Theo Baker
2K posts
@tab_delete
investigations. george polk award. words in @nytimes @theatlantic @nymag and more. likes + rts are not endorsement. HOW TO RULE THE WORLD out 5/19 @penguinpress
"You won’t get more than a few sentences into this essay, adapted from an upcoming book by Stanford undergraduate Theo Baker (@tab_delete), before seeing why the book has already been optioned for a movie." - Guest editor @dannyfunt on his top pick theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/…
Most people I know in AI think the median person is screwed, and they have no idea what to do about it. I spent the last 3 months talking to dozens of researchers, economists, and policy experts about AI's impact on work; including reps from every frontier lab and several Congressional offices. Unfortunately, I was not reassured. The AI industry is raising the alarm, but can't change course. These companies' core business model relies on the disruption they are warning about: their faith in full automation only makes them go faster. Policymakers are waking up, but still paralyzed by data and debates. Econ wonks disagree on plenty, but even the limited scenario looks like a "painful transition" that will disempower millions of workers. But an "underclass" is not inevitable, but rather a societal choice — and one we can and should stop. Instead of waiting for impact, we should start planning now to support workers through AI disruption. Whether policymakers can assuage concerns about economic security may determine if we get to reap AI's gains at all. New from me for @NYTOpinion. I put a ton into researching what I think may be the biggest topic of the year, so hope you read it (gift link here!) nytimes.com/2026/04/30/opi…
$4.85M Bay Area home for sale. Cash not accepted. Anthropic shares only. The seller's a banker. The buyer he wants is a 28-year-old Anthropic engineer. Who has stock but no cash. Houses in the Bay are now priced in pre-IPO equity. This used to be a joke. Now it's on LinkedIn.
At Stanford, "venture capitalists pursue 18- and 19-year-olds, handing out mentorships and money and invites to yacht parties in an attempt to convert promise into profit,” @tab_delete writes. theatln.tc/ctT775Ab 🎨: Matteo Pani / The Atlantic
Gift link here to my excerpt revealing the Stanford inside Stanford where a select few students, deemed the next trillion-dollar startup founders, are plied with excess and access—resulting in both innovation and fraud. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/…
