The Times Tech Podcast
The Sunday Times
From Silicon Valley to The City, tech journalists Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott bring you the inside track on the new industrial revolution.Co-hosted from San Francisco and London, this weekly podcast delivers the latest news and freshest interviews with the people creating the future.As West Coast Correspondent for The Sunday Times, Danny is on the ground to witness the technological whirlwind that first roared out Silicon Valley. From London, working as The Times' Technology Business Editor, Katie has seen the waves of boom and bust rolling through one of the world's financial capitals. Together they explore this strange new world of high finance and tech giants, explaining how we got here and what is just around the corner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 29, 2024 • 44min
Replika’s Eugenia Kuyda: “Your AI soulmate”
The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Eugenia Kyuda, founder of Replika, to talk about AI friends (4:00), growing up in Russia (6:45), her dad’s experience at Chernobyl (9:00), applying to Y Combinator (12:30), her first idea that didn’t work (16:30), losing her best friend (17:30), launching Replika (20:00), building a bot with pre-written answers (23:40), the key to good conversation (24:30), the bot before the ChatGPT moment (27:15), the changing AI landscape (29:20), how it works (31:50), securing people's secrets (33:50), and disrupting death (39:10). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 22, 2024 • 43min
Perplexity.ai’s Dmitry Shevelenko: “The battle for the front page of the Internet”
The Sunday Times; tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Dmitry Shevelenko of Perplexity.ai, to talk about finding the company though the Uber mafia (5:00), taking on Google (6:30), the founders' start as AI researchers (8:45), why he joined (11:35), what he did before this (17:00), closing his startup (20:15), hypergrowth lessons (24:40), the business model (28:00), the Gemini disaster (32:35), and doing it differently (36:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 15, 2024 • 44min
Eion's Ana Pavlovic Hans: “Rocks that clean up the planet”
Ana Pavlovic Hans talks about using rocks to cut carbon, improving the 'recipe' for rock weathering, partnership with Stripe, raising $12 million, and shares critter stories from Australia. They discuss making rock weathering 'sexy,' the breakthrough in measurement, and bringing down costs for a sustainable future.
Mar 8, 2024 • 51min
Andreessen Horowitz's Chris Dixon: "Back to the future of the Internet"
The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to talk about writing a book on blockchain and crypto (4:00), why it’s still early (9:30), NFT’s (14:30), the computer versus the casino (18:30), boom and bust (23:00), his vision for a blockchain-based web (27:15), the rise of a new social media model (32:30), overcoming inertia (39:20), bitcoin v everything else (42:10), central bank digital currencies (44:00), and the ethereum economy (48:50). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 1, 2024 • 39min
Pachama's Diego Saez Gil: "Building software to save nature"
Diego Saez Gil discusses founding Pachama for carbon reduction, AI tools for climate projects, net zero pledges, raising $90 million, and surviving a house fire linked to climate change.
Feb 23, 2024 • 45min
Expensify's David Barrett: "Venture capital is a scam”
The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on David Barrett, founder of Expensify, to talk about creating a “remote-first” company (3:15), the lounge (6:45), the return-to-office movement (14:15), going public and then getting its shares smashed (17:15), why venture capital is a scam (23:30), why he likes public market investors (30:25), keeping people happy when shares lose 95% of their value (33:35), and the artificial intelligence boom (35:25). PLUS: The link to our previous episode with Delian Asparouhov, founder of Varda, whose space-factory startup just had its first craft land safely back to earth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 16, 2024 • 50min
Climactic's Raj Kapoor: "We need 1,000 climate tech unicorns"
Raj Kapoor, co-founder of Climactic, discusses growing up in Pennsylvania, his early days in Silicon Valley, joining Lyft, and using software to cut emissions. They also talk about self-driving cars, raising funds at Climactic, and remaking the electric grid.
Feb 9, 2024 • 47min
The Hacking Games' Fergus Hay: "Most hackers are kids"
The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Fergus Hay, founder of The Hacking Games, to talk about why he started the company (5:00), the difference between the real and online worlds (9:30), why everyone gets caught (15:15), his plan for a documentary and television series (21:00), the Hollywood angle (25:45), making hacking sexy (30:30), the cybersecurity industry’s stance on hackers (35:05), how much of cybercrime is invisible (40:45), and reaching young people (44:10). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 2, 2024 • 49min
Investing in Us’ Dmitri Mehlhorn: “Tech and America’s $30bn election year”
The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Dmitri Mehlhorn to talk about Investing in Us (4:45), what it invests in (7:30), funneling cash into election groups (13:20), why America’s election will be decided by the finest of margins (16:50), how artificial intelligence fits with democracy (21:15), the dangers (26:05), Silicon Valley’s attitude to politics (32:50), what works when it comes to changing people’s minds (37:30), why age might not be Joe Biden’s biggest problem (41:40), and a terrifying thought experiment (45:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 26, 2024 • 1h 5min
Longevity enthusiast Bryan Johnson
A throwback conversation with Bryan Johnson, a billionaire techie turned longevity enthusiast who goes to extreme measures to "reverse" his age. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
