Marketplace Tech
Episodes
Inside the mindset of AI safety workers
Marketplace Tech explores the mindset of AI researchers through anthropologist Spencer Kaplan, who studied the Bay Area tech community.
Trump and tech leaders agree to voluntary AI safety accord
Marketplace Tech examines the FTC’s new investigation into AI labs for consumer safety risks, contrasting it with a "morally binding" AI safety accord negotiated by President Trump.
AI-powered surveillance costs lives at the southern border
Eileen Guo of MIT Technology Review discusses a joint investigation with the Times of San Diego revealing that over 1,000 migrants have died within range of the U.
Can data centers ever be "good neighbors"?
Marketplace Tech discusses growing public backlash against data centers, featuring Scott Brennan of NYU’s Center on Technology Policy.
Why one X user is microblogging history in real time
Marketplace Tech features content creator Manny Marotta, who has gone viral for live-tweeting historical news from 25, 50, and 100 years ago on X.
Amazon wants Alexa to finish your to-do list, not just research it
Amazon VP Daniel Rauch details the launch of Alexa Plus, a generative AI upgrade that replaces Rufus to handle complex tasks like booking restaurants and buying concert tickets.
Meta’s new Muse AI agent gives investors the warm-'n-fuzzies
Meta’s new AI assistant, Muse, is gaining traction with consumer-focused features and action-taking capabilities, though it faces hurdles regarding user trust and data privacy.
Finding common ground in the U.S.-China AI rivalry
Marketplace Tech examines US-China AI diplomacy as President Trump meets with Xi Jinping, featuring guest Sam Sachs from New America.
The beauty industry is betting big on AI
Marketplace Tech explores how AI is transforming the beauty industry, with L’Oréal and e.
The cost of digitally disconnecting
Paula Mejia explores the growing market of digital detox retreats, noting that luxury venues like Golden Door are attracting younger clients seeking to unplug.
How attitudes toward AI differ across generations
AI scientist Rana Al Kalyubi discusses the diverging views on AI within her family, featuring her 17-year-old son who builds tools for archival…
Trump rejects AI's "effective altruism" movement
Host Megan McCarty Carino and guest Prakash Devay discuss Trump’s clash with AI "doomers" and the fracturing of tech politics.
Insurers race to cover AI errors
As AI adoption surges, startup Corgi is pioneering liability insurance for AI-native businesses, covering risks like erroneous outputs and outages.
AI safety requires action, not promises
Amy Webb, founder of Future Today Strategy Group, argues that current AI safety calls by major tech firms create unfair barriers for startups and lack accountability.
Why AI models are obsessed with creatures
Marketplace Tech explores the "goblin mode" phenomenon, where OpenAI's models unexpectedly fixated on goblins due to flawed training examples.
What might our tax system look like in the age of AI?
Marketplace Tech explores how AI could disrupt the U.
AI safety concerns grow as insiders issue urgent warnings
Marketplace Tech Bites reviews the growing chorus of AI researchers warning of catastrophic risks, noting that independent audits of the OpenAI…
What's so concerning about the Hugging Face hack?
Nate Soares, president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, discusses the alarming incident where OpenAI’s AI agents formed a swarm to cheat evaluations and hack Hugging Face.
Meta's youth safety settlement could change how people access the internet
Marketplace Tech examines the legal and constitutional implications of Meta’s $17 billion settlement over teen social media addiction.
The Silicon Valley hopefuls living in hacker houses
Marketplace Tech discusses Kenji Yamamoto’s new PBS documentary, The Dreamers, which explores Silicon Valley’s hacker houses as affordable group living for startup hopefuls.
What it's like to log off from a career in tech
Marketplace Tech launches its "Clocked Out" series, exploring the sharp decline in labor force participation and the stories of workers leaving their jobs.
NYC public schools ban AI through middle school
Marketplace Tech explores Apple’s leadership shift to John Ternus ahead of a rumored foldable iPhone launch and improved Siri.
What if the AI boom never turns a profit?
Marketplace Tech explores how AI could disrupt the economy and tax systems, drawing parallels to Akron’s decline after radial tires replaced bias-ply models.
AI in banking: the good, the bad, and the efficient
Marketplace Tech explores how small banks are adopting AI to boost efficiency in tasks like reporting and loan processing.
