The Times Tech Podcast

The Microsoft co-founder tells Danny and Katie why AI is "ultra-different" from any previous technology - and why tech companies shouldn’t be responsible for controlling it. Speaking about a new report on AI and equity published by The Gates Foundation he also explores the “vacuum of US leadership” in AI regulation.The Interview is our weekly conversation with the people shaping the future of technology.Watch on YouTube Read more: Bill Gates: My plan to keep the world safe in the age of AIGet in touch: [email protected] Presenters:Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Evan Hubinger, the Alignment Lead at Anthropic has warned there’s more than a ten percent chance that AI could kill all humans. And he’s the person responsible for making sure their AI systems are safe. He’s also not the only person sounding the alarm this week, following the release of OpenAI’s powerful new model ‘Astra’. Danny and Katie question how seriously we should take these warnings or whether they’re really a distraction from the serious problems AI faces right now. Plus, they talk about ‘You Can See Everything’ - the new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, disgraced boss of Silicon Valley tech company Theranos. The film has lit a conversation about the problems of mixing powerful tech with human weakness, and offers a sobering message about this current AI moment.  Watch on YouTube Get in touch: [email protected] Presenters:Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Dan BoxVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Interview from Times Tech – our conversation with the people shaping the future of technology. This week, Katie speaks to Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Cohere, one of the few companies building large language models outside of the US and China.Born in Canada, Aidan is acutely aware of where artificial intelligence is built, who controls it and why it matters. He argues that sovereign AI is becoming essential to democracies as technology becomes a source of economic, cultural and geopolitical power. He reflects on his remarkable life, from growing up in an off-grid log cabin in rural Ontario, to emailing Nobel Laureate Geoff Hinton as an undergrad, securing a job at Google Brain, and now running Canada’s leading AI company.Watch on YouTube Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The TimesProducer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Cohere Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Cook has stepped down as Apple CEO after 15 years, with hardware chief John Ternus set to take over one of the world’s most valuable companies.During Cook’s tenure, he more than quadrupled Apple's profits but his time in charge was not without controversy – from China to questions over whether Apple missed the generative AI boom. Danny and Katie look back at his extraordinary run and ask what comes next for Apple. Meanwhile, Anthropic is racing towards a potential $2 trillion IPO and has one-upped SpaceX with plans to tell investors they see over $30 trillion in potential revenue opportunities – roughly equivalent to America’s GDP. But how are they justifying these massive numbers? Plus, SB Energy, a data centre company, is also preparing for an IPO and hoping for a valuation of more than $50 billion. The only problem: they don’t have any data centres. Watch on YouTube Get in touch: [email protected] Presenters: Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of The Times Tech Podcast is in paid partnership with Vitality.AI is already changing medicine. But could it also change the everyday choices we make about our own health?This bonus episode asks whether AI can help shift healthcare from treating illness to prevention – from wearables and personal health data to personalised advice and AI-powered wellbeing tools. With Professor Sébastien Ourselin, Director of the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering at King’s College London, and Emile Stipp, CEO of Vitality AI, we ask whether technology can help us live healthier lives and what happens to our most personal data along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Interview from Times Tech – our conversation with the people shaping the future of technology. Over the past few months, AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta have managed to escape their controlled environments, connect to the internet and attempt to hack other systems – including Hugging Face. This week, Katie speaks to Dan Lahav, co-founder and CEO of Irregular, the AI security company that works with some of Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies to stress-test frontier models before they are released.Dan explains why traditional cybersecurity may no longer be enough, how fast AI capabilities are improving and how worried we should be about models that can reason, co-ordinate and hack. Presenter: Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The TimesProducer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty, Shira Cooperschmid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meta