The buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) and its wide-ranging impact is inescapable. But beyond industry disruption, what significant effects does this groundbreaking technology hold for geopolitical dynamics and conflicts? 

Joining me in this episode is Sean Gourley, a renowned scientist and founder of data and machine learning-focused startups Quid and Primer. Sean will share his profound insights on AI, exploring its potential to both benefit and harm humanity. He draws parallels between the rapid 'automation' at the turn of the last century, which was weaponized, leading to wars, and the current situation. He highlights how the stakes are now even higher, with countries like the US, China, and others vying for dominant positions in this field.

Although Sean's perspectives may not always be comforting, they offer valuable insights. A regular guest on our podcast, he joins me annually for a review of significant technology trends and developments. Sean and I have been collaborating since the late 2000s, and his ability to accurately forecast trends has been impressively precise. In other words, his insights are something I pay close attention to.

Grab a cup of coffee and tune in as we explore the dualities we've experienced during the COVID lockdowns, the apparent deficit in societal imagination posing future challenges, and the critical role of AI in shaping various aspects of our world, including the potential for either global peace or conflict.

If you're interested in the following topics, you won't want to miss this episode:

• What we've lost and gained over the past three years.
• The dangers that a lack of imagination poses to our future.
• Sean's perspective on why AI might lead to a challenging 20 to 30 years ahead.
• The global balance of power and its dependence on control over AI technologies.
• Sean's views on how China is positioning itself to gain an AI advantage.
• The influence of AI on real-world medical sciences.
• Reflecting on the kind of world we desire and the extent of our commitment to achieving it."

• WeWork

• Zoom

• Open.ai

• Sean on LinkedIn

• Om’s website: https://om.co/ 

• Om on LinkedIn

• Om on Twitter: @Om

• Om on Instagram: @Om

• Om on Threads: @Om

This conversation with my friend Reilly Brennan - a VC expert for the automotive industry, roams across a broad landscape of topics, from the beginning of Reilly’s interest in the car industry, to his assessment of the auto industry’s progress in 2023, to Reilley’s predictions for 2024, and more — but all of those topics are tied together along the theme of technology. A.I. in particular is making the opportunities in the automotive industry bigger and bolder than we’ve seen for a very long time. Listen to learn what’s going on, what may be coming down the tube, and to learn why the kind of progress that’s typically predicted takes longer than anyone ever says it will.

• How Reilly got into the car business and automobiles

• The changes TESLA has brought to the car industry in the last 10 years

• How Reilly sums up the auto industry’s progress in 2023: the craziest year

• Why do individuals need private cars in the world we live in today?

• Why Om and Reilly actually prefer automated vehicles

• How Waymo could offer its cars in a franchise approach

• Reilly’s predictions for 2024

• Uber

• Waymo

• Mobile-eye

• Invidia

• Qualcomm

• Zitara

• May Mobility

• Gattik 

• Reilly’s company: https://www.trucks.vc/

• Reilly on LinkedIn

• Om’s website: https://om.co/ 

• Om on LinkedIn

• Om on Twitter: @Om

• Om on Instagram: @Om

Search is changing. You won’t hear Google talking heads talk about it very much because the types of things that are happening will fundamentally change the model the search engine giant has used to build its search and ad infrastructure. Sridhar Ramaswamy knows; he’s the man who led teams inside Google to build the ad technology that exists today. This conversation pulls back the curtain on what is happening in the search industry, how large language models and the use of A.I. will change everything in the next few years, and explore why Sridhar and his co-founder believe that Neeva, their new consumer-focused search engine based on A.I. is the first step in that direction. 

But we also talk about Sridhar’s experience with Google and the terrible things that can happen when a company becomes a monopoly that is as large as the government. His insights into how massive profits decrease the motivation to be truly innovative, how the service of the public good takes a back seat to profitability, and the undue influence such a large company can have on policy and legislation, are worth hearing.

• How Sridhar landed a job at Google by desiring to talk to nobody and drink coffee [0:06]
• The Google business model’s simple success and its current challenges [4:35]
• The trade offs Google has taken to get to its current predicament [10:37]
• Sridhar’s tenure at and path out of Google because it was too successful [17:12]
• The road to starting a new search engine to take on Google: Neeva [24:41]
• X-ray vision for the internet: A.I. Generative Search [30:35]
• How Neeva is approaching search and its future [35:45]
• The humbling path of being a startup founder after such success at Google [41:06]
• Large language models and the future of fluid, conversational search [45:11]

• BOOK: Attention Merchants

• Learn more about Neeva
• Follow Sridhar on LinkedIn
• Follow Sridhar on Twitter

• Follow Om on LinkedIn

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