Mental-health apps have a dark secret — and it raises important questions about the future of online therapy
Hello, readers. It's Hallam Bullock here, reporting from London. As the proud owner of a delightful cat (she's a British Shorthair), I am baffled by a worker's decision to sell their family dog in order to meet expectations at work.
More baffling still, is that their CEO, James Clarke of Clearlink, appeared to laud the sacrifice. In a video posted by Vice, Clarke addressed Clearlink's return-to-office mandate and said that many of his remote workers didn't open their laptops for a month.
I'm curious where you stand on this story. Would you ever consider selling your family pet to make more time for work? Let me know: hbullock@insider.com.
Now, I've curated our five top stories in tech for you. (Yes, I'm afraid it isn't the usual 10, but I thought today I would keep things short and sweet — like my cat.)
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Marianne Ayala/Insider
1. Online therapy fills a critical need — but it has a dark side. You may recall a Politico investigation last year that explained how Loris, a startup that helps companies improve their customer-service conversations, found a way to make money off of people caught in a mental-health emergency.
- The data Loris used to create its "empathetic" software was generated from text conversations with people in distress, sourced from Loris' parent company, Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit suicide-prevention hotline.
- The Politico story sparked outrage, but in the past year, a flurry of reports have found that some of the most recognizable names in the industry have repeatedly engaged in creepy and harmful data-sharing practices.
- The reports reveal a dangerous cocktail of tech solutionism, abuse of consumer trust, and regulatory failure that puts highly vulnerable people at risk.
Top tech stories of the week:
Mike Blake/Reuters; Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters; Ruben Sprich/Reuters
2. OpenAI only exists because Elon Musk had a disagreement with Larry Page. That is, however, according to Musk, who told Tucker Carlson that the two tech billionaires disagreed on safety and regulation. How it resulted in the current AI arms race.
3. An entrepreneur used ChatGPT to build and sell a product for thousands. Three weeks ago, Ihor Stefurak used ChatGPT to build a Chrome extension in 10 hours. A week ago, he sold it and used the money to buy a house. Here's how he did it.
4. The real reason bosses are freaked out by remote work: they think it's for "sissies." Insider's Aki Ito broke down why so many CEOs are ordering everyone back to the office — and part of it is because they see the home as "the woman's domain." Read the full story.
5. Inside the rise and fall of Larry Page's flying-car company. Workers at Kittyhawk once felt that "success was all but assured." But former employees said the bold mission found itself torn between the conflicting visions and shifting priorities of its billionaire founder and his handpicked CEO. How Kittyhawk came crashing down.
Today's team: Hallam Bullock and Shona Ghosh in London, Lisa Ryan in New York.