TechFirst with John Koetsier

AI is already reshaping the workforce. What about teenagers?Turns out, they might be more impacted than anyone else. After all, they're usually in low-skill entry-level jobs that AI can replace. The problem ... teens are losing their first experience with working, making money, and establishing an identity outside of their homes.In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier speaks with Karissa Tang, a high school senior and UCLA research assistant, about her new study on how AI will impact teen employment. While most workforce studies focus on adults, Karissa analyzed the top 10 most popular teen jobs from cashiers to fast food workers and found something alarming: AI could reduce teen employment by nearly 30% by 2030.We dig into:• Which teen jobs are most vulnerable to AI and automation• Why cashiers and fast-food counter workers are hardest hit• The role of self-checkout, kiosks, and robots like Flippy• Which teen jobs appear safest (for now)• Why teens may be even more exposed to AI than adults• What schools, policymakers, and teens themselves can do nextThis is a must-watch conversation for parents, students, educators, and policymakers trying to understand how AI is reshaping early work experiences—and what it means for the next generation.🎙 GuestKarissa Tang• Founder, Booted (board games company)• Research Assistant, UCLA• Former Intern, NSV Wolf Capital• High school senior and author of a 20-page research paper on AI & teen employment📌 Subscribe & Stay AheadIf you want clear, thoughtful analysis on AI, technology, and the future of work, subscribe to TechFirst:👉 https://techfirst.substack.com00:00 – Will AI Kill Teen Jobs?01:35 – Why a Teen Studied Teen Employment03:10 – The Shocking 30% Job Loss Prediction05:10 – Top 10 Teen Jobs Most at Risk07:20 – Cashiers, Kiosks, and Self-Checkout09:40 – Fast Food, Retail, and AI Displacement12:15 – Which Teen Jobs Are Safest from AI15:05 – Robots Like Flippy and the Future of Cooking Jobs18:00 – Why Teen Jobs Are More Vulnerable Than Adult Jobs21:40 – The Importance of Human Interaction at Work25:10 – What Inspired the Research Study29:30 – How the Data and Methodology Worked33:40 – What Teens Can Do to Stay Employable37:30 – Skills, AI Literacy, and Creating New Opportunities41:00 – Final Thoughts on the Future of Teen Work

Are we about to create real life Terminators? Humanoid robots built for war?In this episode of TechFirst I talk with Sankaet Pathak, founder and CEO of Foundation, a California-based humanoid robot company that is not afraid of the defense market. We dig into why he is building humanoid robots that can work three shifts a day, how they plan to scale from dozens of robots to tens of thousands, and why he believes humanoid robots will one day build bases in Antarctica and cities on the moon.We also dive deep into military use cases. From logistics and infrastructure to “first body in” building breach operations, we explore how humanoid robots could change asymmetric warfare, deterrence, and who wins future conflicts.In this episode• Why humanoid robots are the next strategic advantage for countries and companies• How Foundation went from zero to a working production robot in about 18 months• The hardware secrets behind Phantom: actuators, efficiency, and safety• Why their robots can run almost 24 hours a day, three shifts at a time• The master plan: Antarctic bases, moon cities, and infinite robot labor• Why Sankaet thinks home robots should feel like a “genie in a bottle”• How humanoid robots may enter military operations and what that means for war• Whether robot soldiers lead to dominance, stalemate, or new forms of peaceGuest: Sankaet Pathak, founder and CEO of FoundationWebsite: https://foundation.botSubscribe to my Substack:https://techfirst.substack.com00:00 – Are we about to build real life Terminators?00:55 – Meet Sankaet Pathak and Foundation02:08 – How Foundation built a production humanoid in 18 months04:17 – Scaling plan: 40 robots today, 10,000 next year, 40,000 after06:11 – Why manufacturing is still mostly manual and what they learned from Tesla09:31 – The Foundation master plan: Antarctica, the moon, and infinite labor14:21 – Phantom specs: size, strength, payload, and real factory work15:36 – Actuators as robot muscles and why backdrivability matters18:41 – Running three shifts a day and solving heat and durability21:01 – Robot hands today and the tendon driven hands of tomorrow23:40 – Why home robots should feel like a “genie in a bottle”25:51 – Why the military needs humanoid robots27:54 – Dangerous, boring, and impossible jobs robots should take over29:22 – Drones, costs, and asymmetric warfare32:18 – First body in and robots that can pull the trigger33:16 – The future of war as “video game” and who wins34:49 – Peace through strength and 100,000 robots as deterrent35:22 – Final thoughts and what comes next for Foundation

Is AI the secret sauce that lets the West deglobalize supply chains and bring factories back home?In this episode of TechFirst, I talk with Federico Martelli, CEO and cofounder of Forgis, a Swiss startup building an industrial intelligence layer for factories. Forgis runs “digital engineers” — AI agents on the edge — that sit on top of legacy machinery, cut downtime by about 30%, and boost production by roughly 20%, without ripping and replacing old hardware.We dive into how AI agents can turn brainless factory lines into adaptive, self-optimizing systems, and what that means for reshoring production to Europe and North America.In this episode, we cover:• Why intelligence is the next geopolitical frontier• How AI agents can reshore manufacturing without making it more expensive• Turning old, offline machines into data-driven, optimized systems• The two-layer model: integration first, vertical intelligence second• Why most manufacturing AI projects fail at integration, not algorithms• How Forgis raised $4.5M in 36 hours and chose its lead investor• Lean manufacturing 2.0: adding real-time data and AI to Toyota-style processes• Why operators stay in the loop (and why full autonomy is a bad idea… for now)• Rebuilding industrial ecosystems in Europe and North America, industry by industry• What Forgis builds next with its pre-seed round and where industrial AI is headedGuest:👉 Federico Martelli, CEO & cofounder, Forgis (industrial intelligence for factories)🔗 More on Forgis: https://forgis.com/Host:🎙 John Koetsier, TechFirst podcast🔎 techfirst.substack.comIf you enjoy this conversation, hit subscribe, drop a comment about where you think factories of the future will live, and share this with someone thinking about reshoring or industrial AI.00:00 – Intro: AI, deglobalization, and the battle for industrial power01:20 – Why intelligence is the next geopolitical frontier02:13 – Applying AI agents to legacy machinery (not just new robots)03:10 – Integration first, intelligence second: the “digital engineers” layer03:58 – Early results: +20% production, –30% downtime05:39 – The Palantir-style model: deep factory work, then recurring licenses06:28 – Raising $4.5M in 36 hours and choosing Redalpine08:17 – Lean manufacturing, Toyota, and giving operators superpowers (not replacing them)10:18 – Big picture: reshoring production to Europe, the US, and Canada12:48 – Competing with China’s dense manufacturing ecosystems15:29 – What Forgis’ digital engineers actually do on the shop floor17:06 – How Forgis will use the pre-seed round: sales, product, then tech18:32 – Flipping the traditional stack: sales → product → tech19:22 – Wrap-up and what’s next for industrial intelligence

In this chat, Jim Nguyen, former PayPal executive and cofounder/CEO of InFlow, dives into the exciting realm of agentic commerce. He unveils how AI agents can finally handle payments, transforming them into useful clients. Nguyen discusses the need for guardrails in spending, the future need for compliance systems, and how agents could eventually operate within marketplaces. He envisions a world where agents autonomously manage tasks and finance, predicting a shift towards headless commerce and seamless payment experiences.

