Thomas Germain
@thomasgermain.bsky.social
Tech correspondent for the BBC. I write about how we use technology, and how technology uses us. Contact info on tomgermain.com
UPDATE: ChatGPT is adding new lore to my hot dog career. Also it says I have a new job at the AP? Here I am slaving away at the BBC, I wish someone had told me
February 18, 2026 at 9:56 PM
UPDATE: ChatGPT is adding new lore to my hot dog career. Also it says I have a new job at the AP? Here I am slaving away at the BBC, I wish someone had told me
Reposted by Thomas Germain
X's algorithm is in fact doing what you think it's doing. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 18, 2026 at 5:24 PM
X's algorithm is in fact doing what you think it's doing. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
February 18, 2026 at 4:37 PM
I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
Reposted by Thomas Germain
. @thomasgermain.bsky.social tricked ChatGPT and Google's AI so now they say I'm a "passionate amateur" at eating hot dogs and known in the industry for my "triple-dog" speed www.bbc.com/future/artic...
February 18, 2026 at 2:29 PM
. @thomasgermain.bsky.social tricked ChatGPT and Google's AI so now they say I'm a "passionate amateur" at eating hot dogs and known in the industry for my "triple-dog" speed www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Reposted by Thomas Germain
Current state of things: One Fox News host casually declares that Epstein’s money comes from “Jewish billionaires” and a “Jewish banking family,” another responds that he was a “sex rabbi.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jes...
February 13, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Current state of things: One Fox News host casually declares that Epstein’s money comes from “Jewish billionaires” and a “Jewish banking family,” another responds that he was a “sex rabbi.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jes...
Weird I guess there are a lot of people who don’t like giant tech companies with the power of nation states following their every move?
Ring cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlash
Ring cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlash
Flock off
buff.ly
February 12, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Weird I guess there are a lot of people who don’t like giant tech companies with the power of nation states following their every move?
Reposted by Thomas Germain
Episode 1 is OUT!! 🥳 🙌
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
February 12, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Episode 1 is OUT!! 🥳 🙌
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
I just launched a brand new tech column AND a podcast with the BBC. The show's called The Interface, new episodes every Thursday
With your support, I’m prepared to answer the biggest question in tech: what is a computer??
Let me tell you all about it ~~
app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
With your support, I’m prepared to answer the biggest question in tech: what is a computer??
Let me tell you all about it ~~
app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
The Interface
Listen to The Interface
app.magellan.ai
February 12, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I just launched a brand new tech column AND a podcast with the BBC. The show's called The Interface, new episodes every Thursday
With your support, I’m prepared to answer the biggest question in tech: what is a computer??
Let me tell you all about it ~~
app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
With your support, I’m prepared to answer the biggest question in tech: what is a computer??
Let me tell you all about it ~~
app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
It hit me that there isn't a single service that shows you ALL the restaurants in an area. Google Maps won't show me all the spots on a street near my house no matter how far I zoom in. Every other app is the same
What if god forbid I want to make my own decision instead of relying on an algorithm?
What if god forbid I want to make my own decision instead of relying on an algorithm?
February 12, 2026 at 12:48 AM
It hit me that there isn't a single service that shows you ALL the restaurants in an area. Google Maps won't show me all the spots on a street near my house no matter how far I zoom in. Every other app is the same
What if god forbid I want to make my own decision instead of relying on an algorithm?
What if god forbid I want to make my own decision instead of relying on an algorithm?
NEW: No TikTok account? They're tracking you anyway
TikTok harvests sensitive and embarrassing information about you even if you don't use the app. Last week I watched websites send TikTok data on cancer diagnoses, fertility treatment, and mental health crises
Here's what you can do about it:
/1
TikTok harvests sensitive and embarrassing information about you even if you don't use the app. Last week I watched websites send TikTok data on cancer diagnoses, fertility treatment, and mental health crises
Here's what you can do about it:
/1
February 11, 2026 at 6:12 PM
NEW: No TikTok account? They're tracking you anyway
TikTok harvests sensitive and embarrassing information about you even if you don't use the app. Last week I watched websites send TikTok data on cancer diagnoses, fertility treatment, and mental health crises
Here's what you can do about it:
/1
TikTok harvests sensitive and embarrassing information about you even if you don't use the app. Last week I watched websites send TikTok data on cancer diagnoses, fertility treatment, and mental health crises
Here's what you can do about it:
/1
Reposted by Thomas Germain
Some Personal News, as they say! very, very excited to announce that from Feb 12 I'll be co-hosting a new weekly BBC show, The Interface, along with the stellar @karenhao.bsky.social and @thomasgermain.bsky.social!
