Do you need ChatGPT integrated into your new bike? How about an all-wheel drive bike? (OK: a 2-wheel drive ... but yeah, that's all-wheel drive!) In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier chats the CEO of Urtopia about their new AI-integrated 'smart bike with a mind'. The e-bike market is predicted to grow to about $26 billion by 2028, but Dr. Owen Chang explains how Urtopia is taking a different approach by developing most parts in-house to create a fully integrated, software-enabled pro...
Feb 16, 2024•26 min
Can you deliver medical treatment by changing brainwaves instead of injecting drugs? Elon Musk has recently implanted his first Neuralink into a human patient. But can we get neurotech medical treatment without drilling holes in our skulls? Maybe ... According to Element, a startup with roots in MIT, we can. And they say they can read your brainwaves, manipulate them, and fix issues like sleep disorders, tremors, pain, as well as speeding up learning. Today we're chatting with Meredith Perry, th...
Feb 07, 2024•22 min
Can someone hack your reality if you're wearing an Apple Vision Pro? In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier discusses the arrival of Apple's Vision Pro, a groundbreaking VR headset, and its associated privacy and security concerns with Synopsys principal security consultant Jamie Boote. They chat about how the device's advanced sensor systems can map out user environments, posing potential risks and security threats if hacked. Koetsier and Boote also consider Apple's past experience with ha...
Feb 05, 2024•15 min
In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier talks to Dan Hollenkamp, the CEO of Toggled, about the future of smart buildings in 2024. They discuss the difference between devices that are smart and just remote controllable, the continuous improvement in building systems, and emphasize on the usage of data for smart devices. Dan sheds light on how buildings should assist in facilitating our tasks, be predictive, and become an active member of the grid to help stabilize the energy demand. They...
Jan 16, 2024•22 min
In this end-of-year podcast of TechFirst for 2023, host John Koetsier explores the future trajectory of Virtual Reality (VR) technology, especially its potential in 2024. The podcast features Rolf Illenberger, founder & CEO of VR Direct, who believes that 2024 will be a critical inflection point for VR with wide-scale adoption, particularly in enterprises. There is notable discussion on different VR headsets including the Meta Quest Pro, Quest Three, and the upcoming Apple Vision Pro, as wel...
Dec 29, 2023•27 min
You’ve probably heard of Bhutan, and you may have heard of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness measurement, which is about measuring how happy a country is as well as how wealthy a country is. Now the royal family in Bhutan is establishing an AI center to teach AI to locals ... and maybe bring Bhutan happiness -- and ethics -- to AI. To bring, as the princess puts it, "Ancient Wisdom & Ethics" to artificial intelligence. In this TechFirst, I chat with Enrique Hernandez about his and Princess W...
Dec 14, 2023•41 min
Are you ready to dive into the emerging world of robot coworkers? In this video, originally recorded at Web Summit in Lisbon, I chat with special guest David Reger, CEO of Neura Robotics. We chat about what it will be like to work with robots, how we can ensure robots don't kill us (as is happening now, occasionally), and what will change about work and us in the process. We talk about: Working with Robots: A New Frontier The Future of Robot Partnerships Impacts on Different Industries Ensuring ...
Dec 01, 2023•18 min
In this episode of TechFirst, host John Koetsier explores the global transition from traditional coil and magnet speakers to solid-state semiconductor alternatives with Mike Householder, a VP at XMEMS. The discussion includes the history of the speaker, the advantages of using solid-state semiconductors, and the future vision for sound technology. Mike also makes a big product announcement and provides insight into how his innovative technology will improve audio quality and enhance sound experi...
Nov 16, 2023•30 min
In this episode of TechFirst, host Jon Koetsier welcomes Emmy award-winning XR director Michaela Ternasky-Holland to delve into the world of immersive storytelling through technologies such as virtual reality (VR). Using her VR documentary project, On the Morning You Wake, as a case study, Michaela explains how the deeply immersive nature of VR can change the audience's perception of a global threat - nuclear weapons. She compares the engagement and impact of VR experiences to traditional 2D exp...
Nov 13, 2023•27 min
It all started with a stolen car. In 1983 Chicago resident David Meilahn's car was stolen. He bought a new one, a Mercedes Benz 280SL 2-seater. But then he needed to replace his old radio-phone ... and the sales rep told him there was something new: a cellular phone. He was one of the first few to be selected, then won a race to place the very first commercial cell phone call, which ended up being from Soldier Field in Chicago, IL, to Alexander Graham Bell's grand-daughter in Germany. This is hi...
