21 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Jacob Kastrenakes

Jacob Kastrenakes

Executive Editor

Executive Editor

    More From Jacob Kastrenakes

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    And now: Yoel Roth, former head of trust and safety at Twitter.

    Kara Swisher is interviewing him, ahead of X CEO Linda Yaccarino appearing at the end of the day.

    Roth is a surprise addition — from what I can tell, Swisher added him into the schedule in the last 24 hours. Quick reminder: she doesn’t run this conference any more... but, you know, everyone still listens to Swisher.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    “Responsible scaling policies” are the hot new safety method.

    Toner and Cotra both say they like this new method for slowing down AI development. Basically, companies have to “clearly state what capabilities [they’re] ready to deal with.”

    If they’re not ready to handle something, they need to make sure their AI systems can’t do it. Cotra says what she likes about this method is it can “make you pause as long as you need to” to get AI safety right.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Next up, we’re talking AI ethics. Should be simple...

    Platformer’s Casey Newton is moderating a conversation with Ajeya Cotra, senior program officer at Open Philanthropy, and Helen Toner, director of strategy at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Bird Buddy co-founder Kyle Buzzard is here to talk about his smart bird feeder.

    It uses AI to identify bird species, take photos of them, and organize the photos on your phone.

    He compares it to real life Pokemon Go, which... kind of rules. I’m all in on birds now.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Ads are coming to Bumble... someday.

    Wolfe Herd says they’re “definitely on the roadmap.”

    She says it’s important to do it responsibly, though, and focus on “never inundating the customer.”

    “We do see a huge opportunity in advertising partnerships across the group,” she says. But the company still sees plenty of room to grow its current subscriptions business. “We don’t think the subscription model opportunity is nearly at its potential right now.”

    Makes sense, given her plans for a high-priced AI tier.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    AI dating coaches could save a whole lot of swiping, says Bumble’s CEO.

    Whitney Wolfe Herd envisions an AI coach — “certainly not launching tomorrow, but very realistic” — that you’d be able to tell everything you want out of a partner. It would then go and sync up with other users’ coaches and try to find a match.

    Wolfe Herd:

    So now instead of you having to swipe and match and chat with dozens of people, you could only talk to the three people who came back as qualified individuals for what you’re looking for. You could really use AI to supercharge compatibility.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is up.

    She’s being interviewed by CNBC senior media and tech correspondent Julia Boorstin.

    From question one, they’re jumping right in on AI and how it’s used to power Bumble’s algorithms.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Things are about to start back up.

    Next on the schedule: Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, a panel on AI ethics, and a chat between Kara Swisher and former Twitter trust and safety leader Yoel Roth.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    The Instagram —> Threads —> Code Conference pipeline.

    Who’s better to ask questions of the co-founder of Instagram than the current head of Instagram?

    The Verge’s Alex Heath asked the question, written in on Threads by Instagram leader Adam Mosseri, in response to Artifact co-founder Mike Krieger, one of the co-founders of Instagram.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Alright, time for a break.

    Code’s on pause while everyone grabs lunch. Things start up again at 5:50PM ET with Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, a panel on AI ethics, and more.