Jeff Jarvis and I return for another week of AI Inside. NVIDIA and AMD get the green light to sell AI chips in China... for now! Is U.S. trade policy fueling Chinese AI innovation? Meta might someday decide to pivot from open-ish source to closed source, because dang, they are throwing serious money at superintelligence! Google’s $2.4 billion Windsurf licensing and talent grab continue to make us question if we're staring into the steely eyes of a bubble. Jeff and I round out the show by exploring the new wave of agentic AI web browsers.
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CHAPTERS:
0:00:00 - Podcast begins
0:01:06 - Nvidia and AMD Soar as Chip Trade Curbs Fall
0:03:01 - China Is Spending Billions to Become an A.I. Superpower
0:09:26 - Zuckerberg touts AI build-out, says company will spend hundreds of billions on data centers
0:11:02 - Meta’s Days of Giving Away AI for Free Are Numbered
0:14:55 - Their Water Taps Ran Dry When Meta Built Next Door
0:20:05 - Google to Pay $2.4 Billion in Deal to License Tech of Coding Startup, Hire CEO
0:21:48 - Cognition, maker of the AI coding agent Devin, acquires Windsurf
0:28:10 - Google Gemini flaw hijacks email summaries for phishing
0:34:34 - More advanced AI capabilities are coming to Search
0:41:04 - Anthropic’s Claude chatbot can now make and edit your Canva designs
0:47:18 - ChatGPT made up a product feature out of thin air, so this company created it
0:56:01 - New research centre to explore how AI can help humans ‘speak’ with pets
1:01:33 - OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome
1:04:49 - Check out Jason's Perplexity Comet video on YouTube
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1:26:34
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1:26:34
Babak Hodjat: From Siri to Multi-Agent AI
Babak Hodjat, CTO for AI at Cognizant and a pioneer behind the technology that became Siri, joins us to discuss the new era of agentic AI. We dig into his early days building natural language systems, the evolution of multi-agent architectures, and how language interfaces are shaping the future of human-AI collaboration. We also discuss the safeguards needed to ensure trust in autonomous systems, the challenge of AI’s black box, and the emerging standards for interoperability.
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Podcast begins01:45 - Introducing Babak Hodjat and his journey from Dejima to Siri02:47 - The origins of agent-based AI and early natural language systems06:21 - Language as the ultimate interface: strengths and limitations09:35 - How modern AI capabilities could have changed early voice agents13:08 - Agentic systems versus traditional APIs in enterprise tech16:10 - How Cognizant builds and deploys agent-based AI for clients18:18 - The need for interoperability and emerging agent standards20:49 - Do agents develop their own languages? Internal communication in LLMs23:01 - Multilingual models, cultural context, and emotional abstraction26:49 - Can AI truly understand meaning? Perspectives on abstraction27:50 - Safeguards, kill switches, and trust in agentic automation32:05 - Marketing, influence, and negotiation in an agent-driven world35:07 - The risks of over-trusting black box AI systems36:47 - The evolution of AI: what’s truly new versus what’s rediscovered39:26 - Thank you to Babak Hodjat for joining the AI Inside podcast
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46:33
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46:33
Perplexity's Comet Browser is Finally Here!
This week, Jason Howell and Jeff Jarvis celebrate the arrival of AI Mode for Jeff! They pick apart all of the defections taking place in AI (much of it heading right for Meta's Superintelligence lab), how AI impersonation is becoming a thing even if it isn't very successful yet, and the arrival of Perplexity's $200 per month plan that includes first dibs at their agentic Comet browser.
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Note: Time codes subject to change depending on dynamic ad insertion by the distributor.
CHAPTERS:
0:00:00 - Podcast begins
0:01:33 - Jeff finally got his AI Mode!
0:10:55 - Circle to Search Gets AI Mode, Gaming Help Arrives, and Pixel Watch Finally Gets Gemini
0:16:51 - Apple Loses Top AI Models Executive to Meta’s Hiring Spree
0:24:16 - Ilya Sutskever becomes CEO of Safe Superintelligence after Meta poached Daniel Gross
0:31:09 - xAI updated Grok to be more ‘politically incorrect’
0:35:21 - Linda Yaccarino steps down as CEO of Elon Musk’s X
0:37:34 - Fake AI voice impersonating Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacts foreign ministers and US officials
0:41:18 - OpenAI tightens the screws on security to keep away prying eyes
0:46:39 - Channel 4 to offer AI-generated ads for SMEs on its streaming service
0:52:31 - How the Owner of Hidden Valley Ranch Learned to Love AI
0:57:21 - Jeff shows off Epicure for AI-generated recipes
1:00:00 - Perplexity launches a $200 monthly subscription plan
1:00:28 - Perplexity launches Comet, an AI-powered web browser
1:04:44 - Excerpt from our interview with Babak Hodjat, co-founder of the tech driving Siri
1:12:57 - Nvidia Just Became the First Company to Hit a $4 Trillion Market Cap
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1:21:36
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1:21:36
Rishad Tobaccowala: Rethinking Work
Rishad Tobaccowala, author of "Rethinking Work" and longtime industry visionary, joins us on the AI Inside podcast to explore the seismic shifts AI is bringing to advertising and creativity. We dive into the evolution of the ad industry, the rise of outcome engines, and why agencies are more like cockroaches than dinosaurs. Rishad shares why creativity remains essential in an AI-driven world, how brands are built through emotion and storytelling, and what the future holds for both human and machine collaboration.
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Note: Time codes subject to change depending on dynamic ad insertion by the distributor.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Podcast begins
01:47 - Introducing Rishad Tobaccowala and his background
03:12 - The evolution of advertising: three connected ages
10:18 - Why agencies are survivors: cockroaches, not dinosaurs
11:11 - Challenges for agencies: outcome engines, billing models, and creativity
15:05 - The enduring value of creativity and human expression in an AI world
19:03 - How brands are built: emotion, storytelling, and the continent/world fallacy
20:53 - Rishad's conversation with Sir John Hegarty about what defines creativity
28:11 - How ad technology shifts in the wake of AI agents
33:10 - The new mass media: influencers, reaggregation, and authenticity
39:01 - Smart uses of AI in advertising today
45:41 - Will AI-generated ads via tools like Veo 3 dominate TV and media?
47:16 - The future of work: jobs vs. work in the age of AI
48:17 - Democratization of creativity and the rise of small companies
00:00 - HUGE thank you to Rishad Tobaccowala
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57:05
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57:05
Meta's Money Muscle
Jason Howell and Jeff Jarvis return for another week of AI news. We cover 1) Cloudflare launches tools for publisher control over AI crawlers 2) Creative Commons proposes dataset guidelines for AI training 3) Contradictory court rulings on AI and copyright 4) Getty Images drops claims against Stability AI in the UK 5) Senate strips federal ban on state AI regulations from tax bill 6) Meta’s superintelligence lab and the AI hiring frenzy 7) Microsoft’s new model claims breakthrough in medical diagnosis 8) MIT study questions AI’s impact on student critical thinking 9) The Velvet Sundown: is Spotify’s viral band AI-generated? 10) Preview of our interview with Rishad Tabakawala on AI’s impact on advertising.
Subscribe to the YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/@aiinsideshow
Enjoying the AI Inside podcast? Please rate us ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcatcher of choice!
Note: Time codes subject to change depending on dynamic ad insertion by the distributor.
CHAPTERS:
0:00:00 - Podcast begins
0:01:47 - Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping
0:14:14 - Creative Commons debuts CC signals, a framework for an open AI ecosystem
0:17:42 - Microsoft sued by authors over use of books in AI training
0:20:28 - Judge dismisses authors’ copyright lawsuit against Meta over AI training
0:22:36 - Getty drops key copyright claims against Stability AI, but UK lawsuit continues
0:24:55 - Senate Votes 99-1 to Strip AI Provision From Trump’s Tax Bill
0:27:55 - Adam Thierer reacts
0:33:03 -Zuckerberg Debuts Meta ‘Superintelligence’ Group, More Hires
0:35:22 - Someone has broken into our home and stolen something': An OpenAI exec on Meta's poaching spree
0:38:22 - The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence
0:41:37 - Microsoft Says Its New AI System Diagnosed Patients 4 Times More Accurately Than Human Doctors
0:44:43 - Has AI already rotted my brain?
0:55:03 - The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners
1:04:29 - Clip of upcoming interview with Rishad Tobaccowala about how AI tools like Veo 3 are reshaping ad creation and what this means for the future of advertising on TV and beyond.
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AI Inside explores the complexities of artificial intelligence and its impact on the world at large. Hosted by tech podcaster Jason Howell and media expert Jeff Jarvis, AI Inside takes a thoughtful look at the promise and challenges of AI while inviting some of the industry's most notable players and thinkers to engage in thoughtful dialogue about AI, neither overhyping its potential nor dismissing public concerns about its development. With a deep interest in AI's impacts on art and culture, Jason uses his rich experience in technology and creativity to understand its capabilities better. Jeff is a respected voice on technology's influence on media and society, thanks to his popular blog BuzzMachine and books like "The Web We Weave" and "The Gutenberg Parenthesis." Together, Jason and Jeff aim to advance public understanding of this world-changing technology at an important inflection point.