‘Vibe Coding’ Inventor Andrej Karpathy Has a New Term for A.I. Engineering
A member of OpenAI’s 11-person founding team, Karpathy focused on generative modeling, computer vision and reinforcement learning at the ChatGPT-maker before leaving for Tesla in 2017 to lead its Autopilot efforts.
I Went to a Costa Rican Blue Zone to Reverse Time. My Face—and the Stars—Had Other Ideas
At Hacienda AltaGracia, a Blue Zone-adjacent retreat argues that living longer has less to do with optimization and more to do with tables, air and time.
Historic Names, New Heights: Christie’s and Sotheby’s Log Over $200 Million in Old Masters Sales
Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Artemisia Gentileschi and a major Italian acquisition drove another record week for Old Masters.
Business
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Adobe’s Varun Parmar Is Redefining How Iconic Brands Use A.I. at Scale
The Adobe executive behind Firefly and GenStudio explains why orchestration is the real battleground for enterprise A.I.
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek’s $70M A.I. Bet Takes Center Stage at Super Bowl
A.I. stole the spotlight at the Super Bowl as Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek unveiled AI.com after a $70 million domain purchase.
Goldman Sachs’ Information Chief Marco Argenti Deepens A.I. Push with Anthropic
Goldman Sachs has been using Anthropic’s A.I. tools internally for six months, Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti revealed. From coding to compliance, the bank is rolling out A.I. agents firmwide in one of Wall Street’s most ambitious automation efforts.
As Disney’s First Creative Chief, Dana Walden Set to Reshape Power After Bob Iger
As Disney pivots beyond Bob Iger, Dana Walden’s new role puts streaming growth and creative cohesion at the center of its future.
Sam Altman and Dario Amodei Clash Over Ads and the Future of A.I.
What started as a technical arms race between Sam Altman and Dario Amodei has evolved into a public feud over narrative control.
Art
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Painter Kathleen Gilje’s Journey from Restoration to Reinvention
Years spent working as a conservator in Italy fundamentally altered her understanding of paintings as objects that carry time within them.
After Doha’s Spectacle, Delhi Delivered Substance
Rooted in a robust domestic market yet increasingly open to broader exchange, India Art Fair showcased a cultural ecosystem ready to secure its position on the global stage.
1-54 Marrakech Turned a Boutique Fair into a Citywide Moment
As the global art world splintered across multiple destinations in early February, Marrakech and 1-54 quietly asserted their relevance.
How the Donum Estate Cultivated a World-Class Sculpture Garden
Art collectors Allan and Mei Warburg bought the land “without any concrete plan to build what would eventually become one of the world’s most significant contemporary sculpture collections. Everything else unfolded organically from there.”
A Collector’s Guide to Non-Cash Museum Donations
Crypto philanthropy is emerging as a meaningful funding stream, particularly among younger and wealthier donor demographics.
Lifestyle
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At Chef Andy Beynon’s Behind Restaurant, the Menu Shifts With the Sea
At the 18-seat Hackney restaurant, Beynon lets the day’s catch dictate what lands on the plate.
An Insider’s Guide to Culver City, Los Angeles
Outside of its renowned dining landscape, Culver City boasts a worthwhile museum and theater scene, along with unparalleled shopping at The Platform, and even outdoorsy activities at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook.
Marcus Jernmark Rethinks Fine Dining at Lielle in Los Angeles, Without the Theatrics
The former Frantzén executive chef opens Lielle, with a $150 four-course menu built for real appetites, not performance art.
Dominique Ansel’s Beauty-Driven Approach to Pastry
Now, the famed pastry chef is gearing up for the debut of a new linzer cookie inspired by nail polish colors.
Miami’s Sushi Scene Is Having a Moment
An influx of omakase counters, Michelin stars and Tokyo-trained chefs is elevating Miami’s sushi scene.
Interviews
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With “Happy Zoo,” Anita Lam Makes a Case for Artistic Environmentalism
Lam’s curatorial work sits at the intersection of art, ecology, technology and philosophy, but far from being preachy or pessimistic, her approach is playful and, at times, mischievous.
In L.A., Julia Stoschek’s Art Collection Activates a Cinema Landmark
Observer spoke to curator Udo Kittelmann about willfully modifying art world terminology, being firmly anti-black box and the unmistakable constancy of human desires.
