From Research Labs to Product Companies: AI's Transformation (with Parmy Olson)

Parmy Olson is a technology columnist at Bloomberg and the author of Supremacy, which won the 2024 Financial Times Business Book of the Year. She joins the podcast to discuss the transformation of AI companies from research labs to product businesses. We explore how funding pressures have changed company missions, the role of personalities versus innovation, the challenges faced by safety teams, and power consolidation in the industry.

LINKS:
- Parmy Olson on X (Twitter): https://x.com/parmy
- Parmy Olson’s Bloomberg columns: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/AVYbUyZve-8/parmy-olson
- Supremacy (book): https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/parmy-olson/supremacy/9781035038244

PRODUCED BY:
https://aipodcast.ing

CHAPTERS:
(00:00) Episode Preview
(01:18) Introducing Parmy Olson
(02:37) Personalities Driving AI
(06:45) From Research to Products
(12:45) Has the Mission Changed?
(19:43) The Role of Regulators
(21:44) Skepticism of AI Utopia
(28:00) The Human Cost
(33:48) Embracing Controversy
(40:51) The Role of Journalism
(41:40) Big Tech's Influence

SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://podcast.futureoflife.org

Twitter (FLI): https://x.com/FLI_org

Twitter (Gus): https://x.com/gusdocker

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/future-of-life-institute/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-rCCy3FQ-GItDimSR9lhzw/

Apple: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1170991978

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Op1WO3gwVwCrYHg4eoGyP

What is Future of Life Institute Podcast?

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute's work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world's leading voices on the governance of AI having created one of the earliest and most influential sets of governance principles: the Asilomar AI Principles.