Business, Spoken
2,340 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 days ago - ★★★★ - 16 ratingsGet in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.
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Episodes
Companies Can Track Your Phone’s Movements to Target Ads
October 05, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesBrands are seeking new ways to customize messages. A startup that gathers data on when you pick up your phone, or when you go out on a run, can help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Elon Musk Promises a $25,000 Tesla in 3 Years—Again
October 02, 2020 06:10 - 6 minutesReducing the cost of electric vehicles is all about a cheaper battery. Tesla outlined a plan that includes making more of the components itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
To Clean Up Comments, Let AI Tell Users Their Words Are Trash
October 01, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesIt won’t solve everything, but a new study suggests real-time automated feedback could help make the internet a less toxic place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Portland’s Face-Recognition Ban Is a New Twist on ‘Smart Cities’
September 30, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesThe first big US city to prohibit private businesses from using the technology reflects rising skepticism of new tools and concerns about fairness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Apocalypse Doesn’t Need an Instagram Filter
September 29, 2020 06:10 - 10 minutesPlus: Kevin Systrom’s app inspiration, the characteristics of successful CEOs, and Colorado’s disconcerting forecast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Utah Company Claims It Invented Contact Tracing Tech
September 28, 2020 06:15 - 8 minutesBlyncsy wants states using Apple and Google technology to pay it $1 per resident. It may not win, but the patent tussle could deter others from adopting apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nvidia's Arm Deal Would Make It the Center of the Chip World
September 25, 2020 06:10 - 6 minutesCombining the two chipmakers would unite leaders in two big tech trends—artificial intelligence and mobile computing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
FedEx Will Track Your Packages More Precisely Than Ever
September 24, 2020 06:10 - 6 minutesA Bluetooth-based system coming this fall will be especially useful for high-value shipments, like medicines or vaccines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Anduril’s New Drone Offers to Inject More AI Into Warfare
September 23, 2020 06:21 - 6 minutesA swarm of Ghost 4s, controlled by a single person on the ground, can perform reconnaissance missions like searching for enemy weapons or soldiers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Creepy ‘Geofence’ Finds Anyone Who Went Near a Crime Scene
September 22, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesPolice increasingly ask Google and other tech firms for data about who was where, when. Two judges ruled the investigative tool invalid in a Chicago case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
No, Amazon Won't Deliver You a Burrito by Drone Anytime Soon
September 21, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesSeveral companies are testing airborne deliveries. But rules are years away, and no one knows if consumers are even interested. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Doctors and Nurses Take to TikTok to Fight Covid Myths
September 18, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutes“We can treat only one patient at a time, but if we can get a message out there that can hit thousands or hundreds of thousands, then we can change their thoughts.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Uber Pledges to Go All-Electric, but It Doesn't Own the Cars
September 17, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesThe ride-hail company joined rival Lyft with a “Green” pledge. It's counting on incentives to encourage drivers to switch to battery power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Access to Telemedicine Is Hardest for Those Who Need It Most
September 16, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesOlder patients and other vulnerable populations tend to need more medical care, but it’s often difficult for them to get online for remote visits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok Is Paying Creators. Not All of Them Are Happy
September 15, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesUsers say the platform’s new Creator Fund is opaque and riddled with problems. The company says it’s listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI Ruined Chess. Now, It's Making the Game Beautiful Again
September 14, 2020 06:10 - 10 minutesA former world champion teams up with the makers of AlphaZero to test variants on the age-old game that can jolt players into creative patterns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Startup Perks Go Remote—and Take a More Inclusive Approach
September 11, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesTech companies are swapping on-campus gourmet chefs for free snack deliveries, but they're also stepping up childcare support and mental health services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google Offers to Help Others With the Tricky Ethics of AI
September 10, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesAfter learning its own ethics lessons the hard way, the tech giant will offer services like spotting racial bias or developing guidelines around AI projects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google and Apple Change Tactics on Contact Tracing Tech
September 09, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesThe companies will handle more of the technology for notifying people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. Privacy won't be affected, they say. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Dogfight Renews Concerns About AI's Lethal Potential
September 08, 2020 06:10 - 10 minutesAlphabet's DeepMind pioneered reinforcement learning. A California company used it to create an algorithm that defeated an F-16 pilot in a simulation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
California Lawmakers Push for More Diversity in the Boardroom
September 07, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesIf it succeeds, AB979 would require Facebook, Netflix, Nvidia, Salesforce, and others to add directors of color. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How the Pandemic Reshaped Election Campaigns—Maybe Forever
September 04, 2020 06:10 - 11 minutesThe digital infrastructures have been under construction for years. But the pandemic has forced candidates to embrace them and to get creative with how they use them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
MAGA TikTok Creators Stand by Trump—Despite a Potential Ban
September 03, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesConservative influencers say they understand the president's moves to shut down the platform in the US, even if it costs them their audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Should Google’s Ad Market Be Regulated Like the Stock Market?
