In this episode, I reflect on a whirlwind three-day visit to China - my first in over 20 years. And what I saw was remarkable. The infrastructure puts most of the West to shame. The AI isn't just hype - it's working at serious scale. And the electric vehicles? They're about to steamroll the global auto industry. Here's what really struck me during my whirlwind trip to Beijing and beyond.

In this episode you'll hear:

• Infrastructure built at speed: Beijing's immaculate airport, 300 km/h rail to Tianjin for £17, and pristine expressways that put US infrastructure to shame.
• Verticalised AI in action: While Chinese labs trail US frontier models and face compute constraints, they're excelling in verticals - profitable robotaxis in Wuhan, healthcare AI analyzing 5.5 billion medical records, and Squirrel AI's $200m education platform that outperforms China's best human teachers.
• EV cost leadership is set: Chinese electric vehicles are absolutely remarkable. Years of vicious domestic competition have created incredible innovation and cost discipline that will hit European carmakers like a sledgehammer.
• The air quality transformation: Beijing at 37°C was clean enough for a morning run, thanks to widespread EV adoption.
• Scale that defies comprehension: Convention centers 100 times the size of Union Square, cities of 20 million people, and AI platforms serving tens of millions of users.

Our new show

This was originally recorded for “Friday with Azeem Azhar”, a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through my Substack linked below.

The format is experimental and we’d love your feedback, so feel free to comment or email your thoughts to our team at live@exponentialview.co.

Azeem’s links:

• Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/
• Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar?originalSubdomain=uk
• Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Timestamps:

(00:00) Surprises at the airport

(01:21) Immense scale

(01:54) 3 areas of interest

(02:37) Chinese infrastructure and engineering

(03:22) ~180mph train, £17 fare

(04:29) Multi-lane expressways built for scale

(05:55) Development of AI in china

(06:09) China leans into vertical AI

(08:12) Apollo robotaxis: unit-cost positive

(09:33) Yidu Tech: 5.5B health records

(10:35) Squirrel AI outperforms top teachers

(14:29) EVs & clean air

(16:14) BYD x Octopus: earn by charging

(18:30) EV boom improves Beijing air

(19:56) Luxury Chinese EV interior

(21:08) Closing thoughts

Production by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd.

Broadcasting live from Paris, I tackle three massive technology stories that are reshaping our digital future. From Apple's stunning interface redesign to the collapse of traditional search advertising, and Sam Altman's vision of an AI singularity that's already begun - this episode captures the tectonic shifts happening in tech right now.

I cover:

(1:32) WWDC 2025:  Apple’s AI challenges and new UI

(6:06) The decline of Google’s ad model

(10:08) Sam Altman’s Gentle Singularity essay

(19:37) Live audience Q&A

(19:45) Is the singularity really about Altman?

(22:13) Is France carrying Europe’s AI dreams?

(24:58) Are you seeing promising AI hardware?

(27:42) How will AI change software pricing?

Our new show

This was originally recorded for “Friday with Azeem Azhar”, a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through my Substack linked below.

The format is experimental and we’d love your feedback, so feel free to comment or email your thoughts to our team at live@exponentialview.co.

Azeem’s links:

• Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/
• Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar?originalSubdomain=uk
• Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd.

This week, I'm speaking with Kevin Weil, Chief Product Officer at OpenAI, who is steering product development at what might be the world's most important company right now.

We talk about:

(00:00) Episode trailer

(01:37) OpenAI's latest launches

(03:43) What it's like being CPO of OpenAI

(04:34) How AI will reshape our lives

(07:23) How young people use AI differently

(09:29) Addressing fears about AI

(11:47) Kevin's "Oh sh!t" moment

(14:11) Why have so many models within ChatGPT?

(18:19) The unpredictability of AI product progress

(24:47) Understanding model “evals”

(27:21) How important is prompt engineering?

(29:18) Defining “AI agent”

(37:00) Why OpenAI views coding as a prime target use-case

(41:24) The "next model test” for any AI startup

(46:06) Jony Ive's role at OpenAI

(47:50) OpenAI's hardware vision

(50:41) Quickfire questions

(52:43) When will we get AGI?

Kevin's links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinweil/

Twitter/X: @kevinweil

Azeem's links:

Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/

Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar

Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Our new show:

This was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar", a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through Exponential View on Substack.

Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd.