Joanna Stern leaves The Wall Street Journal to start New Things

In short: Joanna Stern has left The Wall Street Journal to launch a new media company called New Things, alongside a new book about her year using AI in daily life.

What happened

Joanna Stern, a longtime tech journalist and former columnist at The Wall Street Journal, has started a new media company called New Things. She discussed the move on The Verge’s Decoder podcast with host Nilay Patel.

New Things is planned as a mix of newsletters, YouTube videos, events, and other projects. Stern said the company will also work with NBC News, which she described as a way to reach a more mainstream audience, not just people who follow tech closely.

Stern is also releasing a book, I Am Not a Robot, on May 12. In it, she describes spending a full year using AI tools across her life. She said some AI products still feel clumsy for regular consumers, like chatbots that have not improved much in how you use them. She also said humanoid robots, the human-shaped machines often shown in demos, are not ready for most homes.

At the same time, Stern said she found some AI tools genuinely useful, especially wearables like smart glasses and a recording bracelet that can create summaries and to do lists. She also raised concerns about privacy, like how easy it is to accidentally record other people.

Why it matters

Stern’s move shows how some journalists are trying to build independent media businesses around subscriptions and video. It also highlights a practical view of AI, where some tools help with everyday tasks, but others are still far from matching the promises people hear.

Source: The Verge AI