Can a startup beat Apple and Samsung on their own turf? Carl Pei, the founder and CEO of Nothing, is betting on it. Growing up in Sweden, Pei was captivated by American gadgets like Apple’s first iPod. But over time, he says, those products lost their edge. On the latest episode of Bold Names, Pei joins WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins to explain why he believes his electronics company, Nothing, which is valued at $1.3 billion, can challenge Apple and Samsung. Pei believes that artificial intelligence and a new generation of design-savvy users will set Nothing apart.

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com.

Check Out Past Episodes:

Reid Hoffman Says AI Isn’t an ‘Arms Race,’ but America Needs to Win

The Google Exec Reinventing Search in the AI Era

Why This Tesla Pioneer Says the Cheap EV Market 'Sucks'

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The artificial intelligence boom has sparked one of the costliest building sprees in history. By 2028, investment in chips, servers and data centers could hit nearly $3 trillion, according to Morgan Stanley. To help fund the build-out, tech companies are taking on huge amounts of debt, raising concerns of a possible bubble. On the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast, Martin Casado, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, who leads the firm’s $1.25 billion infrastructure practice, speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins, about whether the industry’s biggest bet in decades will deliver returns. Casado explains why he is optimistic about AI and how this moment compares to the internet buildout of the 1990s.

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com.

Check Out Past Episodes:

The Google Exec Reinventing Search in the AI Era

Condoleezza Rice on Beating China in the Tech Race: 'Run Hard and Run Fast'

Why IBM's CEO Thinks His Company Can Crack Quantum Computing

How Tubi Is Coming for Netflix and YouTube in the New Streaming Wars

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Every day, billions of searches flow through Google, making it not just the world’s most popular search engine, but one of history’s most valuable products. Yet for the first time in nearly 30 years, the company’s dominance is under threat. Generative artificial intelligence tools like Open AI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how people find information. On the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast, Liz Reid, VP, head of Google Search, speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins about transforming search for the age of AI. After more than two decades inside the company, Reid says that Google has weathered disruption before and believes this moment will expand, not erode, how people explore the web. But can Google Search survive in a world of AI chatbots and answer engines?

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com.

Check Out Past Episodes:

Condoleezza Rice on Beating China in the Tech Race: 'Run Hard and Run Fast'

The Google-Backed Startup Taking on Elon Musk in Humanoid Robotics

Reid Hoffman Says AI Isn’t an ‘Arms Race,’ but America Needs to Win

Why IBM's CEO Thinks His Company Can Crack Quantum Computing

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Condoleezza Rice’s experience navigating geopolitical tensions and uncertainty gives her a background few people have. The former secretary of state currently leads the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is a founding partner at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, a strategic consulting firm. On this week’s episode of Bold Names, she speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins about why she says the U.S. needs to “run hard and run fast” and win the tech race with China. She also explains why executives can no longer afford to think of foreign policy as separate from strategy.

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com.

Check Out Past Episodes:

This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next?

What This Former USAID Head Had to Say About Elon Musk and DOGE

‘Businesses Don’t Like Uncertainty’: How Cisco Is Navigating AI and Trump 2.0

Why This Tesla Pioneer Says the Cheap EV Market 'Sucks'

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Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column.Read Tim Higgins’s column. 

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Who will take care of you in old age? Jeff Cardenas, the CEO and co-founder of Apptronik, says the answer is robots. The startup founder set out to build a smart, dexterous robot after watching his grandfathers grow old and dependent in their later years. Beyond healthcare, Cardenas sees robots as essential to U.S. economic growth and national security with applications across industries. Even with the latest advances in artificial intelligence and hardware, what will it take for humanoid robots to make the leap from science fiction to reality? On the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast, Cardenas tells WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins why Apptronik is betting it will create the home robot helper that everyone will want.

