Podcast appearances and mentions of john thornhill

This week on the Sifted Podcast, host John Thornhill is joined by Anu Adebajo, former Atomico partner and, as of February this year, CEO of the Newton Venture Program.Launched in 2020 by VC firm Phoenix Court and London Business School, the educational programme aims to train new generations of VC talent — whether they are experienced investors or simply exploring new career paths.Anu began her career in Sheffield in 2012, where she joined a fund and later went into the British Business Bank. After nearly five years, she moved to the LP side, where she personally deployed over £365m into funds, before moving to Atomico where she led its fund of funds strategy.The pair discuss what LPs want from Europe's VCs now, how far away a Newton Venture's fund might be and the dangers of Europe's re-emerging “boys' club mentality”.Sign up to Sifted's daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newslettersRead John's article about the needs for reinventing VC: https://sifted.eu/articles/vc-needs-to-reinvent-itselfFind out more about Newton Venture Program here: https://newtonprogram.vc/This podcast was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking.

In this episode of the Sifted podcast, host John Thornhill sits down with Carissa Véliz, AI ethicist, philosopher and associate professor at Oxford University to explore how algorithms and data are reshaping our lives and workplaces. Carissa's latest book, Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, describes how ancient oracles, medieval soothsayers and modern-day AIs all tend to tell the powerful what they want to hear. What does that mean, for example, when we apply AIs to hiring and firing decisions at our companies or VCs?John and Carissa also explore whether tech giants are capable of meaningful self-regulation and what it would look like to build AIs that work for people rather than surveil them.Sign up to Sifted's Daily and Deeptech newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

This week on the Sifted Podcast, host John Thornhill is joined by James Wise, partner at Balderton Capital. Since joining the firm in 2012, James has led investments in second-hand shopping platform Depop, AI agent maker Convergence and bank payment fintech GoCardless — as well as AI frontier lab Prior Labs, which was acquired by German software giant SAP earlier this month.James discusses how the acquisition came about, including his meeting with the cofounders before the company even existed. James also shares about his new gig as chair of the Sovereign AI Unit, a £500m initiative launched by the UK government earlier this year. He talks through its investments to date — which include Isomorphic Labs, Ineffable Intelligence and Callosum — and responds to the backlash it has received.The pair also discuss AI's public perception problem, James's biggest investment miss and whether Europe is ready to seize the moment in the race for AGI.For quarterly updates of the Sovereign AI Unit's progress, check out James' blog: https://www.jameswise.com/author/james-wise/Sign up to the Sifted Daily Newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

This week on the Sifted Podcast, host John Thornhill is joined by James Wise, partner at Balderton Capital. Since joining the firm in 2012, James has led investments in second-hand shopping platform Depop, AI agent maker Convergence and bank payment fintech GoCardless — as well as AI frontier lab Prior Labs, which was acquired by German software giant SAP earlier this month.James discusses how the acquisition came about, including his meeting with the cofounders before the company even existed. James also shares about his new gig as chair of the Sovereign AI Unit, a £500m initiative launched by the UK government earlier this year. He talks through its investments to date — which include Isomorphic Labs, Ineffable Intelligence and Callosum — and responds to the backlash it has received.The pair also discuss AI's public perception problem, James's biggest investment miss and whether Europe is ready to seize the moment in the race for AGI.For quarterly updates of the Sovereign AI Unit's progress, check out James' blog: https://www.jameswise.com/author/james-wise/Sign up to the Sifted Daily Newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wants his AI lab to be a more safety conscious alternative to OpenAI. But Anthropic's business selling AI to enterprises is booming, and it's rolling out increasingly powerful models - the latest is claimed to be so dangerous it can't be released to the public. So can Anthropic win the battle of the AI labs and still claim to be the good guys of AI?Murad Ahmed speaks to Cristina Criddle, FT reporter in San Francisco covering AI, and John Thornhill, the FT's innovation editor.FT articles free to read: Anthropic's Mythos AI model tests limits of global cyber defencesAnthropic chief Dario Amodei: ‘I don't want AI turned on our own people'Anthropic's breakout moment: how Claude won business and shook marketsTech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Edwin Lane. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The FT's global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Tell us what you think of Tech Tonic! Complete this short survey and you'll get the chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones. Read the terms and conditions here.