Karen Hao
Author of Empire of AI; investigative AI reporter
Former senior AI editor at MIT Technology Review and reporter for The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. Her 2025 book Empire of AI investigates OpenAI, data labor and the resource costs of large models.
Key arguments & positions
- Argues the dominant scale-at-all-costs approach to AI is a choice, not a technical necessity, and that it concentrates power and cost in a few firms.
- Documents the labor behind AI — data annotators and content moderators in Kenya, Venezuela and elsewhere — as a core part of the story, not a footnote.
- Reports on the water and energy footprint of data centers in the communities that host them.
Accomplishments
- Author of Empire of AI (2025), a New York Times bestseller investigating OpenAI.
- Former senior AI editor at MIT Technology Review; has reported for The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic.
- First journalist to profile OpenAI at length from the inside (2020).
Papers & key writings
Links
In the library
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Recommended next
Hand-picked from the hub based on what Karen Hao covers.
OpenAI: Our decision on Cursor following its acquisition by SpaceX
OpenAI says it will stop supplying its models to the AI coding tool Cursor after SpaceX bought the company, citing concerns about terms-of-service compliance. Cursor users may lose access to OpenAI models, so the practical takeaway is not to depend on a single AI tool or provider.
Why this: Also about AI industry
AI Is Entering Its 'Slurp Juice' Era
Gizmodo article by Webb Wright (October 7, 2026) comparing the current AI boom with the 2021–2022 NFT and crypto hype cycle, including celebrity promotion and companies appointing metaverse executives.
Why this: Also about AI industry
NYC's Job Growth Has a Quality Problem
NYCuriosity analysis arguing that New York City's recent job growth is concentrated in lower-paid, lower-quality roles rather than the high-wage sectors the city depends on.
Why this: Also about AI industry
Entry-Level Tech Jobs in NYC Are Being Cut in Half by the AI Boom
Fast Company report on entry-level tech hiring in New York City falling sharply as AI takes over junior-level tasks. (Described from the headline and related reporting — the page itself could not be read.)
Why this: Also about AI industry