In TechSurge’s Season 1 Finale episode, we explore an important debate: should AI development be open source or closed? 

AI technology leader and UN Senior Fellow Senthil Kumar joins Michael Marks for a deep dive into one of the most consequential debates in artificial intelligence, exploring the fundamental tensions between democratizing AI access and maintaining safety controls.

Sparked by DeepSeek's recent model release that delivered GPT-4 class performance at a fraction of the cost and compute, the discussion spans the economics of AI development, trust and transparency concerns, regulatory approaches across different countries, and the unique opportunities AI presents for developing nations.

From Meta's shift from closed to open and OpenAI's evolution from open to closed, to practical examples of guardrails and the geopolitical implications of AI governance, this episode provides essential insights into how the future of artificial intelligence will be shaped not just by technological breakthroughs, but by the choices we make as a global community.

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits and news about Season 2 of the TechSurge podcast. Thanks for listening! 

Links:

Slate.ai - AI-powered construction technology: https://slate.ai/

World Economic Forum on open-source AI: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/02/open-source-ai-innovation-deepseek/

EU AI Act overview: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-approach-artificial-intelligence

• (00:00) - The Debate on AI Development: Open vs Closed

Legendary technologist and investor Bill Tai joins our latest episode for a wide-ranging conversation spanning decades of Silicon Valley innovation. Bill shares his remarkable journey from being employee #1 at TSMC to becoming one of the first seed investors in Zoom and Canva, and his early embrace of Bitcoin when it was priced at just 7 cents.

The conversation explores Bill's unique investment philosophy shaped by mentorship from Don Valentine of Sequoia Capital, his innovative approach to building entrepreneurial communities through kiteboarding, and his insights into the intersection of AI, energy infrastructure, and cryptocurrency. Bill discusses the massive energy crisis facing AI data centers, drawing parallels to the telecom infrastructure buildout of the 1980s.

From his early days as a kid reverse-engineering electronics to his current role as Chairman of Hut Eight Mining and his partnership with the Trump organization on American Bitcoin Corp, Bill provides invaluable insights into recognizing structural market changes and backing the right entrepreneurs and emerging technologies at the right time.

Links
Learn more about Bill’s blockchain companies Hut Eight Mining and BITFURY - Hut 8 Corp, BITFURY

Bill’s original tweet from 2010 about the potential of bitcoin: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb7QQ8GHN12/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D 

Read Bill’s founding stories on Zoom and Canva: https://medium.com/@billtai/30b-stress-test-on-necker-island-814553c7f520

Bill’s early memo detailing his conviction about Zoom’s technology: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcaZjFpNrs/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== 

Article: Design start-up Canva raises $3 million after kitesurfing in Hawaii: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/design-start-up-canva-raises-3-million-after-kitesurfing-in-hawaii 

Canva now tops the list of most popular AI tools: https://explodingtopics.com/blog/most-popular-ai-tools 

Learn about TSMC's history - Taiwan Semiconductor

Read the article that changed Bill’s life - Secrets of the Little Blue Box

More fun items mentioned during the discussion

2600 Hacker Quarterly: https://www.2600.com/

The Cap’N Crunch whistle used by early hackers: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/capn-crunch-whistle

The Radio Shack 100-in-one electronics kit: https://www.rcgrabbag.com/radio-shack-100-in-1-electronic-project-kit/

• (00:00) - The AI Data Center Dilemma

Will AI displace more jobs than it creates? How can the U.S. win the AI race? How can AI benefits be evenly distributed across businesses and society?

We explore these questions and more as Sriram Viswanathan sits down with Ronnie Chatterji, Chief Economist at OpenAI, for an in-depth exploration of AI's economic impact and policy implications. Ronnie brings a unique perspective, having served as an economic advisor in both the Obama and Biden administrations as a senior economist, supply chain advisor, and architect of the CHIPS Act.

The conversation dives into the economic opportunities and challenges of AI adoption, from productivity gains and job market transformation to the critical need for workforce retraining and AI upskilling in schools. Ronnie also delves into America's competitive position in the global AI race, the critical need for infrastructure investment in order to continue scaling this emerging technology, and the lessons learned from implementing major industrial policy like the CHIPS Act.

Links:

Learn more about OpenAI's economic research and policy work - OpenAI

Read OpenAI's Economic Blueprint for the US - OpenAI’s Economic Blueprint

Explore the CHIPS and Science Act - CHIPS.gov

Ronnie Chatterji's academic work at Duke University - Duke Fuqua School of Business

• (00:00) - The Expanding Role of AI in Human Agency

In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan sits down with Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at Nokia, for a deep dive into the evolving landscape of telecom and wireless technology. Nishant shares insights into the seismic shifts transforming network infrastructure—from core networks to edge computing—and discusses how Nokia leverages artificial intelligence to optimize performance and drive innovation. 

The conversation also highlights Nokia's unique innovation framework, spanning its corporate venture investments, internal incubator, and expansion of the legendary Bell Labs. Today Nokia leverages Bell Labs’ groundbreaking research into emerging technology for internal innovation and new venture spinouts in collaboration with venture capital firms, including recently announced inaugural spinout startup, Astranu.

Links:

Discover the groundbreaking Nokia-Celesta spinout advancing healthcare imaging technology - Astranu 

Learn about the legendary innovation powerhouse - Nokia Bell Labs

• (00:00) - The Genesis of Nokia and Bell Labs

Competition, growth, tariffs, hacks, AI – what does it take to be an effective leader today? John Chambers, former CEO and Executive Chairman of Cisco and founder of JC2 Ventures, joins TechSurge host Sriram Viswanathan to share valuable wisdom on leading and growing businesses through times of significant change. As a leader who has transitioned from the c-suite to venture capital and now mentoring founders in emerging technology sectors, John has seen it all. 

He shares lessons from his time leading one of the world’s most influential networking companies at Cisco (the most valuable company in the world at the time), revealing what he learned while growing it from a challenger networking company into a $50 billion tech powerhouse, sharing how Cisco achieved and maintained its market leadership, particularly his bold M&A strategies. 

John offers hard‑won insights on navigating major technology shifts in AI, cloud, security, and more. Today’s founders and executives will find practical frameworks, real‑world war stories, and counterintuitive advice to help survive and thrive in an era of continual disruption. 

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.

Links:

Explore John Chambers' family office and venture firm at JC2 Ventures

Read John Chambers' book “Connecting the Dots” on Amazon

Discover the organization John chaired for eight years US-India Strategic Partnership Forum

Learn about the company John and Sriram have invested in together at ParkourSC

Find out about the deep fake detection company Pin Drop

Learn about the cybersecurity company Rubrik

• (00:00) - Navigating the AI Revolution

MIT President Emeritus Dr. Rafael Reif joins host Michael Marks for a discussion about the state of U.S. competitiveness in technology, university research funding, current immigration policy, and more. Reif explains why universities remain the innovation engines of economies, educating top talent and generating the foundational research that powers emerging tech and creates new industries. He candidly assesses U.S.-China competition, warns that Chinese research output is rapidly outpacing our own, and urges renewed federal investment.

The discussion explores how restrictive immigration policies threaten the flow of global talent into the U.S and his own impression of current policies as an immigrant from Venezuela himself. As a TSMC board member, Reif also touches on the strategic need for domestic semiconductor fabs, Intel’s path forward, and TSMC’s edge in advancing cutting-edge nodes. Lastly, he addresses gaps in the venture capital funding space and why he created MIT’s The Engine incubator model to fund “tough tech” startups, which helped launch breakthroughs like Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.

