Inside the Hive
Kara Swisher on Donald Trump’s Depravity, Elon Musk’s Ego, and Making Mark Zuckerberg Sweat
The tech writer imparts a few lessons on how to see through Big Tech’s BS and delivers a blunt message for the industry’s biggest buffoons: “I’m not your friend.”
Inside the Hive
The Apple Vision Pro Might Look Funny, but It Could Change Everything
Vanity Fair special correspondent Nick Bilton discusses the mind-expanding capabilities of the headset and what it was like to interview CEO Tim Cook in the flesh.
Excerpt
How Elon Musk’s Twitter Ultimatum Brought Employees to Their Breaking Point: “People Were Emotionally a Wreck”
The billionaire CEO subjected staffers to brutal loyalty and competence tests immediately after taking the helm, as Zoë Schiffer writes in an excerpt of her forthcoming book, Extremely Hardcore. “With Elon,” one engineer recounted, “every day could be your last.”
exclusive
Why Tim Cook Is Going All In on the Apple Vision Pro
Inside Apple Park, the tech giant’s CEO talks about the genesis of a “mind-blowing” new device that could change the way we live and work. A-list directors are already on board—“My experience was religious,” says James Cameron—but will your average iPhone user drop $3,500 on a headset?
LEVIN REPORT
Mark Cuban Explains to Elon Musk Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Is Not “Racism”
It’s not clear if Cuban has changed hearts and minds.
On The Scene
Walter Isaacson: Elon Musk Is a Genius When It Comes to Engineering, Not Human Emotion
The storied biographer sat down with Richard Stengel at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York to discuss his time with one of the most divisive people for his latest book, Elon Musk.
THE LONG GAME
Bryan Johnson’s Antiaging Quest Has Made Headlines. But There’s More to His Story
The biohacker tech bro has spoken at length about his twin pursuits of eternal life and a younger penis. Now, he’s denying his ex-girlfriend’s allegations, amid news of a settlement.
Social Media
“The People Have Spoken”: Elon Musk Reinstates Conspiracist Alex Jones’ Account on X After User Poll
The disgraced Infowars host was banned from Twitter in 2018 after spreading lies about the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2012.
Sure Sure
Elon Musk Was Just Expressing a “Point of View” by Telling Advertisers to “Go F--k” Themselves, Says X CEO Who Likely Shat Herself as He Did
He definitely wasn’t lighting revenue on fire or anything.
Tech
Elon Musk’s X Files Lawsuit After Losing Top Advertisers Over Nazi Content
Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog sued by X, has called the complaint a “frivolous” attempt to silence critics.
Tech
Elon Musk Wants to Banish Bots. Oh, but X Users Have to Foot the Bill
The owner of X, who’s long been bent on a paid-subscription model, is now having his platform charge some new users abroad $1 annually in a test of the “Not a Bot” program.
Man vs. Machine
Inside the Legal Tussle Between Authors and AI: “We’ve Got to Attack This From All Directions”
As pressure mounts in the AI wars, heavy-hitting authors are headed to court over what one observer describes as “mass theft” of their work. But when it comes to ChatGPT and its ilk, copyright law isn’t so cut-and-dried.
Failure to Launch
“Are You Dating Martin Shkreli?”: How A Pharma Bro Fling Upended Madison Campbell’s Start-Up
The Leda Health cofounder describes her romance with one of the most reviled men in America as a match made in heaven. (“We’re both homebodies” and “health care pariahs,” she tells Vanity Fair.) The one hitch: convincing her colleagues.
Tech
Elon Musk Isn’t Just Enabling Misinformation About the Israel-Hamas War—He’s Fueling It Himself
The owner of X boosted a doctored video of a CNN war correspondent that falsely suggests she was an actor who didn’t need to take cover from a missile salvo.
Musk Migration Musings
“It's called saving lives”: German Government Strikes Back At Elon Musk’s Criticism of Migrant Rescue
The Tesla CEO said video of German NGOs helping migrants on the Mediterranean had “invasion vibes.”
Tech
Apple’s Next Era Is Revealing Itself With the iPhone 15
The latest iPhone has some new bells and whistles—better camera, improved resolution—but it’s a spatial video feature that points to radical changes ahead with next year’s release of the Apple Vision Pro.
Tech
Elon Musk’s Plan to Rid X of Bots Might Actually Rid It of Users
The billionaire CEO floated a paid-subscription model for the platform, which has been hemorrhaging ad revenue since his tenure.
Tech
Elon Musk, No Friend to Joe Biden, Looks to Grow Tesla’s Foreign Footprint
The billionaire CEO, who has been accused of ignoring US labor laws, is reportedly in talks with Turkey and Saudi Arabia about establishing EV factories abroad.
CRYPTO WARS
Binance Founder CZ Says SBF’s Decision to “Bad-Mouth” Him to US Authorities Was “Not Smart”
In a new podcast, Changpeng Zhao tells the coauthor of Billion Dollar Whale about his tumultuous relationship with rival cryptofinance founder Sam Bankman-Fried—and his key contribution to the fall of FTX.
In Conversation
Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk’s Boswell, Tells the “Tale of an Impulsive, Dark, but Also Risk-Taking Dude”
In a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, the storied biographer unpacks the varied “personalities and demons dancing around” in Musk’s head. Plus: Isaacson’s thoughts on the new CNN boss, Twitter’s turbulence, and the resilience of democracy heading into 2024.
Tech
Elon Musk Did Major Damage to a Ukrainian War Offensive Last Year: Report
The mercurial billionaire turned off Starlink communications just ahead of a submersible drone attack, thinking that the assault might unleash nuclear war, according to a forthcoming book.