Hard Fork
Hard Fork

GPT-5 Arrives, and We Try the New Alexa+

August 8, 2025 · 1 h 13 min

🎙️ Full episode

0:00 / 1:12:57

No time for the whole episode?

A debrief is a short AI summary of this episode, written and voiced: the key takeaways, notable quotes, and the moments worth hearing in full. It takes a few minutes to make. Free during the beta, up to 5 new debriefs a week.

Show notes

This week, OpenAI released its much-anticipated flagship model, GPT-5. We break down what we know about the upgrade, drawing from our initial testing and a special news briefing with Sam Altman. Then, we explain why we were underwhelmed by Amazon’s new Alexa+, which is powered by generative A.I., and take our feedback to Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, who helps us understand why powering Alexa with L.L.M. capabilities is a major computer science challenge.

Guests:

• Daniel Rausch, Amazon vice president of Echo and Alexa

Additional reading:

• OpenAI Aims to Stay Ahead of Rivals With New GPT-5 Technology • Amazon Unveils Alexa+, Powered by Generative A.I.

We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Also, you can still get a special-edition “Hard Fork” hat! For a limited time, you’ll receive one when you purchase an annual New York Times Audio subscription for the first time (U.S. only). Go to nytimes.com/hardforkhat.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All episodes of Hard Fork →