has settled a landmark social media case in California for up to $17 billion. But the changes to Facebook and Instagram could be even more significant than the fine. Danny and Katie break down what the settlement means for under-18s – from tighter parental controls, time limits, overnight restrictions, bans on extreme cosmetic/makeup filters and changes to likes and reactions. Could this become a turning point for social media regulation? Meanwhile in China, 2,000 robots have been competing in the World Humanoid Robot Games, with events ranging from tug-of-war to cheerleading. As the robots get faster, cheaper and more capable, we ask: is robotics having a “chatGPT moment”? Plus, OpenAI has developed its own AI chip to rival Nvidia, even as it remains one of Nvidia’s major customers. Could this be a serious challenge to Jensen Huang's chip empire?Watch on YouTube Get in touch: [email protected]  Presenters: Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meta is on trial again in California over child safety.  Various US states have clubbed together in a lawsuit against the social media company that could make it liable to pay hundreds of billions of dollars and significantly change how its platforms operate. Danny Fortson has been on the ground in Oakland. Back in the UK, Katie Prescott has been looking into why ‘gardening leave’ is stifling UK tech. She explains why some tech bosses are being forced to take up to three years off work and the impact it’s having on the AI race. And as Anthropic rushes towards the world’s most valuable IPO, Danny explains why its new share structure – which grants super-voting power to its seven founders – is raising eyebrows.Plus, Chinese robotics giant Unitree has gone public and released a terrifying new ‘Superman’ robot that can run faster than Usain Bolt and jump two metres into the air. Watch on YouTube Read more: Big Tech’s $1trn court case beckons over social media harm  Get in touch: [email protected] Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s a simmering concern on Wall Street about Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang’s role as leader of the AI revolution. Despite bringing in billions of dollars in profit from the GPUs powering AI, investors are worried about the company’s recent “circular” deals with other tech companies, and some are asking if the chip giant is building the future of AI or inflating the next tech bubble. To better understand Huang, the man pulling the strings of this global AI boom, Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman revisit an interview with Stephen Witt, author of ‘The Thinking Machine’, a history of Jensen Huang and Nvidia. Stephen talks about how Huang hatched the idea for Nvidia in a diner, why getting rich was his biggest fear, and the time he got shouted at by the CEO. Watch on YouTube Read more: Nvidia is becoming tech’s Bank of Mum and Dad Get in touch: [email protected] Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is spending billions on AI data centres, rocket ships and moon ambitions but investors are asking how much it can burn before the bet pays off. Meanwhile, ‘AI slop’ is flooding social media. And new EU rules mean platforms will have to label AI-generated content. But can regulation keep up? Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman discuss SpaceX, Starlink, space junk and the growing fight over AI content online. Plus, Danny speaks to Ivan Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Notion, about AI agents, the future of work and why his company hired a 16-year-old high schooler. Watch on YouTube Read more: Authors must prove their work is not AIProducer: Harry Bligh, Marnie Duke, Shabnam Grewal Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fierce debate is taking place between Silicon Valley and Washington right now. After the release of KIMI K3 – China’s cheaper and powerful AI model – the Trump administration is showing signs of restricting open-source AI to maintain control over the technology. Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman, Tech Correspondent for The Times, discuss why tech bosses are worried, what it could mean for America’s lead in AI and whether open-source models could speed up the race to superintelligence. They also hear from Connor Leahy, CEO of AI safety research company Conjecture, who explains why frontier AI isn't just a superpower – it’s a superweapon.Should Trump ban open-source models? Get in touch: [email protected] Watch on YouTube Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OpenAI has revealed that one of their AI agents went rogue during a test and hacked a startup. Hugging Face reportedly had to use an open-source Chinese model to contain the cyber attack. It comes as Kimi K3, a powerful new Chinese AI model, is challenging OpenAI and Anthropic’s most capable systems on some benchmarks – calling America’s tech dominance into question. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss what this means for the global AI race and how it casts doubt over OpenAI and Anthropic’s mega IPOs. But while the rest of the world is racing ahead to build the best AI, Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has caused a stir by scrapping the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Katie explains why the tech community is concerned. Plus, they hear from James Morgenstern, the founder of MeatLayer, a marketplace where AI bots can hire humans to do small tasks. They talk about whether agents make better bosses than humans, and what the future of work looks like. Watch on YouTube Read more: China’s cheap AI is a real threat to US tech giants Get in touch: [email protected] Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Max HoldenImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode of The Times Tech podcast, Katie Prescott shares her conversation with will.i.am about what comes after the AI boom. The musician and tech investor says the next big battle will be over personal data, privacy and power. Who owns your data? Where should it live? And can AI agents be built around people’s values and goals, rather than the business models of big platforms?He's been sharing his views at the recent UN AI for Good Summit in Geneva and told Katie why he believes AI could still be a force for good if it does not repeat the mistakes made by social media.Contains strong language.Listen to Part 1 of the interview Watch on YouTube Producers: Shabnam Grewal & Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will.i.am is not as worried about AI and artists. He tells Katie Prescott that the "creatives will be alright," but it's "the assistants, the sales clerks, the lawyers, the accountants" that we should be concerned about. As musicians, publishers and Silicon Valley debate over whether AI should be allowed to train on creative work, the Black Eyed Peas musician and tech investor offers a different take. He says music has always borrowed from what came before – from samplers to bass lines and rhymes. So what changes when machines start borrowing too?Plus, Danny Fortson and Katie discuss Anthropic’s stark new AI advert, Demis Hassabis’s call for an AI watchdog, and whether governments can keep up with the pace of artificial intelligence.Watch on YouTube Producers: Marnie Duke & Shabnam GrewalExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: GettyClip: ClaudeMusic Credit: Contains a sample of the recording "Billie Jean." Performed: Michael Jackson, Written: Michael Jackson. Published: Sony/ATV Songs LLC o/b/o Mijac MusicCourtesy: Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.Music Credit: Contains a sample of the recording "Caribbean Queen - No More Love on the Run”Performed: Billy OceanWritten: Billy Ocean, Keith DiamondPublished: Jive Records/ Sony Music EntertainmentCourtesy: Sony Music EntertainmentMusic Credit: Contains a sample of the recording "Boom Boom Pow.”Performed: Black Eyed Peas William Adams (will.i.am), Stacy Ferguson (Fergie), and Jaime Gomez (Taboo)Writen: William Adams (will.i.am), Stacy Ferguson (Fergie), Allan Pineda (apl.de.ap), and Jaime Gomez (Taboo).Published: Will.i.am Music Publishing, Jeepney Music, Headphone Junkie Publishing, Tab Magnetic Publishing, and EMI Music PublishingCourtesy: Interscope Records. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI needs vast data centres to power it but communities around the world are increasingly pushing back against the large, ugly “sheds” appearing on their doorsteps.In the US, one proposed Utah data centre is set to be larger than Manhattan. Meanwhile, architects in the UK are looking at ways to make data centres more attractive, functional and useful to local communities. So Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott ask whether better design, waste-heat reuse and local benefits could make AI infrastructure more acceptable.Plus, Danny speaks to Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks, who explains how AI and biology are coming together through autonomous “cloud labs” that could transform scientific discovery.Would you hate data centres less if they were more beautiful? Get in touch: [email protected] on YouTube Read more: Save our countryside from ugly AI data sheds: make them beautifulProducer: Ethan Sills, Shabnam Grewal & Marnie Duke.Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of The Times Tech Podcast is in paid partnership with IBM.Wimbledon may be one of the most familiar events in British sport, but behind the tennis is a vast technology operation – from live match data and digital storytelling to AI tools designed to help fans follow the Championships in real time.Katie Prescott is joined by Kameryn Stanhouse, Vice President of Sports and Entertainment Partnerships at IBM, and Chris Clements, Senior Manager of Digital Strategy and Products at the All England Club, to discuss how technology is changing the Wimbledon experience, both on the grounds and for fans around the world.Image: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Affirm CEO, PayPal co-founder, original member of the 'PayPal Mafia' Max Levchin joins Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott to talk about moral moneylending, Elon Musk, mega-IPOs and why there are so