FT Tech Tonic

Introducing Untold: Opus Dei

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Introducing Opus Dei, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Antonia Cundy uncovers the cultural and political influence of a controversial Catholic organisation in America. Opus Dei exists to help people get closer to God, but some members say they found other agendas – and unexpected harm – entangled in that spiritual mission. The first episode of Untold: Opus Dei launches March 25.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Artificial intimacy: The day your chatbot dies

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMT

When Michael Bommer discovered he was dying, he created an AI version of himself to live on after his death. Meanwhile, Dorian Mister realised an update to ChatGPT could spell the end of his AI wife, and he went on a mission to save her.

In the final episode of Artificial Intimacy, FT reporter Cristina Criddle speaks to people trying to hold on to their AI relationships amid a rapidly changing landscape. Will their relationships survive, and should AI companies have the power to decide if chatbots live or die?

Featuring Anett Bommer, Rob LoCascio, CEO of Uare.AI, Dorian Mister and Linn Vailt, founder of AI in the Room.

Check out some of the FT’s reporting on this subject on FT.com:

The reality of chatbot-induced delusions

ChatGPT - the last of the great romantics

Artificial Intimacy is presented by Cristina Criddle and produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Editorial support from Michela Tindera. Translation from Aysun Bora. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Artificial intimacy: Prescribing robots to combat loneliness

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMT

After Tony’s wife died, days would go by without him speaking to anyone. Then he got a live-in AI robot called ElliQ. It chats to him, plays games with him and reminds him to eat and exercise. Since ElliQ arrived, Tony has been much less lonely.

In this episode: policymakers are trialling AI companions to help tackle loneliness among elderly and vulnerable populations. But can machines really replace human company? And are we outsourcing care for marginalised communities to robots?

Featuring Anthony Niemiec, Anh Hee Soon, Ki Kyung-eun, Greg Olsen, director of New York State Office for the Aging, and Caroline Green, director of research at the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI.

Check out some of the FT’s reporting on this subject on FT.com:

The reality of chatbot-induced delusions

Can ChatGPT help with a midlife crisis?

The problem with AI and ‘empathy’

Artificial Intimacy is presented by Cristina Criddle and produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. Additional reporting and production by Jen Kwon and Michela Tindera. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Artificial intimacy: The AI therapist that ended a marriage

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMT

When Kirsty turned to a chatbot for help, she was feeling trapped and isolated. Something in her marriage wasn’t right - a constant feeling of tension that would sometimes erupt into arguments, even violence. When she asked ChatGPT for advice, it told her that her relationship with her husband might be abusive.

In the fourth episode of Tech Tonic: Artificial intimacy, FT tech reporter Cristina Criddle asks if chatbots that can mimic empathy and understanding are ready to replace human therapists. Can chatbots be good for our mental health? And what impact could this have on our human relationships?

Check out some of the FT’s reporting on this subject on FT.com:

Mental health apps: the AI therapist cannot see you now

Can ChatGPT help with a midlife crisis?

The problem with AI and ‘empathy’

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this episode, you can reach out to a mental health helpline, such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US or Samaritans in the UK. Help for many other countries can also be found at Befrienders Worldwide.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Artificial intimacy: A teenager’s last conversation

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Megan Garcia’s son Sewell died by suicide when he was just 14 years old. In the months leading up to his death he had been in a relationship with a chatbot on a platform called Character.ai. Megan was convinced it had something to do with his death, and set out to hold the company to account.

In the third episode in this season, Cristina Criddle speaks to Megan about her story, and to Karandeep Anand, chief executive of Character.ai. Why has this technology been released to children before we understand the effects? Can chatbots capable of creating emotional bonds with users ever be safe for children?

Check out some of Cristina’s reporting on this subject on FT.com:

Character.ai and Google agree to settle lawsuits over teen suicides

AI start-up Character.ai bans teens from talking to chatbots

US regulator launches inquiry into AI ‘companions’ used by teens

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Artificial intimacy: The delusion machine

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Paul Hebert knew too much. He had to lie low in his house because OpenAI had identified him as a threat. At least, that’s what ChatGPT had told him. In this second episode of Artificial intimacy, FT technology reporter Cristina Criddle speaks to people whose sense of reality has been distorted by prolonged conversations with chatbots, a phenomenon known as AI delusions or AI psychosis. Are the same mechanisms that draw people into intimate relationships with chatbots also causing harm?

Paul Hebert and Micky Small share their stories of AI delusions. Paul has now authored Escaping the Spiral: How I broke free from AI chatbots and how you can too, and is the founder of the AI Recovery Collective. Micky Small is now an AI emotional safety strategist at Built to Feel Real.

Also featuring AI safety researcher Steven Adler, former OpenAI employee.

We used ElevenLabs to create the voice of ChatGPT. All other voices are real.

If you liked this episode and want to read more from the FT, check out these free to read articles on FT.com:

The problem of AI chatbots telling people what they want to hear

AI is having some relationship issues

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Artificial intimacy: How to fall in love with AI

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Calder Quinn has fallen into a relationship with a chatbot called Sara. She’s kind, emotionally intelligent and creatively inspiring. But how can he tell his wife he is having sex with an AI girlfriend? In the first episode of Artificial Intimacy we look at how people are developing romantic bonds with AI companions. What does it feel like to be in love with AI? What impact could it have on human relationships? Could it replace them altogether?

Host Cristina Criddle speaks to Giada Pistilli, an AI ethicist who now works at Mistral; Calder Quinn, writer at AI, But Make It Intimate; Amelia Quinn, Calder’s wife; and Alaina Winters, professor emeritus of communication who publishes on meandmyaihusband.com.

Presented by Cristina Criddle, produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.

We used ElevenLabs to create Sara’s voice. All other voices are real.

If you liked this episode and want to read more from the Financial Times, check out these free to read on FT.com:

Can AI really help us find love?

AI chatbots do battle over human memories

Is this the way the world ends?

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Coming soon: Artificial intimacy

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

A man tells his wife about his AI lover. A teenager dies after messaging his AI girlfriend. A marriage collapses after advice from an AI therapist. In this six-part narrative series, FT tech reporter Cristina Criddle explores the increasingly prominent role AI chatbots are playing in our emotional lives - and how artificial intelligence is reshaping intimacy. Can we trust AI with our most vulnerable selves? And what happens when the same systems that draw us in also have the power to harm us?

Tech Tonic: Artificial Intimacy is presented by Cristina Criddle and produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.

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

Tech in 2026: Silicon Valley’s power plays and players

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 05:00:00 GMT

How will Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures shape technology — and politics — in 2026? Last year, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg aligned themselves with Donald Trump. Where have these relationships left the industry today? The push to break up Big Tech appears to be fading, but the race for AI dominance has sparked new risks and rivalries, as well as regulatory flashpoints.

In this episode of Tech Tonic, Murad Ahmed is joined by FT tech comment editor Elaine Moore, San Francisco correspondent Hannah Murphy and bureau chief Stephen Morris to discuss Musk’s latest Grok chatbot, Zuckerberg’s evolving strategy at Meta, the rise of the online right and what it all reveals about the shifting balance of power in Silicon Valley.

Free to read:

Elon Musk hit by exodus of senior staff over burnout and politics

How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawler

Dina Powell McCormick appointed president and vice-chair at Meta

Big Tech tests investors’ patience with $80bn AI investment spree

Here come the glassholes, part II

AI poses a new antitrust problem

China’s open-source AI is a national advantage

This series of Tech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer for Tech Tonic is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Tech in 2026: Inside the AI bubble

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 12:38:37 GMT

Is 2026 the year that AI hype meets reality? In a new mini-series from Tech Tonic, the FT’s tech editor Murad Ahmed speaks with the paper’s reporters about what they'll be watching.

Do tech industry insiders think the huge amounts of capital that have driven the AI boom will continue? How will challenges to large-language model AI systems play out this year? And are chief executives expecting AI technologies to force job cuts?

In this episode, we hear from the FT’s venture capital correspondent George Hammond, AI correspondent Melissa Heikkilä and writer of the AI Shift newsletter Sarah O’Connor for their views on AI’s financial faultlines, how the technology will evolve and what kind of disruptions to expect in the world of work.

Free to read:

SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to launch landmark IPOs

Computer scientist Yann LeCun: ‘Intelligence really is about learning’

The AI Shift: Agentic AI is coming for quantitative research

Subscribe to The AI Shift newsletter, an essential deep-dive into how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of work

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

A previous version of this podcast made a statement about Klarna's use of AI that the company has disputed. The reference has since been removed.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Untold: Toxic Legacy, Ep. 1

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Laura Hughes receives a tip that horses are dropping dead in Wales. As she investigates, she finds decades of academic studies researching the problem. She learns these aren’t isolated incidents. Something is spreading across the countryside. It’s undetectable to humans, nobody knows it’s there — until they fall ill. For more information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.

To listen to the rest of the series, find Untold on your favourite podcast platform by clicking here!

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Defying death: The future of forever

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Gene and stem cell therapies have been touted as the next phase in the longevity movement, with promises to rejuvenate the body at the cellular level and reverse the effects of ageing. But, as the prospect of life extension moves into the mainstream, it presents big questions for society as a whole. Are we ready for a world where people live much longer lives?

In this final episode, the FT’s Michael Peel and Hannah Kuchler dive into the tough moral questions at the heart of the longevity movement. Hannah speaks to the team at Fountain Life, a longevity clinic trying to bring stem cell therapy to the middle classes. We meet Daniel Ives, founder of gene therapy company Shift Bioscience, and Liz Parrish, who has self-experimented with gene therapies through her company, Biovia. Finally, Michael speaks to Arthur Caplan, the head of the ethics board of longevity fund, Hevolution.

Free to read:

From immortal jellyfish to elephants: scientists probe secrets of long-lived animals

Inside the billion-dollar quest to live beyond 100

Gene editing breakthrough promises to boost fight against disease

This series of Tech Tonic is hosted by Michael Peel and Hannah Kuchler. It is produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Special thanks to Michela Tindera.

Clips: Al Jazeera Balkans, TV France Japon, ABP News, Rome Reports, @Sciencerely

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Defying death: The longevity lab

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Singapore has become a model for longevity-focused healthcare. With an ageing population and citizens willing to spend money on anti-ageing treatments, the government and private companies are spending big on new ways to slow ageing, and help people live healthier for longer.

In this episode the FT’s Michael Peel visits the city-state to find out how longevity treatments are moving into the mainstream. He meets venture capitalist Boyang Wang, personal trainer Tiat Lim (‘Singapore’s Benjamin Button’), and longevity clinic founder Allen Law. Plus, we hear from Tan Kiat How, Singapore’s senior minister of state for health, and National University of Singapore professor Andrea Maier.

Free to read:

‘Can I lunge my way to eternal life?’

How one supplement sums up the uneasy science of selling youth

Singapore’s prime minister warns of ‘messy’ transition to post-American order

This series of Tech Tonic is hosted by Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel. It is produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Special thanks to Owen Walker.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

Clips: @channelnewsasia

To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on substack, go to ftav.substack.com

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Defying death: The origins of ageing

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 05:00:00 GMT

How much do we really know about ageing? For decades, scientists have been trying to understand the biology of the ageing process - what happens to our bodies as we get older? And is it possible to slow that process down or even stop it all together?

In this series of Tech Tonic, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel look into the past, present and future of longevity - the wellness movement focused on extending and bettering your quality of life. Episode 1 follows Hannah as she speaks with UCL professor David Gems about the history of ageing research, and then with longevity researcher Matt Kaeberlein to discuss how the industry has developed - including current drugs that could have anti-ageing effects. Plus, Michael visits the Reviv clinic in London where he experiences, first hand, the growing consumer interest in the longevity craze.

Coming soon: Defying death

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. In this series, we’re covering the past, present and future of the longevity movement. We’ll be looking at where the fixation on longevity is coming from, and trying to understand the practical and ethical issues at the heart of this cutting-edge field of research.

From Silicon Valley fantasies, to Singaporean health spas, to Colombian genetic clinics and beyond, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel ask whether breakthroughs in science and technology can really help us live longer, and even stop us aging altogether.

Free to read:

US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream

The quest to make young blood into a drug

This season of Tech Tonic was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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Introducing Untold: Toxic Legacy

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Introducing Toxic Legacy, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Laura Hughes uncovers a lead poisoning epidemic across the UK. You might be living with lead and not know it: the toxin is often invisible to the human eye, but wreaks havoc on our bodies once we’re exposed.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

For information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.

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

Mission to Mars: Bad science fiction

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT

For decades, science fiction writers have envisaged colonising Mars, even building cities on the red planet. Advocates for Mars exploration, such as Elon Musk, want to make that vision a reality. But can humans really live in an alien world?

The FT’s space industry editor Peggy Hollinger speaks to researchers about the physical and mental pressures astronauts would face living millions of miles from home and to scientists studying the suitability of Mars’ atmosphere and soil.

This episode of Tech Tonic is hosted by Peggy Hollinger and produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Fact checking by Lucy Baldwin. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Mission to Mars: The new space race

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT

US President Donald Trump wants to “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”. But more than 50 years on from the moon landings, America’s space agency, Nasa, is in disarray. Meanwhile, China is forging ahead with its own plans for manned missions to the Moon and perhaps to Mars. Who will win the race to the red planet?

The FT’s space industry editor Peggy Hollinger speaks to former and current Nasa employees about the challenges facing the space agency, and to Jared Isaacman, Trump’s one-time nominee for Nasa administrator.

This episode of Tech Tonic is hosted by Peggy Hollinger and produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Fact checking by Lucy Baldwin. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

Clips: CNN, Brut America, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox 4 News

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Mission to Mars: Elon Musk's 'Starship' enterprise

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk wants humans to settle on Mars, and his rocket company SpaceX is spending billions of dollars on developing the spacecraft to take us there. The ‘Starship’ is being designed to take astronauts back to the moon, and eventually, on to the red planet. But why is Musk so obsessed with building a colony on Mars, and is he really the man to take us there?

The FT’s space industry editor Peggy Hollinger speaks to space experts and Mars enthusiasts about the pull of the red planet, both for scientists and explorers, and how realistic Musk’s vision for humanity as an interplanetary species really is.

This episode of Tech Tonic is hosted by Peggy Hollinger and produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Fact checking by Simon Greaves. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original Music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Special thanks to Tom Hannen.

Clips: SpaceX, AP, Joe Rogan Experience, SXSW, VideoFromSpace, WPLG Local 10, International Astronautical Foundation, BBC Archive, ABC, CGTN, Flagler Live, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, NasaSpaceFlight/Joshua Adank

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Coming soon: Mission to Mars

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT

US President Donald Trump has pledged to “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”, China could send its first crewed mission to Mars within a decade, and Elon Musk wants people to actually settle on Mars, transforming the human race into an interplanetary species.

In a new series of Tech Tonic, the FT’s Peggy Hollinger asks if we’re really about to land, and even live, on the red planet.

Free to read:

Musk’s mission to Mars

Three days with America’s rocket chasers

Tech Tonic is produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

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

Vote for Tech Tonic in the Signal Awards!

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 08:27:09 GMT

Tech Tonic has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Technology category! It's a Listener Choice award, which means we need your help. Vote for us to win here. We appreciate your support.

And while you're at it, vote for some other FT podcasts that have also been nominated. The FT News Briefing podcast was nominated for best daily podcast category. Vote here. And Behind the Money was nominated in the Money & Finance category. Vote here.

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AI Music: ‘Theft machines’?

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 04:00:00 GMT

AI models have learned to create their own music by harvesting millions of songs from the internet. But critics say they’re using musicians’ work without permission, and three major record labels are suing them for ‘copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale’.

In the second episode of this two part series, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney speaks to campaigners and lawyers about the legal battle over AI generators, and to artists about the growth of AI music on streaming platforms. How are AI generated songs racking up millions of listens? And should streaming platforms do anything to stop it?

Free to read:

Will AI kill the pop star?

The Velvet Sundown’s shaggy retro rock has attracted 750,000 listeners – but is it all an AI hoax?

A musical supergroup fights AI – with a silent protest album

Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus warns of AI threat to musicians’ revenues

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. The producers are Lulu Smyth and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer, Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original Music by Metaphor Music. Fact checking by Miatta Mbriwa and Megan Hill. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

Music used in this episode:

‘Dust on the Wind’ - The Velvet Sundown

‘The’ – Is This What We Want by 1000+ artists

‘Chasing Horizons’ - generated by Udio

‘Euphoria in Motion’ - generated by Udio

‘Drift Beyond the Flame’ – The Velvet Sundown

‘The Thrill of Loneliness’ - Hana Stretton

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

AI Music: The Infinite Jukebox

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Generative AI models trained on vast swaths of popular music can create songs almost indistinguishable from human-made work. For some, they represent the future of pop music. For others, they threaten to flood the world with ‘AI slop’, drowning out the work of human artists, stealing musicians' jobs, and ending the process of music-making as we know it. Is this just a case of technophobia? Or could AI music generators replace human musicians altogether?

In the first in a two-part series, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney speaks to musicians and artists about the inventive power of generative AI in music, as well as the potential threat it might pose to musicians’ livelihoods and the music industry as a whole.

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. The producers are Lulu Smyth and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer, Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original Music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

Music used in this episode:

‘Chasing Horizons’ - generated by Udio

‘Own the Night” - generated by Udio

‘From Ashes to Madness’ - generated by Udio

‘Workplace Vibes’ - generated by Udio

‘Canaan (Live Training)’ - Holly Herndon. Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

‘Evening Shades (Live Training)’ - Holly Herndon. Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

‘Godmother’ - Holly Herndon. Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

Music from Holly Herndon & Matt Dryhurst: The Call - Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

‘Heart on My Sleeve’ - Ghostwriter977

‘Verknallt in einen Talahon’ - Butterbro / generated by Udio

‘Let it Burn’ - The Velvet Sundown

‘Sexual Healing’ - Written by Marvin Gaye, Odell Brown, and David Ritz. Copyright EMI Blackwood Music Inc. and EMI April Music Inc.

‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ - Written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, Copyright Sony Music Entertainment

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: Will AI ruin music?

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 GMT

AI music generators - platforms that use artificial intelligence to create new, original music from scratch - can make songs that are almost indistinguishable from human creations. For some musicians, they’re the next frontier in music-making technology. But for others, they represent a grave threat, flooding the world with low-grade AI music, stealing the jobs of working musicians, and even spelling the end of the creative process as we know it. Is this just technophobia, or is music facing AI annihilation?

In a new two-part series, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney explores the emerging world of AI music, and the impact it could have on the industry.

Tech Tonic is presented by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. The producers are Lulu Smyth and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer, Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

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

Trump’s tech bros: The enigma of Peter Thiel

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 08:11:59 GMT

Peter Thiel is unlike any other Trump tech bro. As well as a wildly successful investor, he’s seen as a thinker - the philosopher king of Silicon Valley. Thiel’s acolytes in the tech world and Washington include vice-president JD Vance but his relationship with the Trump camp is complicated. And there are still questions about what, if anything, he wants with the president.

In the final episode of this season of Tech Tonic, Murad Ahmed speaks to FT columnist Gillian Tett about Thiel’s political philosophy, and to Tabby Kinder, the FT’s West Coast financial editor, about his influence in Silicon Valley.

Free to read:

How Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley funded the sudden rise of JD Vance

A time for truth and reconciliation (written by Peter Thiel)

How a little-known French literary critic became a bellwether for the US right

Palantir’s ‘revolving door’ with government spurs huge growth

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Sam Giovinco. Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Trump’s Tech Bros: Is ‘Maga Mark’ the real Mark Zuckerberg?

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has undergone a transformation, both physical and political. The skinny teenager who founded Facebook in his dorm room is now a muscular jiu-jitsu enthusiast who’s called US President Donald Trump a “badass” and wants to see more “masculine energy” in the workplace.

Is this all an act? Is Zuckerberg doing whatever it takes to ingratiate himself with the Trump administration and ensure that Meta emerges a winner in the AI race? Or has “Maga Mark” been the real Mark Zuckerberg all along?

Murad Ahmed speaks to Hannah Murphy, the FT’s technology correspondent in San Francisco, and to Katie Harbath, a former Facebook executive under Zuckerberg and now CEO of Anchor Change.

Free to read:

How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawler

How Joel Kaplan became Mark Zuckerberg’s most trusted political fixer

OpenAI says Meta is trying to poach staff with $100mn sign-on offers

Tech titans stand with Donald Trump to kill off activism in Silicon Valley

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Odinn Ingibergsson, Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Trump’s Tech Bros: Has Jeff Bezos sold out?

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was once a vocal critic of Donald Trump. But that changed during last year’s election campaign. Now, he has instructed the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post, to shift its editorial line to be more in line with the president. So what provoked Bezos’s political change of heart?

Murad Ahmed and the FT’s US media editor Anna Nicolau speak to Marty Baron, the former executive editor of the Washington Post, about why Bezos bought the Post in the first place, the effect his ownership is having on the newspaper, and how the editorial shift is symptomatic of a larger impact the president seems to be having across the American media landscape.

Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post did not reply to a request for comment.

Free to read:

How Jeff Bezos made peace with Donald Trump

Jeff Bezos focuses Washington Post opinion pages on ‘personal liberties’ and ‘free markets’

Jeff Bezos to sell up to $4.75bn in Amazon stock

Amazon to begin deploying rival satellites to Starlink this month

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Trump's Tech Bros: The tragedy of Elon Musk

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 04:00:00 GMT

When Donald Trump re-entered the White House, Elon Musk came with him as his ‘tech bro-in-chief’, tasked with rebooting the government machine. But five months on, Musk’s ambitious plan to cut $2tn from the annual government budget has failed, and his relationship with the president has ended in a bitter break-up. Could the world’s richest man come to regret his time in politics?

Murad Ahmed speaks to Joe Miller, the FT’s Washington correspondent, about how and why Musk’s time in DC came to an abrupt end, and to Stephen Morris, the FT’s San Francisco bureau chief, about what this means for Musk’s business empire.

Free to read:

What has Elon Musk’s Doge actually achieved?

Elon Musk counts the cost of his ‘government efficiency’ blitz

Are Donald Trump and Elon Musk now enemies?

Musk vs Trump is a cautionary tale for Silicon Valley

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Trump’s Tech Bros: Can Tim Cook save Apple from the trade war?

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 04:00:00 GMT

During the US president’s first term in office, Tim Cook appeared to be the ultimate Trump whisperer, winning tariff exemptions despite Apple’s heavy reliance on Chinese manufacturing. Now, the iPhone-maker-in-chief has found himself under the toughest pressure yet from Trump, who has threatened smartphone tariffs as high as 25%. Does Tim Cook still have a way out, or is Apple out of options? And what does Cook's relationship with Trump tell us about the future of the trade war?

FT tech editor Murad Ahmed speaks to Patrick McGee, author of Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company; Doug Guthrie, a former negotiator for Apple in Beijing; and FT tech correspondent Michael Acton about the complicated relationship between Cook and Trump.

Free to read:

Donald Trump threatens Apple and Samsung with 25% tariff on devices

Apple set to expand India supply chain through $1.5bn Foxconn plant

Apple delays iPhone AI features as it stumbles in race with rivals

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: The rise and fall of Trump’s tech bros

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Can Tim Cook save Apple from the trade war? Has Mark Zuckerberg really been a fan of Donald Trump all along? And is the bromance between Elon Musk and the president really over?

In a new season of Tech Tonic, Murad Ahmed explores the relationships between Trump and some of the titans of the tech world. What is really driving those relationships, and what might they mean for the future of technology in the US and beyond?

Free to read:

‘He is power’: billionaires line up for Donald Trump’s inauguration

Donald Trump lashes out at Apple over plan to ship US iPhones from India

How Jeff Bezos made peace with Donald Trump

What has Elon Musk’s Doge actually achieved?

How Joel Kaplan became Mark Zuckerberg’s most trusted political fixer

How Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley funded the sudden rise of JD Vance

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

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

Future weapons: Tomorrow’s technology

Tue, 13 May 2025 04:00:00 GMT

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.

Future weapons: Rearming Europe

Tue, 06 May 2025 04:00:00 GMT

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 Helsing

VC funding in European defence and security tech surges to record $5.2bn

Can 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.

Future weapons: Battlefield AI

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 04:00:00 GMT

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 plan

DeepMind UK staff seek to unionise and challenge defence deals and Israel links

Israel pledges to protect tech start-ups from effects of Hamas war

Tech 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.

Future weapons: The defence tech bros

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 04:05:00 GMT

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 industry

US defence industry braced for tech shake-up under Trump

The appetite for US defence tech is growing

This 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.

Future weapons: Ukraine’s army of drones

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 04:00:00 GMT

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 war

Ukraine weighs lifting arms export ban to scale up drone industry

Ukraine’s battle against Russia in maps and charts

This 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.

Coming soon: The future weapons of war

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 04:00:00 GMT

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 industry

Ukraine is winning the drone start-up war

Palantir and Anduril join forces with tech groups to bid for Pentagon contracts

Tech 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.

Making money from AI: After DeepSeek

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 05:00:00 GMT

The biggest companies in tech are fighting to be the leader in generative AI - even as the path to profitability for the technology remains unclear. So what’s the long game for companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta? And what does the rise of Chinese start-up DeepSeek mean for AI companies with massive valuations?

In the second episode in our series on the business of AI, the FT’s AI editor Madhumita Murgia speaks with FT technology reporter Cristina Criddle as well as Vahap Can, an instructor on a prompt engineering course at Capital City College, Anton Korinek, a professor in the department of economics at the University of Virginia, and Alex Chalmers, a writer, researcher formerly of Air Street Capital.

Free to read:

DeepSeek’s ‘aha moment’ creates new way to build powerful AI with less money

Liang Wenfeng, the DeepSeek founder panicking the tech world

OpenAI targets 1bn users in next phase of growth

Meta sticks with big bet on AI even after DeepSeek shook markets

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia, and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer and Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner, Samantha Giovinco and Joe Salcedo, with original music from 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.

Making money from AI: Searching for a ‘killer app’

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Is generative AI over-valued? At the heart of the generative AI boom has been the premise that a ‘killer app’ for AI will make investors a return on their capital. But it’s unclear how those use cases will actually make money for businesses that deploy them. Plus - is the problem a lack of AI take-up among employees? We hear from Joe Richardson, head of operations at Octopus Energy, Jim Covello, head of global equity research at Goldman Sachs and George Lee, co-head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute for a debate about the investment case for AI; Victor Riparbelli, chief executive of AI video start-up Synthesia, Amjad Masad, chief executive of coding start-up Replit, and Claudia Harris, chief executive at tech training company Makers.

Free to read:

UK artificial intelligence start-up Synthesia hits $2bn valuation

AI-powered coding pulls in almost $1bn of funding to claim ‘killer app’ status

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: Will AI ever make any money?

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:08:44 GMT

Generative AI is impressive, but can it be profitable? Since the emergence of ChatGPT in 2022, Silicon Valley investors and tech giants have poured billions into developing generative AI models and tools. But when will it start generating returns? The FT’s artificial intelligence editor Madhumita Murgia investigates efforts to develop a ‘killer app’ for AI, the use of AI in the workplace, and asks if some of the most highly valued AI companies in Silicon Valley are getting it all wrong.

