Danny In The Valley

Katie speaks to Dylan Field - the CEO of Figma. The design software firm has filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange with Dylan calling it the most ‘interesting, intense, and fun time’. Danny and Katie also talk about Linda Yaccarino resigning as CEO of X and discuss a so-called ‘Panda watch’ creeping over Silicon Valley!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie joins the CEO of Wayve, Alex Kendall, for a journey round the busy 'higgledy-piggledy' roads of London in a driverless car, to see the tech in real action. Plus a special AI news roundup on how Sam Altman & Satya Nadella's relationship may be souring; how Meta might be finding AI's best talent, and defining fair use when it comes to the training of LLMs.Have any questions, or feedback? Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny meets up with Alex Blania, the CEO and one of the co-founders, alongside Sam Altman, of Tools for Humanity. Their project Worldcoin, aims to help us weed out AI imitators by verifying humans online. All you have to do is scan your iris on one of their orbs to get a unique biometric ID and some cryptocurrency.  Danny and Katie also take on Tesla’s robotaxi rollout, and question whether it's right and proper for humans to fall in love with AI bots? Spoiler alert! The answer is probably not, for both your sakes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie speaks to Arthur Mensch, the 32 year old co-founder and CEO of Mistral AI who believes European sovereignty will be under threat if it does not gain traction in the race for AI supremacy. Plus, does Meta's $15bn investment in Scale AI suggest Mark Zuckerberg is anxious they are falling behind in that same race? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie is at 'Founders Forum' in the Oxfordshire countryside surrounded by titans from the world of tech as well as robots, flying cars, and a host of expensive gear proclaiming everlasting health. She talks to four of the 'Rising Stars' who may one day return as titans themselves - from a French startup working on robots that burrow inside your brain to AI tools creating new materials from scratch. Danny listens and is amazed - almost! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski joins the pod from the SXSW festival in London to tell the story of Klarna, the "buy now, pay later" fintech company he co-founded and currently leads. Press coverage suggests that he has gone all in on AI at the company; he claims his position is more nuanced. But what is clear, in his mind, is that an AI-induced recession may be unavoidable.Any thoughts or questions, get in touch - techpod@thetimes.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week Sam Altman announced the acquisition of Sir Jony Ive's hardware startup, io, in order to create a new class of AI-native devices. This week, Katie and Danny ask whether this could be the bet of the century and more than just an expensive video shoot. Meanwhile did Anthropic's early model show a worrying tendency to blackmail it's users? Plus, Danny speaks to the founder of a school where kids may only have to learn for 2 hours a day, maybe! All thanks to AI.Any thoughts or questions, get in touch - techpod@thetimes.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The internet, GPS, autonomous vehicles... they all have one thing in common: they're existence is in large part down to the DARPA (the US Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). And the UK is trying to repeat the success of that agency with its own: ARIA (the Advanced Research and Invention Agency). The organisation's CEO, Ilan Gur, joins Katie to discuss how. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie and Danny are joined for a conversation with Jon McNeil. For a pivotal 30 month period, Jon was President of Tesla and worked closely with Elon Musk. And also just where is the EV market currently at? Is the future of driving autonomous? And how best to invest in our AI future?Any thoughts or questions, get in touch - techpod@thetimes.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Altman wrote a letter to staff at OpenAI explaining a new structure for the company. Katie and Danny react to that and the news this week that Deliveroo had agreed to a £2.9billion takeover from DoorDash. Plus, an interview with the subject of Netflix's Tinder Swindler, who in a world of deepfakes and online scammers wants us to trust again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny's second obsession (after humanoid robots) is space, so he's been speaking to someone sending satellites into orbit. No, not Elon Musk - though naturally his plans to colonise Mars do come up. Will Marshall is the co-founder and CEO of Planet Labs, a company which provides often revealing imagery of Earth in high definition.Any thoughts or questions, get in touch - techpod@thetimes.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finally, the crypto episode is here. And after a lowdown on the vibe shift towards the industry in Washington, Katie is joined by Binance's new CEO, Richard Teng, who is tasked with making the case for the company that was beset by scandal under previous CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao “CZ”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryan Peterson is the CEO of Flexport, a company that plans and manages shipping globally. Perfectly positioned, then, to lay out the inside story on how companies have been affected by President Trump's tariffs and what happens next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if there was a device that could record every conversation, every interaction, and then transcribed your entire life? Well there is, the Pendant, and according to its creator, it isn’t like an episode of Black Mirror at all. In fact, its creator, and CEO of Limitless AI, Dan Siroker, believes it can "to free the human mind from its biological limitations". He joins the pod to speak to a sceptical Danny Fortson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been almost 20 years since Drew Houston founded Dropbox in an effort to solve the problem of forgotten USB sticks. But how is the company innovating in a now much busier market? Plus Softbank makes a $40billion investment in OpenAI, while a new book allegedly tells the inside story of Sam Altman's 2023 (temporary) dismissal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny has been delving deeper into his humanoid robot obsession as he interviews the CEO of Texas based company, Apptronik. Plus, what went wrong at 23andMe as the once buzzy biotech startup files for bankruptcy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny reports from the Nvidia GTC event. And he and Katie discuss whether some of the biggest tech companies in the US really are currently losing money. Plus, a Silicon Valley start-up, Loyal, is developing drugs to extend the lives of dogs - so just how close are they to success? It's CEO, Celine Halioua shares the latest breakthroughs and what this could mean for human longevity. (And what does this mean for Katie's tadpoles?)Clips: Nvidia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hinge CEO, Justin McLeod, joins the podcast to discuss how online dating Apps have changed dating (for good or bad) and how AI may change it even more. While Danny argues that being direct might just be better than tech! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Steiner, the CEO of Ocado, drops by the studio to discuss in detail his expectations for the future of food deliveries with the use of robotics and humanoid robots. Elsewhere, President Trump wants is making the USA the "Crypto Capital of the World". And Danny gets personal as he and Kate reminisce as Skype is "retired".  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is nuclear power the answer to energy hungry Artificial Intelligence? Matt Loszak CEO & Cofounder of Aalo Atomics thinks so. Plus, British artists send a disapproving open letter about AI to the Government, while Elon Musk sends a strongly worded email to Government employees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.