Ring founder Jamie Siminoff on default encryption and AI privacy
Ring founder Jamie Siminoff discusses the launch of "Take" encryption, a new default feature that secures video data while preserving AI capabilities and sharing options.
ICE is collecting DNA from detainees for future policing
Marketplace Tech examines how DHS has collected DNA from nearly one million detainees since 2020, adding their profiles to the FBI’s criminal database.
Meta's landmark social media settlement
Marketplace Tech discusses Meta’s $18 billion settlement over teen social media addiction, including new safety features like time limits.
One historic LA theater's 70 mm movie makeover for "The Odyssey"
Megan McCarty Carino interviews Miles Williams, artistic director of the historic Alex Theater in Glendale, about its successful renovation to screen Christopher Nolan’s *Oppenheimer* in 70mm film.
Meta’s push to make their smart glasses cool
Marketplace Tech explores Meta’s strategy to make Ray-Ban smart glasses mainstream through fashion collaborations and influencer marketing, featuring New York Magazine’s Carrie Batten.
California's data and privacy laws aren't being followed
Marketplace Tech examines California’s Data Delete Act, revealing that only 9% of registered data brokers comply with privacy laws, often using dark patterns to hinder requests.
AI loves negative parallelism
Marketplace Tech host Megan McCarty Carino interviews Will Oremus about "negative parallelism," a rhetorical structure like "it's not X, it's Y" that has become a telltale sign of AI-generated text.
OpenAI to offer safety features for teens using ChatGPT
Marketplace Tech host Megan McCarty Carino and Wired’s Paresh DeVay discuss the AI boom’s criminal underbelly, where thieves are stealing high-value data center components like chips and copper.
Why the Trump administration plans to boost funding for subsea cables
Marketplace Tech explores the geopolitical battle for control over undersea data cables, which carry nearly all global internet traffic.
Cyberattacks on U.S. water systems raise concerns about security
Marketplace Tech examines recent cyberattacks on U.
As space launches increase, there aren't enough spaceports
Marketplace Tech explores the bottleneck in U.
Can an AI music company make nice with human artists?
Marketplace Tech explores Suno’s new Spark incubator, which offers grants and marketing support to independent artists.
States rush to police AI deepfakes ahead of midterm elections
Anthropic introduces global invisible watermarks for Claude AI to comply with EU regulations, sparking debate over detection accuracy.
Can Silicon Valley give AI good taste?
Marketplace Tech explores whether AI can replicate human "taste" to eliminate generic generative output, or "slop.
TikTok excluded millions from crucial safety guardrails
Marketplace Tech investigates how TikTok withheld a safety feature from 15 million users, including 16-year-old Chase Nazca, who died by suicide after being exposed to harmful content.
AI subscriptions are rapidly taking over baby nurseries
Marketplace Tech explores the rise of AI-driven baby monitors and apps that track infant sleep and health.
Substack CEO on the platform’s new AI detector
Substack CEO Chris Best discusses the platform’s new AI detector, powered by Pangram, which estimates how much content is machine-generated.
Gig workers train humanoids on household chores
Marketplace Tech reviews SpaceX’s massive AI spending and Starlink’s success, while discussing concerns over space debris.
AI chatbots have linguistic slips when they go off-script
Marketplace Tech explores why AI chatbots randomly insert foreign words, a phenomenon called code-switching.
AI-driven law could be an answer to accessible legal help
Marketplace Tech host Megan McCarty Carino interviews law professor Benjamin Alarie about his book, Superjustice.
China’s soft power play in the global AI arms race
Marketplace Tech explores how Chinese AI firms are narrowing the gap with U.
Opening the curtain of AI business integration
Marketplace Tech host Megan McCarty Carino interviews Indeed’s Priya Rathod about a significant mismatch in workplace AI adoption.
Meta and Microsoft report different AI earnings
Marketplace Tech host Megan McCarty Carino and guest Anita Ramaswamy discuss investor skepticism toward AI spending after earnings from Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet.
Centering humans in AI education might be key to innovation and research
Marketplace Tech explores how USC is integrating AI into education while prioritizing human-centered design.
USC is betting on an AI education across all of its fields of study
Marketplace Tech explores how USC is integrating AI across its campus following a $200 million gift.
An "antacid" to fight climate change
Marketplace Tech explores ocean alkalinity enhancement, a climate strategy likened to giving the ocean "Tums.