September 02, 2020 06:10 - 12 minutesA leading antitrust scholar says yes. Congress may be listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Covid Hits Minorities Hardest, but Data Often Doesn't Show It
September 01, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesMany states are not collecting the race or ethnicity of coronavirus patients, which can make it harder to know the true impact on low-income communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Amazon and FedEx Push to Put Delivery Robots on Your Sidewalk
August 31, 2020 06:11 - 8 minutesThe companies are backing bills in more than a dozen states that would legalize the devices. Some bills would block cities from regulating them at all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meet the Star Witness: Your Smart Speaker
August 28, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesRequests are rising from law enforcement for information on the devices, which can include internet queries, food orders, and overheard conversations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Move for Driverless Mass Transit Hits Speed Bumps
August 27, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesPilot projects for autonomous shuttles abound. But technical limitations and hostility from labor unions may thwart large deployments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
An Algorithm Determined UK Students' Grades. Chaos Ensued
August 26, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesThis year's A-Levels, the high-stakes exams taken in high school, were canceled due to the pandemic. The alternative only exacerbated existing inequities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Skewed Grading Algorithms Fuel Backlash Beyond the Classroom
August 25, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesThousands protest in the UK after a formula replaced a test that influences college placement. It's led to broader scrutiny of automation and inequality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What Happens If Uber and Lyft Flee California? Look at Austin
August 24, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesThe ride-hail services are threatening to stop service in the Golden State to protest a judge's ruling. They did something similar in Texas in 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Plan to Turn Military Bases Into ‘Sandboxes’ for 5G
August 21, 2020 06:21 - 6 minutesA top Trump adviser outlines a blueprint for experimenting with wireless tech on bases and using software to counter China's lead in hardware. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trump's Executive Orders Hurt More Than TikTok and WeChat
August 20, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesThe president's latest actions against China may affect US tech firms, and Americans who communicate overseas through the social apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The White House Announces a Plan to Speed the Rollout of 5G
August 19, 2020 06:10 - 6 minutesThe Pentagon will share part of the wireless spectrum, allowing telecom carriers to reach more areas with fewer cell towers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When Private Security Cameras Are Police Surveillance Tools
August 18, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesCivil rights activists warn of "mission creep," as cameras installed to prevent break-ins are increasingly used to monitor protesters and communities of color. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Uber's Now a Food Delivery Company—and It's Still Losing Money
August 17, 2020 06:10 - 5 minutesThe pandemic has slashed demand for rides and boosted orders for UberEats. Neither segment is profitable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As Restaurants Move to the Cloud, Something Is Missing
August 14, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesThousands of eateries are closing amid the pandemic. Delivery specialists are popping up, but some worry about a loss of culture and community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cheap, Easy Deepfakes Are Getting Closer to the Real Thing
August 13, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesUsing open source software and less than $100, a researcher was able to create plausible images and audio of actor Tom Hanks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What’s This? A Bipartisan Plan for AI and National Security
August 12, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesRepublican Will Hurd and Democrat Robin Kelly want more Pentagon spending, a Cold War-style “hotline,” and a curb on chip exports to China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Facebook Has More to Learn From the Ad Boycott
August 11, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesRashad Robinson, an organizer behind the Stop Hate for Profit boycott, says civil rights groups can’t be left to police the company by themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bill Gates on Covid: Most US Tests Are ‘Completely Garbage’
August 10, 2020 06:10 - 18 minutesThe techie-turned-philanthropist on vaccines, Trump, and why social media is “a poisoned chalice.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Stop Saying Facebook Is ‘Too Big to Moderate’
August 07, 2020 06:10 - 9 minutesThe social media company could surely enforce its own rules on false and harmful posts—it just needs to cut into its massive profit margins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Facebook and Amazon Documents That Captivated the Hearing
August 06, 2020 06:10 - 6 minutesHere's a look at how Mark Zuckerberg plotted the Instagram acquisition. Plus: Inside Amazon's plan to take down Diapers.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI Is All the Rage. So Why Aren’t More Businesses Using It?
August 05, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesA big study by the US Census Bureau finds that only about 9 percent of firms employ tools like machine learning or voice recognition—for now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Facebook’s ‘Red Team’ Hacks Its Own AI Programs
August 04, 2020 06:10 - 11 minutesAttackers increasingly try to confuse and bypass machine-learning systems. So the companies that deploy them are getting creative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Anthony Levandowski Asks a Judge Not to Send Him to Prison
August 03, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesThe former Google engineer, who pleaded guilty to stealing the company's self-driving car technology, says he'd be at heightened risk for Covid-19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
California's Air Pollution Cops Are Eyeing Uber and Lyft
July 31, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesA proposal would require 60 percent of ride-hail miles to be in electric vehicles by 2030. And the companies are on board. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Even the Best AI Models Are No Match for the Coronavirus
July 30, 2020 06:10 - 7 minutesMany so-called “quantitative funds” that mine historical data to make trading decisions fared poorly in March, when stocks fell sharply amid coronavirus fears. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Neuroscience Could Be the Key to Getting People to Wear Masks
July 29, 2020 06:10 - 8 minutesIn a study, people responded to messages that resonated with them personally—up to a certain extent. The results could help shape responses to future pandemics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla Will Build 'GigaTexas' to Crank Out Cybertrucks
July 28, 2020 06:10 - 6 minutesOn the heels of another profitable quarter, despite a coronavirus-induced shutdown of its California plant, the electric automaker announced its fourth factory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices