This week, we learned that OpenAI had stopped training new artificial intelligence models while the company reviewed its security measures. Will this encourage other labs to hit the brakes too?
Then, the historian Jill Lepore joins to discuss her new book about the artificial state — or, as she describes it, “the rule of humans by machines manufactured by corporations.”
And finally, why is Google buying up the data of the defunct Spirit Airlines? It’s time for our new segment “Train of Thought.”
Guests:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://jlepore.scholars.harvard.edu/biocv" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jill Lepore</a>, professor of history and law at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of the new book <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324098423" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State.”</a></li>
</ul>
Additional Reading:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-slows-model-training-bolster-security-after-hugging-face-hack-2026-08-18/" rel="noopener noreferrer">OpenAI Slows Model Training to Bolster Security After Hugging Face Hack</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/books/review/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-artificial-state-jill-lepore.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Government for the People, but Not by People</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/google-buy-spirit-airlines-business-data-10-million-2026-08-17/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google to Buy Spirit Airlines Business Data for $10 Million</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annatong/2026/04/16/ais-new-training-data-your-old-work-slacks-and-emails/" rel="noopener noreferrer">A.I.’s New Training Data: Your Old Work Slacks and Emails</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/" rel="noopener noreferrer">We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon A.I. Training Facility.</a></li>
</ul>
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OpenAI’s Two-Week Pause + Jill Lepore on the Threat of the “Artificial State” + Train of Thought

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