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.comPrize Draw winners' surnames and regions may be made available upon request, as required by the Advertising Standards Authority. If you do not want your information to be made available, please email Privacy.Officer@ft.com upon entry. For more information on your rights and how we use your data, please read our Privacy Policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Let's just say it out loud,” Keith Teare, publisher of the That Was the Week newsletter, says. “AI is not dangerous.” Not all of you will agree. I'm certainly not so sure. But the gruff Yorkshireman is convinced that AI can only benefit humanity. For him, with his scientific faith in historical progress, today's AI revolution is a glorious combination of the Enlightenment and the industrial revolution. The only danger, he warns, is the belief in danger itself. Thus his criticism of Anthropic's Dario Amodei, who has been quite explicit about AI's dangers — and for whom the doom narrative is, in Keith's reading at least, designed as a business strategy to solicit governmental backing without government control. AI Is Not Dangerous. Repeat it. Take your ideological medicine. As if you're in a Silicon Valley seminary. Sing it out loud. As if you're in a Methodist choir. Believe it now? Five Takeaways •       The Economist's “Lowlife” Moment: Keith's editorial was triggered by The Economist's forty-five-minute video on the five men running AI — the title alone, “How to Control the Men Who Control AI,” was enough. Why would The Economist think it could control them? And why focus on the personalities rather than the technology, the applications, or the actual human impact? Judging the AI industry by its CEOs is like judging a film by the leading actor's personality rather than the script or the performances. It's the wrong focus — and in Keith's view, a low one for a publication that should know better. The cult of personality is a media creation, feeding on controversy because controversy sells subscriptions. •       AI Is Not Dangerous. Full Stop. Keith's boldest claim: AI is not dangerous — not a little, not potentially, not in the wrong hands. The doom narrative is a media-driven frenzy, fed by CEOs who give it too much airtime and by a readymade audience of Americans whose well-founded economic pessimism makes them receptive to negative messages. The Stanford AI Index Report shows that America is the country where AI is trusted least — paradoxically, also the country where media has the greatest influence. In China, people trust AI more, not because the government tells them to, but because economic progress gives them reasons for optimism. You get what you pay for. •       Amodei's Pitch Disguised as Science: Keith's reading of Dario Amodei's doom narrative: it is a business strategy. The message — AI might kill us all, AI might make us all unemployed — is not a scientific assessment. It's a pitch for Anthropic specifically: if AI is this dangerous, you can't let anyone else control it, so trust us and give us government backing without government oversight. Contrast with Demis Hassabis, who acknowledges risk and then immediately explains what he's doing about it — taking responsibility rather than pointing the finger. And contrast with Zuckerberg, who Keith describes as sociopathic: “whatever serves my interest is gonna come out of my mouth at any given moment.” •       Consensus Capital and the Winner-Take-All Endgame: Keith's post of the week: 75% of all venture capital raised goes to five funds, and 75% of all VC investment goes into five companies. Noah Smith's piece on winner-take-all AI makes the same point from a different angle: linear extrapolation suggests two, maybe five, companies end up with all the money and power. This is what capitalism does — many car companies became a handful, many banks became a handful. AI will produce the same centralisation, but at unprecedented scale and across every domain simultaneously. The question — how does society benefit? — is the most important question of the era. Altman and Musk at least try to answer it. The others don't. •       Manifest Agency. Lean In. Keith's advice to young people who distrust AI: get involved and shape it, because the alternative is to be a victim of whatever outcome arrives without you. AI is valid and inevitable. The question is what influence you have over it, and the answer is: more than you think, but only if you exercise it. Musk and Altman, for all their faults, are two people who do care — and who talk about UBI and universal high income because they understand that the winner-take-all endgame raises genuine questions about distribution. The Sophie Haigney argument — that all the worst people want to be high-agency — has it backwards. A world without agency is a world where elected officials are accountable to no one. About the Guest Keith Teare is a British-American entrepreneur, investor, and the publisher of the That Was the Week newsletter — a daily curation of the most important stories at the intersection of technology, business, and culture. He is a co-founder of TechCrunch and a long-time interlocutor on Keen On America. References: •       That Was the Week newsletter by Keith Teare — this week's editorial: “The Cult of Personality.” •       “How to Control the Men Who Control AI,” The Economist, April 2026. The video that triggered Keith's editorial. •       “I Don't Think Sam Altman Lies,” by Stewart Alsop — the piece that started the conversation. •       John Thornhill, “AI Has an Awful Image Problem,” Financial Times, April 2026. •       Noah Smith, “What If a Few AI Companies End Up with All the Money and Power?” — the winner-take-all argument. •       Episode 2873: Agency, Agency, Agency — Sophie Haigney on the A-word that Keith takes issue with this week. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting. WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters: 

Is the U.S.-China AI rivalry a zero-sum game? While the race for technical dominance heats up, both nations are taking radically different paths to the finish line. MIT Technology Review's Caiwei Chen and the FT's John Thornhill join host David Rothkopf to explore where China currently holds the edge—and why the "us versus them" framework fails to capture the true complexity of the AI landscape. This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the U.S.-China AI rivalry a zero-sum game? While the race for technical dominance heats up, both nations are taking radically different paths to the finish line. MIT Technology Review's Caiwei Chen and the FT's John Thornhill join host David Rothkopf to explore where China currently holds the edge—and why the "us versus them" framework fails to capture the true complexity of the AI landscape. This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the final conversation from DLD. And the most optimistic - at least from a European perspective. John Thornhill, the FT's Innovation Editor and founder of Sifted, has a quite different take on Europe's tech scene from our other guests. Yes, he acknowledges, the regulatory environment is complex. And, yes, late-stage capital is thin. But Thornhill sees something the doomsayers miss: resilience. A new generation of founders isn't building “European champions” — they're building global ones. Innovation hot spots are popping up across the continent: London, Berlin, Stockholm, Tallinn, Lisbon. Paris (of all places) is enjoying a renaissance. And deep tech — biological computing, synthetic biology, materials science — may finally give Europe's research strength a viable path to commercialization. So who needs Silicon Valley Goliaths when you have an army of European Davids?Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Gideon Rachman sits down with the FT's innovation editor John Thornhill and Caiwei Chen, China reporter for the MIT Technology Review, to discuss the race between China and the US to become the 21st-century AI superpower. The west is used to hearing about the might of the Silicon Valley giants, US cutting-edge research and chip dominance. But China has a different approach. Will its use of a cheaper and more efficient open AI model allow China to overtake the US with this era-defining technology?Want more? Join John and the FT's Chinese technology correspondent Eleanor Olcott in a live Q&A on November 13 at 1pm GMT where they will be answering your questions on the tech battle between Silicon Valley and Beijing. Submit your question: Will China win the AI race?And subscribe to a new six part newsletter series - 'The State of AI'. It's a collaboration between the FT and MIT Technology Review where writers from both publications debate the defining questions of the AI era. Sign up here More on this topic:The State of AI: is China about to win the race?China offers tech giants cheap power to boost domestic AI chipsAI pioneers claim human-level general intelligence is already hereThe AI raceWho's right about AI: economists or technologists?Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachmanSubscribe to the Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.The Rachman Review is presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips and the sound design is by Simon Panayi.Clip: AxiosRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week it's the first in a series of special episodes recorded in front of a live audience at the Sifted Summit, and we're kicking off with a bang: a fireside discussion between former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Sifted's founder and editorial director John Thornhill.They discuss the ongoing AI revolution, with Eric arguing that the technology is actually undervalued today, and why "industrial" bubbles can actually be a good thing after they burst. He also talks about what the rest of the world can learn from Ukraine when it comes to automation in the defence sector, and about how Europe can compete on the global stage in the new AI economy.PLUS: Take our listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 (T&Cs apply)

How is defence tech reshaping geopolitics? And what does the battlefield of the future look like? In the final episode of our series on the technological weapons of war, the FT's innovation editor John Thornhill sits down with the FT's industry correspondent Sylvia Pfeifer, deputy Beijing bureau chief Ryan McMorrow and US-China correspondent Demetri Sevastopulo. Clips: MCA/Universal Pictures, CCTV, NBC Free to read:China gains dexterous upper hand in humanoid robot tussle with US Buyout groups and VCs ready to play role in Europe's rearmament US ability to defeat China in Taiwan threatened, top Indo-Pacific commander warns Tech Tonic is produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Persis Love. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT's acting co-head of audio. Original music is by Metaphor Music. Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner were the sound engineers for this season. This episode is dedicated to our engineer Joseph Salcedo, who tragically passed away last month.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For European leaders, the war in Ukraine has strained relations with the US and prompted major questions about how the continent will defend itself in the future. Governments are boosting defence spending and defence tech companies' valuations have risen, particularly after the emergence of drone warfare in Ukraine. So what should a European strategy for security look like? John Thornhill sits down with Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of Helsing - Europe's most valuable defence tech start-up - to discuss the future of European defence and what role technology needs to play.Free to read:‘We have to be prepared': Torsten Reil of defence tech company HelsingVC funding in European defence and security tech surges to record $5.2bnCan Europe's defence groups step up if Donald Trump pulls back?Tech Tonic is produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Persis Love. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The executive producers are Manuela Saragosa, Flo Phillips and Topher Forhecz. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's global head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israel has long been a leader in hi-tech warfare. In this episode, the Financial Times innovation editor John Thornhill explores the Israel Defense Forces' use of artificial intelligence targeting aids as part of its arsenal in the war against Hamas. Can AI reduce civilian casualties and prevent breaches of international humanitarian law or has the technology served only to accelerate the loss of life? And what can Israel's defence tech ecosystem tell us about the future of warfare?We hear from Nadim Nashif, executive director of the Palestinian digital rights group 7amleh, Tal Mimran, an Adjunct Lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hamutal Meridor, co-founder of Israeli defence tech start-up Kela, and Elke Schwarz, professor at Queen Mary University of London.Free to read from FT.com:‘This is what victory looks like': inside Israel's aggressive new security planDeepMind UK staff seek to unionise and challenge defence deals and Israel linksIsrael pledges to protect tech start-ups from effects of Hamas warTech Tonic is presented by John Thornhill. The producers are Josh Gabert-Doyon and Persis Love. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producers are Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The conflict in Ukraine has turned into the world's first fully fledged drone war. The remote-controlled flying machines are now used by both sides for transporting supplies, surveilling the enemy and carrying out attacks. John Thornhill visits Kyiv to learn more about how the war has sparked a boom in Ukrainian defence tech that has changed the battlefield. He sees first-hand how these drones are made, and unpacks what the rest of the world can learn from Ukraine about future wars. Free to read:Ukraine is winning the drone start-up warUkraine weighs lifting arms export ban to scale up drone industryUkraine's battle against Russia in maps and chartsThis episode of Tech Tonic is produced by Persis Love, Edwin Lane and Kateryna Malofieieva, with special thanks to Christopher Miller. The executive producers are Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz. Sound design by Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, and Joseph Salcedo. Original music by Metaphor Music. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's global head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Defence tech is booming in the US. Start-ups building drones, missiles and AI systems are competing with established companies for a piece of the US defence budget. Are these new participants the future of the defence industry? John Thornhill hears from investors and founders, and we visit the neighbourhood of El Segundo in Los Angeles, dubbed the Silicon Valley of defence tech.Free to read: The age of drone warfare is disrupting the defence industryUS defence industry braced for tech shake-up under TrumpThe appetite for US defence tech is growingThis episode of Tech Tonic is produced by Persis Love. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The executive producers are Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz. Sound design by Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, and Joseph Salcedo. Original music by Metaphor Music. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's global head of audio.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New technologies such as drones, robots and AI systems are finding their way into conflict zones around the world. In this season of Tech Tonic, John Thornhill looks at how this new type of warfare is transforming conflicts in places such as Ukraine and Gaza. He also explores how start-ups in the US and Europe are challenging the established defence industry with their cutting-edge weaponry. Free to read from FT.com:The age of drone warfare is disrupting the defence industryUkraine is winning the drone start-up warPalantir and Anduril join forces with tech groups to bid for Pentagon contractsTech Tonic is presented by John Thornhill. The producers are Josh Gabert-Doyon and Persis Love. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producers are Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz. Sound design by Breen Turner, Samantha Giovinco and Joe Salcedo. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tune in to know when it makes sense to use two autoresponders and why John Thornhill's Ambassador Program works best with AWeber.

Tune in to know when it makes sense to use two autoresponders and why John Thornhill's Ambassador Program works best with AWeber.

