‘A.I.-Washing’ Layoffs? + Why L.L.M.s Can’t Write Well + Tokenmaxxing

This week, we start by talking about the new wave of tech layoffs at Atlassian and Block, as well as reports that Meta plans to cut up to 20 percent of its work force. This raises the question of whether A.I. job loss has truly begun, or if there are other factors at play. Then, we’re joined by the writer Jasmine Sun to talk about why chatbots are still so bad at creative writing. And finally, it’s tokenmaxxing time! Kevin takes us behind the scenes of his latest reporting about why tech companies are building leaderboards to measure who is using the most A.I. Guest: Jasmine Sun, journalist and writer at jasmi.news Additional Reading: I Worked for Block. Its A.I. Job Cuts Aren’t What They Seem. Meta Planning Sweeping Layoffs as A.I. Costs Mount Meta Delays Rollout of New A.I. Model After Performance Concerns The A.I.-Washing of Job Cuts Is Corrosive and Confusing The Human Skill That Eludes A.I. We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com . Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok .

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‘A.I.-Washing’ Layoffs? + Why L.L.M.s Can’t Write Well + Tokenmaxxing is an episode from Sway by The New York Times.

This episode is 01:00:36 long.

This episode was published on Mar 20, 2026.

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