Selected Talks & Media
Novara Media
A deep dive into the themes and stories in my NYT bestselling book Empire of AI, about OpenAI’s rise and its global consequences.
Democracy Now
How Silicon Valley’s “scale at all costs” approach to AI development is threatening democracy.
Big Think
A fireside chat unpacking the chaotic firing and rehiring of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
CNN
A news spot on how to understand Chinese company DeepSeek’s advances.
TEDxGateway
My February 2020 TEDx talk highlighting why we need to broaden our idea of who should participate in AI development.
Ars Electronica
My keynote at the 2023 Ars Electronica festival, illustrating how the AI industry is recreating a colonial world order.
Other highlights
Democracy Now: The “Quasi-Religious” Push for AI, 2025.
NPR: A skeptical look at Sam Altman and Elon Musk’s AI empire, 2025.
Morning Joe: A behind-the-scenes look at OpenAI, 2025.
CNBC Squawk Box: An extremely harmful path of AI development, 2025.
MSNBC: Unregulated AI companies represent a ‘new form of empire,’ 2025.
Hard Fork: The Rise of the AI Empire, 2025.
NPR: When Chatbots Play Human, 2025.
The David McWilliams Podcast: DeepSeek, 2025.
Time To Say Goodbye: DeepSeek’s Moment, 2025.
Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000: How LLMS Are Breaking the News, 2024.
France24 Español: La IA Se Desarrolla en el Sur Global Para Alimentar al Norte, 2024.
Marketplace: How Big Tech is courting Big Oil, 2024.
The Commonwealth Club: AI, Real Climate Impacts, 2024.
Computer Says Maybe: AI’s climate injustices, 2024.
Time To Say Goodbye: AI is still a bit disappointing but at least it uses a lot of energy, 2024.
Marketplace: The hidden meanings of the AI industry's favorite words, 2024.
Good Work: What Happened with OpenAI, 2023.
Factually! What the Hell Happened with OpenAI, 2023.
NPR: What OpenAI’s board drama tells us about the future of artificial intelligence, 2023.
Slate: A Moral War for AI, 2023.
Sinica: The Case for the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement, 2023.
WSJ: AI Hallucinations to Befriending Chatbots: Your Questions Answered, 2023.
After Deadline: Navigating the A.I. Frontier with The Wall Street Journal’s Karen Hao, 2023.
BBC: AI’s Inconvenient Truths, 2022.
WBUR: Anthony Bourdain Documentary Sparks Debate About Ethics Of AI Voiceover, 2021.
Slate: Facebook’s Misinformation Problem, 2021.
Factually! Why Facebook Refuses to Fix Its Misinformation Crisis, 2021.
Keynote: What is AI, 2019.
Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know
Jokes and deep cuts about my book, resisting the empire, and the AI industry as Dune.