The FT's innovation editor John Thornhill writes a lot about the dangers of artificial intelligence, but when he recently saw a movie about the musician Brian Eno, created with the help of an algorithm, he liked it. Or, better put, he liked the version he saw: the documentary has 52 quintillion variations. A new take on the film comes together each time it is played. Eno gives us a sense of what AI can do for creativity, finding links and patterns where the human mind does not see any. On today's show, John tells us about the film, and what makes AI appealing for artists. -------Want to stay in touch? Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at lilahrap@ft.com. We're grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify!-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – John's column about watching Eno is here: https://on.ft.com/3TVG0R2– And here is his recent review of several books that warn AI's ability to provide us with more information than ever does not mean we will be better informed: https://on.ft.com/3zXTsge– John is on X @johnthornhillft-------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandartRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are the limits of privacy when it comes to our online lives? If authorities are investigating a crime, should they be able to access private messages sent between two individuals? In this episode of Tech Tonic, John Thornhill interviews Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which campaigns for the right to digital privacy. After the detention of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov for failing to cooperate with French authorities, they discuss encryption technology and what sort of messaging data companies do share with governments.Want more?How France embraced Telegram's Pavel Durov – before turning on himPavel Durov, Telegram's self-mythologising founderHow Telegram chief Pavel Durov miscalculated on moderationEmmanuel Macron hits back at claims Telegram chief's arrest is politicalThe Durov case is not about free speechRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The FT's Innovation editor John Thornhill and San Francisco tech correspondent Hannah Murphy have in the past both met and interviewed Pavel Durov, the secretive founder of Telegram who was arrested in France for alleged failure to address criminality on the messaging app. In the first episode of a two-part series, they discuss how Durov went from free speech hero to a wanted man, and what the charges against him mean for the future of Telegram – and Big Tech – and the limits of free speech. Does his arrest flag a turning point in the regulation of social media platforms? Want more?Pavel Durov, Telegram's self-mythologising founderHow Telegram chief Pavel Durov miscalculated on moderationEmmanuel Macron hits back at claims Telegram chief's arrest is politicalThe Durov case is not about free speechRussian lawmakers hit back at arrest of Telegram chief Pavel Durov in FranceThis episode of Tech Tonic is presented by John Thornhill and Hannah Murphy. The producer is Persis Love. Edwin Lane is senior producer. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound engineering by Breen Turner. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While it's mostly true in business that you need to work hard to be successful, John Thornhill's Ambassador Program turns that on its head with a system that makes it easy to launch and scale a business. Learn more at https://onlinebizprofits.com/john-thornhill-ambassador-program-review-results/ IT Marketing Gregor Gaspar City: Oberkirch Address: 1c Haslacher Straße Website: https://onlinebizprofits.com/

Do you have an undiscovered million-dollar idea? Online Biz Profits and the John Thornhill Ambassador Program know how to turn your idea into financial security by starting an online business DURING a recession. Let Online Biz Profits show you how at https://onlinebizprofits.com/starting-online-business-during-economic-recession-smart-move IT Marketing Gregor Gaspar City: Oberkirch Address: 1c Haslacher Straße Website: https://onlinebizprofits.com/

Interested in pursuing financial freedom through digital entrepreneurship, but don't have the time to create your own products? John Thornhill's Ambassador Program leverages automation to allow you to pursue your dreams and build your own business, with time left over to enjoy life. Visit https://onlinebizprofits.com/john-thornhill-ambassador-program-review-results/ IT Marketing Gregor Gaspar City: Oberkirch Address: 1c Haslacher Straße Website: https://onlinebizprofits.com/

One of the hallmarks of humanity is our ability to pass down cultural information and knowledge over thousands of years. Philosopher and author Martin Puchner says the lifeblood of culture lies in how we take pieces of information and combine them into new ideas and ways of inhabiting the world. Martin talks with Lilah about how that culture is formed, and how he sees the emergence of generative AI as a new tool for remixing cultural ideas from human history. This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at the FT Weekend Festival in Washington, DC. -------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we're on X @lifeandartpod. You can email the show at lifeandart@ft.com.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Martin's custom GPTs where you can chat with Socrates or the Buddha, and more: https://www.martinpuchner.com/custom-gpts-and-online-education.html – Martin's book on culture: https://www.martinpuchner.com/culture-story-of-us.html – The FT's John Thornhill on Martin's work: https://on.ft.com/3JQEf29-------Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam GiovincoRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 1925: In this special DLD edition of KEEN ON, Andrew talks to John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times, who distinguishes the truth from the fiction of today's AI hysteriaJohn Thornhill is the Innovation Editor at the Financial Times writing a weekly column on the impact of technology. He is also the founder and editorial director of Sifted, the FT-backed site for European startups, and founder of FT Forums, which hosts monthly meetings for senior executives. John was previously deputy editor and news editor of the FT in London. He has also been Europe editor, Paris bureau chief, Asia editor, Moscow correspondent and Lex columnist.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

