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FT Tech Tonic

FT Tech Tonic

By: Financial Times
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Summary

We are in the midst of a digital revolution, where the line between our physical world and cyberspace is blurring. Tech Tonic is the show that investigates the promises and perils of this new technological age.



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Financial Times
Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Social Sciences
Episodes
  • AI Labs: Google DeepMind plans its comeback
    May 13 2026

    In the latest AI boom Google has been playing catch-up with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. But with stacks of cash, its own AI chips and some of the best AI talent in the world, is Google about to make a comeback? Murad Ahmed speaks to the FT’s AI editor Madhumita Murgia and Stephen Morris, the FT’s bureau chief in San Francisco.


    FT articles free to read:

    DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis warns AI investment looks ‘bubble-like’

    DeepMind slows down research releases to keep competitive edge in AI race

    Google staff urge chief executive to block US military AI use


    Tech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Edwin Lane. The executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.


    Tell us what you think of Tech Tonic! Complete this short survey and you’ll get the chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones.


    Prize draw winners’ surnames and regions may be made available upon request, as required by the Advertising Standards Authority. If you do not want your information to be made available, please email Privacy.Officer@ft.com upon entry. For more information on your rights and how we use your data, please read our Privacy Policy.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

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    30 mins
  • AI Labs: Are Anthropic really the good guys?
    May 6 2026

    Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wants his AI lab to be a more safety conscious alternative to OpenAI. But Anthropic’s business selling AI to enterprises is booming, and it’s rolling out increasingly powerful models - the latest is claimed to be so dangerous it can’t be released to the public. So can Anthropic win the battle of the AI labs and still claim to be the good guys of AI?


    Murad Ahmed speaks to Cristina Criddle, FT reporter in San Francisco covering AI, and John Thornhill, the FT’s innovation editor.


    FT articles free to read:

    Anthropic’s Mythos AI model tests limits of global cyber defences

    Anthropic chief Dario Amodei: ‘I don’t want AI turned on our own people’

    Anthropic’s breakout moment: how Claude won business and shook markets


    Tech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Edwin Lane. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.


    Tell us what you think of Tech Tonic! Complete this short survey and you’ll get the chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


    Prize Draw winners’ surnames and regions may be made available upon request, as required by the Advertising Standards Authority. If you do not want your information to be made available, please email Privacy.Officer@ft.com upon entry. For more information on your rights and how we use your data, please read our Privacy Policy.

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

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    27 mins
  • The battle of the AI labs
    Apr 29 2026

    OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Deepmind, xAI and Meta - all of them are building models to push the frontiers of artificial intelligence, and all of them want to be the world’s leading AI company. Who will come out on top?


    With the help of the FT’s expert reporters, technology news editor Murad Ahmed explores the battles going on between Silicon Valley’s frontier AI labs, and the personal rivalries driving them.


    Who will win out in the bitter rivalry between OpenAI and Anthropic? Can Elon Musk’s xAI or Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta catch up? Or is Google Deepmind destined to control our AI future?


    FT articles free to read:

    Anthropic’s Mythos AI model tests limits of global cyber defences

    OpenAI investors question $852bn valuation as strategy shifts

    DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis warns AI investment looks ‘bubble-like’

    Meta releases first AI model since Zuckerberg’s spending spree

    How Elon Musk’s Grok spread sexual deepfakes and child exploitation images


    Tech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Edwin Lane. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.



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

    Show More Show Less
    1 min
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