How California will Regulate Chatbots | EP 158

This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed a big package of A.I. and social media bills into law — including the first state law in the United States to regulate A.I. companions. We talk through what stood out to us in the package and whether these protections will work. Then, the subpoena that has the whole tech world talking. Nathan Calvin, general counsel at Encode, an A.I. safety advocacy group that has been critical of OpenAI, talks with us about why he thinks the company is investigating him. And finally, grab your opera glasses. It’s time for the first edition of The Hard Fork Review of Slop.

For more on this episode, go to
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/po...

Guest:
Nathan Calvin, vice president of state affairs and general counsel at Encode

Additional Reading:

California Regulates A.I. Companions
https://www.platformer.news/californi...

OpenAI Thinks Its Critics Are Funded by Billionaires. Now It’s Going After Them.
https://sfstandard.com/2025/09/02/ope...

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Coming up
00:00:33 - Waymo's going to London
00:01:12 - This week on the show
00:01:39 - The Bills, Bills, Bills coming from California
00:22:58 - Interview with Encode VP Nathan Calvin
00:47:14 - The Hard Fork Review of Slop

Hard Fork is a weekly look into the future that's already here. Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore stories from the bleeding edge of tech.
Casey’s publication, Platformer: https://www.platformer.news/


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Credits
“Hard Fork” is hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton. Produced by Rachel Cohn and Whitney Jones. Engineering by Chris Wood and original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Sophia Lanman and Rowan Niemisto. Fact-checking by Will Peischel. Our executive producer is Jen Poyant. Video production by Chris Schodt, Jake Nicol, and Sawyer Roque. Video QC by Isabella Anderson. Podcast Art Direction by Benjamin Wilkerson Tousley. Podcast Art & Animations by Julian Hespenheide. Additional Motion graphics by Phil Robibero. Thumbnails by Julia Moburg, Elizabeth Bristow, and Yvonne Stender. Special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Pui-Wing Tam, Niko Gallogly, Kate LoPresti and Jeffrey Miranda