FT Tech Tonic

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, 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A hardware revolution in recording devices and a software revolution in artificial intelligence is enabling researchers to listen in to all kinds of conversations outside the human hearing range, a field known as bioacoustics. Some scientists now believe these developments will also allow us to ‘translate’ animal sounds into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love ask whether we’re moving closer to being able to ‘speak whale’ or even to chat with bats.Free links:Google Translate for the zoo? How humans might talk to animalsKaren Bakker, scientist and author, 1971-2023How generative AI really worksCredits: Sperm whale sounds from Project CETI; honeyhunter calls from Claire SpottiswoodePresented 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.

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 animalsKaren Bakker, scientist and author, 1971-2023How generative AI really worksCredits: Elephant bee rumble from Lucy KingRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some scientists believe that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may also hold the key to decoding animal sounds, allowing us to ‘translate’ them into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill and series producer Persis Love explore how the same technology that powers ChatGPT is being applied to research in animal communication. Could we one day learn to ‘speak whale’ or even chat with bats? And if so, can we trust ourselves to do so responsibly?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.

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.

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.

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 shoppingTim 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 rivalsHannah Murphy: Linda Yaccarino’s vision for Twitter 2.0 emergesRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 apocalypseDiscord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody elseReddit stands firm in clash with users as blackout on forums escalatesRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 moreYouTube Shorts takes on TikTok in battle for younger usersWhat de-influencing tells us about the state of the creator economyPresented 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.

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.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.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.

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.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 MurphyClips: 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.

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.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 MurphyClips: TED Conferences, CBS, Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, MSNBC, CNNWe'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.

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.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.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.

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.

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.Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.We're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will get a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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/technologyClimate team at https://www.ft.com/climate-capitalPresented 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/HorizonRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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-capitalPresented 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, France24Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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 BayerRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyThe FT’s Cryptofinance Hub is at https://www.ft.com/cryptofinanceSiddharth 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 MusicPresented 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 NewsRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyThe FT’s Cryptofinance Hub is at https://www.ft.com/cryptofinance For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsalePresented 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsalePresented 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.News clips credits: CBC, NBC, CNN.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyThe 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/techtonicsalePresented 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 LiveRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd 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: CNBCRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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-bcb0-7e75af0aadabPresented 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, BBCCheck out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd 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.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd 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.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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd 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. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.News clips credits: CNBCRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyFor a special, discounted FT subscription, go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd 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. 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 OregonianRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyGet a discounted FT subscription at ft.com/techtonicsalePresented 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. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/technologyGet 50% off an FT subscription at ft.com/briefingsalePresented 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.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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).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. Original scoring composed by Metaphor Music. Review clips: Alphabet, Netflix, Amazon, Man Group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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).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. Original scoring was composed by Metaphor Music. 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.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 hereAll 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, humansHow China dodged a trade war recession Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Thornhill talks to Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy about his book: The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

John Thornhill talks to Jack Conte about Patreon, the platform he invented to help creative artists receive a steadier income from modern-day patrons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Investor Alice Newcombe-Ellis tells John Thornhill about her strategy for discovering and investing in the next generation of disruptive technology companies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

John Thornhill talks to the New York Times journalist about his latest book: The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Web Foundation president and CEO Adrian Lovett talks to John Thornhill about open data, net neutrality and widening global internet access.Web Foundation website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

Drew Houston, co-founder of the business software company, tells John Thornhill how he caught the entrepreneurial bug and what's next for Dropbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Thorhill and guests return for a news series of Tech Tonic, the show that looks at the way technology is changing our lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Thornhill talks to the head of Singapore's GovTech about her work in advancing the country's Smart Nation ambitions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The author of "The Attention Merchants" talks to John Thornhill about his concerns about the way some web apps are eating into our time Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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