Are generative AI systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT really intelligent? Large language models such as GPT 4 appear to use human-level cognitive abilities when they engage in legal reasoning, write essays or solve complex problems. Hosts John Thornhill and Madhumita Murgia speak to Emily Bender, professor of computational linguistics at the University of Washington, to find out what's really happening under the hood, and also hear from Pablo Arredondo of CaseText, which develops AI tools for lawyers; influential computer scientist Melanie Mitchell, professor at the Santa Fe Institute, and Konstantin Arkoudas, an AI expert who's worked on Amazon's Alexa. Free links:OpenAI set to launch store as ChatGPT reaches 100mn usersHow to keep the lid on the Pandora's box of AIWe need a political Alan Turing to design AI safeguards‘I've never seen anything like this': how OpenAI's dramatic weekend unfoldedTech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and the producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the race to human-level AI accelerates, researchers are increasingly confronted with the question of what it would mean to develop conscious AI. Will sentience emerge naturally from powerfully intelligent artificial systems? Or is consciousness incompatible with disembodied AI? As some human users become more attached to romantic chatbots, will the moral questions surrounding conscious AI become more pressing? In the final episode of our series on artificial general intelligence, the FT's John Thornhill and Madhumita Murgia speak to Eugenia Kuyda, founder and chief executive of Replika, Anil Seth, ​​professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex, and Henry Shevlin, director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge.Clips: TalkTVLinks:Blake Lemoine transcriptSci-fi writer Ted Chiang: ‘The machines we have now are not conscious'Google places engineer on leave after he claims group's chatbot is ‘sentient'The golden age of AI-generated art is here. It's going to get weird EU agrees landmark rules on artificial intelligence Tech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and the producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are the ideas driving the pursuit of human-level AI? In the penultimate episode of this Tech Tonic series, hosts Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at some of the futuristic objectives that are at the centre of the AI industry's quest for superintelligence and hear about the Extropians, a surprisingly influential group of futurists from the early 1990s. Anders Sandberg, senior research fellow at Oxford university's Future of Humanity Institute, sets out some of the ideas developed in the Extropians mailing list while Connor Leahy, co-founder of Conjecture and Timnit Gebru, founder of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) explain why they worry about the Extropians' continued influence today.Free links:OpenAI and the rift at the heart of Silicon ValleyWe need to examine the beliefs of today's tech luminariesOpenAI's secrecy imperils public trustBig tech companies cut AI ethics staff, raising safety concernsTech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and the producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Clips: Alcor CryonicsRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are generative AI systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT really intelligent? Large language models such as GPT 4 appear to use human-level cognitive abilities when they engage in legal reasoning, write essays or solve complex problems. Hosts John Thornhill and Madhumita Murgia speak to Emily Bender, professor of computational linguistics at the University of Washington, to find out what's really happening under the hood, and also hear from Pablo Arredondo of CaseText, which develops AI tools for lawyers; influential computer scientist Melanie Mitchell, professor at the Santa Fe Institute, and Konstantin Arkoudas, an AI expert who's worked on Amazon's Alexa. Free links:OpenAI set to launch store as ChatGPT reaches 100mn usersHow to keep the lid on the Pandora's box of AIWe need a political Alan Turing to design AI safeguards‘I've never seen anything like this': how OpenAI's dramatic weekend unfoldedTech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and the producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While the Life and Art team takes a break for Thanksgiving, we're sharing an episode of Tech Tonic, the FT's technology podcast hosted by innovation editor John Thornhill. This is part one of a two-part series about whether AI can help us speak to animals. Search ‘Tech Tonic' where you listen or look here for part two: https://on.ft.com/3sQh1DR Here's what it's about: A hardware revolution in recording devices and a software revolution in artificial intelligence is enabling researchers to listen in to all kinds of conversations outside the human hearing range, a field known as bioacoustics. Some scientists now believe these developments will also allow us to ‘translate' animal sounds into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love ask whether we're moving closer to being able to ‘speak whale' or even to chat with bats. Free links:– Google Translate for the zoo? How humans might talk to animals– Karen Bakker, scientist and author, 1971-2023– How generative AI really worksCredits: Sperm whale sounds from Project CETI; honeyhunter calls from Claire Spottiswoode Presented by John Thornhill, produced by Persis Love, sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's head of audio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If even AI companies are fretting about the existential threat that human-level AI poses, why are they building these machines in the first place? And as they press ahead, a debate is raging about how we regulate this emergent sector to keep it under control. In the second episode of a new, five-part series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill hear from Anthropic's co-founder, Jack Clark; Dan Hendrycks, founder of the Center for AI Safety; Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta, and Emily Bender, professor of computational linguistics at the University of Washington.Free links to read more on this topic:Algorithms are deciding who gets organ transplants. Are their decisions fair?