Should under-16s be banned from social media? After landmark US rulings against Meta and YouTube over addictive design features, pressure is building on Big Tech. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott speak to online safety campaigner Baroness Kidron about whether this is tech’s 'Big Tobacco' moment, how the UK is tackling online safety, and what it means for children, including the growing risks of AI chatbots.

Would you support a social media ban for teenagers? Get in touch: [email protected]

Producer: Marnie Duke

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Image: Getty Images

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A new trend is emerging in Silicon Valley – engineers are using more and more of AI agents to do their jobs. At some companies like Meta, AI usage is reportedly being linked to performance. But it’s also fuelling a growing anxiety, if AI can do your job better and faster, where does that leave you? Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss the paranoia currently consuming Silicon Valley, what this really means for the future of work and whether we’re heading toward a genuine AI jobs crisis. Plus, they speak to CEO of Forterro, Dean Forbes, on his remarkable story from homelessness to leading a top private software firm in Europe. 

Are you using AI agents to do your job? Get in touch: [email protected]

Producer: Marnie Duke

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Image: Getty

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Conan O’Brien joked at the Oscars that he might be the last human to host the Academy Awards. It got Danny and Katie thinking about AI's influence on the creative industry – from Hollywood, podcasting and beyond. They speak to Eline Van der Velden, the creator of AI actor Tilly Norwood, who argues that AI performers could be a more “ethical alternative” to traditional acting. So is AI empowering creators or replacing them?

Image: AI-generated/Tilly Norwood/Particle6

Clips: The Epstein Files, Tilly Norwood

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British AI data-center company NScale has hit a $14.6 billion valuation after raising another $2 billion but its rapid rise is raising eyebrows. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott examine the meteoric story of founder Josh Payne and the questions surrounding his business. They’re joined by Alice Bentinck, CEO of Entrepreneurs First, to discuss what it really takes to build the next generation of tech founders. Plus, Danny's been in court following a landmark trial in California that's seen Mark Zuckerberg grilled by lawyers and could prove to be a turning point for the multitrillion-dollar social media industry.

Producer: Marnie Duke

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Image Credit: The Sunday Times/James Cowen/Nscale 

Get in touch: [email protected]

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Quantum computing has been called the next big technological revolution, potentially as transformative as AI. Governments are investing billions, banks are already experimenting with the technology, and startups are racing to turn decades of research into real-world systems. In this episode, originally from The Business, another podcast from The Times, James Palles-Dimmock from UK startup Quantum Motion talks about the race to scale quantum computing, how close we are to a real breakthrough, and whether the technology could change industries from finance to drug discovery.

Presenters:

Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times

Dominic O’Connell, columnist and business presenter, Times Radio

Guest:

James Palles-Dimmock, chief executive, Quantum Motion

Producer: Miriam Hall

Senior Producer: Julia Johnson

Executive Producer: Kate Ford

Photo credit: Getty

Get in touch: [email protected]

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An explosive fallout between AI giant Anthropic, OpenAI and the US Department of War has ignited a fierce debate in Silicon Valley about who gets to decide how artificial intelligence is used in defence. Former Pentagon adviser and founder of Primer.ai, Sean Gourley, joins Danny and Katie to explain how this technology is already embedded in military operations, and explore whether Silicon Valley bosses should get a say when it comes to national security. Is AI making war smarter or more dangerous?

Clip: Bloomberg TV

Producer: Marnie Duke

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Get in touch: [email protected]

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Do Nvidia’s latest results confirm a tech boom or signal the makings of a bubble? Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott ask how a once-niche graphics chipmaker ended up at the centre of global tech, geopolitics and the stock market. Author Stephen Witt joins them to explain Jensen Huang’s rise and the company’s extraordinary dominance.

Guest: Stephen Witt, Author of The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip

Image: Getty

Producer: Marnie Duke

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of The Times Tech podcast is sponsored by PwC.

Artificial intelligence is entering a new phase. It’s no longer just about chatbots generating text or analysing data. The next frontier is agentic AI systems that can coordinate tasks, make decisions and act with a degree of autonomy. In this sponsored bonus episode, brought to you by PwC, Katie Prescott speaks to Lilia Christofi, Partner for AI and Data at PwC, about what agentic AI really means in practice. 

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As world leaders and tech bosses gather for India’s AI Impact Summit, Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman ask if these global summits are shaping AI or struggling to keep up with it? They also hear from Carina Prunkl, lead author of the new International AI Safety Report, about risks, jobs, autonomy and whether safeguards are keeping pace with technology. Plus, OpenAI snaps up viral agent OpenClaw. 

Image: Getty

Email us: [email protected]

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Nikola Mrksic, CEO of Nvidia-backed London startup PolyAI, joins Danny and Katie to talk about AI voice assistants transforming customer service. He explains why voice AI is finally working, how PolyAI handles real-world calls and real-world accents, and what happens to jobs when bots can do the work of thousands. Plus, the ‘SaaSpocalypse’ – the $1 trillion sell-off that signals investors may finally believe AI is eating software.

Image: PolyAI

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