This week Meta is on trial, in a landmark case over whether it illegally snuffed out competition when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. We discuss some of the most surprising revelations from old email messages made public as evidence in the case, and explain why we think the F.T.C.’s argument has gotten weaker in the years since the lawsuit was filed. Then we hear from Princeton computer scientist Arvind Narayanan on why he believes it will take decades, not years, for A.I. to transform society in the ways the big A.I. labs predict. And finally, what do dolphins, Katy Perry and A1 steak sauce have in common? They’re all important characters in our latest round of HatGPT. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/events/hardforklive">Tickets to Hard Fork live</a> are on sale now! See us June 24 at SFJAZZ. Guest:<ul><li><a href="https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~arvindn/">Arvind Narayanan</a>, director of the Center for Information Technology at Princeton and co-author of “AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What it Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference.”</li></ul> Additional Reading:<ul><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/technology/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-instagram-whatsapp.html">What if Mark Zuckerberg Had Not Bought Instagram and WhatsApp?</a></li><li><a href="https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology">AI as Normal Technology</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/arts/blue-origin-lauren-sanchez-katy-perry.html">One Giant Stunt for Womankind</a></li></ul> We want to hear from you. Email us at <a href="mailto:hardfork@nytimes.com">hardfork@nytimes.com</a>. Find “Hard Fork” on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hardfork">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork">TikTok</a>.
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