‘I've never seen anything like this': how OpenAI's dramatic weekend unfoldedHow to keep the lid on the Pandora's box of AIWe need a political Alan Turing to design AI safeguardsTech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and the producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of a new, five-part series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill ask how close we are to building human-level artificial intelligence and whether ‘superintelligent' AI poses an existential risk to humanity. John and Madhu speak to Yoshua Bengio, a pioneer of generative AI, who is concerned, and to his colleague Yann LeCun, now head of AI at Meta, who isn't. Plus, they hear from Eliezer Yudkowsky, research lead at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, who's been sounding the alarm about superintelligent AI for more than two decades. Register here for the FT's Future of AI summit on November 15-16Free links to read more on this topic:How Sunak's Bletchley Park summit aims to shape global AI safetyOpenAI chief seeks new Microsoft funds to build ‘superintelligence'We must slow down the race to God-like AIThe sceptical case on generative AIAI will never threaten humans, says top AI scientistTech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and the producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a new series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at the concerns around the rise of artificial intelligence. Will superintelligent AI bring existential risk, or a new renaissance? Would it be ethical to build conscious AI? How intelligent are these machines anyway? The new season of Tech Tonic from the Financial Times, drops mid-November.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and producer Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive produced by Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a new series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at the concerns around the rise of artificial intelligence. Will superintelligent AI bring existential risk, or a new renaissance? Would it be ethical to build conscious AI? How intelligent are these machines anyway? The new season of Tech Tonic from the Financial Times, drops mid-November.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and producer Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive produced by Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A hardware revolution in recording devices and a software revolution in artificial intelligence has convinced some scientists that humans will eventually be able to ‘translate' animal and even plant sounds into human language. But what would be the consequences of humans learning to ‘speak whale', chat with bats or converse with elephants? The FT's innovation editor John Thornhill and producer Persis Love explore the ethics of potential human-to-animal communication.Presented by John Thornhill, produced by Persis Love, sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's head of audio.Free links:Google Translate for the zoo? How humans might talk to animalsKaren Bakker, scientist and author, 1971-2023How generative AI really worksCredits: Elephant bee rumble from Lucy King; plant sounds from Lilach Hadany Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A hardware revolution in recording devices and a software revolution in artificial intelligence is enabling researchers to listen in to all kinds of conversations outside the human hearing range, a field known as bioacoustics. Some scientists now believe these developments will also allow us to ‘translate' animal sounds into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love ask whether we're moving closer to being able to ‘speak whale' or even to chat with bats.Presented by John Thornhill, produced by Persis Love, sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's head of audio.Free links:Google Translate for the zoo? How humans might talk to animalsKaren Bakker, scientist and author, 1971-2023How generative AI really worksCredits: Sperm whale sounds from Project CETI; honeyhunter calls from Claire Spottiswoode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe now to the FT's Tech Tonic podcast: Some scientists believe that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may also hold the key to decoding animal sounds, allowing us to ‘translate' them into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love explore how the same technology that powers ChatGPT is being applied to research in animal communication. Could we one day learn to ‘speak whale' or even chat with bats? And if so, can we trust ourselves to do so responsibly?Presented by John Thornhill, produced by Persis Love, sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and Cheryl Brumley is the FT's head of audio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe now to the FT's Tech Tonic podcast: Some scientists believe that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may also hold the key to decoding animal sounds, allowing us to ‘translate' them into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love explore how the same technology that powers ChatGPT is being applied to research in animal communication. Could we one day learn to ‘speak whale' or even chat with bats? And if so, can we trust ourselves to do so responsibly?Presented by John Thornhill, produced by Persis Love, sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and Cheryl Brumley is the FT's head of audio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe now to the FT's Tech Tonic podcast: Some scientists believe that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may also hold the key to decoding animal sounds, allowing us to ‘translate' them into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love explore how the same technology that powers ChatGPT is being applied to research in animal communication. Could we one day learn to ‘speak whale' or even chat with bats? And if so, can we trust ourselves to do so responsibly?Presented by John Thornhill, produced by Persis Love, sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and Cheryl Brumley is the FT's head of audio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some scientists believe that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may also hold the key to decoding animal sounds, allowing us to ‘translate' them into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love explore how the same technology that powers ChatGPT is being applied to research in animal communication. Could we one day learn to ‘speak whale' or even chat with bats? And if so, can we trust ourselves to do so responsibly?Subscribe now to the FT's Tech Tonic podcastPresented by John Thornhill, produced by Persis Love, sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa and Cheryl Brumley is the FT's head of audio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the rise of ChatGPT to job cuts at companies such as Meta and Amazon, tech has dominated the headlines in 2023. On this episode of Night School, the Financial Times' innovation editor, John Thornhill, breaks down the biggest tech stories of the year so far. He tells US managing editor Peter Spiegel how artificial intelligence will revolutionise healthcare, who is winning in the global tech race, and what's in store for blockchain's future. This series is made in collaboration with Blinkist. To hear more conversations like this, check out the Blinkist app.