They are the Grey Lady's comment moderators, and their goal is to maintain online civility in the hallowed digital pages of the 166-year-old newspaper. Civility, that is, for 10% of the Times' articles–for only that percentage of stories on nytimes.com As it is, the Times receives 12,000 comments each day. Jigsaw's new offices–in a much cooler part of town than the the Times–sit atop an artisanal ice cream shop in Chelsea Market. Jigsaw is Alphabet's tech incubator and focuses on widespread digital problems, like online harassment and terrorist recruiting.

In a surprising move, the New York Times announced to its staff on Wednesday that it will immediately eliminate the position of Public Editor at its publication. The role will instead be filled by an expanded comments section -- one that is moderated by artificial intelligence. The position of Public Editor is a relatively new one at the venerable news publication. It was created in 2003 in the aftermath of the Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal as a means of facilitating greater transparency and accountability with the paper's subscribers. There have been six such editors in the 14 years since the position's creation, though Liz Spayd, the current (and rather unpopular) editor will be its last.