From Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon: Meta - the parent of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and much more besides - finds itself fighting for its life against a suit from the US Federal Trade Commission, charging abuse of monopoly power - because they acquired Instagram and WhatsApp in order to neutralise up-and-coming competitors. Even in Trump's America, that could result in the break-up of the trillion-dollar social media giant. Plus, are you up for a Day of Unplugging? No devices, no screens, for 24 hours? How about giving it a go - tomorrow? Would that excite or terrify you?

Thanks to RNZ - Nine To Noon

The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel and Myrtle and Pine  

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Originally broadcast on 20th March, 2025 on Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon with host Kathryn Ryan. 

Christie's held its first auction of AI-generated art, earning a million dollars. Those AI artworks had been 'trained' from countless images, owned by other people. Is that legal? OpenAI and Google claim that unless they have free right to use - well, basically everything everywhere ever created by humanity - to train their AI models, the Chinese will win the AI race. Meanwhile, Hollywood's A-listers called for protection of artists and their works against what they see as copyright theft. Plus: A Clockwork Orange comes to life for prisoners in solitary confinement - and is your chatbot flattering you?

Thanks to RNZ - Nine To Noon

The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel and Myrtle and Pine  

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Originally broadcast on Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon on 13 February 2025 

Last week Google amended its ethical AI policies to allow their AI tools to be used in weapons - to preserve 'national security'. They're among the last to embrace a new market for their products - defense and weapons. Is this a new thing? Or is tech simply returning to its roots as a service industry for the military-industrial complex? Is this why the US and UK refused to sign an international AI declaration this week?  Plus - why does leading AI company Anthropic insist job applicants write their submissions - without the help of AI?

Thanks to RNZ - Nine To Noon

The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel and Myrtle and Pine  

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"How did you go bankrupt?" begins the oft-quoted line from Hemingway. "Two ways. Gradually - then suddenly." That's how the automotive sector feels at the end of 2024, with Nissan maybe preparing for bankruptcy and Stellantis firing its CEO and VW struggling with strikes and low sales and GM shuttering Cruise and on and on and on. Sally Dominguez and Drew Smith join Mark Pesce in studio to explore what's really happening - and what it all means for THE NEXT BILLION CARS.

The Next Billion Cars with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel and Myrtle and Pine  

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In 2018, Nick Hazell founded v2food - an amazing startup making plant-based substitutes for meat that got extensive coverage on THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS. Six years later, it's getting difficult to find their product on supermarket shelves - and there's been a broader roll-back from plant-based alternatives. What's happened? Nick Hazel doesn't have all the answers - but he asks some of the right questions...

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The impacts of global heating have become persistent and profound, so we need to do as much as we can to lesson those impacts, as quickly as we can. The best paths forward lean into existing, natural processes - and this is exactly where Nick Hazell has arrived with Algenie. Can algae restore balance to our ecosystem? Is it the moonshot we need to transform our future?

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In this final year in review episode, Sally Dominguez, Drew Smith and Mark Pesce address the big, smelly elephant in the room: The change of government - and direction - over in the United States of America. Could massive tariffs plus 'drill, baby, drill' together land a knockout punch on the US EV industry? Plus - predictions for 2025. We're bringing the year to a thrilling close on this episode of THE NEXT BILLION CARS.

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Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is everything you need to know about the future — so you can make the best decisions today. The rate of change we are experiencing is the fastest humanity has ever seen. Stay informed as Mark simplifies the complex technological and societal changes we face. How we will work, connect, use money, drive, eat is all changing at a rapid pace. For more information on The Next Billion seconds with Mark Pesce, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.com 

For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

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Whenever Mark, Sal and Drew get together, sparks will fly. So much has happened since our visit to CES 2024, we reckoned it time to draw all the year's threads together: Are we pulling back from EVs? Will China dominate manufacturing? And what about all that data vehicles are collecting? It's been full on - enough to require a bit of a 'group hug'. Part one of two.

Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here

Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is everything you need to know about the future — so you can make the best decisions today. The rate of change we are experiencing is the fastest humanity has ever seen. Stay informed as Mark simplifies the complex technological and societal changes we face. How we will work, connect, use money, drive, eat is all changing at a rapid pace. For more information on The Next Billion seconds with Mark Pesce, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.com 

For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The $100,000,000,000 Lie — “In 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk instructed his team of engineers to 'hard code' the first demo of what would become 'Full Self Driving'. A faked video drove panic across the entire automotive sector, leading to massive (and mostly failed) investments in technologies for autonomy.”

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The Next Billion Cars co-host Drew Smith... has something to say. 

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Hosted by Drew Smith, Sally Dominguez and futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Cars is everything you need to know about the future of Cars.

For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.