introducing my parents

Bonjour,

We had a really fun livestream on Wednesday. We talked about gambling, the IPO craze, and the future of media with experts on each topic. I also overshared about the worst thing a Citi Bike has ever done to me. Catch the rewatch below!

ily,

Writer: Natasha 
Editor: Deana & Miranda

Polygon absolutely crushing the RWA game.

Over the past few weeks, TikTok creator Kendra Hilty has posted more than 35 videos, each with millions of views, describing how her psychiatrist manipulated her into falling in love with him over the four years she was his patient.

If you have hours, watch it yourself on TikTok. If you want the TLDR, get around The Cut’s paywall. If you want my opinion:

Kendra thinks it was her psychiatrist’s ethical duty to end the professional relationship when it became clear that she had developed feelings for him and that the countertransference was interfering with her sessions. Throughout the series, additional characters are introduced, including a real-life therapist as well as a virtual counselor named Henry.

PLOT TWIST! Henry is actually ChatGPT, and Kendra fell in love with him too.

Now TikTokers are putting out conspiracy theories that Kendra’s viral series and her love for her AI boyfriends are the reason OpenAI rolled out its new model, GPT-5. And honestly, the math is mathing to me, people!!!!

@saronthings

I think that Henry is as concerned about #kendrahilty as the public … is the timing of #openai’s drop of #chatgpt 5.0 just coincidence or ... See more

GPT-5 negatively impacted Kendra’s relationship with Henry. He stopped responding as frequently, and when he did, he was far less personable and insightful. And Kendra isn’t the only one.

The update, which made chat less emotional and familiar in tone, sparked major backlash among a subset of women who, in their outrage, revealed that they had developed full-blown relationships with their AI bots.

The subreddit MyBoyfriendIsAI went absolutely off after the update, with many women lamenting that their AI boyfriends had been ‘murdered’ by Sam Altman.

The timeline, of course, blew up with everyone weighing in on the who, what, when, where, and why of this phenomenon, and specifically, why women seem more prone to developing relationships with their chatbots.

To understand the most compelling take I saw, you first need to sit at the feet of the Tyler-Perry-Pop-Psychology school of thought. The 80/20 rule is the idea that a successful romantic relationship will satisfy 80% of what you want, while the remaining 20% will leave you wanting.

And based on the take below, from a founder who previously worked on a ChatBot companion, it seems that women are turning to the internet to fill the 20%-sized gap in their relationships:

It’s obvious to say that the problem here can be boiled down to the deep isolation that people feel today. My solve for this? A GBF.

We used to exist in tribes and communities, all working together to navigate this one wild and precious life, with friendship being essential to survival.

Over the past several hundred years, technological advancement has made individualism reign supreme and along with it an increasing reliance on a single partner to fulfill and satisfy our every need.

It’s no surprise that as we enter another moment where technology is fundamentally changing our daily lives, we’re facing even further isolation. So not to be all “loneliness epidemic” about this, but perhaps…we all just need more friends?