The Times Tech Podcast

The race among top AI companies to build ever more powerful systems is accelerating, and so are fears about losing control. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is at the centre of the debate, which came to a head last week after the New Yorker released an investigation about him, and a series of attacks took place near his home. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss how we got here and why Altman is becoming the face of global anxiety about AI. Plus, Bobby Healy of Manna Air Delivery on robotic dogs and drones delivering coffee in Dublin.

Would you use a drone for parcel delivery? Get in touch [email protected]

Image: Getty
Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iran has been bombing US owned data centres in the Persian Gulf, damaging physical infrastructure and disrupting cloud services across the region. Meanwhile in the UK, the combined value of new data centres approved last year officially overtook office buildings. Katie Prescott and The Times's technology correspondent Mark Sellman look at how this critical infrastructure is reshaping energy, infrastructure and conflict around the world. They also hear from Lei Zhang, CEO of Envision, a Shanghai based green tech company who talks about energy security, trade wars and robot cities.

Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Image: Getty Images
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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