SHIFT

We explore how generative AI is revolutionizing game development at Roblox, in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet:   Kiran Bhat, Senior Director of Engineering at Roblox Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

This is the final installment of a special series documenting the race to build superintelligent AI systems. The Race to Superintelligence is a deep dive into the rapidly expanding world of artificial intelligence. Join us as we explore the groundbreaking, mystifying and world-changing potential of the next machine age.  Support for this program comes from The Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability N...

The U.S. trade war is expected to add billions of dollars to things like building AI data centers, and for companies trying to figure out and manage their exposure, it’s never been a more complicated task.  But what if we could build a map that could show us how supply chains, tariffs and trade policy are playing out in real time? We Meet:   Evan Smith, CEO Altana Credits: This episode of SHIFT wa...

Developing and scaling AI systems brings new security challenges, and companies are scrambling to figure out just how to handle some of the more pressing ones. I was recently joined on stage by co-founders from two Canadian unicorns, Cohere and Tailscale, to dig into these challenges at Web Summit Vancouver. We Meet:   Avery Pennarun, Co-founder & CEO, Tailscale                  Ivan Zhang, Co...

What if instead of software coaching you on how to use it–what buttons to push and what file menus to open–the software could just use itself, once it knew what you wanted?  We explore Intuit's new AI agents in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet:   Alex Balazs, CTO of Intuit   Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It...

This is part two of a special series documenting the race to build superintelligent AI systems. The Race to Superintelligence is a deep dive into the rapidly expanding world of artificial intelligence. Join us as we explore the groundbreaking, mystifying and world-changing potential of the next machine age.  Support for this program comes from The Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network, suppo...

We join the MIT community in New York for an event focused on AI, innovation, and the evolving role of tech in society.  SandboxAQ is a Google spinout that combines AI Large Quantitative Models and deep expertise in physics, biology, and chemistry in order to work on a wide range of hard problems, such as the prototyping of new materials and chemicals for manufacturing. Andrew McLaughlin is the co...

Most geospatial data is gathered by satellites and cameras attached to planes, but a new decentralized network is helping amateur drone pilots capture and contribute ultra high resolution data.  In this week's show, we go fly a drone and learn how that data is helping power next generation apps for things like disaster response. We Meet:   Alec Wilson, COO Spexi Bill Lakeland, CEO Spexi   Credits:...

What might the future of AI look like?  Robert Brunner is responsible for some of the most iconic industrial designs of this century, and Matt Biilmann coined the phrase AX, which considers the user experience for AI agents. They joined me on center stage for a live conversation about what it means to design for AI at the Web Summit Conference in Vancouver, Canada. We Meet:   Matt Biilmann, Co-fou...

The Race to Superintelligence is a deep dive into the rapidly expanding world of artificial intelligence. Join us as we explore the groundbreaking, mystifying and world-changing potential of the next machine age.  Support for this program comes from The Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network, supporting and bringing together journalists reporting on AI, and with AI, globally. This episode fir...

The application of artificial intelligence to help discover new medicines could become one of the more transformative ways we use this tech in the near term. Recursion Pharmaceuticals CEO Chris Gibson takes us on a tour of the world's largest phenomics lab. We Meet:  Recursion Co-Founder & CEO Chris Gibson Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cille...

Frank McCourt is an American executive and philanthropist. He’s also the author of a new book about the internet, called Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age . We talk to him about that fight before a live audience in New York City at a gathering held by the responsible technology non-profit, All Tech Is Human. We Meet: Frank H. McCourt, Jr., civic entrep...

Whether you're on a dating app or playing a game, how do you know if you're interacting with another human? We meet someone working on a possible solution to this problem in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet:   Adrian Ludwig, Chief Architect of Tools for Humanity Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by...

Browsing online reviews when you’re shopping for a new product or service can be incredibly helpful, but only if they’re real.  We Meet: Trustpilot CEO Adrian Blair   Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Astro Teller, Alphabet’s Captain of Moonshots, joins us for a conversation about the importance of failure, workplace culture in a moonshot factory, and not throwing away your shot. We Meet:  Astro Teller is the Captain of Moonshots at X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with origi...

What if voting in a primary could be as simple as reaching for your phone? We explore mobile voting in the latest installment of our oral history project.   We Meet:  Bradley Tusk, Founder & CEO of Tusk Holdings  Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Ma...

Meet the CEO of Cerebras Systems in the latest installment of our oral history project.   We Meet:  Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in the way new drugs are discovered. It’s radically changing how this process works, and speeding up the development of new therapies. We Meet:  Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO at Insilico Medicine  Mike Nally, CEO at Generate Biomedicines Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mix...

We know that kids spending time on social media are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Less clear, and far more contentious, is the role we expect of schools, governments, and tech companies, and some parents are starting to organize. It's the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet:  Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA) Founder Julie Scelfo Credits: This episode o...

Anyone who’s had a job, knows what it means to have co-workers, but what happens when your colleague is an AI agent? As AI enters the workforce, we explore this question and more in the latest installment of our oral history project.   We Meet:  Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin Credits: SHIFT is produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and J...

We meet a founder questioning the wisdom of the Turing Test as he works to address the loneliness epidemic among the elderly, in the latest installment of our oral history project.   We Meet:  Intuition Robotics Founder Dor Skuler, maker of the ElliQ digital companion Credits: SHIFT is produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob...

A live conversation about the state of the space economy with the first Arab woman to fly to space and with a leading space investor. This episode was taped at the Middle East's largest tech event, with 25,000 attendees, from the mainstage of Web Summit Qatar.  We meet:  Astronaut Sara Sabry, CEO & Founder Deep Space Initiative Adam Niewinski Co-Founder, General Partner OTB Ventures Credits: T...

In the not too distant future we might use AI agents for all sorts of things, though for now payments remain an obstacle because they can’t spend money without human help.  We Meet:  Amir Sarhangi, CEO of Skyfire Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Despite our best efforts, sometimes what we say we want isn’t precisely what we mean. Nowhere is that felt more acutely than when we’re giving instructions to a machine, whether that’s coding or offering examples to machine learning systems. We unpack the alignment problem in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet:  Brian Christian, University of Oxford researcher, and author...

We chat with Organic Valley in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet:  Joshua Krzych, interim CIO at Organic Valley Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.