Oscar Murillo Reflects On Building a Body of Work That Resists Linear Time
The artist frames his practice as a form of sedimentation, where ideas, marks and social encounters coexist across different temporal speeds.
Morgan Buck Sees A.I. as a Rare Chance to Reimagine Creativity
“Using A.I. as an artist is pretty much like banging creative heroin: it gets you to the best results without trying. Just instant and effortless. No pain, just gain.”
Larissa De Souza Builds Myth from Memory at Albertz Benda
Self-taught and guided by instinct, she draws on Afro-Brazilian spirituality, personal memory and archetypal symbolism to construct paintings that transcend autobiography.
Power Lists
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Wall-to-Wall Cultural Capital: Inside Observer’s Art Power Index Party
Under the dim lights of the Lower East Side’s Maison Nur, art world luminaries gathered to celebrate Observer’s Art Power Index—and each other. From the impassioned speeches to the sharp tailoring and Damien Hirst over the bar, the evening embodied our legacy of chronicling power with style.
2025 Nightlife & Dining Power Index
Humanity is still the most vital ingredient in hospitality, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
Observer’s 2025 Art Power Index: The Art Market’s Most Influential People
Their acquisitions, affinities and approbations move the needle on valuation and redefine how art is made, shown and sold.
100 Leaders Shaping the Future of Artificial Intelligence
They write the script that the rest of us follow.
The Top PR Firms in 2025
This year’s PR Power List celebrates the agencies bold enough to lead the charge and smart enough to reflect the world they’re shaping.
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One Fine Show: “Nothing Still About Still Lifes” at the Deji Art Museum
The blockbusters on display are incredible and expensive—so much so that walking through the exhibition can feel like going to a really good preview at an auction house.
Rotterdam’s Reopened Photography Museum Celebrates the Medium’s Material Nature
The repurposed six-story cast-iron column structure houses one of the largest museum collections of photography in the world, as well as accoutrements such as vintage cameras, guidebooks, negatives, slides and prints.
At Christie’s, Irene Roosevelt Aitken’s Collection Tests the Market for Old-World Opulence
The dissolution of the prominent philanthropist’s collection will reveal whether the haute billionaire appetite for such ornate fare still holds sway in the era of Mahdavi minimalism.
Sara Hooker Raises $50M to Challenge A.I.’s Conventional Wisdom
Sara Hooker’s new startup Adaption Labs is challenging A.I.’s reliance on massive data and compute power with adaptive, real-time learning.
Celebrating the Power of Film and the Best of Humanity at Park City’s Last Sundance
Despite the sentimentality that covered Park City more heartily than the snow, films like ‘The Friend’s House Is Here’ reminded us how remarkable good movies can be at capturing our better impulses.
Painter Helene Schjerfbeck’s Life in Layers at the Met
The silence in her work is tender, delicate and fierce all at once. In a world dominated by men, despite isolation, illness and self-doubt, she carved out her space.
Remembering Harry Haun, Who Bore Witness to Broadway with Wit and Wonder
Connections forged over five decades gave him insider access to everyone from Jessica Chastain and Harvey Fierstein to the late Broadway publicist Susan Schulman and the legendary Lynne Meadow.
Enrique Lores Takes the Helm at PayPal With a Mandate to Move Fast
PayPal’s chairman Enrique Lores steps in as CEO after Alex Chriss’ exit, facing investor doubts and fierce competition across digital payments.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Is Winning A.I.’s Trust War
In a shot at OpenAI, the Anthropic head found a creative way to announce that he won’t be introducing ads within Claude anytime soon.
10 Exhibitions Not to Miss During Mexico City Art Week
From Surrealist masters to radical contemporary experiments, CDMX Art Week unfolds as a dense, multivocal map of Latin American art spanning museums, galleries and alternative spaces across the city.
Where to Go Horseback Riding in California, From Wine Country to the Coast
Celebrate the Year of the Horse with a scenic trail ride across California.
Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dabkowski Triple ElevenLabs’ Valuation to $11B, Solidifying Their Grip on A.I. Voice
The fast-growing startup is still “hungry” for expansion, according to CEO Mati Staniszewski.