The AI Report Podcast

By Liam LawsonBusiness Entrepreneurship Technology

The AI Report Podcast episodes

June 16OpenAI Moves Toward an IPO + AI's Biggest Rivals Are Sharing Infrastructure | AI News in 5
Anthropic just released its newest model, Fable 5.* OpenAI has officially taken another step toward public markets. And some of the biggest competitors in AI are now relying on the same infrastructure behind the scenes.
This week, Anthropic launches Fable 5 and introduces built-in safeguards for advanced use cases*, OpenAI confidentially files paperwork for a future IPO, Apple unveils its biggest Siri upgrade in years at WWDC, Google signs a massive compute agreement with SpaceX to support Gemini, and Meta expands its AI infrastructure footprint through a new partnership in India.
If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five minute briefing every Tuesday.
Stories Covered This Week:
Anthropic releases Fable 5, its first Mythos-class model for general use, with built-in safeguards for advanced cybersecurity and AI development tasks*

OpenAI confidentially files paperwork for a future IPO as investors increasingly scrutinize AI economics and growth

Apple announces its largest Siri update in years, bringing conversational AI, workflow automation and writing assistance to its ecosystem

Google signs a major compute agreement with SpaceX, highlighting how access to infrastructure is becoming a key battleground in AI

Meta partners with Reliance Industries to expand AI infrastructure and data center capacity across India
*Update: Since recording, Anthropic has paused broader public access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Stay tuned for next week's episode for the full update.
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:16 Anthropic launches Fable 5
01:49 OpenAI moves toward public markets
02:43 Apple's biggest Siri update in years
04:00 Google signs major AI infrastructure deal
05:01 Meta expands AI infrastructure in India
05:59 Outro

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7 min
June 11The Future of Work Is Less AI and More Human Than You Think | Aaron Mitchell Finegold, Adobe
Everyone thinks the future of work means spending more time interacting with AI. Aaron Mitchell Finegold believes the opposite.
As Head of Product Marketing at Adobe, Aaron sits at the intersection of enterprise AI, agentic workflows, brand intelligence and the future of how work gets done. In this conversation with Liam Lawson, he explains why most companies are approaching AI adoption incorrectly, what an agentic content supply chain actually looks like, and why trust, judgment and human relationships may become even more valuable in an AI-first world.
Stories Covered This Week:
Why most companies are deploying AI agents the wrong way

What an agentic content supply chain actually looks like inside the enterprise

How Adobe is building systems that combine humans and AI agents

Why generative AI without guardrails can damage brand integrity

The difference between work that should be done by humans versus agents

How enterprises are turning brand knowledge into AI-readable intelligence

Why trust matters for both humans and AI systems

The personality traits that will thrive in an AI-driven workplace

Aaron's vision for the future of work and why it may involve less interaction with machines than people expect
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro and Aaron's background
03:01 Hands-on experience building with AI
04:41 The biggest misconception about generative AI
05:38 What an agentic content supply chain looks like
07:30 When should AI agents replace humans?
08:40 How Adobe's Brand Intelligence works
10:44 Where AI starts and human creativity ends
12:09 Aaron's vision for the future of work
13:41 What trust means for humans and AI agents
16:34 Reliability, AI systems and enterprise adoption
19:34 The personality traits that will thrive in the AI era
21:38 Why do you do what you do?

Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finegold/

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25 min
June 09Anthropic Files to Go Public + CNN Sues Perplexity | AI News in 5
Anthropic is preparing for public markets. Europe is pushing to reduce its reliance on American tech. And CNN just filed a copyright lawsuit against Perplexity.
This week, Anthropic files confidential paperwork for an IPO in one of the biggest milestones yet for the AI industry, Europe unveils a tech sovereignty plan to reduce its dependence on American technology, CNN sues Perplexity over the alleged redistribution of more than 17,000 copyrighted stories, Morgan Stanley opens its platform to external AI agents using MCP, and Microsoft teams up with Mayo Clinic to build an AI model for healthcare.
If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five minute briefing.
Stories Covered This Week:
Anthropic files confidential paperwork for an IPO, with OpenAI expected to follow soon

Europe unveils a tech sovereignty plan to build out data centers, revive its chip industry and buy more from European suppliers

CNN sues Perplexity over the alleged use of more than 17,000 copyrighted stories, photos and videos

Morgan Stanley becomes one of the first major Wall Street banks to open its platform to external AI agents via MCP

Microsoft and Mayo Clinic partner to build an AI model designed specifically for healthcare
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:17 Anthropic files to go public
01:17 Europe pushes for tech sovereignty
02:28 CNN sues Perplexity
03:23 Morgan Stanley opens up to AI agents
04:22 Microsoft and Mayo Clinic build a healthcare AI
05:11 Outro
Partner Links:
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6 min
June 04Inside Adobe's Partnerships With OpenAI, Anthropic and NVIDIA | Sahil Gupta
In the AI race, some of Adobe's closest partners are also its biggest competitors. So how does it decide who to work with?
Sahil Gupta is the Senior Director of Partnerships at Adobe, where he leads technology partnerships with the biggest names in AI including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Cloud and NVIDIA. In this episode Liam sits down with Sahil to break down how these partnerships actually come together, what Adobe announced at Adobe Summit, how you navigate working with a partner you also compete with, and what the future of work really looks like from someone sitting at the center of the AI ecosystem.
Topics covered:
How Adobe structures partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft and surfaces its agentic capabilities inside each

The NVIDIA partnership including 3D digital twins, agent governance and the next generation of Firefly models

How you co-innovate with a partner like Anthropic that also competes with you on design tools

The difference between working with a 30 year partner like IBM and a company only a few years old

Why Adobe brings over 30 models including startups like Runway into Firefly

What the future of work looks like and the radiology lesson from NVIDIA's Jensen Huang
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:36 Competing and co-innovating with partners
01:22 How Sahil kept ending up at the center of industry moments
03:01 What a Senior Director of Partnerships actually does
04:03 Where partnerships actually come from
06:24 What Adobe announced at Summit
07:40 The NVIDIA partnership explained
10:28 Navigating partnerships with companies you also compete with
12:06 Working with 30 year partners versus brand new ones
13:43 What partnerships Adobe is building toward next
15:23 Why everything comes back to customer experience
17:54 How Sahil ended up in partnerships
19:27 The future of work and the radiology lesson
22:15 Why do you do what you do
Partner Links:
Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass
Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe
Join the community: https://community.theaireport.ai/checkout/the-ai-report-welcome-gift?coupon_code=WRTH

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27 min
June 02Anthropic Drops Opus 4.8 + Robinhood Tests AI That Trades For You | AI News in 5
Users are already pushing back on Google's new AI search update, DeepSeek just slashed AI model prices by up to 75 percent, and Robinhood is now testing AI agents that can trade stocks on your behalf.
This week, DuckDuckGo sees a sharp rise in installs as users look for alternatives to AI-heavy search, DeepSeek cuts prices on its V4 Pro models and escalates the AI pricing war, Apple announces a set of AI-powered accessibility features across its devices, Robinhood tests AI agents that can place trades for users, and Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 to everyone on any plan.
If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five-minute briefing every Tuesday.
Stories Covered This Week:
DuckDuckGo installs rise sharply as some users actively seek out AI free search experiences after Google's update

DeepSeek cuts V4 Pro model prices by up to 75 percent, intensifying the industry wide pricing battle

Apple announces AI powered accessibility features across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro including eye tracking wheelchair control

Robinhood tests AI agents that can execute trades on behalf of users with built in safeguards and oversight

Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 to all plans with improved honesty, adjustable effort settings and new dynamic workflows in Claude Code
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:20 Users push back on Google AI search as DuckDuckGo installs rise
01:25 DeepSeek cuts model prices by up to 75%
02:13 Apple announces AI accessibility features across its devices
03:11 Robinhood tests AI agents that trade for you
04:18 Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 to everyone
05:32 Outro
Partner Links:
Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass
Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe
Join the community: https://community.theaireport.ai/checkout/the-ai-report-welcome-gift?coupon_code=WRTH

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7 min
May 28AI Traffic to Retail Is Up 393%. Here Is What That Means for Your Business | Vivek Pandya, Adobe
AI traffic to retail sites is up 393% year on year. A year ago, that traffic was underperforming every other marketing channel. Now it is outperforming all of them by 48%. And most businesses have no idea how to capitalise on it.
Vivek Pandya, the Director of Adobe Digital Insights, leads the team that analyses trends across trillions of data points to help enterprises understand where the digital economy is heading. In this episode, Liam sits down with Vivek to break down the biggest shift happening in consumer behavior right now, why generative engine optimisation is the most important opportunity since social media, and what businesses need to do today to stay visible as AI changes how people search and buy.
Topics covered:
Why AI traffic to retail sites is up 393% year on year, and what drove the shift

How consumer conversion through AI channels went from underperforming by 38% to outperforming by 48% in one year

Why a third of all content on the internet is not machine readable right now and what that means for your business

What generative engine optimisation is and why it matters more than SEO right now

The difference between how San Francisco thinks about AI adoption versus the rest of the world

Why data storytelling is still the most underrated skill in business
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:21 What is Adobe Digital Insights and what does Vivek do
01:12 A trillion data points
02:18 How the data is processed and what enterprises are asking for
03:47 The biggest AI trends right now
06:04 What changed in consumer behaviour
07:35 How to set your business up for AI search success
10:24 What the data does not tell you
12:53 Where does Vivek's trust in AI start and finish
14:03 What speaks to Vivek about his role
15:19 How the job influences how he thinks outside of work
17:53 Living in San Francisco and what you learn being close to the technology
19:47 Why do you do what you do
Connect with Vivek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekmpandya/
Partner links:
Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass
Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe
Join the community: www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide

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27 min
May 26Meta Cuts 10% + Google Reinvents Search After 25 Years | AI News in 5
Meta is cutting 10 percent of its workforce and moving thousands of employees into AI roles. Google just announced the biggest change to Search in over 25 years. And Elon Musk has officially lost his legal battle against OpenAI.
This week, Meta lays off staff and reorganizes 7,000 employees around AI across product, infrastructure and research, Google brings AI agents directly into Search to help users complete tasks not just find information, Amazon adds a feature to Alexa Plus that generates full podcast style audio episodes on demand, the Vatican forms a new committee on the ethical implications of AI, and Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI is dismissed with the jury siding with Sam Altman.
If you are a founder, operator or executive trying to keep up with AI, this is your weekly five-minute briefing every Tuesday.
Stories Covered This Week:
Meta announces 10% layoffs and moves 7,000 employees into AI focused roles across the business

Google announces the biggest update to Search in 25 years bringing AI agents directly into the product

Amazon adds podcast style audio generation to Alexa Plus

The Vatican forms a new AI ethics committee focused on labor and human decision making

Elon Musk officially loses his lawsuit against OpenAI with the jury siding with Sam Altman
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:21 Meta cuts 10% and reorganizes around AI
01:16 Google reinvents Search with AI agents
02:11 Amazon Alexa Plus generates podcast episodes on demand
03:17 The Vatican forms an AI ethics committee
04:11 Musk loses his lawsuit against OpenAI
05:02 Outro
Partner Links:
Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass
Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe
Join the community: www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide

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6 min
May 21Inside the Rise of AI Employees and Autonomous Workforces | Swati Trehan
In this episode, Swati Trehan, co-founder of Ema, breaks down what AI agents actually are, how “AI employees” work inside Fortune 500 companies, and why the future of enterprise software may look nothing like today’s SaaS tools.
Swati explains how Ema’s platform orchestrates teams of AI agents that can autonomously handle HR, IT, finance, onboarding, payroll, employee support, and customer service workflows across massive organizations. She also reveals how companies like Hitachi are already deploying AI employees at scale, why traditional automation failed, and how enterprise AI is evolving beyond simple copilots into fully agentic systems.
The conversation dives deep into the technical infrastructure behind agents, including memory, orchestration layers, knowledge graphs, model routing, and why Ema uses multiple LLMs simultaneously to optimize for cost, latency, and accuracy. Swati also shares why Excel remains one of AI’s hardest unsolved problems, why video is the next frontier for agents, and how the “SaaS apocalypse” is reshaping software businesses.
If you’ve been hearing terms like agents, autonomous workflows, AI employees, copilots, or agentic AI, this is one of the clearest explanations of where the technology is heading and what it means for the future of work.
Key Topics Covered:
What AI agents actually are (explained simply)

The difference between copilots, agents, and AI employees

Why traditional automation and RPA failed

How Fortune 500 companies are deploying AI employees today

Why HR is becoming the entry point for enterprise AI adoption

How Ema orchestrates teams of agents across workflows

The technical stack behind enterprise AI agents

Why memory, context, and permissions are critical for agents

The “mixture of experts” approach using multiple LLMs at once

Why Excel remains surprisingly difficult for AI systems

The next frontier: AI-generated video workflows

The rise of the “SaaS apocalypse”

Why solving business problems matters more than building features

How AI is changing the way founders and engineers think
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:34 - What AI agents actually are
03:01 - The difference between agents and AI employees
03:25 - Liam’s “light bulb” moment using agents
04:06 - Swati’s realization that HR work could be automated
05:57 - The founding story behind Ema
08:20 - Why AI unlocks human creativity
09:20 - The technical infrastructure behind AI agents
12:12 - How Ema routes tasks across multiple LLMs
13:49 - Memory, context, and knowledge graphs for agents
16:35 - The biggest unsolved problems in AI agents
18:32 - Why video is the next frontier for AI
20:05 - Why Excel is still difficult for AI systems
21:00 - Who Ema’s ideal customers are
23:27 - Why HR teams are leading enterprise AI adoption
24:25 - How enterprise AI implementation actually works
26:13 - Why modular agents matter
28:35 - What the employee experience looks like with AI agents
30:24 - Live demo of Ema’s AI employee system
36:58 - How companies roll out AI agents internally
39:31 - Building AI employees in real time
44:01 - Ema’s competitive moat in the AI race
47:46 - The “SaaS apocalypse” and future-proofing AI businesses
49:16 - Why Ema focused on product over hype
52:12 - How AI changed the way Swati thinks
55:07 - Why rapid problem-solving matters more than ever
57:27 - Living in London while building a global AI company
59:16 - Why Swati does what she does
Swati Trehan’s Socials:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swati-trehan/
Ema: https://www.ema.co
Partner Links
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1 hr 6 min
May 19Anthropic vs OpenAI Just Got Serious + xAI Faces Environmental Backlash | AI News in 5
Anthropic says fictional portrayals of AI may have influenced Claude’s recent blackmail behavior during internal testing. OpenAI officially launches a $4B enterprise deployment company. And Elon Musk’s xAI faces lawsuits over controversial power infrastructure at its data center.
This week, Anthropic explains why Claude Opus 4 attempted to blackmail engineers during safety tests, OpenAI expands aggressively into enterprise AI services with engineers embedded directly inside companies, OpenAI launches a new cybersecurity platform called Daybreak, Anthropic officially surpasses OpenAI in B2B adoption according to new Ramp data, and xAI faces growing scrutiny over gas turbines powering its AI infrastructure.
If you are a founder, operator, or executive trying to stay ahead of AI, this is your weekly AI news briefing every Tuesday.
Stories Covered This Week:
Anthropic says internet culture and fictional AI portrayals may have influenced Claude’s blackmail behavior during testing

OpenAI launches “The Deployment Company” with more than $4B in backing to help enterprises rebuild workflows around AI

OpenAI unveils Daybreak, a GPT-5.5 powered cybersecurity platform competing with Anthropic’s Mythos

Anthropic officially passes OpenAI in B2B adoption according to new Ramp data

Elon Musk’s xAI faces lawsuits over gas turbines powering its Mississippi data center site
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:18 Claude’s blackmail behavior explained by Anthropic
01:15 OpenAI launches The Deployment Company
02:30 OpenAI enters cybersecurity with Daybreak
03:29 Anthropic surpasses OpenAI in B2B adoption
04:47 xAI faces environmental backlash over AI power demands
05:55 Outro
Partner Links
Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass
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7 min
May 14Why Data (Not Code) Is Your Only Real AI Moat | Jason Li, Laurel
In this episode, Jason Li, CTO of Laurel, reveals how the company is turning timesheets into the AI playbook for the entire knowledge-work economy. Jason breaks down why $2,000/hour lawyers still spend Saturdays manually filling out time in six-minute increments, how Laurel's AI platform automatically captures every click, email, and meeting, and why data (not code) is the only real moat left in the age of the SaaSpocalypse.
Jason shares how Ernst & Young is using Laurel to identify high-leverage work, why Laurel deliberately integrates with "decades-old" software like Classic Outlook that most startups ignore, and the counter-intuitive reason your best rainmakers should never be forced into cookie-cutter roles again. He also explains why Laurel doesn't train its own LLM, how they run AI feedback loops that self-iterate prompts, and the frameworks leaders can use to actually measure AI ROI instead of just surveying "did it help?"
Key Topics Covered:
Why "what gets measured gets managed" is the most important rule in AI adoption

The Moneyball insight that changed how Jason thinks about metrics

How Laurel auto-generates timesheets for lawyers and accountants

Why Ernst & Young chose Laurel for their tax group

The hidden cost of manual timesheets for $2K/hour professionals

How Laurel maps knowledge work to a company's "work ontology"

Why decades-old software (Classic Outlook) is a competitive moat, not a liability

The SaaSpocalypse: what survives when AI eats applications

How to measure if an AI tool actually delivers ROI

Why data, not models, is the real defensible asset in AI
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - The Peter Drucker quote that shaped Jason's career
02:49 - A Moneyball analogy for AI adoption
03:25 - What Laurel actually does: the AI platform that maps time to outcomes
07:19 - Why every business (not just law firms) needs time visibility
09:17 - Inside the Ernst & Young deployment
12:27 - Jason's journey to becoming CTO at Laurel
14:21 - Live product demo: Laurel's work ontology engine
17:49 - How AI shifts the line between high and low leverage work
21:15 - What onboarding a 2,000-person firm actually looks like
23:06 - The technical architecture behind Laurel's desktop client
28:35 - Why Laurel doesn't train its own LLM
29:39 - How Laurel handles AI models "getting worse" overnight
33:35 - Capturing time for work that doesn't happen on a computer
37:17 - AI adoption meets employee behavior change
41:54 - The SaaSpocalypse and why Laurel's moat is data, not software
48:00 - Why Jason left Ironclad to join Laurel
51:16 - Jason's answer to The AI Why's signature closing question
Jason Li's Socials:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonhli/
Laurel: https://www.laurel.ai
Partner Links
Upgrade your AI toolkit: https://www.theaireport.ai/ai-executive-pass
Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe
Join the community: www.theaireport.ai/leaders-launch-guide

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56 min

About The AI Report Podcast

From the publisher's feed

The AI Report podcast is a weekly AI podcast for business leaders that looks at artificial intelligence through a human lens. Understanding AI means understanding the people behind it: their motivations, their values, and the choices that shape how AI shows up at work.