Times Tech

Five years after leaking thousands of internal Facebook documents, whistleblower Frances Haugen joins Times Tech to talk about The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s new film about her story and the sequel to The Social Network.

She talks about Hollywood’s current obsession with Silicon Valley, how attitudes towards Big Tech have changed since she blew the whistle and what Mark Zuckerberg, Meta and today’s AI companies can learn from the social media era.

The Interview is our weekly conversation with the people shaping the future of technology.

Watch on YouTube
Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk
Presenters:
Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times
Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times
Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Image: Getty
Clip: NBC News
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AI companies are investigating a growing number of incidents where agents have gone rogue and done things which would be considered crimes if committed by a human. But when AI causes serious damage, who is responsible and crucially, who pays?

Katie’s been speaking to London’s major insurers who have been war-gaming scenarios where AI causes harm and asking who would ultimately pick up the bill.

This week, Yoshua Bengio, chair of the International AI Safety Report said that a “dangerous myth” about agent hacks has gained traction. He warned that these aren't just cybersecurity glitches but a bigger problem built into how we design and train AI. Danny and Katie ask whether he’s right, and if AI hacks like Hugging Face can be avoided in the future.

Plus, they discuss the unexpected consequences of Trump’s new ‘super intelligence’ rebrand and why a spelling mistake in his AI pact with tech leaders has made the internet laugh.

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Read more: Who will put the brake on AI? Count on lawyers and underwriters
Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk
Presenters:
Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times
Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times
Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Image: Getty
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of The Times Tech Podcast is in paid partnership with ServiceNow.

How do you navigate the rapid pace of AI development in business?

With Matt Higham, ServiceNow’s chief digital and technology officer for UK and Ireland, we ask how companies can use AI governance to dodge the pitfalls thrown up by AI, and embrace the opportunities safely.
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This week, Danny speaks to Amjad Masad, co-founder and CEO of Replit, a ‘vibe-coding’ company which enables anyone – coder or not – to build software simply by telling AI what they want it to do.

Amjad makes the case that we’ve lost the original joy of computing, leaving everyday users "at the mercy" of Silicon Valley giants.

He also pushes back on the current wave of AI doomerism, arguing that apocalyptic fears are overblown and that focus should shift toward real-world accountability, including strict penalties for companies whose AI agents go rogue.

Watch on YouTube
Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk
Presenters:
Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times
Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times
Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Image: Replit
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warnings that AI is going to kill us are once again abounding.

This week, Anthropic’s long awaited IPO prospectus was leaked. In it, the company warns that its technology poses “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity” while simultaneously asking investors to finance their $518 billion AI buildout. Danny and Katie break down the contradictions at the heart of the prospectus and question why Dario Amodei is asking investors to fund doom.

Meanwhile, amid mounting safety concerns, President Trump invited tech leaders to the White House to talk regulation. Leaders of Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI and SpaceXAI agreed to sign a voluntary self-policing pact and to rebrand AI as “super intelligence”. But when Silicon Valley sets its own rules, can we ensure they will keep us safe?

Watch on YouTube
Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk
Presenters:
Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times
Danny Fortson, US West Coast Correspondent, The Sunday Times
Producer: Marnie Duke
Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Clip: Saturday Night Live
Image: Getty
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.