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Photo: Roblox CEO David Baszucki; via Wikipedia.
Roblox CEO David Baszucki appeared on a New York Times technology podcast, “The Hard Fork,” to discuss the company’s moderation strategy shortly after announcing mandatory AI facial age gating verification for open chat features. The Nov. 21 interview, hosted by The Times’ Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, became tense as Baszucki appeared visibly frustrated by the questioning.
Throughout the discussion, Baszucki repeatedly avoided direct answers, shifting the conversation toward his preferred subjects rather than addressing concerns raised by the hosts. While he acknowledged certain realities, including the fact that older children often find ways to bypass text filters, his responses about child safety lacked clarity and consistency.
When asked directly about Roblox’s effectiveness in protecting users from predators, Baszucki pivoted to discussing the company’s innovation and technical achievements rather than confronting the underlying safety issues. He also attempted to shut down questioning related to a safety report published by the now defunct Hindenburg Research group.
The interview took a strange turn when Baszucki attempted a hypothetical “gotcha” scenario involving AI moderation. After Roose asked, “So, just so I have the clear response, the argument is that the shift has been from a more manual safety team and system to a more automated review process that may do a better job even if it costs less to operate…,” Baszucki responded, “Yeah, I would actually lean in harder.” He added, “The shift would be constantly moving to higher quality, more accurate and more diligent systems. Can we review more? Can we do better? And say you and I, we’re a system, what is the best way to review every single image going into Roblox at higher and higher quality? And say we figured out the best way to do that is to do it with better and better AI models. Would you pick that?”
When his point did not land as intended, Baszucki questioned the podcast’s entire approach, expressing disappointment that the hosts chose to focus on safety topics rather than “fun, funny things in the industry.” When Roose and Newton observed that he seemed frustrated, Baszucki insisted he was only trying to determine how much of the interview should be “fun time” versus “superfocus.”
In the final minutes of the segment, Baszucki abruptly raised the topic of the prediction market Polymarket and framed certain gambling formats as “educational,” which puzzled the hosts and shifted the conversation in an unexpected direction. This followed earlier remarks he made to the BBC in which he admitted that the most effective child safety measure would be for children not to use Roblox at all.
For parents already concerned about Roblox’s safety practices, the interview offered little reassurance at a time when the platform faces mounting lawsuits and hundreds of allegations involving predator access, grooming and the exchange of sexual content with minors.
For more Roblox coverage, click here.
