The Most Interesting Thing in AI

Where does AI go next? And what happens to us? Join The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson as he speaks with leaders, developers, philosophers, and more about AI’s impacts, present and future. New episodes every Wednesday, starting April 22. 

Produced in collaboration with PwC.

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In this episode, The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson speaks with serial entrepreneur and Idealab founder Bill Gross about his latest venture, ProRata, a bold attempt to create a fair exchange of value between AI companies and the creators whose work helped train their models. From inventing search advertising to tackling one of AI’s most urgent ethical challenges, Gross explains how innovation and fair market dynamics can align—and how humans are still underestimating the transformative power of AI.

(00:00) Introduction

(06:32) How Bill invented paid search in the 1990s

(13:29) NYT v. OpenAI as the “lightning strike moment” that inspired ProRata

(16:16) Solving the “impossible problem” of AI attribution

(21:36) ProRata’s plan for revenue sharing between creators and AI companies

(24:13) How YouTube shows revenue sharing could make AI companies even stronger

(28:20) When there will be a one-person company with a billion-dollar valuation

(29:23) AI could be net positive for the climate in as little as five years

(33:01) The most interesting way Bill has used AI recently
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What happens when AI learns faster than its makers can control? In this episode, Nicholas talks with Navrina Singh, founder and CEO of Credo AI, about how regulation could actually accelerate innovation of more responsible, transparent AI. Together, they dig into how governance can help the U.S. compete with China, prevent bias, and keep trust and transparency at the center of the AI revolution.

(00:00) Introduction

(04:09) What we learned from Microsoft’s Tay disaster

(06:58) Why Navrina started Credo AI

(11:12) Managing risk across the AI supply chain

(12:43) Preventing bias in customer support chatbots

(17:54) Is AI making the world less equal?

(19:40) Ethics vs. speed in the AI race with China

(21:40) How governance leads to better, faster products

(28:04) Why there’s no perfect AI regulation right now

(31:14) Preparing for a world where AI governs itself

(34:15) The most interesting way Navrina has used AI
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The space race has gone private, and in this new world, efficiency is key. United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno explains how a legacy rocket maker remade itself to compete in an industry full of startups. From load analysis and low-earth-orbit satellite monitoring to rockets with autonomous flight systems, Bruno unpacks what happens when machine learning meets computational fluid dynamics in our atmosphere. Plus, why AI might be critical to landing  a man on Mars—and getting them home alive.

(00:00) Introduction

(01:38) From backyard rockets to Boeing and Lockheed (Tory Bruno)

(03:58) Transforming ULA for a new space race

(06:09) The physics of launch: energy, precision, and peril

(08:41) Reprogramming flight paths with AI

(10:55) The coming age of autonomous and reusable rockets

(16:27) When we'll really send humans to Mars—and bring them back

(19:36) How AI could help us find, and talk to, alien life

(29:20) AI in the space economy (Joe Schurman)

(34:16) The $2 trillion future of space

(37:51) The most interesting way Joe has used AI

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How do you digitize the physical world? In this episode, Nick talks with University of Glasgow chemistry professor Lee Cronin, founder of Chemify—a company that is using AI to turn molecules to code s—about his quest to create a programming language for chemistry, what it means to “print” molecules, and how his team is able to discover new drugs and materials through their “chemputer.” He also discusses how the work is offering new insights into the origins of life on Earth and how to identify it on other planets.

(00:00) Introduction

(01:45) From setting fires to studying life

(05:00) Creating a programming language for chemistry

(09:20) Designing and “printing” new molecules

(10:45) How hype has distorted AI’s promise

(14:17) From sand to cells: the origin of life

(16:01) Assembly theory and the bridge from nonlife to life

(19:15) What it would take for AI to come alive

(23:48) The most interesting way Lee has used AI
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