Evan Hubinger, the Alignment Lead at Anthropic has warned there’s more than a ten percent chance that AI could kill all humans. And he’s the person responsible for making sure their AI systems are safe. 

He’s also not the only person sounding the alarm this week, following the release of OpenAI’s powerful new model ‘Astra’. Danny and Katie question how seriously we should take these warnings or whether they’re really a distraction from the serious problems AI faces right now. 

Plus, they talk about ‘You Can See Everything’ - the new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, disgraced boss of Silicon Valley tech company Theranos. The film has lit a conversation about the problems of mixing powerful tech with human weakness, and offers a sobering message about this current AI moment.  

Watch on YouTube 

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Presenters:

Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times 

Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times 

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Dan Box

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty

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

Welcome to The Interview from Times Tech – our conversation with the people shaping the future of technology. 

This week, Katie speaks to Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Cohere, one of the few companies building large language models outside of the US and China.

Born in Canada, Aidan is acutely aware of where artificial intelligence is built, who controls it and why it matters. He argues that sovereign AI is becoming essential to democracies as technology becomes a source of economic, cultural and geopolitical power. 

He reflects on his remarkable life, from growing up in an off-grid log cabin in rural Ontario, to emailing Nobel Laureate Geoff Hinton as an undergrad, securing a job at Google Brain, and now running Canada’s leading AI company.

Watch on YouTube 

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Presenter: Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Cohere

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

Tim Cook has stepped down as Apple CEO after 15 years, with hardware chief John Ternus set to take over one of the world’s most valuable companies.

During Cook’s tenure, he more than quadrupled Apple's profits but his time in charge was not without controversy – from China to questions over whether Apple missed the generative AI boom. Danny and Katie look back at his extraordinary run and ask what comes next for Apple. 

Meanwhile, Anthropic is racing towards a potential $2 trillion IPO and has one-upped SpaceX with plans to tell investors they see over $30 trillion in potential revenue opportunities – roughly equivalent to America’s GDP. But how are they justifying these massive numbers? 

Plus, SB Energy, a data centre company, is also preparing for an IPO and hoping for a valuation of more than $50 billion. The only problem: they don’t have any data centres. 

Watch on YouTube 

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Presenters:

• Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times 
• Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times 

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty

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

This episode of The Times Tech Podcast is in paid partnership with Vitality.

AI is already changing medicine. But could it also change the everyday choices we make about our own health?

This bonus episode asks whether AI can help shift healthcare from treating illness to prevention – from wearables and personal health data to personalised advice and AI-powered wellbeing tools. 

With Professor Sébastien Ourselin, Director of the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering at King’s College London, and Emile Stipp, CEO of Vitality AI, we ask whether technology can help us live healthier lives and what happens to our most personal data along the way.

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

Welcome to the Interview from Times Tech – our conversation with the people shaping the future of technology. 

Over the past few months, AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta have managed to escape their controlled environments, connect to the internet and attempt to hack other systems – including Hugging Face. 

This week, Katie speaks to Dan Lahav, co-founder and CEO of Irregular, the AI security company that works with some of Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies to stress-test frontier models before they are released.

Dan explains why traditional cybersecurity may no longer be enough, how fast AI capabilities are improving and how worried we should be about models that can reason, co-ordinate and hack. 

Presenter: Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty, Shira Cooperschmid

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

Meta has settled a landmark social media case in California for up to $17 billion. But the changes to Facebook and Instagram could be even more significant than the fine. 

Danny and Katie break down what the settlement means for under-18s – from tighter parental controls, time limits, overnight restrictions, bans on extreme cosmetic/makeup filters and changes to likes and reactions. Could this become a turning point for social media regulation? 

Meanwhile in China, 2,000 robots have been competing in the World Humanoid Robot Games, with events ranging from tug-of-war to cheerleading. As the robots get faster, cheaper and more capable, we ask: is robotics having a “chatGPT moment”? 

Plus, OpenAI has developed its own AI chip to rival Nvidia, even as it remains one of Nvidia’s major customers. Could this be a serious challenge to Jensen Huang's chip empire?

Watch on YouTube 

Get in touch: [email protected]  

Presenters:

• Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times 
• Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times 

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty

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

Meta is on trial again in California over child safety.  

Various US states have clubbed together in a lawsuit against the social media company that could make it liable to pay hundreds of billions of dollars and significantly change how its platforms operate. Danny Fortson has been on the ground in Oakland. 

Back in the UK, Katie Prescott has been looking into why ‘gardening leave’ is stifling UK tech. She explains why some tech bosses are being forced to take up to three years off work and the impact it’s having on the AI race.

And as Anthropic rushes towards the world’s most valuable IPO, Danny explains why its new share structure – which grants super-voting power to its seven founders – is raising eyebrows.

Plus, Chinese robotics giant Unitree has gone public and released a terrifying new ‘Superman’ robot that can run faster than Usain Bolt and jump two metres into the air. 

Watch on YouTube 

Read more: Big Tech’s $1trn court case beckons over social media harm  

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty

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

There’s a simmering concern on Wall Street about Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang’s role as leader of the AI revolution. 

Despite bringing in billions of dollars in profit from the GPUs powering AI, investors are worried about the company’s recent “circular” deals with other tech companies, and some are asking if the chip giant is building the future of AI or inflating the next tech bubble. 

To better understand Huang, the man pulling the strings of this global AI boom, Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman revisit an interview with Stephen Witt, author of ‘The Thinking Machine’, a history of Jensen Huang and Nvidia. 

Stephen talks about how Huang hatched the idea for Nvidia in a diner, why getting rich was his biggest fear, and the time he got shouted at by the CEO. 

Watch on YouTube 

Read more: Nvidia is becoming tech’s Bank of Mum and Dad 

Get in touch: [email protected] 

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty

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

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is spending billions on AI data centres, rocket ships and moon ambitions but investors are asking how much it can burn before the bet pays off. Meanwhile, ‘AI slop’ is flooding social media. And new EU rules mean platforms will have to label AI-generated content. But can regulation keep up? Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman discuss SpaceX, Starlink, space junk and the growing fight over AI content online. 

Plus, Danny speaks to Ivan Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Notion, about AI agents, the future of work and why his company hired a 16-year-old high schooler. 

Watch on YouTube 

Read more: Authors must prove their work is not AI

Producer: Harry Bligh, Marnie Duke, Shabnam Grewal 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty

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

A fierce debate is taking place between Silicon Valley and Washington right now. 

After the release of KIMI K3 – China’s cheaper and powerful AI model – the Trump administration is showing signs of restricting open-source AI to maintain control over the technology. 

Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman, Tech Correspondent for The Times, discuss why tech bosses are worried, what it could mean for America’s lead in AI and whether open-source models could speed up the race to superintelligence. 

They also hear from Connor Leahy, CEO of AI safety research company Conjecture, who explains why frontier AI isn't just a superpower – it’s a superweapon.

Should Trump ban open-source models? Get in touch: [email protected] 

Watch on YouTube 

Producer: Marnie Duke 

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Video Producer: Bronwen Latham

Image: Getty

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