Check Out Past Episodes:

Why IBM's CEO Thinks His Company Can Crack Quantum Computing

‘Businesses Don’t Like Uncertainty’: How Cisco Is Navigating AI and Trump 2.0

Humanoid Robot Startups Are Hot. This AI Expert Cuts Through the Hype.

Reid Hoffman Says AI Isn’t an ‘Arms Race,’ but America Needs to Win

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The relationship between the U.S. and China is typically framed as competitive and even adversarial. Each superpower brings strengths and weaknesses to how it approaches its society, business and growth. In his new book "Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future," author and China expert Dan Wang, frames the key differences between the two superpowers. He argues that China can be understood as an "engineering state" that builds at breakneck speed regardless of public opinion or dissent. He says the U.S., on the other hand, is a "lawyerly society" that offers civil and environmental protections, but blocks everything, good and bad. On the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast, Wang speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims about how this framework could help us understand which country ultimately has the upper hand in the current geopolitical and technological arms race.

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com.

Check Out Past Episodes:

This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next?

What This Former USAID Head Had to Say About Elon Musk and DOGE

‘Businesses Don’t Like Uncertainty’: How Cisco Is Navigating AI and Trump 2.0

Why This Tesla Pioneer Says the Cheap EV Market 'Sucks'

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Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column.

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After spending much of the 2010s in the doldrums, IBM has made something of a comeback in the past five years under the leadership of CEO Arvind Krishna. That's thanks to a lot of the success in its hybrid cloud business, as well as its consulting services. All of this has led to a surge in the company's share price. Now, IBM is betting that quantum computing will be the next big thing. But will Big Blue succeed against rivals like Microsoft and Google who are racing to make their own quantum breakthroughs? And how is the company learning from its past mistakes with Watson AI? Arvind Krishna speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins on the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast.

To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com.

Check Out Past Episodes:

This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next?

What This Former USAID Head Had to Say About Elon Musk and DOGE

‘Businesses Don’t Like Uncertainty’: How Cisco Is Navigating AI and Trump 2.0

Why This Tesla Pioneer Says the Cheap EV Market 'Sucks'

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Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column.

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Every day, Wall Street Journal journalists talk with the most powerful, influential and interesting people. WSJ columnists Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins are bringing some of those conversations directly to you. Bold Names returns with new episodes on Fridays starting September 12 on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

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WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins take a trip into the Bold Names podcast archives. They’ve covered everything from artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, to the online sports betting industry and the new streaming wars. Check out highlights from some of their favorite interviews. Plus, Tim and Christopher look back on what made these conversations memorable and share their own insights on guests including Anduril founder and CEO Palmer Luckey, venture capitalist Sarah Guo and Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman. Bold Names returns with new episodes on Fridays starting September 12 on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Check Out Past Episodes:

Booz Allen CEO on Silicon Valley’s Turn to Defense Tech: ‘We Need Everybody.’ 

Venture Capitalist Sarah Guo’s Surprising Bet on Unsexy AI 

Reid Hoffman Says AI Isn’t an ‘Arms Race,’ but America Needs to Win 

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and the AI ‘Fantasy Land’ 

Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at [email protected]

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Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column .

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Longtime space rivals Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are vying to reach outer space with their giant rockets. Meanwhile, an ecosystem of other space-related startups are racing to be ready to set up shop on the moon and Mars. Lunar Outpost is one of three companies competing to build a space truck for NASA's Artemis missions. Founder and CEO Justin Cyrus is betting there will be a commercial rush to tap into the moon’s resources, including critical minerals. He says he wants his company to be the “mobility provider” for the lunar economy. On the latest episode of Bold Names, Cyrus joins WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins to discuss why the U.S. and its biggest rivals are in a race to build permanent bases on the moon.

Check Out Past Episodes:

How Tubi Is Coming for Netflix and YouTube in the New Streaming Wars

Tariffs, EVs and China: A CEO Insider’s View of the Car Business

Booz Allen CEO on Silicon Valley’s Turn to Defense Tech: ‘We Need Everybody.’

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Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column.Read Tim Higgins’s column. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices