Saahil Desai
@saahildesai.bsky.social
22K followers 210 following 54 posts
Senior Editor at The Atlantic. Please listen closely as our menu options have changed.
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Reposted by Saahil Desai
saahildesai.bsky.social
What's safer, Waymo's 5,000 pound robotaxis or ChatGPT's interactive text box? I wrote about how Waymo offers a lesson to the rest of the AI industry. As one expert told me: “I like to tell people that if Waymo worked as well as ChatGPT, they’d be dead." www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Move Fast and Break Nothing
Waymo’s robotaxis are probably safer than ChatGPT.
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Saahil Desai
rtsugar.bsky.social
I would say that I contributed to the pumpkin spice discourse, but there isn't one, which is sort of the point! www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
A Terrible Week for Pumpkin Spice
Tariffs are coming for the flavor of fall.
www.theatlantic.com
saahildesai.bsky.social
"This year, among other innovations, we will be graced with pumpkin-spice-dipped waffle cones, pumpkin-spice protein shakes, and pumpkin-spice spreadable cheese. That there are still products left to pumpkin spice-ify is a testament to human ingenuity" www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
A Terrible Week for Pumpkin Spice
Tariffs are coming for the flavor of fall.
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Saahil Desai
stossel.bsky.social
"Fuentes has said that Hitler was 'really fucking cool' and posited that 'we need to go back to burning women alive.'"

Nick Fuentes, who makes Laura Loomer look like a model of restraint, has 730k followers on X, acolytes at DHS, and has dined with Donald Trump
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Is There a Line That Nick Fuentes Won’t Cross?
No matter how far the 27-year-old influencer pushes his bigotry, his influence continues to rise.
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Saahil Desai
nancywalecki.bsky.social
When Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, and other 1970s music legends needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad, Fred Walecki, was there. My love song to him in @theatlantic.com September issue: bit.ly/45eZIfa
My Father, Guitar Guru to the Rock Gods
When the greatest musicians of the 1970s needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad was there.
bit.ly
Reposted by Saahil Desai
lilashroff.bsky.social
On Tuesday afternoon, ChatGPT encouraged me to cut my wrists. Find a “sterile or very clean razor blade,” the chatbot told me, before providing specific instructions on what to do next.

My latest for @theatlantic.com:

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
ChatGPT Gave Instructions for Murder, Self-Mutilation, and Devil Worship
OpenAI’s chatbot also said “Hail Satan.”
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Saahil Desai
anneapplebaum.bsky.social
"Five months into its unprecedented dismantling of foreign-aid programs, the Trump administration has given the order to incinerate food instead of sending it to people who need it"
@hana-kiros.bsky.social, on spending $130,000 to burn food worth $800,000
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
The Trump Administration Is About to Incinerate 500 Tons of Emergency Food
Federal workers warned for months that the high-energy biscuits would go to waste.
www.theatlantic.com
saahildesai.bsky.social
"Jordan Lasker, according to The New York Times, is 'an academic who opposes affirmative action and writes often about I.Q. and race.' He is also one of the internet’s most prominent boosters of race science" – @alibreland.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
The Race-Science Blogger Cited by The New York Times
Jordan Lasker, known online as ‘Crémieux,’ is taking a victory lap.
www.theatlantic.com
saahildesai.bsky.social
"If OpenAI introduced us to the Hallmark-card version of AI writing, Google is ushering in a new chapter where chatbots are capable of drafting the sort of intimate letters you might write to your best friend." Such a good one by @lilashroff.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
The AI Birthday Letter That Blew Me Away
Google is ushering in an era of custom chatbots.
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Saahil Desai
yeahyeahyasmin.bsky.social
For all the criticism—and praise—of Zohran Mamdani's public-grocery plan, it's never been attempted in a major US city. It would be a total experiment.

Experimentation is risky. But given NYC's food affordability crisis, so is doing nothing.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
New York Is Hungry for a Big Grocery Experiment
Small towns have tried public grocery stores. How would they fare in a major city?
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Saahil Desai
yeahyeahyasmin.bsky.social
MAHA's crackdown on food additives has another target—one you've probably never heard of. Prepare to hear a lot more about emulsifiers.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Brace Yourself for Watery Mayo and Spiky Ice Cream
MAHA is coming for emulsifiers.
www.theatlantic.com