Oct 29, 2023•31 min
Generative AI won't be building Falcon 9s or new space shuttles just yet. But can it help with all the work that goes into running an organization that builds the future? According to Kendall Clark, CEO of Stardog, yes. Generative AI that democratizes access to data and insight and knowledge speeds up organizations can help with launching space ships, or anything else. For NASA, a generative AI solution is apparently helping the team to do in days what used to take weeks.
Oct 21, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 299
How will generative AI impact work? And why are smaller companies adopting generative AI more than enterprises? Generative AI is almost literally exploding: there are so many possibilities. But how is it changing work and business? Recently GBK Collective, a consultancy founded by top academics at Wharton, studied 672 businesses in the US with annual sales over $50 million In this TechFirst we're chatting with 2 of the authors to get a sneak peek into what they learned: - Dr. Stefano Puntoni, Pr...
Oct 12, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 298
Is equity, inclusion, and diversity in AI a solved problem? I’ve written a lot of stories lately about AI. AI is critical to our future of automation ... robots ... relf-driving cars ... drones ... and … everything: smart homes, smart factories, safety & security, environmental protection and restoration. A few years ago we heard constantly how various AI models weren’t trained on diverse populations of people, and how that created inherent bias in who they recognized, ho they thought should...
Oct 02, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 297
Who will win the race to have the world’s first usable general purpose humanoid robot? I thought I knew all the companies making general purpose robots: - Tesla - Sanctuary AI - Figure AI - Fourier Intelligence - Agility Robotics - Boston Dynamics I was wrong ... there’s probably a bunch I don’t know. But one that popped up as interesting is Apptronik. They’re based in Austin TX, they're partnering with NASA, and they're building Apollo, a 5’8” 160-pound robot. In this TechFirst, we chat with CE...
Sep 25, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 296
Could artificial intelligence make you MORE human? Help you become your best self? And, maybe, 10-15X your output? In this TechFirst we chat with author, flow coach, and entrepreneur David Passiak, who has gone way down the generative AI rabbit hole and made tools like ChatGPT his CMO, CEO, CRO, chief strategy officer, chief content officer, and more. He says it's 10X'd his output, but in some ways it's even more that that. 10Xing what you can do it one thing, but enabling what you could never d...
Sep 18, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 295
GPUs are rare and expensive right now. Every company doing AI model training needs more, and NVIDIA can't build enough, especially of the NVIDIA H100 GPU. Run.ai CEO and co-founder Omri Geller says he has a software solution to this hardware problem. The key: GPUs are mostly idle, even in high-demand settings. According to Geller, his software 2X to 4Xs your GPU capacity on existing hardware, simply by streamlining workloads and maximizing GPU usage time. In this TechFirst, we chat about: - the ...
Sep 12, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 294
Dronamics just got a license to operate in Europe. Its Black Swan cargo delivery drone is the size of a 2-seater aircraft and carries 800 pounds for 1500 miles. It's also 50% cheaper with 60% fewer emissions and 80% faster than standard airfreight. In this TechFirst, host John Koetsier chats with Dronamics CEO and co-founder, Svilen Rangelov. Topics include: - The Black Swan cargo drone - Why is it so much cheaper, faster, and less polluting? - Dronamics has raised $40M. One of its investors is ...
Aug 26, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 293
It looks like we will soon be delivering power wirelessly to NASA robots on the moon. Yank Tech just won a NASA contract to to develop wireless charging solutions for autonomous vehicles on the moon. In this TechFirst, we chat with CEO Josh Yank. Topics we cover include: - Wireless power on the moon ... how does it work? - What’s the power source … solar energy? - When will it be ready? - When could it be used? - What missions will this be used on? - Any uses on earth? - There's been a massive g...
Aug 21, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 292
"ET phone home" has never been more relevant. We're seeing a wave of phone calls to space, or at least space connectivity from relatively ordinary cell phones. - Apple added SOS - T-Mobile is working with Starlink - AT&T is working with AST SpaceMobile Why? And where is this going? To answer, we chat with a senior director from Ciena. It's a networking giant that supports 85% of the world’s largest telcos, with customers like AT&T, Amazon, Google, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon, and the U.S. ...
Aug 11, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 291
Right now might be the golden age of humanoid general purpose robot development. Tesla, of course, is building the Optimus robot. Figure.ai is working on one as well, plus others like Chinese company Fourier Intelligence with the GR-1 Boston Dynamics, and Agility Robots. So is Sanctuary AI. Sanctuary says they’re on a mission “to create the world’s-first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots.” They’ve recently released their 6th generation robot, called Phoenix, and have completed th...