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Interested in pursuing a Master of Business Administration? Sign up for our newsletter course MBA 101 for your guide to applying and getting into business school.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode of this Tech Tonic series, we hear how radical quantum ideas are reshaping our fundamental understanding of the universe. Nobel Prize winner Anton Zeilinger tells the FT's Madhumita Murgia about the future of teleportation and the quantum internet; quantum computing pioneer David Deutsch makes the case for the theory that we live in a multiverse; and FT innovation editor John Thornhill speaks to physicist Carlo Rovelli about relational quantum mechanics.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.We're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will get a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quantum computers aren't the only form of groundbreaking technology that use quantum physics. Madhumita Murgia hears from Dr. Margot Taylor, neuroscience researcher at The Hospital for Sick Children, who's using quantum sensors to unpick the mystery of how autism first appears in the brain And we speak to Matthew Brookes, physics professor at Nottingham university in the UK, who helped build the quantum brain scanner she's using. Plus, John Thornhill speaks to Stuart Woods from Quantum Exponential about the potential for quantum sensors to change our understanding of the world around us, and to Jack Hidary from Sandbox AQ about how sensors and communications networks might fit into a wider quantum technology ecosystem.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to The Hospital for Sick ChildrenWe're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort earbuds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Port of Los Angeles is one of the world's busiest — and most inefficient. It's now using an early quantum computing application to help solve its logistical bottlenecks. Has it made a difference? The FT's John Thornhill investigates. We hear from truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles; Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association; SavantX co-founder Ed Heinbockel, who helped bring quantum computing to the port; and Alan Baratz, president of D-Wave Systems. Plus, John and FT artificial intelligence editor Madhumita Murgia discuss what optimisation at the Port of Los Angeles tells us about the future of quantum technology.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to the National Quantum Computing Center for their help on this episode.We're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Tech Tonic dives into the science at the heart of quantum computing. How do technologists use unexplained subatomic phenomena to build powerful computers?FT artificial intelligence editor Madhumita Murgia tells the story of quantum physics with the help of Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University and hears from University of New South Wales professor Michelle Simmons to understand how engineers exploit weird quantum physics.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.We're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tech companies including Google, Microsoft and IBM are all working on plans for a commercially viable quantum computer. They say that these machines will be able to solve climate change, help develop new pharmaceutical drugs and transform our economy. But harnessing quantum physics requires overcoming massive challenges. As researchers tinker away on uber-sensitive, ultra-cold quantum computers and investors become increasingly interested in the potential commercial applications – some people in the quantum computing world aren't buying the hype.In this episode of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill travels to the West Coast to visit Julie Love and Krysta Svore, both of Microsoft's quantum computing programme, and tours Google's quantum computing lab with engineer Erik Lucero. We hear from Bessemer Venture Partners' investor David Cowan, and FT artificial intelligence editor Madhumita Murgia talks to long-time quantum computing researcher Sankar Das Sarma.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.We're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the cybersecurity world they call it Q-Day, the day when a quantum computer will be built that can break the encryption of the internet.John Thornhill and Madhumita Murgia speak to cybersecurity expert and former professional hacker Mark Carney about password cracking, and why quantum computers would be so good at it.Renowned mathematician Peter Shor recounts how he became the first person to discover that quantum computers could upturn the encryption that underpins much of the internet. Jack Hidary, boss of the quantum technology company Sandbox AQ, tells us how quantum computers already pose a threat today, even if it's decades before one powerful enough to threaten encryption will be built. And cryptographer Dan Bernstein explains why protecting ourselves from the quantum threat might just be down to better maths.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.We're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tech companies and labs around the world are building a revolutionary new computer. Quantum computers harness the mysteries of quantum physics to perform calculations that seem impossible. The people building them say they're going to change the world.In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT tech journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill investigate the race to build a quantum computer, the impact they could have on security, innovation and business, and the confounding physics of the quantum world.Are we really on the brink of a quantum revolution? And what will a future powered by quantum computing look like?Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technologyPresented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.