A landmark trial in Los Angeles is testing a hard question: did social media product design cause real harm, especially for younger users? This isn’t a hearing. It’s a courtroom, with jurors and evidence, focused less on content moderation and more on product architecture… infinite scroll, autoplay, notification loops, and the incentives behind them. Steve connects this “tobacco trial moment” to the future of work and AI, arguing that design choices are never neutral and that leadership, not just technology, must carry responsibility. If social media is our seatbelt moment, AI might be the self-driving car. What guardrails will we choose, and how fast will we put them in place?

What You Will Learn

• Why this case centers on design decisions, not just user behavior

• How business models shape engagement and risk

• The seatbelt analogy and what it teaches about cultural change

• Practical questions leaders should ask before shipping new tech

• Why thoughtful beats fastest in the long run