Connect with Rafael Reif on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/l-rafael-rief-b8977b231

Dive deeper into Reif’s career, publications, and awards. Read his full biography https://reif.mit.edu/biography 

Read Rafael's recent op-ed about government R&D funding: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/17/opinion/science-technology-research-development/

Read Rafael's speech about the role of universities in building a strong U.S. economy: https://reif.mit.edu/speeches-writing/strong-universities-make-strong-united-states

Explore how MIT’s Engine incubator is fueling “tough tech” startups like fusion power. Learn about The Engine https://engine.xyz/

Watch Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ plan to deliver commercial fusion energy. Discover CFS https://cfs.energy/

Understand the roadmap to a 400 MW fusion pilot plant. Read the MIT News report https://news.mit.edu/2024/commonwealth-fusion-systems-unveils-worlds-first-fusion-power-plant-1217

Bobby Yerramilli-Rao, Chief Strategy Officer at Microsoft, joins TechSurge host Sriram Viswanathan to offer a rare glimpse into the strategic playbook of one of the world’s most powerful tech companies. Bobby shares how the company navigates today’s biggest technology paradigm shifts, placing bets with trillion-dollar implications. Touching on Microsoft’s AI strategy, OpenAI partnership, quantum computing, its approach to acquisitions, and much more, this candid and wide-ranging conversation is not to be missed. 

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.

• (00:00) - The Nature of Technology and AI's Economic Impact

In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan sits down with Charlie Giancarlo, Chairman and CEO of Pure Storage, to discuss the evolution and future of data storage in the digital age. Charlie shares insights from his career spanning his pivotal role in Cisco's success as a networking pioneer, to his leadership in transforming Pure Storage into a leader in innovative storage solutions.

They explore the evolution of data center infrastructure, and the critical role of storage architecture in enabling AI and cloud technologies. Charlie also explains how Pure Storage's software-driven approach is creating new efficiencies and opportunities for enterprises, offering a compelling vision for a unified "data cloud" that breaks down data silos and unlocks new insights.

This episode delves into the intersections of networking, compute, storage, and AI, providing an essential perspective for anyone interested in the future of technology infrastructure.

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.

Links:

Pure Storage Official Website: Explore Pure Storage's innovative data storage solutions. Pure Storage Data
Charlie Giancarlo's Biography: Learn more about Charlie Giancarlo, Chairman and CEO of Pure Storage. ​Charlie Giancarlo
Portworx by Pure Storage: Discover Portworx, the Kubernetes data services platform acquired by Pure Storage. ​Wikipedia Portworx ASBIS – IT Distributor

FlashBlade//EXA Announcement: Read about Pure Storage's FlashBlade//EXA, designed for high-performance computing and AI workloads. FlashBlade//EXA: The Future of AI and HPC Storage Performance

Many in venture capital and biopharma are anointing artificial intelligence the savior of drug discovery—but what can AI actually do?

In this eye-opening episode, Michael Marks sits down with Mike Nohaile, CEO of Prellis Biologics, to explore the hype versus reality in AI-enabled drug discovery. Mike details why, despite significant breakthroughs like AlphaFold and recent Nobel Prize win for computational protein design, fully AI-generated medicines still present challenges. He also discusses why we urgently need more effective medicines and details Prellis’ unique system which combines laser printed human organoids and an externalized human immune system with AI, enabling the discovery of fully human antibodies. 

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.

Links:

Explore Prellis Biologics

https://prellisbio.com/

Understand AlphaFold, DeepMind’s AI model for predicting protein structures

https://deepmind.google/alphafold

Read about the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2024/press-release/ 

• (00:00) - The Reality of AI in Drug Discovery

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? 

Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI.

Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying mathematical concepts that power modern machine learning, to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives–even if your last math class was in high school. 

Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency?

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits.

Links:

Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749

Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing

https://anilananthaswamy.com/

Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence

https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy

Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research

https://ksj.mit.edu/

Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron

Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance

https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0

• (00:00) - The Future of AI: Agency and Exponential Growth