FT Tech Tonic

Artificial intimacy: How to fall in love with AI

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 replace them altogether? Host Cristina Criddle speaks to Giada Pistilli, an AI ethicist who now works at Mistral; Calder Quinn, writer at ‘AI, But Make It Intimate’; Amelia Quinn, Calder’s wife; and Alaina Winters, professor emeritus of communication who publishes on meandmyaihusband.com.Presented by Cristina Criddle, produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. We used ElevenLabs to create Sara’s voice. All other voices are real.If you liked this episode and want to read more from the Financial Times, check out these free to read on FT.com:Can AI really help us find love?AI chatbots do battle over human memoriesIs this the way the world ends?Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming soon: Artificial intimacy

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 the same systems that draw us in also have the power to harm us?Tech Tonic: Artificial Intimacy is presented by Cristina Criddle and produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tech in 2026: Silicon Valley’s power plays and players

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 Tonic, Murad Ahmed is joined by FT tech comment editor Elaine Moore, San Francisco correspondent Hannah Murphy and bureau chief Stephen Morris to discuss Musk’s latest Grok chatbot, Zuckerberg’s evolving strategy at Meta, the rise of the online right and what it all reveals about the shifting balance of power in Silicon Valley.Free to read: Elon Musk hit by exodus of senior staff over burnout and politics How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawlerDina Powell McCormick appointed president and vice-chair at MetaBig Tech tests investors’ patience with $80bn AI investment spree Here come the glassholes, part II AI poses a new antitrust problemChina’s open-source AI is a national advantageThis series of Tech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer for Tech Tonic is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio. The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tech in 2026: Inside the AI bubble

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 executives expecting AI technologies to force job cuts?In this episode, we hear from the FT’s venture capital correspondent George Hammond, AI correspondent Melissa Heikkilä and writer of the AI Shift newsletter Sarah O’Connor for their views on AI’s financial faultlines, how the technology will evolve and what kind of disruptions to expect in the world of work.Free to read: SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to launch landmark IPOsComputer scientist Yann LeCun: ‘Intelligence really is about learning’The AI Shift: Agentic AI is coming for quantitative researchSubscribe to The AI Shift newsletter, an essential deep-dive into how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of workThis series of Tech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer for Tech Tonic is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio. The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.A previous version of this podcast made a statement about Klarna's use of AI that the company has disputed. The reference has since been removed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Untold: Toxic Legacy, Ep. 1

Laura Hughes receives a tip that horses are dropping dead in Wales. As she investigates, she finds decades of academic studies researching the problem. She learns these aren’t isolated incidents. Something is spreading across the countryside. It’s undetectable to humans, nobody knows it’s there — until they fall ill. For more information on how to live safely with lead, please visit the LEAPP Alliance website.To listen to the rest of the series, find Untold on your favourite podcast platform by clicking here!Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.