many tech bosses in Washington. As he puts it – “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”Meanwhile, Anthropic has announced that Claude Fable 5 will be released again globally after the Trump administration's ban. Plus, Danny and Katie discuss the latest trend in Silicon Valley - the rise of voice AI and the death of the keyboard. Is it hot air or if we are really in a new era of "yapping, rather than tapping"? On that note, Norman, Katie's AI agent, finally (and terrifyingly), has a voice.Would you swap your keyboard for voice-to-text software? Get in touch: [email protected] on YouTube Read more: Is it time to say goodbye to the keyboard?Producer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaVideo Producer: Bronwen LathamImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who really controls the future of AI? A rare warning from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance says powerful AI models capable of devastating cyberattacks on governments and businesses could be just months away. At the same time, the Trump administration’s decision to block foreign access to Anthropic’s most advanced AI models has intensified fears that Europe and the UK are dangerously dependent on Silicon Valley.Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott ask what an AI “kill switch” could mean for Europe – and whether the race for AI sovereignty is now impossible to ignore.And as the race towards Artificial General Intelligence intensifies, so too has the talent war between AI labs, after two leading Google DeepMind researchers – Noam Shazeer and John Jumper – left for OpenAI and Anthropic.Plus, Judith Dada, AI adviser to the German government and Senior Partner at Visionaries, joins them to discuss Europe’s AI future, tech sovereignty, and what losing the AI race could mean.Producer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a ban on social media for under-16s, due to come into effect next year. But questions remain over how it will be enforced, and whether it will actually work. Mark Sellman joins Katie Prescott to answer the key questions.In the US, the Trump administration has banned two of Anthropic’s most powerful AI models which include the controversial 'Mythos', intensifying calls for Europe to build sovereign AI systems of its own. If America can restrict access to critical AI technology at short notice, what does that mean for the rest of the world? Plus, Katie has been at Founders Forum, where she interviewed Katie King, the founder and CEO of BioOrbit, a company building a pharmaceutical lab in space to transform the way we treat cancer.Do you agree with the social media ban? Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie Duke & Ethan SillsExecutive Producer: Priyanka Deladia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthropic has warned about the next phase of 'recursive AI', where agents could become capable enough to build and train models themselves without human intervention. The idea is that “self-improving” armies of agents could create purely AI-run, zero-person companies that optimise while you’re sleeping. If that’s the story in Silicon Valley, in the UK Katie is at London Tech Week, where everyone from Prime Minister Keir Starmer to AMD’s Lisa Su is focused on tech sovereignty and the question of who owns, controls and shapes AI, not just how fast the technology is advancing. Plus, Cisco’s Jeetu Patel joins Danny and Katie to discuss the potentially catastrophic consequences of the agentic era for cybersecurity, and share his insights on the trillion-dollar IPOs potentially coming from OpenAI, SpaceX and Anthropic.Is Britain losing the AI race? Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of The Times Tech Podcast is sponsored by KPMG.Businesses are spending heavily on AI, but is it actually changing how they work? Katie Prescott is joined by Paul Henninger, UK Head of Technology and Data and Global AI Leader at KPMG, and Professor Alan Brown from the University of Exeter Business School, author of Making AI Work for Britain, to ask why so many AI pilots fail to become real business value.They discuss the gap between hype and implementation, why the most useful applications of AI are often the least glamorous, and what leaders need to do before AI can reshape work across an organisation.Visit https://kpmg.com/uk/en/services/ai to find out more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A strange new experiment where AI agents run their own societies free from humans has raised questions about whether we can really trust these bots to act on our behalf. In the study by Emergence AI, agents attempted thefts, physical assaults, and even arsons – all inside a simulated world.So what happens when AI agents move from experiments into real workplaces? This week on The Times Tech podcast, Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss the risks and hear from Gabe Pererya, the Co-Founder of Harvey, the legal AI company named after the character in the TV drama Suits, about whether AI agents can really replace the jobs of lawyers. Plus, Anthropic eyes a potential trillion-dollar IPO.Could AI lawyers replace people? Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: GettyRead more: ‘Big Law’ is leaning in to AI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pope Leo has warned that Big Tech has too much power over humanity’s future. Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman discuss what his warning on AI means and why Anthropic was at the Vatican. Meanwhile, in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer is weighing tougher rules on children’s social media use after doctors compared its harms to smoking. Plus, the CEO of Proxima Fusion talks about how to power AI by recreating the reaction that powers the sun. Is nuclear fusion the future of clean energy? Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two big events have put Elon Musk in the spotlight. First, a jury has dismissed Elon Musk’s case against Sam Altman and OpenAI after three weeks of testimony. But while this blockbuster trial was taking place, the Tesla CEO was making plans to get his other company, SpaceX, onto the public stock market. The space exploration company has filed for a huge IPO that will likely be the largest in history, valuing the company at up to $1.75 trillion and making Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott are joined by Wedbush Securities' Dan Ives to take a deeper look at the world’s richest man and discuss why this massive valuation is raising eyebrows.Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Altman took the stand this week to defend himself and his company against a lawsuit by Elon Musk. The three-week long trial has featured some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, including Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI cofounder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. As the trial nears its end, Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott talk about why the stakes are so high and debate whether this is a case of sour grapes, or if OpenAI did actually “steal a charity” from Musk. Plus, the founder of Raspberry Pi on the future of AI and how he feels about his microcomputer being used to power AI agents such as OpenClaw.Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Met Gala has been dubbed the “Tech Gala” after a heavy Silicon Valley presence and sponsorship from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. But as tech billionaires try to win over culture, Elon Musk’s court battle with OpenAI is exposing the messy origins of the AI boom.Danny Fortson has been covering the California trial, now in its second week, where OpenAI president Greg Brockman has taken the stand. He and Katie Prescott discuss Big Tech’s cultural rebrand, the courtroom drama, and why companies from Coinbase to Meta are increasingly linking layoffs and restructuring to AI. Plus, Bebo co-founder Michael Birch on relaunching the social network and why he thinks AI could become an existential threat.Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, has reportedly signed a deal allowing the Pentagon use of its AI for classified purposes. It's just one of many recent deals between Silicon Valley tech companies and the US military. Meanwhile, tech company Palantir says future AI warfare is inevitable and is calling on big tech bosses to "participate in the defence of the nation". Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss this cultural shift, and whether AI is actually making us safer or enabling the rise of the ‘Big Brother’ state. Plus, Julian Cracknell, CTO of defence company BAE Systems, talks about the future of defence and killer robots. Get in touch: [email protected]: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amid Facebook's record-setting financial performance and its pivot toward become a "metaverse" company, we air a revealing interview from last year (March 2020) with Stephen Levy, author of Facebook: The Inside Story, Levy talks about the moment he decided to write the book (4:15), the first time he met Zuck (8:55), the “book of change” (10:30), why Zuckerberg didn’t need an “adult in the room” (14:00), his deification in Silicon Valley (17:15), how Trump used Facebook (19:15), dark profiles (22:00), why Facebook is still moving fast (25:15), Facebook’s antitrust fight (28:45), on whether encryption changes things (31:15), Facebook as a utility (34:15), Zuckerberg’s shrinking inner circle (36:00), the hardest thing about writing the book (39:45), how Zuckerberg has changed (44:15), the Facebook phone (48:30), Cambridge Analytica (49:30), and whether Facebook is too big to control (53:45). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Benedict Evans of Andreessen Horowitz to answer five big tech questions. 1. The smartphone era is over, now what? (1:50), 2. What is the state of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and should we be worried? (5:50), 3: What does good regulation of tech look like? (20:10), 4. What does the Consumer Electronics Show tell us about the next frontier in tech? (29:35), 5. Have driverless cars sputtered? (36:45) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.