AI-podden

In this episode we speak to Anders Indset, a philosopher, deep tech investor, and best-selling author. We discuss AI’s real-world impact, emphasizing Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) that optimize industry-specific data in fields like healthcare, finance, and logistics. Anders critiques Europe’s cautious investment culture, advocating for a bolder approach in AI-driven sectors. Inset stresses the need for balanced AI regulation to foster innovation while addressing global challenges like climate change.

In this episode we chat to Niklas Silfverström, CEO of Klang.ai, about Europe's need for AI independence. We discuss data privacy risks, the Cloud Act, and AI bias, emphasizing the need for European infrastructure and language models. Niklas highlights how relying on American AI companies threatens sovereignty, and why investing in GPUs, data centers, and energy is crucial for Europe's competitive future. He also warns that without these efforts, Europe risks becoming a mere consumer of AI rather than a leader in the field. We should note that we use Klang.ai's wonderful platform in the backend processes of AI-Podden - they make our jobs much easier.

In this episode, we host Anders Arpteg to discuss GROK 3’s rapid innovation, the competitive AI landscape, and the rise of Chinese models. We explore Elon Musk’s influence, AI power concentration, open-source challenges, and the Tesla Agile DNA. The conversation concludes with insights into AI reasoning, AGI development, and future challenges.

In this episode, Ather speaks to Galina Esther Shubina, Senior Director of AI Strategy at King. They discuss how AI improves gameplay and development at King through AI-powered playtesting bots. Galina is excited about robotics but sees major technical challenges ahead. On AGI, she is skeptical, predicting it won’t emerge for at least 100 years due to AI’s Game on limitations in reasoning. For 2025, she expects smaller generative models and a shift toward traditional AI methods like supervised learning, which she sees as more valuable for businesses.

In this episode, Ather speaks to Mehrdad Mamaghani, Volvo Group’s Head of Data Science. They discuss AI’s role in predictive maintenance, financial forecasting, and sustainability. Merdad critiques the hype around AGI, emphasizing transparency and practical applications, and highlights the need for AI talent and expertise in Europe. 

Merry Christmas folks! This week, guest host (Sifted's) Mimi Billing and Ather discuss December's AI news updates. Highlights included Uber's entry into AI data labeling, Google DeepMind's Genie 2 for training AI in simulated environments, and Amazon's collaboration with Anthropic to develop a mega AI supercomputer. We covered the importance of new algorithms over mere scaling and the potential of agentic AI to bring advancements toward artificial general intelligence (AGI). The year saw record AI funding rounds, with Databricks leading at $10 billion, while disappointments included unmet expectations for reasoning capabilities in AI models. Looking ahead, we anticipate innovations in AI model architectures, memory integration, and task automation tools.

This week, guest host (Sifted's) Mimi Billing and Ather discuss November's AI news updates. Topics include; OpenAI’s Slush presentation, which revealed both innovation and cultural challenges, and the diminishing returns of AI scaling laws. They explore the rise of specialized models, new players like Gemesis and Mistral, and OpenAI's ChatGPT search feature. The episode also examines AI’s growing role in medicine, highlighting its diagnostic potential alongside concerns about biases and reliability, while reflecting on the balance between rapid progress and persistent challenges in AI development.

Christian Guttmann, Executive Director of the Nordic AI Institute, discusses AI as both a philosophical aspiration and a practical tool. He highlights applications like personalized banking recommendations and data querying with large language models but notes their limitations in reasoning and understanding. Advocating for hybrid AI models and richer data, he emphasizes the need for multimodal approaches that integrate various forms of input, such as speech and gestures, to advance AI capabilities. He also warns that Europe risks falling behind in AI development without greater investment and bold innovation.

This week we welcome back; Reggie Townsend, Vice President of Data Ethics at SAS Institute and member of President Biden's National AI Advisory Council. We discussed AI development and regulation in the US. He stressed balancing innovation incentives with government restraint and cited the CHIPS Act as key for AI infrastructure, though most investments are private. He highlighted that AI trustworthiness varies, suggesting risk-based assessments. Townsend underscored the importance of AI education and common standards. On regulation, he noted a risk-focused, citizen-protective approach with inevitable dissent. Lastly, he urged AI to remain a bipartisan issue, avoiding politicization similar to electricity, with current bipartisan support.

This episode, recorded live, at the third installment of AI-Podden live at Epicenter, features Ingrid af Sandeberg, Strategic Advisor at Epicenter and Chairman of the board at Stockholm AI. She joins Ather & Mimi on the stage to discuss AI trends and tools, including Notebook LM, highlighting the shift toward smaller, specialized models like those on Hugging Face. She emphasizes the challenges of regulating AI in rapidly evolving fields and advocates for outcome-based regulations. Despite Sweden's strong AI expertise, she notes a slow adoption rate and calls for better collaboration between AI experts, domain professionals, and regulators.