New BBC Studios podcast The Interface explores how tech is changing everything
The podcast will launch on 12th February
www.bbc.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Some Personal News, as they say! very, very excited to announce that from Feb 12 I'll be co-hosting a new weekly BBC show, The Interface, along with the stellar @karenhao.bsky.social and @thomasgermain.bsky.social!
Your phone doesn’t take photos anymore. It builds them.
Most of it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s AI hallucination
Once you spot it, you can’t unsee it www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Most of it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s AI hallucination
Once you spot it, you can’t unsee it www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Your phone edits all your photos with AI - is it changing your view of reality?
From simple enhancements to hallucinated facial features, modern phones choose how our memories will look. You might love the results, but they could alter how we see the world.
www.bbc.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Your phone doesn’t take photos anymore. It builds them.
Most of it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s AI hallucination
Once you spot it, you can’t unsee it www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Most of it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s AI hallucination
Once you spot it, you can’t unsee it www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Happy birthday Elmo
Today is Elmo's birthday, which is one of the greatest mysteries known to science
Every year, Elmo turns three and a half years old – again. I forced some of the world’s most respected astrophysicists to write equations that explain how this is possible gizmodo.com/elmo-age-bir...
Every year, Elmo turns three and a half years old – again. I forced some of the world’s most respected astrophysicists to write equations that explain how this is possible gizmodo.com/elmo-age-bir...
Is Elmo a Time Traveler? We Talked to Physicists to Find Out
Scientists offer new theories to unravel how it’s possible that, after 44 years, Elmo is still 3.5 years old.
gizmodo.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Happy birthday Elmo
Great news for the "I want AI that kills people" crowd www.reuters.com/business/aer...
Ukraine to share wartime combat data with allies to help train AI
Ukraine will establish a system allowing its allies to train their artificial intelligence models on Kyiv's valuable combat data collected throughout the nearly four-year war with Russia, newly appoin...
www.reuters.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Great news for the "I want AI that kills people" crowd www.reuters.com/business/aer...
The fact that this feature exists means OpenAI paid 100s of people to have e-sex with the robot to make sure it doesn’t get weird
October 15, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The fact that this feature exists means OpenAI paid 100s of people to have e-sex with the robot to make sure it doesn’t get weird
My biggest regret in life is choosing a career where you never get to use walkie talkies
August 25, 2025 at 1:54 AM
My biggest regret in life is choosing a career where you never get to use walkie talkies
YouTube is testing AI on your videos without consent. Today it’s filters. Tomorrow, who decides what’s real www.bbc.com/future/artic...
YouTube secretly used AI to edit people's videos. The results could bend reality
YouTube made AI enhancements to videos without telling users or asking permission. As AI quietly mediates our world, what happens to our shared connections with real life?
www.bbc.com
August 24, 2025 at 10:35 PM
YouTube is testing AI on your videos without consent. Today it’s filters. Tomorrow, who decides what’s real www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Reposted by Thomas Germain
Had a great time at lectures on tap at @caveatnyc.bsky.social watching @thomasgermain.bsky.social open our eyes to the deeper side of YouTube
June 27, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Had a great time at lectures on tap at @caveatnyc.bsky.social watching @thomasgermain.bsky.social open our eyes to the deeper side of YouTube
Google has a new button. It might destroy the web as you know it. Experts say the new “AI Mode” is an asteroid aimed at the heart of the internet, one that could decimate millions of websites. It seems this chapter of online history is over. Here’s what comes next: www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Is Google about to destroy the web?
Google says adding more AI to its search engine will rejuvenate the internet. Others predict an apocalypse for websites. One thing is clear: this era of online history is closing.
www.bbc.com
June 16, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Google has a new button. It might destroy the web as you know it. Experts say the new “AI Mode” is an asteroid aimed at the heart of the internet, one that could decimate millions of websites. It seems this chapter of online history is over. Here’s what comes next: www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Reposted by Thomas Germain
Google wrote the rules, they created the game and they rewarded the players.
Now they're turning around and saying, 'That's my infrastructure, the web just happens to live in it.’
🔗 www.bbc.com/future/artic... by @thomasgermain.bsky.social
Now they're turning around and saying, 'That's my infrastructure, the web just happens to live in it.’
🔗 www.bbc.com/future/artic... by @thomasgermain.bsky.social
Is Google about to destroy the web?
Google says adding more AI to its search engine will rejuvenate the internet. Others predict an apocalypse for websites. One thing is clear: this era of online history is closing.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Google wrote the rules, they created the game and they rewarded the players.
Now they're turning around and saying, 'That's my infrastructure, the web just happens to live in it.’
🔗 www.bbc.com/future/artic... by @thomasgermain.bsky.social
Now they're turning around and saying, 'That's my infrastructure, the web just happens to live in it.’
🔗 www.bbc.com/future/artic... by @thomasgermain.bsky.social
Right now, there are trains in California that can’t start until someone inserts a floppy disk.
50 years into Microsoft’s reign, Windows XP and MS-DOS still run elevators, hospitals, ATMs and more. I went inside the ghost world of obsolete PCs
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
50 years into Microsoft’s reign, Windows XP and MS-DOS still run elevators, hospitals, ATMs and more. I went inside the ghost world of obsolete PCs
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Still booting after all these years: The people stuck using ancient Windows computers
As technology marches on, some people get trapped using decades-old software and devices. Here's a look inside the strange, stubborn world of obsolete Windows machines.
www.bbc.com
May 19, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Right now, there are trains in California that can’t start until someone inserts a floppy disk.
50 years into Microsoft’s reign, Windows XP and MS-DOS still run elevators, hospitals, ATMs and more. I went inside the ghost world of obsolete PCs
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
50 years into Microsoft’s reign, Windows XP and MS-DOS still run elevators, hospitals, ATMs and more. I went inside the ghost world of obsolete PCs
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Reposted by Thomas Germain
For years, YouTube didn't disclose how many videos it hosted. That fundamental-but-missing figure about one of the most important parts of our digital communication infrastructure is what launched our big @idpiumass.bsky.social YouTube project. But now there's an official number(ish)! [1/7]
April 24, 2025 at 6:19 PM
For years, YouTube didn't disclose how many videos it hosted. That fundamental-but-missing figure about one of the most important parts of our digital communication infrastructure is what launched our big @idpiumass.bsky.social YouTube project. But now there's an official number(ish)! [1/7]
Reposted by Thomas Germain
"Republicans are advancing what could become the largest expansion of immigration enforcement funding in U.S. history—between $175 and $345 billion... and so far none of the key players will answer the simplest question: What, exactly, are taxpayers being asked to fund?" via @migrantinsider.com
Washington’s Deportation Jackpot
The biggest immigration story no one is talking about is the funding.
migrantinsider.com
April 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
"Republicans are advancing what could become the largest expansion of immigration enforcement funding in U.S. history—between $175 and $345 billion... and so far none of the key players will answer the simplest question: What, exactly, are taxpayers being asked to fund?" via @migrantinsider.com
Reposted by Thomas Germain
If you call the Oregon Tele-Pome hotline today, I’ll read you a poem. 503-928-7008.
This heart-poem from my core was originally published by @fonografeditions.bsky.social
Thanks to @mojgani.bsky.social and @oregonhumanities.org for putting together the incredible hotline & for featuring me.
This heart-poem from my core was originally published by @fonografeditions.bsky.social
Thanks to @mojgani.bsky.social and @oregonhumanities.org for putting together the incredible hotline & for featuring me.
April 13, 2025 at 2:53 PM
If you call the Oregon Tele-Pome hotline today, I’ll read you a poem. 503-928-7008.
This heart-poem from my core was originally published by @fonografeditions.bsky.social
Thanks to @mojgani.bsky.social and @oregonhumanities.org for putting together the incredible hotline & for featuring me.
This heart-poem from my core was originally published by @fonografeditions.bsky.social
Thanks to @mojgani.bsky.social and @oregonhumanities.org for putting together the incredible hotline & for featuring me.