Trust Evaporated

Nova Drake

Pokémon Go was supposed to change the world. And honestly, for a minute, it did. You had people—like, everyone—out in parks, on sidewalks, just... actually looking up from their phones for once. Niantic became this symbol of what tech could be if it got out of the way and let people connect. But this week? Niantic just... vanished from the AI stage. No big announcement, no mission reset, just layoffs and a $3.5 billion sale of Pokémon Go. It’s like, poof, gone.

Sam Guss - Avatar

And I’m Sam Guss. Today’s episode isn’t just about a company’s fall from grace. It’s about what happens when a brand built on magic forgets the cost of trust. Niantic’s story isn’t a glitch in the AI timeline—it’s a warning. I remember back in 2016, I went to a local Pokémon Go event. There was this genuine, almost electric sense of community. Strangers trading tips, laughing, sharing space. It was fleeting, but it felt real. That’s the kind of optimism Niantic represented—at least for a while.

Nova Drake

Yeah, and then came the cracks. I mean, even at its peak, there were accidents, trespassing stories, lawsuits. But the real turning point? 2017, Pokémon Go Fest. Network failures, angry crowds, and a class-action lawsuit. Suddenly, the magic was... well, not gone, but definitely fractured. That was the first big trust fissure, right?

Sam Guss - Avatar

Exactly. What started as a celebration of connection turned into a cautionary tale about overpromising and underdelivering. And that fracture—well, it never really healed.

Nova Drake

So, after that, Niantic kind of changed lanes. They went from being the community game dev to this spatial computing powerhouse. They launched Lightship, bought 8th Wall, and started talking about a future where AI would guide us through these augmented worlds. But, uh, that future needed something else—our data. Lots of it.

Sam Guss - Avatar

Right. Niantic was using Pokémon Go player location and behavioral data to train enterprise AI systems. And most players had no idea. The same game that built community was now quietly mining it. There’s a line, I think, where a data-driven business pivot becomes a betrayal of trust. And Niantic crossed it. They didn’t just change the rules—they changed the game entirely, and didn’t bother to tell anyone.

Nova Drake

And then the pandemic hit. Niantic made these safety adjustments so people could play at home, which was great. But when they rolled those back, players were furious. #HearUsNiantic trended for days. It was like, “Hey, you asked us to trust you, and now you’re just... not listening.” That’s when trust started leaking, not just cracking.

Sam Guss - Avatar

It’s a classic case of a company forgetting who brought them to the dance. Instead of rebuilding trust, they doubled down on data extraction. If they’d been transparent—if they’d actually listened—maybe things would’ve played out differently. But they didn’t. And the community felt it.

Nova Drake

Yeah, and it raises the question: When does a business pivot become a betrayal? And what could Niantic have done to rebuild trust? I mean, transparency, real dialogue, maybe even giving players a stake in the future. But none of that happened. Instead, it was just... silence.

Sam Guss - Avatar

And Niantic’s not alone. If you zoom out, you see the same pattern everywhere. OpenAI—remember their boardroom chaos? Whistleblower letters, safety violations, toxic culture. Meta, once the champion of open-source AI, now hoarding talent with $100 million bonuses for secretive “superintelligence” projects. And Google—rebranding Bard as Gemini after ethics scandals and hallucination disasters. None of them have really won back trust.

Nova Drake

Yeah, it’s like, every big AI player is following the same playbook: make huge promises, gather all the data, launch a beta, and then, when things get messy, just... close the door. I remember reporting on Meta’s sudden pivot—it felt like when your favorite band goes commercial overnight. The vibe changed, and everyone noticed. It’s not just about the tech anymore. It’s about whether we believe the people behind it are actually working for us.

Sam Guss - Avatar

That’s the heart of it. AI isn’t neutral. Every system encodes a value, every platform holds a power dynamic. And every broken promise deepens the gap between what’s possible and what’s acceptable. We’re in a trust recession, not just a tech one. And unless transparency becomes the new normal, that gap’s only going to widen.

Nova Drake

Niantic’s collapse is emotional. They built something that mattered to people. And they lost it—not because the tech failed, but because they did. They stopped listening, started extracting, and in the end, they just... disappeared. It’s a warning, but maybe it’s also a turning point.

Sam Guss - Avatar

We’re entering a new era in AI—one where innovation alone isn’t enough. Trust is the product now. If you can’t earn it, you won’t keep your users. Or your team. And if AI is to serve the public good, it must be built in public, with accountability at its core. Not just code, but care.

Nova Drake

We’ll keep watching. And remembering. Because stories like Niantic’s—they’re not just cautionary tales. They’re also a chance to do better. That’s it for today’s episode. Sam, always a pleasure decoding the signal with you.

Sam Guss - Avatar

Likewise, Nova. Until next time, I’m Sam Guss.

Nova Drake

And I’m Nova Drake. Stay awake. Stay principled. Stay human. See you next episode.