Free to read:

OpenAI targets 1bn users in next phase of growth

AI-powered coding pulls in almost $1bn of funding to claim ‘killer app’ status

Meta sticks with big bet on AI even after DeepSeek shook markets

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

Tech in 2025: The EU vs Big Tech

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 05:00:00 GMT

The past two years have seen the EU bring in landmark legislation to curb the power of big tech companies such as Apple, Google and Meta, threatening to break up the companies that do not play by its rules on privacy and competition. But not everyone agrees with its approach. Murad Ahmed speaks to Aura Salla, former lobbyist for Meta and now an MEP in Brussels, who says EU rules will work to rein in Big Tech, and may even harm the development of Europe’s own tech industry.

Free to read:

EU reassesses tech probes into Apple, Google and Meta

Europe’s rushed attempt to set the rules for AI

What impact is the Digital Markets Act having?

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed, and produced by Persis Love. Edwin Lane is the senior producer and Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from 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.

Tech in 2025: China’s AI ‘Sputnik moment’

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 17:36:48 GMT

The Chinese company DeepSeek has shocked the world with an AI model that could rival those built by the biggest artificial intelligence companies in Silicon Valley. For years it has been assumed that China’s AI companies were trailing in the wake of US rivals such as OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT. Murad Ahmed, the FT’s technology news editor, is joined by the FT’s China technology correspondent Eleanor Olcott to discuss whether DeepSeek’s model shows that China is catching up in the AI race, with expert analysis from Tiezhen Wang from AI open-source community platform Hugging Face.

Free to read:

How small Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley

Why Nvidia investors are spooked by Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek

OpenAI’s Sam Altman vows ‘better models’ as China’s DeepSeek disrupts global race

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Tech in 2025: All hail the AI revolution

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Murad Ahmed interviews Reid Hoffman - billionaire founder of LinkedIn, venture capitalist, self-proclaimed AI optimist and generally speaking a big name in Silicon Valley.

Hoffman discusses the enthusiasm for artificial intelligence sweeping the Valley among both start-ups and Big Tech companies, as well as the investors like him pumping billions of dollars into them.

He also talks about the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, and the potential effects - good and bad - on the US tech industry from lighter regulation to the threat of tariffs and the influence of Elon Musk.

Free to read:

What Trump means for Silicon Valley

Joe Biden says ‘oligarchy’ emerging in US in final White House address

Sam Altman reckons with growing threat to OpenAI: Elon Musk

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Tech in 2025: Trump and the tech bros

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Incoming president Donald Trump has shown he’s ready to act decisively on tech, giving a stay of execution to TikTok after the US Supreme Court upheld a ban on the social media platform. But how will he deal with the rest of the tech sector and how much influence will Elon Musk wield? The FT’s technology news editor Murad Ahmed is joined by Washington correspondent Joe Miller, and Hannah Murphy and Stephen Morris from the FT’s San Francisco bureau to discuss the potential impact of a Trump presidency on everything from social media to artificial intelligence.

Free to read:

Joe Biden says ‘oligarchy’ emerging in US in final White House address

Sam Altman reckons with growing threat to OpenAI: Elon Musk

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg seeks ‘active role’ in Donald Trump’s tech policies

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed, and produced by Persis Love. Edwin Lane is the senior producer and Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner, Samantha Giovinco and Joe Salcedo, with original music from 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.

Tech in 2025: Hi, I’m your AI-powered assistant

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, generative AI tools have been helping us answer questions, write essays and create AI images and videos. But now, tech companies are promising AI tools that actually complete everyday tasks on our behalf.

Murad Ahmed is joined by Madhumita Murgia, the FT’s AI editor, who has been speaking to Dario Amodei, chief executive of Silicon Valley AI company Anthropic. They discuss plans to create ‘AI agents’ that could do anything from replying to emails on our behalf to ordering our weekly grocery shopping online, as well as some of the challenges that leading AI companies face as they develop ever-more sophisticated AI systems.

Free to read:

Move over copilots: meet the next generation of AI powered assistants

OpenAI bets on AI agents becoming mainstream by 2025

Anthropic’s Dario Amodei: Democracies must maintain the lead in AI

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: How will technology shape the world in 2025?

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 05:00:43 GMT

In a new season of Tech Tonic, the FT’s technology editor Murad Ahmed asks some of the big questions likely to shape the tech world in 2025, with the help of big names from the tech industry and the FT’s expert reporters and columnists. We’ll hear about the AI industry’s plans for the next generation of tools powered by generative AI, and how Donald Trump’s presidency - and Elon Musk - might influence Silicon Valley. Plus, stories of Big Tech regulation in Brussels and China’s rise as a tech power.

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed, and produced by Persis Love. Edwin Lane is the senior producer and Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner, Samantha Giovinco and Joseph Enrick Salcedo, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

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

The geopolitics of chips: Nvidia and the AI boom

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 05:00:41 GMT

Amid the artificial intelligence boom, demand for AI chips has exploded. But this push for chips also creates new challenges for countries and companies. How will countries cope with the huge amounts of energy these chips consume? Will anyone compete with Nvidia to supply the AI chips of the future? And can China develop its own chips to fuel its own AI development?

James Kynge visits a data centre to find out how advanced AI chips are causing new problems for the sector. In Phoenix, Arizona, James meets Mark Bauer, co-leader with JLL's Data Center Solutions group, and Frank Eichenhorst, vice president of data centre operations at PhoenixNAP.

How will the clash of titans play out between NVIDIA and Big Tech? And we hear from Amir Salek, senior managing director at Cerberus Capital and the brains behind Google’s TPU chip; Tamay Besiroglu, associate director of Epoch AI; Dylan Patel, lead analyst at consulting firm SemiAnalysis; and the FT’s global tech correspondent Tim Bradshaw to find out more about the battle for AI chips.

SMIC did not respond to a request for comment.

Free links to read more on this topic:

Nvidia and the AI boom face a scaling problem

Chip challengers try to break Nvidia’s grip on AI market

Amazon steps up effort to build AI chips that can rival Nvidia

TSMC says it alerted US to potential violation of China AI chip controls

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Joseph Enrick Salcedo, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The geopolitics of chips: Taiwan’s ‘Silicon Shield’

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 05:00:23 GMT

The global tech industry depends on Taiwan’s semiconductor chips and many believe the sector plays a key role in the island’s national security, helping stave off an invasion from mainland China. But as relations between China and Taiwan worsen, some countries are taking steps to become less reliant on Taiwanese chips. Already, the US, Germany and Japan have lured Taiwanese semiconductor makers to their own shores. Could that make Taiwan a more vulnerable target for attack?

Presenter James Kynge visits the island and speaks to FT greater China correspondent Kathrin Hille, Taiwan's science and technology minister Cheng-Wen Wu, the president of Taiwan's semiconductor industry association Chih-I Wu, UMC associate vice-president Michael Wang, and Hsin-mei Cheng, writer and producer of 'Zero Day', a TV show about a hypothetical invasion from the mainland.

Free links to read more on this topic:

US and Taiwan seek to strengthen drone supply chain to keep out China

Taiwan’s new leader faces China threat and voters left behind by chip boom

Taiwan on the faultline

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Sam Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Kathrin Hille.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The geopolitics of chips: A manufacturing miracle

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 05:00:23 GMT

Semiconductors are one of the most complex and technically difficult pieces of hardware to make in the world – which is why they’ve become a flashpoint for tensions between the US and China. For years, semiconductor technology has advanced at a breakneck pace - but there are signs that this might be slowing down. What will that mean for the global fight for chips? The FT’s longtime China correspondent James Kynge travels to the Netherlands to see ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography system, one of the most complex machines on the planet. Plus, we hear from the man at Intel charged with keeping Moore’s Law going, and from Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology.

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Joseph Salcedo and Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The geopolitics of chips: Chips in the USA

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 05:00:40 GMT

The next superpower will be a tech superpower, and to be that superpower you need to have some control over the semiconductor industry which is driving the AI revolution. But almost all advanced semiconductors are made in Taiwan — and it is under constant threat of a Chinese invasion. President Joe Biden’s Chips Act promises lavish subsidies to companies working to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to US soil. Will those subsidies survive once Donald Trump, the president-elect, is in the White House? The FT’s James Kynge, is in Phoenix, Arizona, the former heartland of American chip manufacturing. He speaks to those trying to revive the US chipmaking industry.

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.

Clips: The Joe Rogan Experience, CNBC

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: The fight for the future of chips

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 15:06:47 GMT

There's a battle going on for control of the global semiconductor industry – the chips that are in virtually every piece of electronics we use from our phones to our cars to the latest AI software. For the past half century, chips have quietly powered the technological revolution. In this series, James Kynge goes deep into the miracle of modern chip manufacturing and the struggle over who commands its future.

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

The Telegram case: Privacy vs security

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 04:00:05 GMT

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 him

Pavel Durov, Telegram’s self-mythologising founder

How Telegram chief Pavel Durov miscalculated on moderation

Emmanuel Macron hits back at claims Telegram chief’s arrest is political

The Durov case is not about free speech

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The Telegram case: Pavel Durov

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:45:49 GMT

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 founder

How Telegram chief Pavel Durov miscalculated on moderation

Emmanuel Macron hits back at claims Telegram chief’s arrest is political

The Durov case is not about free speech

Russian lawmakers hit back at arrest of Telegram chief Pavel Durov in France

This 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.

The trouble with deepfakes: Beyond control?

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 04:00:29 GMT

Anita was scrolling on Twitter when she found someone had made deepfake porn of her, without her permission. But that was just the start of her problems; she found it was difficult and expensive to get the deepfakes taken down and nigh-on impossible to prevent their proliferation online. So, what guardrails can regulators and tech companies put in place to prevent the spread of deepfakes and protect those whose likeness has been stolen without their consent? Technological fixes, such as deepfake detection software and deepfake watermarking exist, but can the technology keep up with the ever-improving capacities of generative AI?

Host Hannah Murphy speaks to Hany Farid, digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley; Nina Schick, CEO and founder of Tamang Ventures, author and Qlik AI Council member; and Sweet Anita, Twitch streamer.

Tell us what you think of Tech Tonic and you could be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Headphones. Complete the survey here.

Want more?

Google upgrades search in drive to tackle deepfake porn

India tells tech giants to police deepfakes under ‘explicit’ rules

Political deepfakes top list of malicious AI use, DeepMind finds

Clips: sweet_anita Twitch

Since publication, Mastercard, one of the companies mentioned in this episode, sent the following response: 'Purchases of nonconsensual deepfake content are not allowed on our network. When we see or are made aware of specific instances of such activity, we investigate the allegations and take action to ensure compliance with both local laws and our rules and standards.'

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Hannah Murphy. The producer is Persis Love. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Our executive producer Manuela Saragosa. Additional production help from Josh Gabert-Doyon. 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 trouble with deepfakes: Liar’s dividend

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 04:00:31 GMT

A new breed of AI generated fake pictures, videos and audio clips is spreading across the internet - content anyone with an internet connection can generate. And some of these deepfakes are now so convincing that even experts struggle to tell the difference between what’s real and what has been created using artificial intelligence. In a new series, Hannah Murphy, the FT’s tech reporter in San Francisco, examines the potential of deepfakes to cause chaos and asks how worried we should be and what’s being done to combat their proliferation.

In the first of this two-part series she hears from Kimberly Ton Mai, AI researcher at University College, London; Hany Farid, digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley; and Paul Carpenter, magician and hypnotist.

Tell us what you think of Tech Tonic and you could be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones. Complete the survey here.

Want more?

Audio deepfakes emerge as weapon of choice in election disinformation

The rising threat to democracy of AI-powered disinformation

The FT View: Deepfakes and disinformation

The danger of deepfakes is not what you think

Clips: Fox News, AP, @mentallyhyp TikTok, The Telegraph, The Guardian, France 24 English, Sky News

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Hannah Murphy. The producer is Persis Love. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Executive producer Manuela Saragosa. Additional production help from Josh Gabert-Doyon. 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.

China's race to tech supremacy: New frontiers

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 04:00:21 GMT

China is pushing the frontiers of scientific research, launching missions to the Moon and exploring the remotest places on Earth. It’s part of China’s grand plan to be the world leader in science and technology. But why are science and tech so important to Beijing, and is China’s rise as the next tech superpower inevitable? James Kynge concludes this season of Tech Tonic with Eleanor Olcott, the FT’s China tech correspondent, Matthew Funaiole from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Matt Sheehan from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Yasheng Huang, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Clips: BBC News, Sky News Australia, DW News

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from 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.

China's race to tech supremacy: Chatbots & chips

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 04:00:41 GMT

Since the emergence of chatbots like ChatGPT, China has made building its own advanced AI a priority. But to build AI it needs the most advanced computer chips, and the US has banned companies from selling them to China. The FT’s James Kynge visits China to find out how the country is turning to smuggling to get its hands on high-end chips for AI research. And he visits Chinese tech giant Huawei — one of the companies at the vanguard of China’s efforts to start making its own advanced AI chips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

China’s race to tech supremacy: Robot generation

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 04:00:57 GMT

In China, you can find robots serving food in restaurants, delivering room service in hotels, and cleaning floors in office buildings. But it’s in factories where China wants robots to make the biggest difference. China’s population is starting to shrink. With the number of workers set to plummet, will robots be able to fill the gap? The FT’s James Kynge visits Chinese robot makers in Shenzhen, and speaks to demography expert Wang Feng about the scale of the demographic challenge facing China today.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Introducing Untold: Power for Sale

Thu, 30 May 2024 04:00:51 GMT

Introducing Power for Sale, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. In Untold: Power for Sale, host Valentina Pop and a team of FT correspondents from all over Europe investigate what happened in the Qatargate scandal, where EU lawmakers were accused of accepting payments from Qatar to whitewash its image.

