The Times Tech Podcast

Hosted by The Sunday Times

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471

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Jun 2026

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About the show

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.

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June 11, 202637 min

Anthropic's warning: AI will start building itself

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.ukProducer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 11, 202622 min

How to turn AI pilots into real business value

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 4, 202647 min

Move over Harvey Specter! The rise of AI lawyers

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.ukProducer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: GettyRead more: ‘Big Law’ is leaning in to AI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 28, 202634 min

Why the Pope is taking on Silicon Valley and AI

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

May 21, 202636 min

Inside Elon Musk’s trillion dollar mission to colonise Mars

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.ukProducer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 14, 202637 min

The incredible stakes of Elon Musk's trial against OpenAI

Sam Altman took the stand this week to defend himself and his company against a lawsuit by Elon Musk. The three-week long trial has featured some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, including Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI cofounder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. As the trial nears its end, Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott talk about why the stakes are so high and debate whether this is a case of sour grapes, or if OpenAI did actually “steal a charity” from Musk. Plus, the founder of Raspberry Pi on the future of AI and how he feels about his microcomputer being used to power AI agents such as OpenClaw.Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.ukProducer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 7, 202639 min

Elon Musk vs OpenAI and the Met Gala tech takeover

The Met Gala has been dubbed the “Tech Gala” after a heavy Silicon Valley presence and sponsorship from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. But as tech billionaires try to win over culture, Elon Musk’s court battle with OpenAI is exposing the messy origins of the AI boom.Danny Fortson has been covering the California trial, now in its second week, where OpenAI president Greg Brockman has taken the stand. He and Katie Prescott discuss Big Tech’s cultural rebrand, the courtroom drama, and why companies from Coinbase to Meta are increasingly linking layoffs and restructuring to AI. Plus, Bebo co-founder Michael Birch on relaunching the social network and why he thinks AI could become an existential threat.Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.ukProducer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 30, 202642 min

AI in security and defence: is tech making us safer?

Alphabet, Google's parent company, has reportedly signed a deal allowing the Pentagon use of its AI for classified purposes. It's just one of many recent deals between Silicon Valley tech companies and the US military. Meanwhile, tech company Palantir says future AI warfare is inevitable and is calling on big tech bosses to "participate in the defence of the nation". Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss this cultural shift, and whether AI is actually making us safer or enabling the rise of the ‘Big Brother’ state. Plus, Julian Cracknell, CTO of defence company BAE Systems, talks about the future of defence and killer robots. Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.ukProducer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 23, 202640 min

How to build your AI agent

Meet Norman: the launch of the OpenClaw AI agent has "opened the next frontier of AI to everyone" says Jensen Huang, chief exec of the tech giant Nvidia. But as these agents start doing work that once got done by humans, this latest technological revolution has provoked questions about what the future of human work - and jobs - will look like. Katie Prescott has built her own agent, Norman, and in this episode she talks Danny Fortson through the pros and cons of having your very own digital butler.Plus, Box CEO Aaron Levie says there will soon be more AI agents than humans, and that the internet will have to be redesigned for them, not people.Do you have an AI agent? Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.ukRead more: AI agents are everywhere, but paying for them is becoming a problemProducer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka DeladiaImage: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 16, 202638 min

Is AI anxiety fuelling real world hostility?

The race among top AI companies to build ever more powerful systems is accelerating, and so are fears about losing control. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is at the centre of the debate, which came to a head last week after the New Yorker released an investigation about him, and a series of attacks took place near his home. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott discuss how we got here and why Altman is becoming the face of global anxiety about AI. Plus, Bobby Healy of Manna Air Delivery on robotic dogs and drones delivering coffee in Dublin.Would you use a drone for parcel delivery? Get in touch techpod@thetimes.co.uk Image: Getty Producer: Marnie DukeExecutive Producer: Priyanka Deladia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.