Jul 31, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 290
Elon Musk calls him "batshit crazy," but Dan O'Dowd has built software for the F-35 fighter jet, the B2 bomber, and to secure U.S. nuclear forces. He's also built a microprocessor for Mars, worked on the Mac at Steve Jobs' request, and completed a ton of test drives of Tesla full self driving. His conclusion: it's worse than a drunk driver. And: it does not recognize small children. In this TechFirst we chat with Dan about his tests, what he thinks is wrong with Tesla, and why Tesla is falling b...
Jul 24, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 289
Optimus, the Tesla bot, has been in development for 2 years and still can’t really do that much. There’s another dream team of engineers and roboticists who are building a humanoid robot that they call the “kinder, gentler” robot. In this TechFirst we chat with 2 investors in Figure.ai: Jesse Coors and Gregg Hill. They think humanoid bipedal robots could be one-to-one with humans in numbers "pretty quickly." Corporations will want thousands, and most of us will want at least one. We also dive de...
Jul 13, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 288
Can we get an open source medical AI that saves millions of lives? Everywhere on the planet, health care is a problem. In the US it's too expensive. In Canada it's too busy. In much of Africa and India it's too rare, and in many other countries including Western Europe, it's overwhelmed and overrun. AI could help, but only if we can get our act together, says HIPPO AI foundation founder Bart de Witte ...
Jul 06, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 287
ChatGPT is not actually generative AI, says Intel senior research scientist Ilke Demir. In this TechFirst we chat with an Intel scientist who has been working on generative AI for years. We talk about the genesis of generative AI, which is as far back as the 1970s, and we talk about ethical uses of generative AI and how we can use neuromorphic computing to help reduce the massive computation cost of generative AI. Plus, we also talk about what Intel is doing with generative AI, including several...
Jun 28, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 286
I’ve done a lot of shows on alternative energy ... green energy sources like wind, geothermal, solar ... but should nuclear be in the mix? Nuclear’s having a bit of a resurgence lately as a green option for reliable energy. To talk about why and where it might fit we chat with the founder and president of Nano Nuclear Energy, Jay Yu, and the CEO, James Walker. We discuss Zeus and Odin, their two nuclear reactors, safety, disposal after their usable lifespan, and what the ideal mix of green energ...
Jun 20, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 285
Would you get a whole-body MRI scan to check for cancer and other problems even if you don’t feel any symptoms? Some have done just that and saved their lives. Others simply find out that they're relatively healthy. I seem to fall somewhere in the middle. I recently did a 60-minute full-body MRI scan. I learned I'm mostly healthy, but there are some potential problems. The CEO and co-founder of the company that ran the MRI says that adopting these kinds of scans would be part of a switch from si...
Jun 08, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 284
Apple's likely releasing its massively expensive VR/AR/mixed reality headset, Reality Pro, next week at WWDC 2023. One key VR competitor says he's much less worried about Apple winning than he is worried that Apple will fail. Why? That would devastate the consumer VR market, setting back the industry years. In this TechFirst I chat with Varjo CEO and co-founder Urho Konttori, Finnish maker of one of the best VR headsets on the market. Their headsets are super-high resolution ("human eye resoluti...
May 31, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 283
Generative AI is going to drive a 10X transformation in gaming, says Unity CEO John Riccitiello. It'll create truly believable worlds ... so believable it might even become more real that our "real world." It will transform NPCs -- non-player characters -- into deep, intelligent, and differentiated characters who might be more fun to hang out with than your real friends. And it will make infinite worlds and infinite experiences more of a reality than a dream. In this TechFirst we hang out with U...
May 19, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 282
Huge chunks of our lives are already managed by AI. The songs we listen to, the routes we drive, the search results we see, the climate in our homes? When AGI takes over, will you even notice? In this TechFirst, we chat with Evan Coopersmith, a data scientist and AI researcher who says that when AI fully takes over ... we probably won't. And, he says, his bird can teach us a lot about what our future relationship with AI will be.
May 13, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 281
Imaging using an entire podcast as a prompt to GPT-5, or GPT-10. What would a massively capable generative AI do with a podcast? Create a movie? Score a soundtrack? Build an immersive world? John Gauntt is the host of The Augmented City podcast. He’s also a journalist, analyst, founder, and story teller who has been building an audio sci-fi ghost story about Seattle 100 years from now for the past half-decade He created a video companion to the podcast with Midjourney. In this episode of TechFir...
May 02, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 280
