Meta's Plan to Win in AI - Andrew Bosworth with Nicholas Thompson

Meta's Plan to Win in AI - Andrew Bosworth with Nicholas Thompson

Author: Atlantic Re:think July 8, 2026 Duration: 50:58
However you feel about Meta, Andrew Bosworth has likely played a part in it. The long-serving right hand to Mark Zuckerberg and current Chief Technology Officer, “Boz” has helped shape almost every stage of the company’s growth. He’s credited with introducing the Facebook News Feed in 2006, and, more recently, with overseeing the company’s efforts in the metaverse. Now, Boz is a key figure behind Meta's artificial intelligence strategy. In late June, he joined Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, for a conversation covering the state of Meta AI: from the privacy concerns around its glasses to its controversial (and now halted) program training models on its employees’ keystrokes and mouse movements to its pivot from open-source AI to a proprietary model. (00:00) Introduction (02:34) Can AI glasses get past the developer ecosystem Catch-22? (05:45) What’s true and false about NameTag, facial recognition, and Meta’s glasses  (09:22) Why Meta tracked employee keystrokes to teach AI how to use computers—and why it stopped (12:20) The legal complications of tracking employee data  (15:58) Why unique professional workflows are more valuable than generic internet text  (18:15) Boz’s vision for AI: a tool to maximize individual human potential, not replace workers  (21:15) How AI produces faster coding but slower thinking, leading to "well-executed bad products"  (24:10) If AI doubles a worker's productivity, do companies hire fewer people or double the team size?  (28:38) Why Boz is optimistic about life "under the algorithm" (32:08) Meta’s pivot from open source (Llama) to closed models (Muse Spark) (37:25) How long will scaling laws hold? (40:26) Where Meta already excels in AI (46:27) Why energy production is the upstream constraint for the future of AI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicholas Thompson sits down with some of the sharpest minds working at the edges of artificial intelligence in The Most Interesting Thing in A.I.. This isn't a dry technical briefing or a series of speculative futures; instead, each conversation digs into the tangible, often surprising ways this technology is already altering the fabric of our daily lives and institutions. You'll hear from leading thinkers who cut through the hype to discuss the real ethical dilemmas, economic shifts, and social transformations unfolding right now. Produced by Atlantic Re:think and PwC, the podcast provides a grounded space to explore questions about creativity, power, work, and truth in an age of intelligent machines. The discussions are built on the premise that understanding AI's impact requires looking beyond code and algorithms to consider human values and consequences. Tune in for thoughtful, accessible dialogues that reframe how we think about one of the most significant forces of our time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 41

The Most Interesting Thing in AI
Podcast Episodes
The Case Against the AI Bubble - Azeem Azhar with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:15
Among the many eye-popping numbers of the AI industry—from trillions in investments to billions in spending—one stands out: $0 in profit among leading AI companies. According to Bloomberg, “never before has so much money…
The Race to Superintelligence - Richard Socher with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:45
As AI’s capabilities improve, reports of “rogue” agents and misaligned systems are becoming more frequent. In response, some activists, academics, and politicians have called for a pause in development, warning of the da…
How to Get Hired in the AI Era - Clara Shih with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:43
For years, tech CEOs have promised that AI will take on the menial, repetitive tasks that have long been a part of office life. Typically, those tasks are assigned to younger, less experienced workers—and poll after poll…