Marketplace Tech

Elon Musk and a hundred others wrote a letter to the UN stating that it would be a colossal mistake if unregulated artificial intelligence were allowed to take the life of a human. We looked at the threats A.I. could pose to humanity on our Codebreaker podcast with Oxford professor Nick Bostrom —a conversation that we'll revisit on today's show. Afterwards, we'll chat with Jalak Jobanputra, founder of Future Perfect Ventures, about the future of bitcoin and blockchain.

Samsung is scheduled to announce a new phone this week, which is expected to have wireless charging. The process known as inductive charging isn't new though — it's been around for years. So, um, why isn't everywhere? Rahul Mangharam, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explains why smartphone charging is in its awkward teen phase, and why we can expect a break out soon. Afterwards, on the heels of Mario Kart's 25th anniversary, we'll chat with the voice of Mario: Charles Martinet. He joined us to talk about the phrases he used to get the job and whether he actually plays Mario Kart.

As you might have heard, there's a solar eclipse happening today. But even if you're not in the so-called path of "totality," you can stream it on Twitter thanks to its partnership with the Weather Channel. Neil Katz, editor in chief of The Weather Company, joined us to talk about how it's going to film the eclipse and how the company thinks about programming in the digital age. Afterwards, we'll dive into issues with data privacy agreements.

A wave of tech companies have condemned white supremacist organizations and websites, like the Daily Stormer. But will their online presence eventually fade away, or just find another outlet? It turns out that the Daily Stormer has moved its operations to what's called the Dark Web. Nicolas Christin, an associate research professor at Carnegie Mellon University, joined us to discuss whether sites like these will be able to thrive on the Dark Web. Plus: We play this week's Silicon Tally with Doree Shafrir, a senior tech writer at Buzzfeed and author of the book "Startup: A Novel."

Two of the world's biggest tech companies, Alibaba and Tencent, are from China. With both having either recently released their quarterly earnings or preparing to, we'll take a look at how they're trying to expand their growth. Afterwards, we'll chat with Rashad Robinson, executive director at Color of Change, about the action that tech groups should take when their users include white supremacist groups.

The Department of Justice has asked DreamHost for 1.3 million IP addresses connected to a site that organized protests around President Trump's inauguration. On today's show, we'll look at whether there's a historical precedent for such a request, and what this would mean for hosting companies if DreamHost were to give up this information. Afterwards, we'll chat with Alex Klein, CEO of the startup Kano, about the importance of coding.

Daily Stormer, which describes itself as "The World's Most Genocidal Republican Website," has been let go from the domain GoDaddy after posting personal attacks about Heather Heyer, one of the Charlottesville victims. On today's show, we'll look at the role that services like GoDaddy play in controlling internet content. Afterwards, we'll look at a growing debate over the manufacturing standards for environmentally friendly electronics. Manufacturers seem to be getting better marks for  these products, but some in the gadget repair community say the lenses for judging those manufacturers are getting a little rose-tinted.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has developed a Spaceborne computer that'll be tested at the International Space Station to see if it can withstand trips to Mars. Mark Fernandez, lead developer for the NASA project, joined us to talk about the technology and why a private company like HP is getting involved. Afterwards, we'll look at news that State Department workers in Cuba may have suffered from an "acoustic attack."

Tech companies have had to grapple with some big moral issues as of late. Recently, Airbnb reportedly deactivated the accounts of users planning to attend a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Virginia. On today's show, we'll chat with University of Maryland professor Dana Fisher about whether the company is allowed to do something like this, and whether it's good for a business' bottom line to make a big political stand. Afterwards, we'll play this week's Silicon Tally with Saron Yitbarek, founder of the Code Newbie podcast.

Facebook and Instagram have replicated many of Snap's features, from face filters to disappearing messages, and that hasn't been great for business on Snap's end. Does it still have some creative power going for it right now? Business Insider senior reporter Alex Heath takes a look at the company's future with us. Afterwards, we'll talk to 17-year-old Jack Cable about that time he hacked the Air Force.