Subscribe and listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

China's race to tech supremacy: Embracing Africa

Tue, 28 May 2024 04:00:55 GMT

In this episode, long-time FT China correspondent James Kynge travels to Lagos to hear about the success of Chinese-backed companies in Nigeria – and some of the looming concerns. We hear about Transsion, a massive Chinese mobile phone company that perfected its business model in the street markets of Nigeria, and the Chinese-owned online lending apps that are facing scrutiny from regulators. James speaks to Yang Wang, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, Babatunde Irukera, former director-general of Nigeria’s Consumer Protection Council, Adedeji Olowe, board chair at Paystack, and Moses Nmor, co-founder of BFREE Africa.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

China's race to tech supremacy: Driving into Europe

Tue, 21 May 2024 04:00:37 GMT

China’s BYD has become one of the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturers, thanks to its low production costs. The US has slapped a 100% tariff on Chinese EV imports to protect its own sector but BYD has its sights set on Europe. The FT’s James Kynge reports from Germany to find out what established European carmakers make of this burgeoning competition, and how the EU is handling it. We hear from the FT’s June Yoon, automobile analyst Stefan Bratzel, European Commission spokesperson for trade Olof Gill, and Manuel Kallweit, chief economist at German car lobby group VDA.

Clips: Bloomberg, CNBC, DW

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

China's race to tech supremacy: Shenzhen speed

Tue, 14 May 2024 04:00:43 GMT

How did China go from tech imitator to innovator? The FT’s James Kynge reports from Shenzhen, known as China’s Silicon Valley, where he explores the city’s vast electronics markets with inventor Noah Zerkin, an American who’s based himself in China, visits robot start-up Youibot and hears from DJI about how it became the world’s biggest drone manufacturer. Plus, Matt Sheehan, a China watcher focused on technology at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Qi Zhou, a venture capitalist based in Shenzhen, explain why China’s tech success stories are turning established narratives on democratic freedoms and innovation on their head.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Coming soon: China, the new tech superpower

Tue, 07 May 2024 04:00:21 GMT

In a new season of Tech Tonic, longtime FT China reporter James Kynge travels around the world to see how China is pushing towards tech supremacy. Will China be able to get an edge in crucial technological areas? What does China’s attempt to leapfrog the west look like on the ground? A six-part series looking at China’s tech industry.

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

Introducing: Swamp Notes from The FT News Briefing

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 05:00:53 GMT

If you have questions about this year's US presidential election, we have answers.

Swamp Notes is a new podcast from the FT News Briefing. Listen every Saturday morning as our journalists analyse and discuss the latest happenings in US politics. We’ll go beyond the horse race for the White House and offer a global perspective on the election.

You can subscribe to Swamp Notes here or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Introducing Untold: The Retreat

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 05:00:21 GMT

Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the special investigations team at the Financial Times. In its first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage examines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana. Thousands of people go on Goenka retreats every year. People rave about them. But some people go to these meditation retreats, and they suffer. They might feel a deep sense of terror, or a break with reality. And on the other side, they’re not themselves anymore. Untold: The Retreat launches Jan. 24.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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

Superintelligent AI: Conscious Machines

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 05:00:56 GMT

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: TalkTV

Links:

Blake Lemoine transcript

Sci-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.

Superintelligent AI: Transhumanism etc.

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 05:00:49 GMT

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 Valley

We need to examine the beliefs of today’s tech luminaries

OpenAI’s secrecy imperils public trust

Big tech companies cut AI ethics staff, raising safety concerns

Clips: Alcor Cryonics

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Superintelligent AI: can chatbots think?

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 05:00:39 GMT

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 Konstantine Arkoudas, an AI expert who’s worked on Amazon’s Alexa.

Free links:

OpenAI set to launch store as ChatGPT reaches 100mn users

How to keep the lid on the Pandora’s box of AI

We need a political Alan Turing to design AI safeguards

‘I’ve never seen anything like this’: how OpenAI’s dramatic weekend unfolded

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Superintelligent AI: The Utopians

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 05:00:38 GMT

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 unfolded

How to keep the lid on the Pandora’s box of AI

We need a political Alan Turing to design AI safeguards

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Superintelligent AI: The Doomers

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 05:00:06 GMT

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.

Free links to read more on this topic:

How Sunak’s Bletchley Park summit aims to shape global AI safety

OpenAI chief seeks new Microsoft funds to build ‘superintelligence’

We must slow down the race to God-like AI

The sceptical case on generative AI

AI will never threaten humans, says top AI scientist

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: Superintelligent AI

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 04:12:43 GMT

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.

Can AI help us speak to animals? Part two

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 04:00:31 GMT

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 animals

Karen Bakker, scientist and author, 1971-2023

How generative AI really works

Credits: Elephant bee rumble from Lucy King; plant sounds from Lilach Hadany

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

Can AI help us speak to animals? Part one

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 04:00:23 GMT

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 works

Credits: 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.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Can AI help us speak to animals? Karen Bakker interview

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 04:00:00 GMT

The Canadian scientist and author Karen Bakker, who died unexpectedly in August this year, was a leading voice in the bioacoustic research community. Her 2022 book, The Sounds of Life, explained how it might one day be possible to create a kind of Google Translate for animals and was the inspiration behind this Tech Tonic series. This episode contains the full interview that we recorded with her. We are posting it as a tribute to her remarkable work.

Free links:

Google Translate for the zoo? How humans might talk to animals

Karen Bakker, scientist and author, 1971-2023

How generative AI really works

Credits: Elephant bee rumble from Lucy King

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: Can AI help us speak to animals?

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 04:00:51 GMT

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.

The quantum revolution: Live at Founders Forum

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 04:00:00 GMT

A bonus episode to go with our Quantum Revolution season. The FT’s John Thornhill and Madhumita Murgia host a panel of experts at the Founders Forum conference, discussing the promise of quantum computing and the state of the quantum industry today. Featuring Steve Brierley, founder and chief executive of Riverlane, a company building the algorithms and software for quantum computers; Ilana Wisby, CEO of Oxford Quantum Circuits, a company building commercially available quantum computers; and Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners and an investor in quantum technology.

All six episodes of The Quantum Revolution are available now on the Tech Tonic feed.

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.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Introducing: The Russian Banker

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 04:00:45 GMT

Who is Sergei Leontiev? To the US asylum system, he’s an exiled Russian banker who was persecuted by the state and forced to flee. To Russia, he’s said to be responsible for massive fraud. On The Russian Banker, a new series from the Financial Times, reporters Courtney Weaver and Stefania Palma try to uncover the truth, and find a story that tells us about Russia today and how people in the west build stories about who’s good and who’s bad. The Russian Banker is a special series that will run on the Behind the Money podcast starting Aug. 30. Listen to The Russian Banker by subscribing to the Behind the Money podcast here.

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

Peak social media: The future

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 04:00:17 GMT

In the final episode of this Tech Tonic season, FT correspondents weigh in on the trends that will determine the future of social media. From Meta’s Threads to artificial intelligence, we ask how platforms will look and feel in years to come. The FT’s deputy Lex editor, host Elaine Moore, speaks with social media reporter Cristina Criddle, global technology correspondent Tim Bradshaw and San Francisco-based tech reporter Hannah Murphy. Plus, we hear from Evan Henshaw-Plath, one of the creators of Twitter.

Presented by Elaine Moore. Produced by Edwin Lane and 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.

Further reading (free to read) on FT.com:

Cristina Criddle: TikTok reshapes ecommerce unit in bid to crack western markets

Cristina Criddle: TikTok prepares ‘Project S’ plan to break into online shopping

Tim Bradshaw: Meta’s Threads is a throwback to the giddy early days of Twitter

Hannah Murphy: Meta to release commercial AI model in effort to catch rivals

Hannah Murphy: Linda Yaccarino’s vision for Twitter 2.0 emerges

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Peak social media: Building better platforms

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 04:01:00 GMT

Can we get rid of the bad bits of social media and keep the good? Is it possible to create a more positive social media experience than the one we get from the platforms that dominate the landscape today? In this episode, Elaine Moore asks what the social media platforms of the future should look like, and whether platforms designed for smaller groups of users with shared interests are the way forward.

We hear from writer and tech historian Benj Edwards about the BBS era of the early 1990s; University of Massachusetts professor Ethan Zuckerman; Sarah Gilbert, researcher at Cornell University and Reddit moderator; and Jonathan Abrams, partner at 8-Bit Capital and the creator of Friendster.

Presented by Elaine Moore. Produced by Edwin Lane and 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. Special thanks to Hannah Murphy.

Mentioned in this podcast:

The Lex Newsletter: Reddit and the API apocalypse

Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

Reddit stands firm in clash with users as blackout on forums escalates

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Peak social media: The power of influencers

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 04:00:44 GMT

Social media today is less about making friends and more about following popular content creators. While those creators are starting to hold some power over the platforms themselves, they’re also looking to become less reliant on the platforms that have enabled them to find fame and fortune online. What does it mean for the future of social media platforms? Our producer Josh Gabert-Doyon travels to the VidCon convention in Anaheim, California to speak to the people at the heart of the creator economy.

We hear from Kris Collins, a TikTok and YouTube star who goes by the name @KallmeKris and her agent Keith Bielory, as well as Megan Lightcap, a VC investor who specialises in the creator economy, and Lindsey Lugrin, founder of the creator start-up Fuck You Pay Me, which is pushing for pay transparency and higher remuneration in the sector.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Why social media is hardly social any more

YouTube Shorts takes on TikTok in battle for younger users

What de-influencing tells us about the state of the creator economy

Presented by Elaine Moore. Produced by Edwin Lane and 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. Special thanks to Hannah Murphy and Cristina Criddle.

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.

Peak social media: The debate over young users’ mental health

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 04:00:55 GMT

There’s a growing feeling that social media is bad for us: bad for society and bad for our wellbeing. That trend has culminated in a new wave of legislation in the United States aiming to address social media’s impact on young people’s mental health. But in this episode, Elaine Moore, deputy editor of the FT’s Lex column, looks at some of the unanswered questions over whether social media really causes us harm, and what legislation will mean for the future of the social media business model. Are we in the throws of a technological panic?

In this episode, the third in a series on social media, Elaine speaks to Emma Lembke, co-founder of youth advocacy group Log Off; Katie Paul, director at the Tech Transparency Project; Amy Orben, head of the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge; and FT tech reporter Hannah Murphy.

Since the publication of Katie Paul’s investigation into the trade of looted Middle Eastern antiquities on Facebook, Meta has changed its policy on the sale of historical artefacts.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Peak social media: The ads machine

Tue, 04 Jul 2023 04:00:54 GMT

Mark Zuckerberg used advertising to turn Facebook into the first global social media giant, boasting 3bn users around the world. But today there are questions about the business model that has powered it for the past 15 years, and what Zuckerberg’s new focus on building the Metaverse means for the platform that started it all. Elaine Moore speaks to veteran Silicon Valley investor Roger McNamee, one-time advisor to Zuckerberg; writer and researcher Tim Hwang, author of Subprime Attention Crisis; and Steven Levy, editor at large at Wired and author of Facebook: The Inside Story. Meta declined a request for an interview for this episode, but directed us to their Q1 2023 earnings.

Clips: Meta, US Senate.

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 that you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance of winning 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.

Peak social media: Trouble at Twitter

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 04:00:11 GMT

Elon Musk took over Twitter with the promise of promoting free speech and making the loss-making platform profitable again. But his critics say he’s destroying Twitter’s culture and driving it to bankruptcy. How much danger is the company really in? In the first episode in a new series of Tech Tonic, Elaine Moore, deputy editor of the FT’s Lex column, asks whether Musk will save Twitter or destroy it.

In this episode we hear from Evan Henshaw-Plath, one of the original creators of Twitter; Rumman Chowdhury, Twitter’s former head of machine learning, ethics, transparency, and accountability who was laid off by Elon Musk; and FT tech reporter Hannah Murphy.

Clips: TED Conferences, CBS, Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, MSNBC, CNN

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Coming soon: Peak social media

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 15:09:13 GMT

Social media platforms have defined our experience of the internet for nearly two decades. But as host Elaine Moore, deputy editor of the FT’s Lex column, outlines in this new six-part season of Tech Tonic, there are signs of trouble. User growth at some of the biggest platforms is slowing down, privacy changes are making it harder to make money and data scandals and disinformation mean platforms have lost some of the trust of their users. Meanwhile, younger users call Instagram cringeworthy and say Facebook is for boomers, TikTok has been threatened with bans and new apps such as Clubhouse fall out of fashion as quickly as they arrive. So what does the future hold for social media? New episodes land every Tuesday, starting June 27.

We’re keen to hear more from our listeners about this show, so we're running a survey that you can find at ft.com/tectonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and we'd appreciate your feedback. It will take you around five minutes to complete and you'll be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds!*

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

Introducing Behind the Money: Night School

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 04:00:56 GMT

There’s been a lot of big finance and economics news in 2023. Whether it's stories about rising interest rates, tech industry layoffs or bank runs, it can almost feel like you need an MBA just to make sense of it all. That’s why the Financial Times is launching a bonus series called Behind the Money: Night School.

Over the next five weeks, this show will help you understand the concepts behind the biggest economic stories of this year. U.S. managing editor Peter Spiegel chats with FT journalists as they unpack the basics around things like energy markets, inflation and the rise of artificial intelligence. This series is supported by Blinkist. If you want to find out more about conversations like this, check out the Blinkist app.

Behind the Money: Night School is out now. Find it by subscribing to the Behind the Money podcast wherever you listen.

