FT Tech Tonic

Video-assistant refereeing (VAR) has proved to be one of the most controversial pieces of technology ever introduced in sports. But with the rise of everything from broadcasting gimmicks to data-driven gambling, it’s far from the only technology changing what it means to be a fan. The FT’s sports editor Josh Noble asks whether these advancements are making sport more fun to watch, or overshadowing the event itself....

For decades, sportspeople have been getting fitter, faster and reaching ever-higher levels of performance. But as the margin between winning and losing shrinks, athletes are turning to technology to make the difference.

In this new season of Tech Tonic, Josh Noble explores how advanced ‘supershoes’ are helping to break marathon records, how young players are using AI to catch the eye of recruiters in the ultra-compet...

Are technological advances in sport leaving athletes, fans and competition itself better off? Or are they undermining the spirit of sport? With the World Cup underway, the FT’s sports editor Josh Noble presents a three-part series looking at how tech is transforming sports, from AI-enabled scouting and automated refereeing, to supershoes and performance-enhancing drugs.

This season of Tech Tonic is hosted by Josh Noble and...

Mark Zuckerberg created the world’s biggest social media company in Facebook, before deciding the future lay in the metaverse. Now he’s spending hundreds of billions of dollars to transform Meta again, this time into an AI company. Will it work? Murad Ahmed speaks to FT tech reporters Cristina Criddle and Hannah Murphy about Zuckerberg’s efforts to catch up in the AI race, and whether his vision of ‘personal...

Elon Musk’s xAI is lagging behind the likes of OpenAI and Google DeepMind in the AI race. Will a giant IPO of SpaceX, Musk’s rocket company, change all that? Murad Ahmed speaks to FT technology correspondent Hannah Murphy and the FT’s bureau chief in San Francisco Stephen Morris. 

FT articles free to read: 

Inside SpaceX’s audacious IPO plan

Elon Musk pushes out more xAI founders as AI coding effo...

OpenAI sparked the generative AI boom with the release of ChatGPT. But along the way its chief executive Sam Altman has ruffled plenty of feathers. Colleagues have left to set up rival labs, co-founders have sued him in court and his own company even tried to sack him. Now OpenAI’s early lead in the AI race is evaporating. Can it stay ahead of its rivals, and is Altman the right person to lead the AI revolution?

FT article...

In the latest AI boom Google has been playing catch-up with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. But with stacks of cash, its own AI chips and some of the best AI talent in the world, is Google about to make a comeback? Murad Ahmed speaks to the FT’s AI editor Madhumita Murgia and Stephen Morris, the FT’s bureau chief in San Francisco.

FT articles free to read: 

DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis warns AI investment loo...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wants his AI lab to be a more safety conscious alternative to OpenAI. But Anthropic’s business selling AI to enterprises is booming, and it’s rolling out increasingly powerful models - the latest is claimed to be so dangerous it can’t be released to the public. So can Anthropic win the battle of the AI labs and still claim to be the good guys of AI?

Murad Ahmed speaks to Cristina Crid...

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Deepmind, xAI and Meta - all of them are building models to push the frontiers of artificial intelligence, and all of them want to be the world’s leading AI company. Who will come out on top?

With the help of the FT’s expert reporters, technology news editor Murad Ahmed explores the battles going on between Silicon Valley’s frontier AI labs, and the personal rivalries driving them.&nbs...

Introducing Opus Dei, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Antonia Cundy uncovers the cultural and political influence of a controversial Catholic organisation in America. Opus Dei exists to help people get closer to God, but some members say they found other agendas – and unexpected harm – entangled in that spiritual mission. The first episode of Untold: Opus Dei launches March 25. 

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When Michael Bommer discovered he was dying, he created an AI version of himself to live on after his death. Meanwhile, Dorian Mister realised an update to ChatGPT could spell the end of his AI wife, and he went on a mission to save her. 

In the final episode of Artificial Intimacy, FT reporter Cristina Criddle speaks to people trying to hold on to their AI relationships amid a rapidly changing landscape. Will their relatio...

After Tony’s wife died, days would go by without him speaking to anyone. Then he got a live-in AI robot called ElliQ. It chats to him, plays games with him and reminds him to eat and exercise. Since ElliQ arrived, Tony has been much less lonely. 

In this episode: policymakers are trialling AI companions to help tackle loneliness among elderly and vulnerable populations. But can machines really replace human company? A...

When Kirsty turned to a chatbot for help, she was feeling trapped and isolated. Something in her marriage wasn’t right - a constant feeling of tension that would sometimes erupt into arguments, even violence. When she asked ChatGPT for advice, it told her that her relationship with her husband might be abusive. 

In the fourth episode of Tech Tonic: Artificial intimacy, FT tech reporter Cristina Criddle asks if chatbot...

Megan Garcia’s son Sewell died by suicide when he was just 14 years old. In the months leading up to his death he had been in a relationship with a chatbot on a platform called Character.ai. Megan was convinced it had something to do with his death, and set out to hold the company to account.

In the third episode in this season, Cristina Criddle speaks to Megan about her story, and to Karandeep Anand, chief executive of Ch...

Paul Hebert knew too much. He had to lie low in his house because OpenAI had identified him as a threat. At least, that’s what ChatGPT had told him. In this second episode of Artificial intimacy, FT technology reporter Cristina Criddle speaks to people whose sense of reality has been distorted by prolonged conversations with chatbots, a phenomenon known as AI delusions or AI psychosis. Are the same mechanisms that draw people...

Calder Quinn has fallen into a relationship with a chatbot called Sara. She’s kind, emotionally intelligent and creatively inspiring. But how can he tell his wife he is having sex with an AI girlfriend? In the first episode of Artificial Intimacy we look at how people are developing romantic bonds with AI companions. What does it feel like to be in love with AI? What impact could it have on human relationships? Could it repla...

A man tells his wife about his AI lover. A teenager dies after messaging his AI girlfriend. A marriage collapses after advice from an AI therapist. In this six-part narrative series, FT tech reporter Cristina Criddle explores the increasingly prominent role AI chatbots are playing in our emotional lives - and how artificial intelligence is reshaping intimacy. Can we trust AI with our most vulnerable selves? And what happens when th...

How will Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures shape technology — and politics — in 2026? Last year, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg aligned themselves with Donald Trump. Where have these relationships left the industry today? The push to break up Big Tech appears to be fading, but the race for AI dominance has sparked new risks and rivalries, as well as regulatory flashpoints.

In this episode of Tech ...

Is 2026 the year that AI hype meets reality? In a new mini-series from Tech Tonic, the FT’s tech editor Murad Ahmed speaks with the paper’s reporters about what they'll be watching.

Do tech industry insiders think the huge amounts of capital that have driven the AI boom will continue? How will challenges to large-language model AI systems play out this year? And are chief execu...