The Times Tech Podcast
Wireless Group
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.
Location:
United Kingdom
Description:
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.
Twitter:
@dannyfortson
Language:
English
Contact:
415-271-1009
Episodes
Equinix CEO Adaire Fox-Martin on AI’s growing demands on data centres
10/2/2025
Danny and Katie look at California’s new AI safety law, OpenAI’s in-chat checkout, and the rise of AI “actors”, and how it all depends on one thing – data centres, the hidden plumbing of the internet. They’re joined by Adaire Fox-Martin, CEO of Equinix, which runs the giant facilities where the world’s data lives, to explain how the company is racing to keep up with demand and why it plans to add as much capacity in the next five years as it did in the past 27. But with soaring energy use and limited space, can the industry keep pace?
Image: Jack Taylor/The Times
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Duration:00:44:33
'Smart thinking about energy and tech for small businesses'
9/29/2025
In this bonus edition of the Times Tech Podcast we have teamed up with Smart Energy GB for a look at what smart meters can do for small businesses. There is more to Tech than AI, and sometimes the most important tech developments are about getting the basics right. Katie Prescott has been talking to one small business in the North of England, and to an academic expert who has been studying what we now know about how energy use and running any small business go hand in hand.
This is a paid for edition in partnership with Smart Energy GB.
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Duration:00:14:10
Yahoo's CEO on the new challenges for the internet pioneer
9/25/2025
Danny and Katie are joined by Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone to dive into the company’s journey — from its rise as an internet pioneer to its reinvention in the age of AI, as he shares details of his plans for the 30-year-old tech brand, and what the relationship needs to be between AI and Yahoo's content. Plus, Danny and Katie unpack the latest in AI’s breakneck growth, including Nvidia’s $100 billion deal with OpenAI.
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Duration:00:37:00
What the £31 billion UK-US tech deal really means
9/18/2025
Is Britain in a "Goldilocks" moment for AI? US President Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain brought more than pomp and ceremony. American tech giants pledged £31 billion in AI and data centre investment, from Nvidia’s 120,000 processors to Microsoft’s GDP-boosting promises. Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott unpack what the new UK-US “tech prosperity deal” really means, and speak with one of the investors – CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator and CBO Mike Mattacola about their £1.5 billion UK expansion.
Image: Getty
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Duration:00:42:59
Vibe coding with Lovable's CEO Anton Osika
9/11/2025
Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott sit down with Loveable AI CEO Anton Osika, fresh off a $200m raise at a $1.8bn valuation. They dig into “vibe coding,” and why he thinks Loveable could be the “last piece of software” for building websites and apps. Plus, Danny gets tips for his masterpiece game – Meatball Mania.
Image: Jack Hill/The Times
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Duration:00:37:18
Sage CEO on the future of work & Stanford’s big study on AI and jobs
9/4/2025
Danny and Katie tackle Google's antitrust win, TikTok job cuts and a new Stanford research on how AI is reshaping entry-level roles. Plus, Katie speaks to Steve Hare, CEO of Sage, the FTSE 100 accounting software company, to discuss AI’s impact on hiring, the limits of “copilot” tools, and why Britain needs more homegrown tech champions so he can have 'some friends'.
Image: Getty
Further listening:
Perplexity CEO on Chrome, AI and challenging the tech giants
An AI-induced recession on the horizon? Klarna's CEO thinks so
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Duration:00:42:56
AMD CEO Lisa Su on the AI chip race and Nvidia
8/28/2025
Katie and Danny unpack Nvidia's $47 billion second-quarter revenue – more than it made in all of 2023. But can anyone challenge its dominance? Danny interviews AMD’s Lisa Su, head of the American chipmaker that designs the processors powering everything from PCs to data centres, about the company’s turnaround, China, and whether Nvidia’s crown is within reach.
Image: Getty
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Duration:00:46:18
Perplexity CEO on Chrome, AI and challenging the tech giants
8/22/2025
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas explains his bold $35 billon bid for Google Chrome and why he thinks the startup can take on tech giants. Was it a PR stunt or a serious move? Danny puts that to him directly, and they talk about how Perplexity hopes to reshape the internet. Plus, Danny and Katie unpack the complicated geo-politics of semiconductors.
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Duration:00:53:50
The race for quantum supremacy
8/14/2025
Katie is joined by Niccolo de Masi, the CEO of US quantum computing firm IonQ, to chat about the future of quantum and their acquisition of the British firm Oxford Ionics. And as Katie and Danny are reunited they discuss Katie's new smart glasses, NVIDIA's US deal to sell chips to China, and an AI startup's exceptionally bold $34.5bn bid to buy Google Chrome.
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Duration:00:48:33
Lawyers and the AI revolution
8/6/2025
AI is coming to the legal world. Danny Fortson talks to Eleanor Lightbody, the chief executive of Luminance, a UK startup using artificial intelligence to automate and augment legal work. So is there to be a looming “white collar recession” or will we be able to have more time for thinking afresh about the law and other professions? Hear how AI is transforming contract review, and the future of the legal profession. Plus, why AI adoption is surging. what happens when AI makes mistakes, and how to avoid over-reliance on a single AI model: A fascinating insight into the practicalities of AI adoption.
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Duration:00:32:37
The man behind the NHS mental health bot
7/31/2025
AI chatbots are being used by millions. But are they safe? Danny Fortson speaks to Ross Harper, the co-founder and CEO of Limbic AI, a company which has developed artificial intelligence software which can be used clinically as part of mental health treatment. Limbic is now used in 50% of NHS trusts, and has its eye on being used in all 50 States by the end of 2025. They talk about the future - and the reckoning he thinks is coming for wellness apps. Plus the Times' US business editor Louisa Clarence-Smith joins Danny to talk about the Figma IPO and the backlash to the UK's Online Safety Act.
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Duration:00:39:50
How big does a supercomputer need to be really
7/24/2025
Danny is joined by the Times' Technology correspondent Mark Sellman whio has been spending time with the UK's newest supercomputer, Isambard AI, which has become the world's 11th most powerful supercomputer and could be used to develop British LLMs (Large Language Models). Plus, flirtatious or insulting AI companions, and a government plan to ban businesses from paying hackers ransoms.
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Duration:00:39:21
Can an AI scientist solve humanity's problems?
7/17/2025
Danny goes solo this week, in old-school Danny in the Valley style. He speaks to Sam Rodriques, the founder and CEO of FutureHouse – a non-profit organisation developing AI scientists that could revolutionise human discovery. Plus, he rounds up the week in tech – from NVIDIA’s chips making a return to China, to Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious plan to build data centres the size of Manhattan.
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Duration:00:33:54
Linda Yaccarino’s X exit & Figma files for IPO
7/10/2025
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!
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Duration:00:48:00
Can a driverless car really cope with London traffic & is the big AI bromance over?
7/3/2025
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
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Duration:00:45:37
Sometimes I look into your eyes
6/26/2025
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.
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Duration:00:41:44
Mistral AI: Europe's answer to Silicon Valley?
6/19/2025
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?
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Duration:00:35:35
Tech's rising stars?
6/13/2025
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!
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Duration:00:36:31
An AI-induced recession on the horizon? Klarna's CEO thinks so
6/5/2025
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
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Duration:00:38:30
OpenAI's iPhone moment & can AI teach?
5/29/2025
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
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Duration:00:46:13