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

The quantum revolution: The way the world is

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 04:00:47 GMT

In the final episode of this 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.

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

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The quantum revolution: Brain waves

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 04:00:43 GMT

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 SandboxAQ about how sensors and communications networks might fit into a wider quantum technology ecosystem.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The quantum revolution: First port of call

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 04:00:43 GMT

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.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The quantum revolution: ‘Spooky action’

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 05:00:53 GMT

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.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The quantum revolution: The race to build a quantum computer

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 05:00:28 GMT

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, 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.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The quantum revolution: Q-Day

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 05:00:30 GMT

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.

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

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Coming soon: The Quantum Revolution

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 11:53:09 GMT

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/technology

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Climate tech to save the planet: Techno-optimism or greenwashing?

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 05:00:36 GMT

Billions of dollars are being spent by tech companies and investors on new technology to fight climate change. In the final episode of this series of Tech Tonic, Eric Toone, from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, tells FT columnist and host Pilita Clark why he believes technologies such as carbon capture and nuclear fusion can make a difference. But climate academic Mark Jacobson of Stanford University argues that renewables such as wind and solar mean we already have all the technology we need and the rest of climate tech is a dangerous distraction.

Want more?

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology and from the Climate team at https://www.ft.com/climate-capital

Presented by Pilita Clark. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Climate tech to save the planet: Star power

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 05:00:27 GMT

Nuclear fusion is the reaction that powers stars and scientists say replicating it on Earth could produce all the energy we’ll ever need without the CO2. But no one has yet made a fusion reactor that actually produces more energy than it uses. Fusion researchers say that’s all about to change, and private fusion start-ups say they’re getting close to building working nuclear fusion power stations. In the latest episode of Tech Tonic’s climate tech series, Pilita Clark visits the UK’s pioneering fusion research reactor and speaks to long-time fusion researcher Professor Ian Chapman about the recent advances. Fusion scientist Dr Melanie Windridge tells us about fusion energy’s potential and Michl Binderbauer, from private fusion company TAE Technologies, outlines the ambitious plans of the private fusion sector. Plus we hear from FT energy correspondent Tom Wilson about how private investment is pouring into the sector.

Want more?

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology

Climate team at https://www.ft.com/climate-capital

Presented by Pilita Clark. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon with production help from Fiona Symon and Leo Schick. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Clips: Warner Brothers, Iter Project, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, PBS Nova/Horizon

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Climate tech to save the planet: Hype and hydrogen

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 05:00:52 GMT

The joke about hydrogen is that it’s the fuel of the future, and always will be. But green hydrogen is made from renewable energy and emits only water vapour, so amidst the fight to reduce carbon emissions, has green hydrogen’s moment now finally arrived? In the latest episode of Tech Tonic’s climate tech series, Australian billionaire mining mogul Andrew Forrest, the executive chair of Fortescue Metals Group, tells host Pilita Clark why he’s betting green hydrogen will play a key role in decarbonising heavy industry. Pilita also visits ITM Power, manufacturers of key machinery in the making of green hydrogen, while Professor Nigel Brandon at Imperial College London explains what a hydrogen economy might look like and the limits of its applications.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology and from the Climate team at https://www.ft.com/climate-capital

Presented by Pilita Clark. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon with production help from Persis Love and Leo Schick. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Clips: SBS News, TikTok, EU Energy, HM Government, US Department of Energy, Northern Gas Networks, France24

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Climate tech to save the planet: How to keep flying

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 05:00:43 GMT

As more people fly, aviation is on track to becoming a much bigger problem for climate change. Host Pilita Clark, FT columnist and climate journalist, looks at the potential for a more sustainable aviation industry, a sector that’s struggled to come up with new technology to cut its emissions. Could we end up being forced to cut back on flying altogether? Producer Josh Gabert-Doyon travels to Farnborough Airshow, and we hear from Zero Petroleum’s Paddy Lowe, Boom Supersonic’s Blake Scholl, and executives from Boeing, Airbus, ADS, United and EasyJet.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology

And Climate team at https://www.ft.com/climate-capital

Presented by Pilita Clark. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Climate tech to save the planet: Out of thin air

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 04:00:29 GMT

Direct air carbon capture - taking carbon dioxide straight out of the air around us - sounds like science fiction. In this episode Pilita Clark visits Iceland to meet the engineers and scientists at the forefront of this new tech. Can carbon capture scale up quick enough to have an impact on climate change, or is it just an excuse to allow fossil fuel companies and emitters to keep polluting?

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Coming soon: Will climate tech save the planet?

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 13:32:45 GMT

The climate crisis threatens the future of the planet. But don’t worry, technology will save us. At least that’s the message from startups, innovators and investors. Are they right? FT columnist and climate journalist Pilita Clark discovers the tech scene’s latest moonshot efforts to fight climate change, from sucking carbon straight out of the air to the apparent energy miracle of nuclear fusion. Will these technologies be ready in time, or are they a dangerous waste of money and resource at this most critical moment for our planet?

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology

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A sceptic’s guide to crypto: the crypto Wild West

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 04:00:32 GMT

In the fifth episode of the latest season of Tech Tonic, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly looks at crypto regulation, and why there’s so little of it. It’s a story that takes her to the heart of US cowboy state Wyoming, where the crypto industry appears to be writing its own laws. And as the US midterm elections ramp up, we hear about how crypto lobbying has taken hold of Washington DC too. Jemima talks to Rob Jennings, co-founder of CattleProof and the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition; Caitlin Long, head of Custodia Bank; Dennis Kelleher, co-founder of Better Markets; and Stephen Diehl, co-author of 'Popping the Crypto Bubble'.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Presented by Jemima Kelly. Special thanks to The Banker’s Asia Editor Kimberly Long and The Banker podcast. Tech Tonic’s senior producer is Edwin Lane, our producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon, and Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Our sound engineer is Breen Turner, with original scoring by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Clips credits: WNET, CNBC, Ford Motor Pictures, Wolfgang Bayer

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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A sceptic’s guide to crypto: the church of bitcoin

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 04:00:46 GMT

In the fourth episode of the latest season of Tech Tonic, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly looks at the enduring faith in cryptocurrency. What do bitcoin devotees really believe, and does hardcore adherence to the coin make it a cult? Jemima dives into the myth-making around the mysterious bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto and the belief systems underpinning cryptoland. We hear from the FT’s banking and fintech correspondent Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, crypto investor Nic Carter, bitcoin apostate Aviv Milner, and Amanda Montell, author of Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

The FT’s Cryptofinance Hub is at https://www.ft.com/cryptofinance

Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan and Robin Wigglesworth on the cult of crypto https://www.ft.com/content/9e787670-6aa7-4479-934f-f4a9fedf4829

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Clips credits: YouTube, Jacob Davis, Universal Music

Presented by Jemima Kelly. Special thanks this week to Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, the FT’s banking and fintech correspondent. Tech Tonic’s senior producer is Edwin Lane, our producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon, and Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Our sound engineer is Breen Turner, with original scoring by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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A sceptic’s guide to crypto: NFT mania

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 04:00:57 GMT

In the third episode of the latest season of Tech Tonic, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly unpacks the craze around non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Blockchain technology gave us NFTs, and NFTs have created a new way for artists to sell digital work. But NFTs have also become a breeding ground for rampant fraud and scams. And then there’s the most recent crypto crash: can NFTs survive it? Jemima hears from artist Kevin McCoy, who created an early version of the NFTs, as well as Spottie WiFi, the world’s first and only NFT rapper, and Aless Ribeiro, co-founder of Rug Pull Finder, an NFT scam investigation service.

You’ve been listening to Tech Tonic from the Financial Times with Jemima Kelly. Special thanks this week to the FT’s tech reporter Cristina Criddle and global tech correspondent Tim Bradshaw, who conducted the interview with Spottie WiFi. Tech Tonic’s senior producer is Edwin Lane, our producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon, and Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Our sound engineer is Breen Turner, with original scoring by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

News clips credits: Spottie Wifi, NBC, Fox News

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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A sceptic’s guide to crypto: bonus interview with a16z’s Chris Dixon

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 04:00:34 GMT

A bonus episode of Tech Tonic featuring a full, unedited interview between John Thornhill, FT innovation editor, and Chris Dixon, head of Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund. This bonus episode is part of the latest Tech Tonic series, which covers crypto and blockchain technology. You can listen to the second episode of the series, presented by Jemima Kelly and featuring Chris Dixon as well as Web3 critic Molly White, here.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

The FT’s Cryptofinance Hub is at https://www.ft.com/cryptofinance

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Presented by Jemima Kelly. Special thanks to John Thornhill. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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A sceptic’s guide to crypto: the ‘smart’ money

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 04:00:13 GMT

In the second episode of the latest season of Tech Tonic, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly tries to understand why an influential Silicon Valley investment firm thinks that Web3 is a good bet. Will blockchain technology really be the foundation of a new internet era? Is Web3’s promise to decentralise the internet going to pose a challenge to companies such as Facebook and Twitter? The FT’s innovation editor John Thornhill interviews Chris Dixon, head of Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, and Jemima talks to Molly White, author of the Web3 Is Going Just Great blog.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

News clips credits: CBC, NBC, CNN.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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A sceptic’s guide to crypto: boom and bust

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 04:00:11 GMT

A new season of Tech Tonic asks whether crypto and its supporting technology - the blockchain - have a future following a market crash. In the first episode of this five-part series, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly casts a sceptical eye on what led to the boom in digital assets and their subsequent collapse. She assesses the damage with the FT’s digital assets correspondent Scott Chipolina, and hears from big-time bitcoin investor Michael Saylor, Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer, and crypto YouTuber, Wajahat Mughal.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

The FT’s Cryptofinance Hub is at https://www.ft.com/cryptofinance

Scott Chipolina’s reporting can be found at https://www.ft.com/scott-chipolina

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Presented by Jemima Kelly. Special thanks to Scott Chipolina. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

News clips credits: CNBC, Saturday Night Live

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Coming soon: A Sceptic’s Guide to Crypto

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 14:39:55 GMT

Even after the crypto markets crashed this year, there are still a number of people who believe there’s a future for digital assets and blockchain technology. FT columnist and avowed crypto sceptic, Jemima Kelly, isn't so sure. On this season's Tech Tonic, she takes a trip deep into cryptoland to hear from critics, converts and hardcore believers to find out whether crypto technology has a future.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology

Presented by Jemima Kelly. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

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Introducing: Hot Money

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 14:39:02 GMT

When Financial Times reporter Patricia Nilsson started digging into the porn industry, she made a shocking discovery: nobody knew who controlled the biggest porn company in the world. Now, Nilsson and her editor, Alex Barker, reveal who is behind it and much more. This eight-part investigative podcast, published weekly, reveals the secret history of the adult business and the billionaires and financial institutions who shape it.

Subscribe and listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Behind the Money is back!

Thu, 19 May 2022 04:00:49 GMT

Behind the Money is back with all-new episodes! From hostile takeovers to C-suite intrigue, Behind the Money takes you inside the business and financial stories of the moment with reporting from Financial Times journalists around the world. The podcast returns May 25. You can follow the show now!

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US-China Tech Race: The great decoupling

Mon, 02 May 2022 04:00:27 GMT

In the final episode of this season of Tech Tonic, we ask if the growing tensions between the US and China could split the world into two competing technological spheres. It has been dubbed 'the great decoupling'. Some in the US want to see Chinese companies cut off from American investment, while hawkish factions in China have been fighting for a more self-sufficient and nationalistic tech sector. But what would decoupling really look like? And is it even possible?

Presented by James Kynge, this episode features interviews with Lillian Li (author of Chinese Characteristics newsletter), Paul Triolo (senior vice-president of Albright Stonebridge Group), Roger Robinson Jr (president and founder of RWR Advisory) and Kevin Rudd (former prime minister of Australia and president of the Asia Society)

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

And check out FT Edit, the new iPhone app that shares the best of FT journalism, hand-picked by senior editors to inform, explain and surprise. It’s free for the first month and 99p a month for the next six months.

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Special thanks to Tom Griggs. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

News clips credits: CNBC

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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US-China Tech Race: Brave new world

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 04:00:06 GMT

In this episode, how a mysterious death in Belgrade prompted Serbia to embrace Chinese surveillance technology, raising concerns among Serbian human rights and privacy activists. They’ve been fighting back against the Serbian government’s use of Huawei facial recognition tech in public spaces. But Serbia is just one of many countries around the world that’s adopted this cutting-edge Chinese mass monitoring equipment. What does it tell us about the spread of Chinese influence around the world?

Presented by James Kynge, this episode features interviews with Danilo Krivokapic (director, Share Foundation), Andrej Petrovski (director of tech, Share Foundation), Stefan Vladisavljev (programme co-ordinator, Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence), Wang Huiyao (director, Beijing Center for Globalisation) and Wawa Wang (director, Just Finance).

Read James Kynge, Valerie Hopkins, Helen Warrell and Kathrin Hille’s previous reporting on Chinese surveillance tech in the Balkans: https://www.ft.com/content/76fdac7c-7076-47a4-bcb0-7e75af0aadab

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Special thanks to Marton Dunai and Bojan Radic. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

News clips credits: PBS, CNBC, CGNT, DW, Moconomy, BBC

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

US-China Tech Race: Shock and Awe

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 04:00:00 GMT

In the latest episode of this Tech Tonic season about US-China tech rivalry, the FT’s US-China correspondent Demetri Sevastopulo tells the inside story of his scoop on China’s secret hypersonic weapon test and how it changed geopolitics. We hear about the new space race between China and the US, including powerful satellite-destroying missiles and the pursuit of commercial space capabilities. Could China and the US ever co-operate on space exploration or are we seeing the dawn of a new space race?

Presented by James Kynge, the FT’s global China editor, this episode features interviews with US congressman Mike Gallagher; Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Hosted by James Kynge. Interview with congressman Mike Gallagher conducted by Demetri Sevastopulo. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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US-China Tech Race: Chips with everything

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 04:00:07 GMT

How China's growing appetite for computer chips has put Taiwan on the frontline of the US-China battle for global technological supremacy. In this latest episode of the new Tech Tonic season, James Kynge, the FT's global China editor, takes a deep dive into the semiconductor industry and Taiwan’s unique position as a bastion of computer-chip talent.

We hear from Chad Duffy, a Taipei-based cybersecurity expert who helped uncover a major hack on Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers. James talks to Dan Wang, an analyst with the Shanghai-based Gavekal Dragonomics, about China’s chip strategy, and Stephen Orlins, a rare dissenting voice in Washington who questions the efficacy of a US blacklist of Chinese tech companies desperate for US-designed chips. Plus, Annie Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, who cover the semiconductor industry for Nikkei Asia, give us the inside track on how China has been scooping up Taiwanese semiconductor engineers.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

News clips credits: CNBC

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

US-China Tech Race: Spies & Lies (Part Two)

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 04:00:00 GMT

In the second episode of this season of Tech Tonic, James Kynge, the FT’s Global China Editor, asks how significant Chinese intellectual property theft has been to the country’s rise as a global tech superpower.

We hear from an FBI agent based in Silicon Valley whose job is to prevent the theft of trade secrets, and ask whether China’s ‘talent programmes’, under which Beijing funds scientists and engineers around the world, are actually spy recruitment networks or whether they are genuine attempts to lure home professionals and plug China’s talent gap. Experts are warning the growing distrust between the US and China could put the future of scientific and technological exchange at risk.

Featuring interviews with Nick Shenkin, FBI special agent and director of the Strategic Technology Task Force for the FBI's San Francisco field office; an interview between the FT's Demetri Sevastopulo and Michael Orlando, acting director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center; Rui Ma, China tech analyst and creator of the Tech Buzz China podcast; Wang Huiyao, founder and president of Center for China and Globalization in Beijing; Winston Ma, author and adjunct professor at the NYU law school; and Gisela Kusakawa, assistant director at the Anti-Racial Profiling Project at Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology

For a special, discounted FT subscription, go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale

Presented by James Kynge. Interview with Michael Orlando conducted by Demetri Sevastopulo. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

News clips credits: NBC, Global News, Micron, The Oregonian

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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US-China Tech Race: Spies & Lies (Part One)

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 04:00:00 GMT

In the first episode of this season’s six-part series, the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge tracks China’s dramatic transformation from the manufacturing workshop of the world to the next global superpower. The driver of that change is technology, sparking a battle between China and the US over who will dominate. Numerous ethnic Chinese scientists working in the US have found themselves ensnared in this bitter rivalry, including US-based physics professor Xiaoxing Xi, wrongly accused of industrial espionage, amid accusations that China’s tech prowess has been built on the theft of US innovation. How deep is the rift between the two countries over tech and what does that mean for the world?

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology

Get a discounted FT subscription at ft.com/techtonicsale

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Coming soon, season 3, The US/China Tech Race

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 15:30:00 GMT

A new six-part series of Tech Tonic brings you stories from the frontlines of the battle between the US and China for global technological supremacy. At stake is the future of technologies that will shape all our lives, from the way the internet is used to the way we govern our societies. Join the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge as he charts China’s dramatic transformation into a global tech superpower, sparking rivalry with the US over who controls our technological future.

Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technology

Get 50% off an FT subscription at ft.com/briefingsale

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is assistant producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.

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AI with military characteristics

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Last year, the Pentagon watched closely as a human fighter pilot lost to an AI-powered adversary in a simulated dogfight. The US military is working to innovate faster as technology changes the nature of warfare. But many worry it has already fallen behind its main adversary, China. What does AI mean for military might, and how are debates over autonomous weapons unfolding in diplomatic backchannels? In the final episode of this season's Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill is joined by US-China correspondent Demetri Sevastopulo for a dive into military AI. We hear from Colonel Daniel “Animal” Javorsek, former deputy defence secretary Robert O Work, Elsa B Kania of the Center for a New American Security, and David Edelman, who works on AI and public policy at MIT.

Alice Fordham is senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. Cheryl Brumley is the executive producer for this series. You heard the song John Henry performed by Joe Brown and Lonnie Thomas and original scoring composed by Metaphor Music.

Review clips DARPA, IISS, AP, ABC, Library of Congress

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Brainstorm

Mon, 02 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode of Tech Tonic, we ask whether AI's potential in the fight against the climate crisis justifies the massive amounts of energy it takes to run these systems. The computing power required to train AI concerns some researchers, who have built a calculator to count the tech's carbon footprint. But AI advances have also opened new avenues to fight climate change, by helping Arctic scientists, weather modellers, and green energy gurus. This week the FT’s innovation editor John Thornhill and environment and clean energy correspondent Leslie Hook, debate AI’s climate effects. We also hear from Jennifer Jackson, a molecular biologist at the British Antarctic Survey, and Sasha Luccioni, an AI researcher at Mila research institute in Quebec.

Alice Fordham is the senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is the assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. Cheryl Brumley is the executive producer for this series. Hydrophonic recordings kindly supplied by Ellen White at the University of Southampton.

Review clips: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Sonos, Samsung, Google, Rogers, Universal Pictures, Three, NBC, Nintendo.

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You Can’t Always Get What you Quant

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

From picking the best stocks to listening in on earnings calls, AI-powered systems are changing finance. But how big are the rewards, really? And what are the risks? In this episode Robin Wigglesworth tells us how AI has been used in investing, what happens when programs must adapt to new risks and what the robots could learn from watching children play. Hosted by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times, and featuring Luke Ellis (chief executive of Man Group), Ewan Kirk (founder of Cantab Capital Partners and chairman of Deeptech Labs), Andrew Ng (founder of DeepLearning.AI and co-founder of Google Brain), and Alison Gopnik (professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley).

Review clips: Alphabet, Netflix, Amazon, Man Group.

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Trust me, I’m a robot

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

What does it mean for AI to augment human perception? In this episode the FT’s Madhumita Murgia takes us to a small village in rural India where AI is being used to help doctors better diagnose tuberculosis and looks at a healthcare system where it is helping patients who doctors may have overlooked. Hosted by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times, and featuring Ziad Obermeyer (Associate Professor at University of California, Berkeley) and Dr. Ashita Singh (head of Medicine at Chinchpada Christian Hospital).

Alice Fordham is senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Sean McGarrity. Cheryl Brumley is the executive producer for this series. You heard the song Down in the Coalmine by The Ian Campbell Folk Group, as well as original scoring composed by Metaphor Music.

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Gamechanger

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 04:00:00 GMT

In this first episode of ourselves five-part series on AI, the FT’s innovation editor and host John Thornhill talks to some of the biggest names in AI research including the CEO of Google's DeepMind Demis Hassabis. He explores some of the latest innovations and asks a core question: will AI live up to its promise or succumb to its pitfalls? John speaks with Demis Hassabis, Pushmeet Kohli (head of AI for Science at DeepMind), and Margaret Mitchell (AI research scientist and former co-lead of the Ethical AI team at Google).

Review clips: Columbia Workshop/CBS, Charlie Rose, WPIX, Electronic Arts, DeepMind.

When asked for comment on claims made by Margaret Mitchell in the show, a Google spokesperson said:

“After conducting a review of this manager [Margaret Mitchell]’s conduct, we confirmed that there were multiple violations of our code of conduct, as well as of our security policies, which included the exfiltration of confidential business-sensitive documents and private data of other employees.”

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Season 2 coming soon

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 23:00:00 GMT

There is a huge amount of hype surrounding AI. It powers technology that can detect disease through scent, translate between languages in milliseconds, and write music almost as good as Bach. Yet this vast potential also stirs a great deal of fear. The power of AI is used to develop weapons and increase surveillance. We unwittingly encode our biases into its systems. The question of who is crafting AI and for what becomes increasingly important.

Season two of Tech Tonic, explores the philosophical, ethical and technological cruxes of AI’s ever expanding role in medical research, modern warfare and investments. FT innovation editor John Thornhill and FT journalists take the listener on a journey through Google DeepMind’s turbo-powered scientific discoveries, to a hospital in rural India.

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Levelling the playing field

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

The digital revolution will be shaped by whoever controls our data. What does this mean for consumers and businesses? Tim Bradshaw, the FT’s global tech correspondent, looks at the increasing power of ecommerce giants. The idea of a few big companies controlling the market is an uneasy one for many so has the pandemic finally created the impetus to rein in the power of Big Tech? Hosted by the FT’s innovation editor, John Thornhill.

Produced by Camille Petersen. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. The executive producers are Cheryl Brumley and Liam Nolan. Review clips: C-SPAN, Reuters, US Department of Justice, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institution.

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The digital graduate

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

About 1.4bn students in more than 130 countries have spent parts of the past year adapting to learning online. The crisis has put the education sector into overdrive, and accelerated the way we use technology to study. For adult learners, distance learning offers a cheaper and more flexible alternative to the university degree. Are online qualifications about to gain greater credibility and create more flexibility in the job market, or is this surge in digital education a passing fad? The FT’s San Francisco correspondent Patrick McGee speaks to edtech innovators who are rethinking traditional degrees and a trucker who learned to code. Hosted by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times. Review clip: "I adore my Commodore 64" advert (1983, music by Terry Bush).

Produced by Camille Petersen, with additional producing and editing by Oluwakemi Aladesuyi. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. Original music was composed by Metaphor Music. The executive producers are Cheryl Brumley and Liam Nolan.

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Chasing digital footprints

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Early in the pandemic, Taiwan legally gathered location data from more than 600,000 of its citizens to stem the spread of coronavirus. South Korea, another east Asian democracy, has similar legal measures in place. How far are those of us who live in democratic societies willing to trust "big government" with our data? The FT’s Greater China correspondent Kathrin Hille speaks to Taiwan's digital minister Audrey Tang and the country's former deputy prime minister Chen Chi-mai about this data-driven approach to solving a public health emergency. Hosted by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times.

For insights on Asia's booming tech scene, here is a free sign up to our #techAsia newsletter: https://www.ft.com/newsletter-signup/tech-asia

The producer and editor was Liam Nolan. Sound design and mixing was by Breen Turner, with additional audio editing by Howard Shannon. Location sound was recorded by Aki Chen. The executive producer was Cheryl Brumley. Additional reporting by Nicolle Liu in Hong Kong and Edward White in Seoul. Emma Zhou in Beijing helped with translation. Original music was composed by Metaphor Music. Review clip: CNN.

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Disrupting the hospital

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Could a piece of high-tech cloth keep Covid-19 patients out of hospital and allow them to be monitored at home? The FT’s pharma and biotech correspondent, Hannah Kuchler, reports on the wearable technology changing healthcare during the pandemic, and examines what it means for the future of patient care.

Hosted by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times. Produced by Liam Nolan. Sound Design by Breen Turner and Louise Burton. Aimee Keane is the editor and the executive producer is Cheryl Brumley. Original music by Metaphor Music.

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The future is here now

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Our lives are increasingly moving from the offline to the online world, leaving a long trail of data in our wake. These data can be used to wield economic and political power, and to define us as communities and as individuals. What are the opportunities and risks?

Hosted by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times. Produced by Liam Nolan. Sound Design by Breen Turner and Louise Burton, with additional production by Oluwakemi Aladesuyi. The editor is Aimee Keane, and the executive producer is Cheryl Brumley. Original music was composed by Metaphor Music. Review clips: NASA, Reuters, Computer History Museum, BBC, Thames TV/Freemantle, CBS.

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A new season of Tech Tonic

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 20:30:00 GMT

The show that investigates the promises and perils of our digital age is back with a new season. FT innovation editor John Thornhill will take us into the emergency rooms, city centres and even cruise ships where tech innovation is solving some of the unprecedented challenges brought about by the pandemic, as he explores what this tech-driven world means for us all. Tech Tonic returns on Monday, March 1.

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AI research and big tech

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 15:03:08 GMT

John Thornhill talks to David Barber, director of the UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence in London, about how academic researchers can work with business and the wider community to create the best outcomes for society.

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Niklas Zennström and Tom Wehmeier on the state of European tech

Mon, 09 Dec 2019 05:00:05 GMT

Niklas Zennström, founder of Skype and Atomico and Tom Wehmeier, Atomico partner and author of The State of European Tech report, talk to the FT's John Thornhill about whether Europe is becoming a tech hub.

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Dave Ferrucci on teaching computers to think

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Dave Ferrucci, CEO, founder and chief scientist of Elemental Cognition, talks to Richard Waters, the FT's West Coast editor, about his efforts to train computers to use language to reason.

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Google's Kate Brandt on sustainable tech

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Kate Brandt talks to John Thornhill about Google’s drive to minimise and offset the energy used in its operations and supply chains, and about its environmental insights explorer which helps cities find ways to reduce their carbon emissions.

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Digital technologies and the developing world

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Economist Stefan Dercon tells John Thornhill about the findings of a research project he led, showing how, used wisely, technology can enable development, rather than just replace labour and put people out of work. Read his report here

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ENCORE: Jeni Tennison on open data

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Jeni Tennison, chief executive of the Open Data Institute, about her work in helping to develop best practice for the use and sharing of data, and about how Brexit will affect Britain's data economy.

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Scott Kupor on VC funding

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, about his book Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It, about the conditions needed to grow tech companies and the potential drawbacks of a venture capital dominated market.

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Rana Foroohar on taming big tech

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to FT colleague Rana Foroohar about her book Don’t Be Evil - How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles - And All Of Us

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Stuart Russell on losing control of AI

Mon, 21 Oct 2019 04:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill discusses how to make artificial intelligence safe for humans with Stuart Russell, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of new book ‘Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control’.

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Jaan Tallinn on AI safety

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 04:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Jaan Tallinn, founding engineer at Skype and Kazaa, about his subsequent career as a tech investor and his concerns about AI safety.

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Wanted: work for humans

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Madhumita Murgia discusses what happens when robots can do most of the work humans do with Calum Chace of the Economic Singularity Club, Mike Wooldridge, professor of Computer Science at Oxford University and Kathryn Parsons, founder of Decoded

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What kind of art can AI produce?

Mon, 30 Sep 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy puts his theories about creative AI to the test before a live audience at the recent FT Weekend Festival in London.

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John Maeda on designing the future

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Design guru John Maeda tells Tim Bradshaw why he thinks a diversity of viewpoints and listening to what consumers want will be more valuable to the companies of the future than creating the next breakthrough technology.

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Sarah Chan on neural interfaces

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Bioethicist Sarah Chan contributed to a report this month on neurotechnology by the UK’s senior scientific academy. She talks to John Thornhill about the potential health benefits of neural interfaces but also the difficulty of regulating the commercial use of devices that interact with our brains. Read the Royal Society's report here

All FT stories will be free to read on Wednesday September 18th when there will be a 24-hour paywall freeze. Here are a couple of recommendations to get you started:

Neural interfaces should upgrade, not degrade, humans

How China dodged a trade war recession

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Alice Bentinck on harnessing tech talent

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneur First, tells John Thornhill about her mission to harness the entrepreneurial talents of a new generation of people from diverse backgrounds.

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Improving decision making through AI

Mon, 02 Sep 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Vishal Chatrath, chief executive and co-founder of Prowler, tells John Thornhill how his company is helping to improve decision making in the worlds of finance and logistics.

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Priya Lakhani on AI's power to transform education

Mon, 26 Aug 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Priya Lakhani, founder and chief executive AI company Century Tech, talks to John Thornhill about her mission to improve the life chances of students around the world using AI-assisted learning.

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Nicolas Berggruen on democracy in the digital age

Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:37:55 GMT

John Thornhill talks to the billionaire investor and philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen about his book: Renovating Democracy: Governing in the Age of Globalization and Digital Capitalism

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Ben Goertzel on benevolent robots

Mon, 12 Aug 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Ben Goertzel talks to John Thornhill about his work for Hanson Robotics, the company that created the robot Sophia, about SingularityNET, the blockchain-based AI marketplace he founded, and about his belief that artificial general intelligence, transhumanism and benevolent robots are not too far in the future

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Frances Arnold on directed evolution of enzymes

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Nobel laureate Frances Arnold talks to Anjana Ahuja about her pioneering a work harnessing the power of nature to engineer enzymes, her long career and the challenges faced by women in science.

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Digital printing for the fourth industrial revolution

Mon, 29 Jul 2019 04:00:57 GMT

Joseph DeSimone, chief executive of Carbon, talks to Richard Waters about the manufacturing technique he invented that can craft objects in seconds using the power of light and digital projection systems

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Directing innovation towards sustainable growth

Mon, 22 Jul 2019 04:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to economist Mariana Mazzucato about her work to promote collaboration between governments and companies to direct innovation towards sustainable and inclusive growth.

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Paul Clarke on robotics and digital twins

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Paul Clarke, chief technology officer at the online grocery Ocado, talks to John Thornhill about how the use of robotics, machine learning and digital twins is taking the business to a new level and even helping to plan the cities of the future.

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Jennifer Doudna on gene editing

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 10:29:24 GMT

Jennifer Doudna talks to Richard Waters, the FT's San Francisco bureau chief, about how she discovered the CRISPR Cas-9 system and how it is transforming the world of gene editing.

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John Browne on engineering the future

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 04:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Lord John Browne, former chief executive of BP, about his book: Make, Think, Imagine on engineering and the future of civilisation.

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Nathan Jurgenson on social media and the selfie

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Nathan Jurgenson, sociologist at Snapchat’s parent company Snap, talks to Tim Bradshaw about his book The Social Photo and about how the smartphone camera is changing the way we communicate

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Eric Topol on making healthcare more human

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 04:00:24 GMT

Hannah Kuchler talks to American cardiologist Eric Topol about his book Deep Medicine, which looks at the potential for artificial intelligence technology to help free up doctors to spend more time with their patients.

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New season starts on Monday

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 14:23:33 GMT

Tech Tonic, the podcast that looks at the way technology is changing our lives, is returning for a news season starting on Monday 17th June. We’ll be talking to Eric Topol, the US cardiologist, about the ways in which the work of doctors can be enhanced by AI, Nathan Jurgenson on social media and the selfy, and John Browne, former head of BP, on engineering and the future of civilisation, and many more. So tune in next week

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Andrew Ng on building an AI workforce

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence expert Andrew Ng talks to John Thornhill about his concern that AI technology is concentrating wealth in the hands of a few and why we need to spread AI skills and understanding across society.

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Rana Yared on investing in fintech

Wed, 10 Apr 2019 04:00:00 GMT

John Thonhill talks to Rana Yared, a partner and managing director at Goldman Sachs’ Principal Strategic Investments, about how technology is transforming the banking industry.

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Marcus du Sautoy on creative AI

Wed, 03 Apr 2019 04:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy about his book: The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think

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James Vlahos on voice technology

Wed, 27 Mar 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Elaine Moore talks to American journalist James Vlahos about the chatbot he created to keep the memory of this father alive and about the potential uses and misuses of voice technology.

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Peter Schwartz on automating the brain

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Peter Schwartz, senior vice-president of strategic planning at Salesforce, futurist and author, talks to John Thornhill about the impact on our society of the next wave of technology.

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Tim Berners-Lee on reshaping the web

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 00:01:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Tim Berners-Lee about the achievements of the world wide web which he invented 30 years ago, what he thinks has gone wrong and what he is doing to help fix some of these problems.

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Jack Conte on crowdfunding for creators

Wed, 06 Mar 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Jack Conte about Patreon, the platform he invented to help creative artists receive a steadier income from modern-day patrons.

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Jeni Tennison on data ethics

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Jeni Tennison, chief executive of the Open Data Institute, about her work in helping to develop best practice for the use and sharing of data.

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James Williams on the attention economy

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Former Google employee James Williams talks to John Thornhill about his book: Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy and why he turned to philosophy to try to understand how the tech industry is undermining our free will.

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Shoshana Zuboff on surveillance capitalism

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to the social scientist Shoshana Zuboff about her book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, and what we need to do to reclaim the more benign impacts of the digital revolution.

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Will Marshall on mapping the earth

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Will Marshall, whose San-Francisco-based start-up is helping companies like Google and Monsanto, as well as governments and NGOs, to observe day-to-day changes on the earth’s surface using data gathered in space.

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Taavet Hinrikus on disrupting the banks

Wed, 30 Jan 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of Transferwise, about shaking up the lucrative money transfer business and how he helped build a tech unicorn that is not only highly valued but is profitable too.

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AI and software's 'singular moment'

Wed, 23 Jan 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Chris Bishop, director of Microsoft’s Cambridge research lab, about the potential for exponential growth in the development of software, thanks to machine learning.

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The risks and rewards of gene-editing

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Robin Lovell-Badge, developmental biologist and geneticist, talks to FT science columnist Anjana Ahuja about the gene-edited babies controversy in China and about the potential for new gene-editing techniques to transform the treatment of diseases like cancer and muscular dystrophy.

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Vivienne Ming on solving human problems

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Vivienne Ming, a theoretical neuroscientist, entrepreneur and artificial intelligence guru about her work in trying to make technology work for the benefit of humans

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Diego Piacentini on GovTech

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 02:00:00 GMT

The former Amazon executive tells John Thornhill how he applied the lessons he’d learnt at the US technology company to help transform Italians’ experience of dealing with government.

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Trust in the digital age

Wed, 26 Dec 2018 05:02:50 GMT

John Thornhill talks to the academic and author Rachel Botsman about the evolution of trust in the digital age and the way technology has undermined our faith in institutions

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Graphcore's next generation chip technology

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 05:26:01 GMT

Nigel Toon, founder and chief executive of Graphcore, talks to John Thornhill about the chip technology his company is developing and its potential to speed the advance of machine learning.

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What robots can teach humans

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Maja Pantic, Professor of Affective and Behavioural Computing at Imperial College in London, about her work testing the boundaries of human robot interaction.

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Making the most of work chat

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Stewart Butterfield, co-founder and chief executive of San Francisco-based Slack tells John Thornhill how his fascination for technology that facilitates human interaction came about.

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Artificial intelligence that learns on the fly

Wed, 28 Nov 2018 14:58:15 GMT

Physicist Zdenka Kuncic tells FT science editor Clive Cookson about the difference between software-based and hardware-based approaches to artificial intelligence and her work to develop autonomous intelligent systems for potential use in space and in medical devices

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The business of cybercrime

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Sociologist Jonathan Lusthaus spent seven years talking to cyber criminals. He tells Hannah Kuchler what he discovered about the extent of their involvement with organised crime and what he thinks it would take to persuade them to put their talents to better use. His book: Industry of Anonymity: Inside the Business of Cybercrime, was published by Harvard University Press.

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Technology and the human brain

Wed, 14 Nov 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Murali Doraiswamy, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Duke University Health System, tells Shannon Bond about his research into potential technological solutions to neurological and mental health disorders.

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Investing in deep tech

Wed, 07 Nov 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Investor Alice Newcombe-Ellis tells John Thornhill about her strategy for discovering and investing in the next generation of disruptive technology companies

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Puncturing the AI hype

Wed, 31 Oct 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Zia Chishti's latest business venture Afiniti uses artificial intelligence to match customers and employees, but he tells John Thornhill he sees the technology as evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, and offers his thoughts on the dos and don'ts of investing in AI.

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Who sets the internet standards?

Wed, 24 Oct 2018 04:00:00 GMT

Hannah Kuchler talks to American social scientist and cyber security expert Andrea Little Limbago about the worrying lack of agreement among governments on how best to promote the beneficial aspects of the internet.

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David Sanger on cyber warfare

Wed, 17 Oct 2018 04:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to the New York Times journalist about his latest book: The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age.

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Adrian Lovett on fighting for a better web

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 04:00:00 GMT

Web Foundation president and CEO Adrian Lovett talks to John Thornhill about open data, net neutrality and widening global internet access.

Web Foundation website

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Jocelyn Bell Burnell on new frontiers in astronomy

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 04:00:00 GMT

Clive Cookson talks to astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell about her decision to give away her $3m Breakthrough Prize in physics and about what she sees as the most exciting new areas of future research.

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Tristan Harris on digital Frankensteins

Wed, 26 Sep 2018 04:00:00 GMT

The former Google employee turned campaigner has made it his mission to alert society about the dangers of using computer algorithms to capture our attention. He tells John Thornhill why he co-founded the Centre for Humane Technology and what it does.

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Liberty and morality in the AI era

Wed, 19 Sep 2018 15:08:12 GMT

Jamie Susskind, author of Future Politics, Verity Harding of Google DeepMind, and Tabitha Goldstaub, co-founder of CognitionX, discuss liberty and morality in the AI era in a panel debate recorded at the FT’s recent FT Weekend Festival in London.

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Irene Ng on redistributing the economic power of data

Wed, 12 Sep 2018 04:00:00 GMT

Entrepreneur and academic Irene Ng talks to John Thornhill about the Hub of all Things - a microserver that allows people to own and control their own data.

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What's next for Dropbox?

Wed, 05 Sep 2018 04:00:00 GMT

Drew Houston, co-founder of the business software company, tells John Thornhill how he caught the entrepreneurial bug and what's next for Dropbox.

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Tech Tonic returns

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:03:44 GMT

John Thorhill and guests return for a news series of Tech Tonic, the show that looks at the way technology is changing our lives.

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How can we make governments smarter?

Wed, 09 May 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Robyn Scott talks to John Thornhill about her company Apolitical, a global news and networking site that seeks to share knowledge and spread best practice among the world's top civil servants

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The new AI battleground

Wed, 02 May 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Nicole Eagan, chief executive of Darktrace, tells John Thornhill corporate networks have become the new battleground in a cyberwar waged by criminals and state actors using artificial intelligence

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Terah Lyons on fashioning the AI future

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Terah Lyons, founding executive director of the Partnership on AI, a US initiative that brings civil society groups into a debate with big tech companies to promote the benefits of machine intelligence.

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What we can learn from ancient DNA

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 05:00:00 GMT

David Reich, professor of genetics at Harvard, talks to Clive Cookson, the FT's science editor, about how the genomic revolution is affecting paleontology and the study of human pre-history.

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Julia Shaw on a bot you can trust

Wed, 11 Apr 2018 05:00:00 GMT

Psychologist Julia Shaw talks to John Thornhill about her research into the fragility of human memory and how this helped her design a software tool that can be used to record and report workplace harassment

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The consumer awakening

Wed, 04 Apr 2018 05:00:00 GMT

How can we fix the digital future? Writer and Silicon Valley critic Andrew Keen tells John Thornhill our best resource is human agency and the power of consumers to reject products that they have lost faith in

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Facebook and Google: platforms or publishers?

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 05:00:00 GMT

The big tech platforms where many people get their news wield significant power. How do they work with publishers, and are they doing enough to combat "fake" news? FT global media editor Matt Garrahan put the questions to a panel of experts at the FT's Future of News conference in New York earlier this month.

Guests are Campbell Brown, head of news partnerships at Facebook, Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, Jason Kint, chief executive of Digital Content Next and Richard Gingras, vice president of news at Google.

