The Times Tech Podcast

Anthropic has warned about the next phase of 'recursive AI', where agents could become capable enough to build and train models themselves without human intervention. The idea is that “self-improving” armies of agents could create purely AI-run, zero-person companies that optimise while you’re sleeping. If that’s the story in Silicon Valley, in the UK Katie is at London Tech Week, where everyone from Prime Minister Keir Starmer to AMD’s Lisa Su is focused on tech sovereignty and the question of who owns, controls and shapes AI, not just how fast the technology is advancing.

Plus, Cisco’s Jeetu Patel joins Danny and Katie to discuss the potentially catastrophic consequences of the agentic era for cybersecurity, and share his insights on the trillion-dollar IPOs potentially coming from OpenAI, SpaceX and Anthropic.

Is Britain losing the AI race? Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk

Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Image: Getty
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This episode of The Times Tech Podcast is sponsored by KPMG.

Businesses are spending heavily on AI, but is it actually changing how they work? Katie Prescott is joined by Paul Henninger, UK Head of Technology and Data and Global AI Leader at KPMG, and Professor Alan Brown from the University of Exeter Business School, author of Making AI Work for Britain, to ask why so many AI pilots fail to become real business value.

They discuss the gap between hype and implementation, why the most useful applications of AI are often the least glamorous, and what leaders need to do before AI can reshape work across an organisation.

Visit https://kpmg.com/uk/en/services/ai to find out more.
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A strange new experiment where AI agents run their own societies free from humans has raised questions about whether we can really trust these bots to act on our behalf. In the study by Emergence AI, agents attempted thefts, physical assaults, and even arsons – all inside a simulated world.

So what happens when AI agents move from experiments into real workplaces? This week on The Times Tech podcast, Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss the risks and hear from Gabe Peryera, the Co-Founder of Harvey, the legal AI company named after the character in the TV drama Suits, about whether AI agents can really replace the jobs of lawyers. Plus, Anthropic eyes a potential trillion-dollar IPO.

Could AI lawyers replace people? Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk

Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Image: Getty
Read more: ‘Big Law’ is leaning in to AI
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Pope Leo has warned that Big Tech has too much power over humanity’s future. Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman discuss what his warning on AI means and why Anthropic was at the Vatican. Meanwhile, in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer is weighing tougher rules on children’s social media use after doctors compared its harms to smoking. Plus, the CEO of Proxima Fusion talks about how to power AI by recreating the reaction that powers the sun. Is nuclear fusion the future of clean energy?

Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk

Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Image: Getty
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two big events have put Elon Musk in the spotlight. First, a jury has dismissed Elon Musk’s case against Sam Altman and OpenAI after three weeks of testimony. But while this blockbuster trial was taking place, the Tesla CEO was making plans to get his other company, SpaceX, onto the public stock market. The space exploration company has filed for a huge IPO that will likely be the largest in history, valuing the company at up to $1.75 trillion and making Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott are joined by Wedbush Securities' Dan Ives to take a deeper look at the world’s richest man and discuss why this massive valuation is raising eyebrows.

Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk

Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Image: Getty
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.