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PODCAST

The Most Interesting Thing in AI

Atlantic Re:think

A podcast series examining how AI is reshaping our world. Hosted by Nicholas Thompson,each episode features a conversation with a leading thinker who offers a fresh perspective on the far-reaching ethical, economic, and social implications of this technology. This podcast is from The Atlantic’s CEO and is produced independently of The Atlantic’s editorial staff. Some episodes have a supporting sponsor. Those episodes are clearly labeled and the sponsor is named.

technology

All Episodes

64:26

How AI Could Upend Global Politics - Ian Bremmer...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/08/19

AI may have leveled the playing field in coding and app development, but it’s also put potentially dangerous tools in reach of nefarious actors. Now, empowered by AI, state-backed intelligence agencies and non-state actors alike can access tools that enable everything from mass surveillance to cyberattacks to bioweapon development. This dynamic could lead to a catastrophe, warns Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer. In conversation with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, Bremmer describes the risks of

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62:28

Writing in the Age of AI - Gemini Notebook’s Steven...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/08/12

Steven Johnson spent decades figuring out the best ways to turn his research into words on the page. Now, he’s adapting those methods for Gemini Notebook, Google’s AI-powered interactive bibliography. (Until recently, it was called NotebookLM.) But in building a tool designed to synthesize ideas, is there a risk of taking humans too far out of the writing process? In conversation with The Atlantic’s Nicholas Thompson, Johnson discusses the best practices, ethics, and limitations of using AI as a

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50:13

Meta's Plan to Win in AI - Andrew Bosworth with...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/07/08

However you feel about Meta, Andrew Bosworth has likely played a part in it. The long-serving right hand to Mark Zuckerberg and current Chief Technology Officer, “Boz” has helped shape almost every stage of the company’s growth. He’s credited with introducing the Facebook News Feed in 2006, and, more recently, with overseeing the company’s efforts in the metaverse.Now, Boz is a key figure behind Meta's artificial intelligence strategy. In late June, he joined Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The

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51:17

AI’s Threat to Privacy — Signal’s Meredith Whittaker...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/07/01

AI agents can scour the internet for us, reply to our messages, and add events to our calendars. But in order to do so, they need sweeping access to our data. Handing that over presents an unprecedented threat to privacy, says Signal Foundation president Meredith Whittaker, who directs the Signal messaging app. In conversation with The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson, Whittaker discusses the risks of agentic AI, Signal’s approach to AI coding, and why it’s uncompromising in its commitment to

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44:57

Will AI Agents Kill Social Media–Or Save It? Eli...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/06/24

Take a scroll through Facebook or TikTok today, and you’ll likely find some AI-generated content: an influencer with impossibly-radiant skin, a stunt that bends the laws of physics, Shrimp Jesus. And while there might not be much social benefit to AI slop, that doesn’t mean that we should shun AI from our feeds entirely, says Eli Pariser. As the author of “The Filter Bubble,” Pariser has been a longtime critic of social media. But he’s also the cofounder of Upworthy, the bubbly bright news site that

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31:10

How AI Agents Are Changing Business - PwC’s Dan...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/06/17

You've probably heard it already: AI is going to radically change the way we work. But the details change depending on who's making the prediction: AI will wipe out the C-suite, or entry-level jobs, or make us all into prompt engineers. Those scenarios are far-fetched, says Dan Priest. In his role as the Chief AI Officer at PwC, Priest sees firsthand how companies across the industrial landscape are utilizing AI– often in ways that clash with those fatalistic prognostications. In a vital

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49:14

How AI Is Changing Code - Paul Ford with Nicholas...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/06/10

In the last year, AI has arguably made more progress in coding than in any other domain. Its technical capabilities – harnessed through apps like Codex and Claude Code – have changed the way engineers work. Boris Cherny, Anthropic’s head of Claude Code, claims that 100% of his output is now generated by AI. But what does the rapid advance in coding tools mean for engineers and businesses?To answer that, Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, sits down with engineer, author, and entrepreneur Paul

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50:40

How Science Can Fix Dishonest AI - Yoshua Bengio with...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/06/03

In the years following the launch of ChatGPT, as concerns spread over the social and political impacts of LLMs, one person’s warnings seemed particularly dire: Yoshua Bengio’s, a scientist and one of the “godfathers” of AI. The potential negative impacts of his life’s work weighed so heavily on Bengio that he signed his name to an open letter advocating for a pause in AI research. (The pause didn’t happen.) But recently, Bengio has found renewed optimism as he pursues a project dubbed “Scientist

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62:27

The AI Jobs Disruption - Erik Brynjolfsson with...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/05/27

Of all the potential risks and promises of AI, perhaps none are as immediately dire as this: How will it impact jobs? Will employers still need workers? What will it mean if the answer is “no?” Depending on who you’re talking to, the prospect of a future with fewer jobs is either liberating or terrifying. But for a more measured reaction, it helps to look at the data. Stanford economist Erik Bynjolfsson has done just that, drilling down into AI’s effects on employment, upskilling, output, and more

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48:09

The Limits of Predictive AI - Carissa Véliz with...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/05/20

Can AI predict a person’s future? It’s a promise often made by sales teams, but the technology’s record is far from spotless. Even if it did achieve perfect foresight, a practically-clairvoyant AI might be incompatible with democracy, says Oxford philosopher Carissa Véliz. In a spirited conversation with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, Véliz traces the history of predictions from ancient oracles to the modern algorithms shaping everything from criminal sentencing to insurance premiums. What

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48:16

AI Utopia or Catastrophe? Nick Bostrom with Nicholas...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/05/13

Will AI destroy the world, or transform it into one of abundance? Across two books and several papers, philosopher Nick Bostrom has envisioned a range of AI futures. He joins Nicholas Thompson to discuss the ethics of how we treat AI, whether AI has sentience, and why he believes we should keep building, even at the risk of annihilation. Produced in collaboration with PwC. (00:00) Introduction to Nick Bostrom and Superintelligence (01:56) How AI development matched Bostrom's

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54:00

The Case for Open-Source AI - with Nicholas Thompson...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/05/06

Why does AI answer the way it does? Even as models cite their sources, the question of “why” remains one of the most confounding in the industry, with huge implications for users and builders alike. Mozilla CTO Raffi Krikorian says much of the answer lies in open-source AI— letting users look under the hood to see what’s happening. It’s a compelling idea, one that could also impact safety and alignment. But can it thrive? And what are the risks of ceding control? In a deep conversation with Atlantic

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53:15

Sam Altman on Where AI Models Go Next, with Nicholas...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/04/29

OpenAI’s Sam Altman sits for an interview with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, to discuss AI’s trustworthiness, its dangers, and its impact on young people. Altman also discusses his company’s pledge to “stop competing and start assisting” rival projects that approach AGI, and why he thinks we’re not there yet. In a thorough and wide-ranging conversation, Altman opens up about where he thinks AI will go next and the mysteries that he still can’t solve.Recorded at OpenAI’s offices in San

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39:35

Data Centers in Space - with Nicholas Thompson and...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/04/22

AI needs data centers, and those data centers need energy and cooling. Recently, one proposal has captured the popular imagination: put data centers in space, where there’s ample solar energy and naturally cool surroundings. But things aren’t quite that simple, says space architect Ariel Ekblaw of the Aurelia Institute. On this episode of The Most Interesting Thing in AI, Ekblaw talks with The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson about the possibilities for building structures in space, the innovative

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0:59

Season 4 Trailer

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2026/04/15

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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36:14

The Copyright Wars - with Nicholas Thompson and Bill...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2025/11/26

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

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37:03

Building Trustworthy AI - with Nicholas Thompson and...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2025/11/19

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

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39:16

AI in Flight - with Nicholas Thompson, Tory Bruno and...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2025/11/12

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

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26:00

Artificial Life - with Nicholas Thompson and Lee Cronin

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2025/11/05

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

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28:03

The Future of AI at Work - with Nicholas Thompson...

The Most Interesting Thing in AI ·

2025/10/29

What does it take to succeed in the disruptive world of AI? In this episode, Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson sits down with Matt Wood, PwC’s Global and U.S. Commercial Technology and Innovation Officer, to trace his path from medical school and protein folding research to Amazon Web Services and now PwC. They discuss the transformative power of AI; why, when disruptive forces emerge, companies may be better off doubling down on their core identity rather than reinventing themselves; and how the

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36 results

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