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Removing bias from AI

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 06:00:00 GMT

Kriti Sharma talks to John Thornhill about her work for the UK software company Sage and about her mission to bring greater diversity and accountability to the algorithms that guide our decisions.

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Rethinking the way we earn money

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 06:00:00 GMT

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes joins the FT's Hannah Kuchler to talk about economic inequality in the age of "big tech", and his proposal to shrink the income gap in the US. It's the subject of his book Fair Shot: Rethinking inequality and how we earn.

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Erel Margalit on investing in peace

Wed, 07 Mar 2018 06:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Erel Margalit, founder and chairman of Jerusalem Venture Partners, about his plan to help create a regional hub for tech startups and how he believes business collaboration in the region can help ease tensions when politicians fail.

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Is there anyone out there?

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 06:00:00 GMT

Clive Cookson, FT science editor, discusses the possibility of alien life and whether we would recognise it if we encountered it with British astrophysicist Paul Davies.

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ENCORE: When data rules the world

Wed, 21 Feb 2018 06:00:12 GMT

In this encore episode, John Thornhill talks to author and historian Yuval Noah Harari about his vision of a future when humans are no longer the smartest algorithm on the planet.

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Road testing self-drive cars

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to nuTonomy's Gretchen Effgen about why the company chose Singapore as well as Boston to test its self-drive cars and why it uses a formal methods approach to developing its software.

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Jacqueline Poh on digital government

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 06:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to the head of Singapore's GovTech about her work in advancing the country's Smart Nation ambitions

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Martin Rees on saving the planet

Wed, 31 Jan 2018 06:00:04 GMT

John Thornhill talks to leading astrophysicist Martin Rees about why he thinks we need to pay greater attention to the risks posed by environmental damage and the rapid adoption of new technologies.

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Silicon Valley's coming of age

Wed, 24 Jan 2018 06:00:00 GMT

Historian Leslie Berlin talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about the generation of entrepreneurs and investors, from Mike Markkula to Sandra Kurtzig, who transformed the tech hub in the 1970s and 1980s. It's the subject of her latest book "Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age".

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Calum Chace on a world without work

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Business and science fiction writer Calum Chace talks to John Thornhill about the exponential growth of AI and why we need to start planning now for a world without work.

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Social media in the classroom

Wed, 20 Dec 2017 06:00:00 GMT

How is the use of mobile technology and social media affecting the lives of children and adolescents? Sonia Livingstone, professor of psychology at the LSE in London, examined the issue in her book: The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age. She talks to Madhumita Murgia about her findings.

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Garry Kasparov on the risks and rewards of AI

Wed, 13 Dec 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence is an important tool, but human beings have to be creative to understand how best to make use of it, former world chess champion Garry Kasparov tells John Thornhill

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Guarding against the next cyber attack

Wed, 06 Dec 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Army veteran and cyber security expert Rick Howard talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about the current state of cyber security, what we have learned from recent large-scale attacks known as WannaCry and NotPetya and what companies can do to try to guard against the next attack.

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Why AI is the future

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Phil Libin, former chief executive of Evernote, tells John Thornhill why he thinks artificial intelligence will soon be part of the fabric of all our lives and about his plan to create a global AI incubator

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Using tech to fight poverty

Wed, 22 Nov 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Elisabeth Mason, founding director of the Stanford Poverty & Technology Lab, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about solving problems such as education inequality and job retraining the Silicon Valley way.

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What has gone wrong with the internet revolution?

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 06:00:31 GMT

Internet pioneer Martha Lane Fox talks to John Thornhill about her work in trying to ensure that the technology lives up to its early ideals and serves the interests of people rather than big companies.

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Human friendly robotics

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Mark Palatucci talks to John Thornhill about the consumer robot revolution and his efforts to help create empathy between humans and their robot toys

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The social media effect

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Microsoft researcher and Data & Society president danah boyd talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about the effect of everyday technology, such as Facebook, on society and culture.

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Reclaiming Europe's digital sovereignty

Wed, 25 Oct 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Francesca Bria tells John Thornhill how she is helping citizens in Barcelona design their digital future, moving from an economy fuelled by advertising and surveillance and towards transparency and a new social pact on the ownership of data.

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Seth Stephens Davidowitz on data mining

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a former Google data scientist, about what our internet searches reveal about who we really are.

Listen to Tech Tonic on iTunes or Stitcher.

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Mary Lou Jepsen on the wearable MRI

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Scientist and former Facebook and Google executive Mary Lou Jepsen talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about her latest startup, Openwater, where she and a team of researchers are working to develop a ski helmet-sized imaging device that will one day read minds.

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Tech Tonic returns for a second series

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Tech Tonic returns for a second series, starting next week. Our first guest is a former Google and Facebook executive who is working on a wearable diagnostic product that can read your mind. We’ll also be hearing how search engine data can be used to map our innermost thoughts, and we’ll be talking to experts in artificial intelligence, cyber security, robotics and much more. So look out for Tech Tonic, season 2, starting on Wednesday 11th October. You can subscribe on all the usual podcast platforms.

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What lies ahead for AR

Wed, 21 Jun 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Matt Miesnieks, creator of one of the first augmented reality apps and co-founder of startup 6D, tells the FT's Tim Bradshaw about the technological advances that make AR possible, and what needs to happen if it is to fulfill its promise.

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Tim Wu on addictive apps

Wed, 14 Jun 2017 05:00:00 GMT

The author of "The Attention Merchants" talks to John Thornhill about his concerns about the way some web apps are eating into our time

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The graphics chip powering AI technology

Wed, 07 Jun 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Jensen Huang, chief executive of graphics chipmaker Nvidia, tells the FT's Tim Bradshaw how the graphics processing unit, or GPU, the company pioneered in the 1990s is being used in everything from virtual reality to machine learning to autonomous cars, drawing investor attention.

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Silicon Valley's newest recruits

Wed, 31 May 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Jeremy Johnson, chief executive of Andela, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about how his company recruits and trains software engineers from several African countries and then places them with the top tech companies.

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The limits of artificial intelligence

Wed, 24 May 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Despite billions being spent on research, even our best deep learning neural networks look pitiful when compared to the intricate design of the brain of a bumble bee or even an ant, Peter Bentley tells John Thornhill.

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Using blockchain to fight fraud

Wed, 17 May 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Leanne Kemp's company Everledger uses blockchain technology to track the provenance of assets, from diamonds to fine wines. She talks to John Thornhill about the technology's potential to combat fraud.

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Uber's plans for aviation on demand

Wed, 10 May 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Jeff Holden, Uber's chief product officer, talks to the FT's Leslie Hook about the company's ambitious plan to start testing an aerial taxi service as soon as 2020.

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How US companies find the right talent

Wed, 03 May 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Mehul Patel, chief executive of Hired, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about hiring trends in Silicon Valley and other technology hubs in the US, and what some companies are doing in response to President Donald Trump's executive action on immigration and the H-1B visa.

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What's next for Stripe and online payments

Wed, 26 Apr 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Stripe's John Collison speaks to the FT's Leslie Hook about what he and his co-founder brother have planned for the $9bn online payments company, why Silicon Valley is still their preferred place to have their headquarters and what it is like to be one of the Valley's youngest billionaire entrepreneurs.

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What self-driving cars could do for robotics

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Jeremy Conrad, co-founder of hardware incubator and VC fund Lemnos Labs, talks to the FT's Tim Bradshaw about the way economies of scale in the self-driving car industry could bolster the field of robotics.

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How DeepMind vanquished Go

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind, talks about what he learnt from the Alpha Go experience and the complex problems his artificial intelligence company has been working on since it was acquired by Google in 2014.

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Engineering your own chatbot

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Lili Cheng and her team at Microsoft's FUSE Labs are at the forefront of research on social interaction with artificial intelligence. She joins the FT's Richard Waters to discuss the evolution of chatbot technology, what the company learnt from its experience with Tay, and the personalisation we can expect from the virtual assistants and chat apps of the future.

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Political disruption and the internet

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Helen Margetts, head of the Oxford Internet Institute, talks to the FT's Madhumita Murgia about fake news, echo chambers, big data and why we need more research to be able to combat the "pathologies" of the internet.

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The virtue of cash

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Rutger Bregman tells John Thornhill there is evidence to show that we can end poverty by handing out cash to those who need it. The idea of a universal basic income is one whose time has come, he says, and it is finding support in unexpected places like Silicon Valley.

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A look inside Uber

Wed, 15 Mar 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Uber investor and adviser Bradley Tusk talks to the FT's Leslie Hook about the highs and lows of the ride-sharing company's rapid expansion, and how companies in the sharing economy can manage regulatory hurdles.

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Science and security

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Entrepreneur Tom Ilube talks about his work with scientists to deploy their research in the battle against cybercrime, tech advances and education in Africa and why companies need to take cyber security more seriously.

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Cracking the ed-tech market

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Duolingo cofounder and chief executive Luis von Ahn talks to the FT's Tim Bradshaw about creating the snackable language learning app that now serves more than 150m global users, and how the company's model can be translated into other digital education tools.

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Coding for everyone

Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Madhumita Murgia speaks to Kathryn Parsons about her work in promoting digital literacy through the company she co-founded, Decoded, which aims to teach people to code in a day.

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Sharing the cost of driving

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Frédéric Mazzella tells the story of BlaBlaCar, the ride-sharing company he founded, which now operates in over 20 countries, and talks about the rise of tech entrepreneurship in France.

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The future of work

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 06:00:00 GMT

What will displaced professionals and workers do when intelligent machines take their jobs? Will poets, thinkers and musicians become sought-after occupations? Or will people slump into a world of virtual reality entertainment? Tim Bradshaw discusses possible outcomes with tech investors Kai-Fu Lee and Joi Ito.

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When machines outsmart their human designers

Wed, 01 Feb 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, was one of the first researchers to sound the alarm bell on the risks of developing artificial intelligence. He joins the FT's Richard Waters to discuss the state of AI, and how machines should be developed to avoid these risks.

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Living in a modern surveillance state

Wed, 25 Jan 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about government surveillance in the US after the Snowden revelations, and how it could all change under a Trump administration.

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Disrupting the banking industry

Wed, 18 Jan 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Mike Cagney, chief executive and founder of online lender SoFi, talks to the FT's Tom Braithwaite about building a fintech company from refinancing student loans; the high-income millennials the service targets; and why they use tools like job search and member networking events to retain customers.

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The changing face of Russian cyber espionage

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Kevin Mandia, chief executive of cyber security firm FireEye, joins the FT's Hannah Kuchler to discuss how Russian hackers changed the rules of engagement of cyber espionage. Mr Mandia and his company, Mandiant, came to prominence in 2013 when it released a report implicating China in cyber spying. The company was later sold to FireEye for $1bn. This interview was recorded in early December 2016.

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Blazing a trail for women in tech

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Madhumita Murgia, the FT's European technology correspondent, talks to Dame Stephanie Shirley, a pioneer of the computer software industry and one the first female tech entrepreneurs, about how she fell in love with computers.

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Re-empowering the consumer

Wed, 28 Dec 2016 06:00:00 GMT

Nigel Shadbolt, co-founder of the Open Data Institute, talks to John Thornhill about the imbalance between the personal and private control of data and the need to re-empower the consumer.

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Hacking foreign policy

Thu, 22 Dec 2016 06:00:00 GMT

As the first US ambassador to Silicon Valley, Zvika Krieger is trying to harness the tech capital's brain power to solve some of the country's biggest foreign policy challenges. He talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler.

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Fighting back against the throwaway culture

Wed, 14 Dec 2016 06:00:00 GMT

Kyle Wiens, chief executive of iFixit, made his name by tearing apart mobile phones and laptops to understand how they were built and publishing his findings in open source repair manuals. He talks to the FT's Tim Bradshaw about the risks involved in the race for the thinnest tech devices, and what his company is doing to promote gadget repair and recycling.

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Inside Google's innovation factory

Wed, 07 Dec 2016 06:00:00 GMT

Alphabet's research and development lab X is the breeding ground for Google's biggest technological bets, including self-driving cars and a network of internet-providing balloons. Astro Teller, the entrepreneur and scientist at the helm of X, talks to the FT's Richard Waters about the new technologies he is helping to bring to market, and what he has learned in the six years of running an innovation factory.

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When data rules the world

Wed, 30 Nov 2016 05:00:00 GMT

John Thornhill talks to author and historian Yuval Noah Harari about his vision of a future when humans are no longer the smartest algorithm on the planet.

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The driverless car revolution

Wed, 23 Nov 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Driverless cars will improve our lives dramatically but, as with all technologies, there will be a dark side as millions of jobs disappear, Vivek Wadhwa, entrepreneur and academic, tells John Thornhill.

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Keeping the cyber hackers at bay

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMT

Nadav Zafrir, a former Israeli intelligence officer and co-founder of cyber security company Team8, talks to John Thornhill about tracking down cyber criminals and training the tech entrepreneurs of the future

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Truth, lies and how to separate fact from fiction

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 08:00:00 GMT

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, talks to John Thornhill about truth and lies, the role of the media, and his mission to make the sum of human knowledge available to people all over the world

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Harnessing the technological revolution

Wed, 02 Nov 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Tech utopia or tech dystopia? Carlota Perez of the London School of Economics talks to John Thornhill about the radical changes she believes are needed if we are to harness the benefits of the current technological revolution

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Introducing FT Tech Tonic

Tue, 25 Oct 2016 17:24:06 GMT

In a new podcast from the Financial Times hear John Thornhill and correspondents around the globe in conversation with scientists, entrepreneurs and academics as they examine the way technology is changing the way we live, work and even the way we think. FT Tech Tonic starts on Wednesday November 2.

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