Ft Tech Tonic

A bonus episode of Tech Tonic featuring a full, unedited interview between John Thornhill, FT innovation editor, and Chris Dixon, head of Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund. This bonus episode is part of the latest Tech Tonic series, which covers crypto and blockchain technology. You can listen to the second episode of the series, presented by Jemima Kelly and featuring Chris Dixon as well as Web3 critic Molly White, here. Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technologyThe FT’s Cryptofinance Hub is at https://www.ft.com/cryptofinance For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsalePresented by Jemima Kelly. Special thanks to John Thornhill. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Our GDPR privacy policy was up

In the second episode of the latest season of Tech Tonic, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly tries to understand why an influential Silicon Valley investment firm thinks that Web3 is a good bet. Will blockchain technology really be the foundation of a new internet era? Is Web3’s promise to decentralise the internet going to pose a challenge to companies such as Facebook and Twitter? The FT’s innovation editor John Thornhill interviews Chris Dixon, head of Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, and Jemima talks to Molly White, author of the Web3 Is Going Just Great blog.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsalePresented by Jemima Kelly. Special thanks to John Thornhill. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.News

A new season of Tech Tonic asks whether crypto and its supporting technology - the blockchain - have a future following a market crash. In the first episode of this five-part series, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly casts a sceptical eye on what led to the boom in digital assets and their subsequent collapse. She assesses the damage with the FT’s digital assets correspondent Scott Chipolina, and hears from big-time bitcoin investor Michael Saylor, Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer, and crypto YouTuber, Wajahat Mughal.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technologyThe FT’s Cryptofinance Hub is at https://www.ft.com/cryptofinance Scott Chipolina’s reporting can be found at https://www.ft.com/scott-chipolina For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsalePresented by Jemima Kelly. Special thanks to Scott Chipolina. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound

Even after the crypto markets crashed this year, there are still a number of people who believe there’s a future for digital assets and blockchain technology. FT columnist and avowed crypto sceptic, Jemima Kelly, isn't so sure. On this season's Tech Tonic, she takes a trip deep into cryptoland to hear from critics, converts and hardcore believers to find out whether crypto technology has a future.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technologyPresented by Jemima Kelly. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Financial Times reporter Patricia Nilsson started digging into the porn industry, she made a shocking discovery: nobody knew who controlled the biggest porn company in the world. Now, Nilsson and her editor, Alex Barker, reveal who is behind it and much more. This eight-part investigative podcast, published weekly, reveals the secret history of the adult business and the billionaires and financial institutions who shape it.Subscribe and listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Behind the Money is back with all-new episodes! From hostile takeovers to C-suite intrigue, Behind the Money takes you inside the business and financial stories of the moment with reporting from Financial Times journalists around the world. The podcast returns May 25. You can follow the show now! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the final episode of this season of Tech Tonic, we ask if the growing tensions between the US and China could split the world into two competing technological spheres. It has been dubbed 'the great decoupling'. Some in the US want to see Chinese companies cut off from American investment, while hawkish factions in China have been fighting for a more self-sufficient and nationalistic tech sector. But what would decoupling really look like? And is it even possible? Presented by James Kynge, this episode features interviews with Lillian Li (author of Chinese Characteristics newsletter), Paul Triolo (senior vice-president of Albright Stonebridge Group), Roger Robinson Jr (president and founder of RWR Advisory) and Kevin Rudd (former prime minister of Australia and president of the Asia Society) Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd check out FT Edit, the new

In this episode, how a mysterious death in Belgrade prompted Serbia to embrace Chinese surveillance technology, raising concerns among Serbian human rights and privacy activists. They’ve been fighting back against the Serbian government’s use of Huawei facial recognition tech in public spaces. But Serbia is just one of many countries around the world that’s adopted this cutting-edge Chinese mass monitoring equipment. What does it tell us about the spread of Chinese influence around the world?Presented by James Kynge, this episode features interviews with Danilo Krivokapic (director, Share Foundation), Andrej Petrovski (director of tech, Share Foundation), Stefan Vladisavljev (programme co-ordinator, Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence), Wang Huiyao (director, Beijing Center for Globalisation) and Wawa Wang (director, Just Finance).Read James Kynge, Valerie Hopkins, Helen Warrell and Kathrin Hille’s previous reporting on Chinese surveillance tech in the Balkans: https://www.ft.com/content/76fdac7c-7076-47a4

In the latest episode of this Tech Tonic season about US-China tech rivalry, the FT’s US-China correspondent Demetri Sevastopulo tells the inside story of his scoop on China’s secret hypersonic weapon test and how it changed geopolitics. We hear about the new space race between China and the US, including powerful satellite-destroying missiles and the pursuit of commercial space capabilities. Could China and the US ever co-operate on space exploration or are we seeing the dawn of a new space race?Presented by James Kynge, the FT’s global China editor, this episode features interviews with US congressman Mike Gallagher; Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technologyFor a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd check out FT Edit, the new iPhone app that shares the

How China's growing appetite for computer chips has put Taiwan on the frontline of the US-China battle for global technological supremacy. In this latest episode of the new Tech Tonic season, James Kynge, the FT's global China editor, takes a deep dive into the semiconductor industry and Taiwan’s unique position as a bastion of computer-chip talent. We hear from Chad Duffy, a Taipei-based cybersecurity expert who helped uncover a major hack on Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers. James talks to Dan Wang, an analyst with the Shanghai-based Gavekal Dragonomics, about China’s chip strategy, and Stephen Orlins, a rare dissenting voice in Washington who questions the efficacy of a US blacklist of Chinese tech companies desperate for US-designed chips. Plus, Annie Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, who cover the semiconductor industry for Nikkei Asia, give us the inside track on how China has been scooping up Taiwanese semiconductor engineers.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at

In the second episode of this season of Tech Tonic, James Kynge, the FT’s Global China Editor, asks how significant Chinese intellectual property theft has been to the country’s rise as a global tech superpower.We hear from an FBI agent based in Silicon Valley whose job is to prevent the theft of trade secrets, and ask whether China’s ‘talent programmes’, under which Beijing funds scientists and engineers around the world, are actually spy recruitment networks or whether they are genuine attempts to lure home professionals and plug China’s talent gap. Experts are warning the growing distrust between the US and China could put the future of scientific and technological exchange at risk.Featuring interviews with Nick Shenkin, FBI special agent and director of the Strategic Technology Task Force for the FBI's San Francisco field office; an interview between the FT's Demetri Sevastopulo and Michael Orlando, acting director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center; Rui Ma, China tech analyst and

In the first episode of this season’s six-part series, the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge tracks China’s dramatic transformation from the manufacturing workshop of the world to the next global superpower. The driver of that change is technology, sparking a battle between China and the US over who will dominate. Numerous ethnic Chinese scientists working in the US have found themselves ensnared in this bitter rivalry, including US-based physics professor Xiaoxing Xi, wrongly accused of industrial espionage, amid accusations that China’s tech prowess has been built on the theft of US innovation. How deep is the rift between the two countries over tech and what does that mean for the world?Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at ft.com/technologyGet a discounted FT subscription at ft.com/techtonicsalePresented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with origin

A new six-part series of Tech Tonic brings you stories from the frontlines of the battle between the US and China for global technological supremacy. At stake is the future of technologies that will shape all our lives, from the way the internet is used to the way we govern our societies. Join the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge as he charts China’s dramatic transformation into a global tech superpower, sparking rivalry with the US over who controls our technological future.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the Technology team at  ft.com/technologyGet 50% off an FT subscription at ft.com/briefingsalePresented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is assistant producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Last year, the Pentagon watched closely as a human fighter pilot lost to an AI-powered adversary in a simulated dogfight. The US military is working to innovate faster as technology changes the nature of warfare. But many worry it has already fallen behind its main adversary, China. What does AI mean for military might, and how are debates over autonomous weapons unfolding in diplomatic backchannels? In the final episode of this season's Tech Tonic, FT innovation editor John Thornhill is joined by US-China correspondent Demetri Sevastopulo for a dive into military AI. We hear from Colonel Daniel “Animal” Javorsek, former deputy defence secretary Robert O Work, Elsa B Kania of the Center for a New American Security, and David Edelman, who works on AI and public policy at MIT.Alice Fordham is senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. Cheryl Brumley is the executive producer for this series.

In this episode of Tech Tonic, we ask whether AI's potential in the fight against the climate crisis justifies the massive amounts of energy it takes to run these systems. The computing power required to train AI concerns some researchers, who have built a calculator to count the tech's carbon footprint. But AI advances have also opened new avenues to fight climate change, by helping Arctic scientists, weather modellers, and green energy gurus. This week the FT’s innovation editor John Thornhill and environment and clean energy correspondent Leslie Hook, debate AI’s climate effects. We also hear from Jennifer Jackson, a molecular biologist at the British Antarctic Survey, and Sasha Luccioni, an AI researcher at Mila research institute in Quebec. Alice Fordham is the senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is the assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. Cheryl Brumley is the executive producer for this series. Hydrophonic rec

From picking the best stocks to listening in on earnings calls, AI-powered systems are changing finance. But how big are the rewards, really? And what are the risks? In this episode Robin Wigglesworth tells us how AI has been used in investing, what happens when programs must adapt to new risks and what the robots could learn from watching children play. Hosted by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times, and featuring Luke Ellis (chief executive of Man Group), Ewan Kirk (founder of Cantab Capital Partners and chairman of Deeptech Labs), Andrew Ng (founder of DeepLearning.AI and co-founder of Google Brain), and Alison Gopnik (professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley).Alice Fordham is senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. Cheryl

What does it mean for AI to augment human perception? In this episode the FT’s Madhumita Murgia takes us to a small village in rural India where AI is being used to help doctors better diagnose tuberculosis and looks at a healthcare system where it is helping patients who doctors may have overlooked.Alice Fordham is senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Sean McGarrity. Cheryl Brumley is the executive producer for this series. You heard the song Down in the Coalmine by The Ian Campbell Folk Group, as well as original scoring composed by Metaphor Music.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this first episode of ourselves five-part series on AI, the FT’s innovation editor and host John Thornhill talks to some of the biggest names in AI research including the CEO of Google's DeepMind Demis Hassabis. He explores some of the latest innovations and asks a core question: will AI live up to its promise or succumb to its pitfalls? Alice Fordham is senior producer. Josh Gabert Doyon is assistant producer. Oluwakemi Aladesuyi and Liam Nolan are the development producers. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. Cheryl Brumley is the executive producer for this series. Original scoring was composed by Metaphor Music. Review clips: Columbia Workshop/CBS, Charlie Rose, WPIX, Electronic Arts, DeepMind. When asked for comment on claims made by Margaret Mitchell in the show, a Google spokesperson said: “After conducting a review of this manager [Margaret Mitchell]’s conduct, we confirmed that there were multiple violations of our code of conduct, as well as of our security policies, whic

There is a huge amount of hype surrounding AI. It powers technology that can detect disease through scent, translate between languages in milliseconds, and write music almost as good as Bach. Yet this vast potential also stirs a great deal of fear. The power of AI is used to develop weapons and increase surveillance. We unwittingly encode our biases into its systems. The question of who is crafting AI and for what becomes increasingly important. Season two of Tech Tonic, explores the philosophical, ethical and technological cruxes of AI’s ever expanding role in medical research, modern warfare and investments. FT innovation editor John Thornhill and FT journalists take the listener on a journey through Google DeepMind’s turbo-powered scientific discoveries, to a hospital in rural India.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The digital revolution will be shaped by whoever controls our data. What does this mean for consumers and businesses? Tim Bradshaw, the FT’s global tech correspondent, looks at the increasing power of ecommerce giants. The idea of a few big companies controlling the market is an uneasy one for many so has the pandemic finally created the impetus to rein in the power of Big Tech? Hosted by the FT’s innovation editor, John Thornhill.Produced by Camille Petersen. Sound design and mixing by Breen Turner. The executive producers are Cheryl Brumley and Liam Nolan. Review clips: C-SPAN, Reuters, US Department of Justice, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institution.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.