Weekend Listen: The Man Driving Microsoft’s New AI Strategy

Mustafa Suleyman co-founded AI lab DeepMind when he was just 26 years old. Four years later, it was acquired by Google for a reported $400 million.

He is now head of Microsoft’s AI unit, where he just unveiled a new superintelligence team tasked with creating an AI that can outperform humans at all tasks.

In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Suleyman talks about the decisions society has to make about AI, the white-hot war over tech talent and the competition with other tech bros.

00:00 - Introduction from Mishal Husain
02:20 - Suleyman’s daily use of AI
04:52 - Stoicism and the magic of AI
05:50 - Defining superintelligence
07:35 - The AI Wild West
09:20 - Humans misusing technology
11:43 - Promise of abundance, universal basic income
14:30 - Suleyman’s family and decision to drop out of Oxford
19:37 - "Decisions we make may have very lasting consequences”
21:04 - Exploring the ‘broligarchy’
22:28 - His view of Sam Altman and Open AI
24:11 - Conversations with Demis Hassabis about Gemini 3
26:15 - “I’m sort of a centrist these days”
28:09 - AI containment and the role of government
29:58 - Microsoft’s revised deal with OpenAI: “It is a shift for us”
31:42 -The talent war and ‘Zuck’s’ pay packages
34:12 - Circular deals in AI: “Watching it carefully”
36:22 - “I really want to nail medical superintelligence”
37:36 - Suleyman on using AI for emotional support
40:21 - The UK lacks the “hustle culture” of Silicon Valley
42:13 - AI news reporters: “We’re exploring everything”

Watch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYS

You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview

Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net

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