, doctors, and carpenters rather than professional engineers.

Plus, Platformer fellow Ella Markianos joins at the top of the show to discuss a new Microsoft study on AI and jobs.

Disclosure: Casey's fiancé works at Anthropic.

Who else should we have on this show? Let us know at casey@platformer.news.

Sponsored by Atlassian Rovo | Become an AI-native team with Rovo. https://www.atlassian.com/rovo

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Why Doomers Are Wrong about AI and Jobs with Google's James Manyika

Tue, 19 May 2026 23:23:25 GMT

In the second episode of the Platformer podcast, Google SVP James Manyika makes a bet: AI is not going to wipe out half of white-collar jobs in the next two years, no matter what the AI CEOs keep telling you. Platformer's Casey Newton talks to one of tech's most credentialed thinkers on AI and the economy about why labor markets move slower than the technology, what the "missed use" of AI means for countries the boom risks leaving behind, and what really keeps him up at night about AI and work (hint: it's not job loss). Plus: Platformer fellow Ella Markianos brings us a fresh survey of economists on what *they* think will happen with AI and jobs.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/james-manyika-google-ai-jobs-io-2026/

Who else should we have on this show? Let us know at casey@platformer.news.

Sponsored by Atlassian Rovo | Become an AI-native team with Rovo. https://www.atlassian.com/rovo

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The best argument I’ve heard for why AI won't take your job with Box CEO Aaron Levie

Wed, 13 May 2026 02:07:42 GMT

In the first episode of the Platformer podcast, Box CEO Aaron Levie makes the case that you'll keep your job — you just won't recognize it. Casey talks to one of enterprise tech's most optimistic voices on why the "SaaSpocalypse" thesis is wrong, what the seat-based SaaS model really looks like in an agentic world, and why he thinks AI is going to create more jobs than it kills. Plus: Platformer fellow Ella Markianos talks about fresh survey data that shows a surprising divide in who's actually using AI at work.

Read the newsletter here: https://platformer.news/ai-job-loss-box-ceo-aaron-levie/

Who else should we have on this show? Let us know at casey@platformer.news.

Sponsored by Atlassian Rovo | Become an AI-native team with Rovo. atlassian.com/rovo

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The Trump administration's AI doomer moment

Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

A year ago, officials all but sneered at the idea of AI safety. A new frontier model has them reconsidering.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/trump-administration-doomers-ai/

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How we're shaking up Platformer for the AI era

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 01:26:52 GMT

On newsletters in the age of AI automation. PLUS: Musk and OpenAI in court, and China blocks Meta's Manus acquisition.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/platformer-schedule-changes-ai-automation/

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The scientific case for being nice to your chatbot

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 01:15:13 GMT

New research confirms that LLMs often perform better when you encourage them. But why?

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/chatbot-emotion-research-anthropic-alignment-interpretability/

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Sam Altman’s second thoughts

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:06:21 GMT

OpenAI’s CEO is asking the public to lower the temperature on AI. But who turned it up in the first place?

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/sam-altman-ai-backlash/

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Why Anthropic’s new model has cybersecurity experts rattled

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 23:56:06 GMT

The company says it has built its most dangerous model yet. Can its coalition of internet companies fix the internet before others catch up?

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/anthropic-mythos-cybersecurity-risk-experts/

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Can you have child safety and Section 230, too?

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 02:23:15 GMT

The verdicts in last week’s social media trials have alarmed open-internet advocates. But it’s possible to regulate platform design while also protecting speech.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/social-media-trials-230-content-design/

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Spotify takes on its doppelgänger problem

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:19:27 GMT

The company is taking new steps to stop AI impersonation — but across the internet, the problem continues to grow. PLUS: Anthropic in court, and Meta loses in New Mexico.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/spotify-artist-profile-protection/

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Why Meta is retreating from encryption

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 01:19:52 GMT

In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg called privacy the future of social networking. Not anymore.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/instagram-encryption-meta-whatsapp/

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Inside the backlash to the AI war machine

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 02:25:55 GMT

A protest at OpenAI headquarters suggests the backlash to military AI is growing — even if its politics are still half-formed. PLUS: The Pentagon declares Anthropic a supply chain risk.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/openai-protest-military-ai-movement/

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What is OpenAI going to do when the truth comes out?

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 03:46:09 GMT

Sam Altman’s deal with the Pentagon seems too good to be true. What happens when the public realizes that?

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/openai-pentagon-surveillance-drones-backlash/

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The authoritarian AI crisis has arrived

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 01:06:09 GMT

AI safety researchers have long worried that a government would seek to use AI for domestic surveillance and autonomous killing. The Pentagon’s fight with Anthropic threatens to make it a reality.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/anthropic-pentagon-authoritarian-ai/

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The infinite scroll goes on trial

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 02:15:50 GMT

Testifying before a jury in LA, Mark Zuckerberg makes the case that platform design is about free expression. But the walls are closing in on Section 230.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/the-infinite-scroll-goes-on-trial/

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Why the infinite-scroll childhood may be coming to an end

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 02:47:43 GMT

A lawsuit that begins in LA this week, along with a new investigation into TikTok by the European Commission, could change social apps forever.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/social-media-addiction-trial-eu-tiktok-investigation/

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The reporter who tried to replace herself with a bot

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 02:14:58 GMT

Anxiety about AI replacing entry-level jobs is on the rise. Could a state-of-the-art chatbot do the job of a Platformer fellow?

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/journalism-job-automation-claude/

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Five ways of thinking about Moltbook

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 02:36:04 GMT

What a social network for AI agents tells us about the future.

Read the newsletter here: https://www.platformer.news/moltbook-ai-agents-security-content-moderation/

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What a big study of teens says about social media — and what it can’t

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 02:27:33 GMT

The “moral panic” framing misses how platforms actually harm kids.

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The AI productivity paradox

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 02:06:27 GMT

Managers say it makes them more productive. Workers don't. What gives?

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What I learned while cloning my own voice

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 01:11:50 GMT

Announcing Platformer+, a new way to listen to our columns.

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Grok gets blocked

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 01:06:51 GMT

More than a week into a deepfake scandal, a handful of foreign governments have found the strength to do what Apple, Google, and the United States will not.

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