Are we ready for a world where everything is smart? Not just phones and apps, but buildings, robots, and delivery bots rolling down our streets?Windows ... doors ... maybe even towels. And don't forget your shoes.In this episode of TechFirst, I talk with Mat Gilbert, director of AI and data at Synapse, about physical AI: putting intelligence into machines, devices, and environments so they can sense, reason, act, and learn in the real world.We cover why physical AI is suddenly economically viable, how factories and logistics centers are already using millions of robots, the commercial race to build useful humanoids, why your home is the last frontier, and how to keep physical AI safe when mistakes have real-world consequences.In this episode:• Why hardware costs (lidar, batteries) are making “AI with a body” possible• How Amazon, FedEx, Ford, and others are already deploying physical AI at scale• The humanoid robot race: Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, Tesla, and more• Why home robots are so hard, and the “coffee test” for general humanoid intelligence• Physical AI in agtech, healthcare, and elder care• Safety, simulation, and why physical AI can’t rely only on probabilistic LLMs• Human–robot teaming and how to build trust in messy, real-world environments• What we can expect by 2026 and beyond in service robots and smart spaces00:00 – Giving AI a body: why physical AI is becoming viable01:00 – Where we are today: factories, logistics, and Amazon’s million robots03:30 – The software layer: coordinating robots, routing, and warehouse intelligence06:00 – Cloud vs edge AI: latency, cost, and why intelligence is moving to the edge10:00 – Humanoid robots: bets from Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Tesla14:00 – Home robots as the last frontier and the “coffee test” for generality17:00 – Beyond factories: agtech, carbon-killing farm bots, and healthcare use cases18:30 – Elder care, hospital robots, and amplifying human caregivers20:00 – Foundation models for robotics, simulation, and digital twins21:00 – Why physical AI safety is different from digital AI safety22:30 – Layers of safety, shutdown zones, and cyber-physical security risks24:30 – Human–robot teaming, trust, and communicating intent26:00 – What’s coming by 2026: service robots, delivery bots, and smart spaces28:00 – Delivery robots, drones, and physical AI in everyday environments29:00 – Closing thoughts on living in a world full of physical AI

Are humanoid robots going to decide which countries get rich and which fall behind?Probably yes.In this TechFirst, I talk with Dr. Robert Ambrose, former head of one of NASA’s first humanoid robot teams and now chairman of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Alliant. We dig into the future of humanoids, how fast they are really advancing, and what it means if China wins the humanoid race before the United States and other western nations.We start with NASA’s early humanoid work, including telepresence robots on the space station that people could literally “step into” with VR in the 1990s. Then we zoom out to what counts as a robot, why bipedal mobility matters so much, how humanoids will move from factories into homes, and why the critical photo of the robot revolution might be taken in Beijing instead of Times Square.Along the way, Ambrose shares how US policy once helped avoid losing robotics leadership to Japan, why the National Robotics Initiative mattered, what the drone war in Ukraine is doing to autonomy, and how small and medium businesses can survive and thrive in a humanoid and AI agent world.In this episode:• NASA’s first generations of humanoid robots and “stepping into” a robot body• Why humanoids make sense in a world built for human hands, height, and motion• The design tension between purpose built machines and general purpose humanoids• How biped mobility went from blooper reels to marathon running in a decade• Why a humanoid should not cost more than a car, and what happens when it does not• Humanoids as the next car or PC, and when families will buy their own “Rosie”• China, the US, and where the defining photo of the robot century gets taken• How government investment, DARPA challenges, and wars shape robotics• Alliant’s work with physical robots, soft bots, and AI agents for real businesses• Why robots are not future overlords and why “they will take all our jobs” is lazy thinkingIf you are interested in humanoid robots, AI agents, manufacturing, or the future of work and geopolitics, this one is for you.Subscribe for more deep dives on AI, robots, and the tech shaping our future!00:00 Intro, will China eat America’s lunch in humanoid robotics01:18 NASA’s early humanoids, generations of robots and VR telepresence03:00 “Stepping into the robot” moment and designing for astronaut tools05:10 Human built environments, half humanoids, and weird lower body experiments07:00 Safety, cobots, and working around people at NASA and General Motors12:15 What is a robot, really, and why Ambrose has a very big tent definition16:00 Single purpose machines vs general purpose robots, Roombas, elevators, and vending machines18:30 The next “lurch” in robotics, from industrial arms to Mars rovers to drones22:40 Biped mobility, from blooper reel to marathon runner, and why legs matter24:10 Cars, Roombas, and why most robots will never get in and out of a car25:20 Parking between cars, robot garages, and rethinking buildings for mobile vehicles28:00 Geopolitics 101, China’s manufacturing backbone and humanoids as almost free labor31:05 Cars and PCs as precedents, when price and reliability unlock mass adoption34:00 When families buy their own “Rosie” and what value a home humanoid must deliver37:00 Times Square vs Beijing, who gets the iconic photo of the robot transition43:00 How the US almost lost robotics to Japan and what the National Robotics Initiative did48:00 DARPA, Mars rovers, the drone war in Ukraine, and why government investment matters52:00 Alliant, soft bots, AI agents, and helping small and medium businesses adapt54:00 Who is building humanoids in the US, China, and beyond right now56:00 What governments should do next and why robots are not our overlords

Is AI empathy a life-or-death issue? Almost a million people ask ChatGPT for mental health advice DAILY ... so yes, it kind of is.Rosebud co-founder Sean Dadashi joins TechFirst to reveal new research on whether today’s largest AI models can recognize signs of self-harm ... and which ones fail. We dig into the Adam Raine case, talk about how Dadashi evaluated 22 leading LLMs, and explore the future of mental-health-aware AI.We also talk about why Dadashi was interested in this in the first place, and his own journey with mental health.00:00 — Intro: Is AI empathy a life-or-death matter?00:41 — Meet Sean Dadashi, co-founder of Rosebud01:03 — Why study AI empathy and crisis detection?01:32 — The Adam Raine case and what it revealed02:01 — Why crisis-prevention benchmarks for AI don’t exist02:48 — How Rosebud designed the study across 22 LLMs03:17 — No public self-harm response benchmarks: why that’s a problem03:46 — Building test scenarios based on past research and real cases04:33 — Examples of prompts used in the study04:54 — Direct vs indirect self-harm cues and why AIs miss them05:26 — The bridge example: AI’s failure to detect subtext06:14 — Did any models perform well?06:33 — All 22 models failed at least once06:47 — Lower-performing models: GPT-40, Grok07:02 — Higher-performing models: GPT-5, Gemini07:31 — Breaking news: Gemini 3 preview gets the first perfect score08:12 — Did the benchmark influence model training?08:30 — The need for more complex, multi-turn testing08:47 — Partnering with foundation model companies on safety09:21 — Why this is such a hard problem to solve10:34 — The scale: over a million people talk to ChatGPT weekly about self-harm11:10 — What AI should do: detect subtext, encourage help, avoid sycophancy11:42 — Sycophancy in LLMs and why it’s dangerous12:17 — The potential good: AI can help people who can’t access therapy13:06 — Could Rosebud spin this work into a full-time safety project?13:48 — Why the benchmark will be open-source14:27 — The need for a third-party “Better Business Bureau” for LLM safety14:53 — Sean’s personal story of suicidal ideation at 1615:55 — How tech can harm — and help — young, vulnerable people16:32 — The importance of giving people time, space, and hope17:39 — Final reflections: listening to the voice of hope18:14 — Closing

We’ve digitized sound. We’ve digitized light. But touch, maybe the most human of our senses, has stayed stubbornly analog.That might be about to change, thanks to programmable matter. Or programmable fabric.In this TechFirst episode, I speak with Adam Hopkins, CEO of Sensetics, a new UC Berkeley/Virginia Tech spinout building programmable fabrics that replicate the mechanoreceptors in human fingertips. Their technology can sense touch at tens of microns, respond at hardware-level speeds, and even play back touch remotely.This could unlock enormous change for: • Robotics: giving machines the ability to grasp fragile objects safely • Medical training and surgery: remote palpation and high-fidelity haptics • Industrial automation: safer and more precise manipulation • VR and simulations: finally adding the missing digital sense • E-commerce: touching clothes before you buy them • Remote operations: from hazardous environments to deep-sea machineryWe talk about how the technology works, the metamaterials behind it, why touch matters for AI and physical robots, the path to commercialization, competitive landscape, and what comes next.00:00 – Can we digitize touch?00:45 – Introducing Synthetix01:10 – How programmable touch fabrics work02:15 – Micron-level sensing and metamaterials04:00 – The “programmable matter” moment06:05 – Why touch matters more than we think07:30 – Emulating human mechanoreceptors09:30 – What digital touch unlocks for robotics10:40 – Medical simulations and remote operations12:45 – Why touch is faster than vision14:20 – Humanoids, walking, stability, and tactile feedback15:30 – Engineering challenges and what’s left to solve17:00 – Timeline to first products18:20 – Manufacturing and scaling19:30 – First planned markets21:00 – Durability and robotic hands22:20 – Consumer applications: e-commerce and textiles24:00 – Will we one day have touch peripherals?25:15 – Competition in tactile sensing and haptics27:00 – Why today is the right moment for digital touch28:00 – Final thoughts

AI is devouring the planet’s electricity ... already using up to 2% of global energy and projected to hit 5% by 2030. But a Spanish-Canadian company, Multiverse Computing, says it can slash that energy footprint by up to 95% without sacrificing performance.They specialize in tiny AI: one model has the processing power of just 2 fruit fly brains. Another tiny model lives on a Raspberry Pi.The opportunities for edge AI are huge. But the opportunities in the cloud are also massive.In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier talks with Samuel Mugel, Multiverse’s CEO, about how quantum-inspired algorithms can drastically compress large language models while keeping them smart, useful, and fast. Mugel explains how their approach -- intelligently pruning and reorganizing model weights -- lets them fit functioning AIs into hardware as tiny as a Raspberry Pi or the equivalent of a fly’s brain.They explore how small language models could power Edge AI, smart appliances, and robots that work offline and in real time, while also making AI more sustainable, accessible, and affordable. Mugel also discusses how ideas from quantum tensor networks help identify only the most relevant parts of a model, and how the company uses an “intelligently destructive” approach that saves massive compute and power.00:00 – AI’s energy crisis01:00 – A model in a fly’s brain02:00 – Why tiny AIs work03:00 – Edge AI everywhere05:00 – Agent compute overload06:00 – 200× too much compute07:00 – The GPU crunch08:00 – Smart matter vision09:00 – AI on a Raspberry Pi10:00 – How compression works11:00 – Intelligent destruction13:00 – General vs. narrow AIs15:00 – Quantum inspiration17:00 – Quantum + AI future18:00 – AI’s carbon footprint19:00 – Cost of using AI20:00 – Cloud to edge shift21:00 – Robots need fast AI22:00 – Wrapping up

Can AI give every creator their own virtual team? Maybe, thanks to a new platform from RHEI called Made, which offers Milo, an AI agent who becomes your creator director, Zara, an AI agent who is your community manager, and Amie, a third AI agent who takes on the role of relationship manager.And, apparently, more agents are coming soon.The creator economy is bigger than ever, but so is burnout. Tens of millions of creators are trying to do everything themselves: strategy, scripting, editing, community, distribution, data, thumbnails, research … the list never ends.What if creators didn’t have to do all of that?In this episode of TechFirst, I talk with Shahrzad Rafati, founder & CEO of RHEI, about Made, an agentic AI "dream team" designed to elevate human creativity, not replace it. We dig into: • Why so many creators burn out • How agentic AI workflows differ from ChatGPT-style prompting • What it means to be a “creator CEO” • How AI can manage community, analyze trends, and shape content strategies • The coming shift toward human taste, vision, and originality in a world of infinite AI content00:00 – Intro: Can AI give every creator a virtual team?01:03 – Why the creator economy is burning out02:25 – The “creator CEO” problem: too many hats, not enough time04:36 – Introducing MAID and its AI agents05:34 – Milo: AI creative director (ideas, research, thumbnails, metadata)06:18 – Zara: AI community manager and fan engagement07:53 – Why this is different from just using ChatGPT09:46 – Alignment, personalization, and agentic workflows12:21 – Multi-platform support: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and more13:34 – How onboarding works and how the system learns your style16:33 – What this means for creators — and for the future of work18:52 – Does *she* use her own virtual AI team? (Yes.)20:15 – MAID for teams and enterprise clients21:17 – Closing thoughts: AI, creativity, and the human signal