Kai-Fu LeeEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

Tom meets with Kai-Fu Lee, a pioneer in using machine learning to significantly advance speech recognition. Kai-Fu, former president of Google China and now Chairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AI, has led speech, machine learning and AI efforts at several top firms, and is now one of the top AI venture capitalists in China.

Kai-Fu Lee joins me to discuss AI in 2025. Kai-Fu is a storied AI researcher, investor, inventor and entrepreneur based in Taiwan. As one of the leading AI experts based in Asia, I wanted to get his take on this particular market. Key insights: Kai-Fu noted that unlike the singular “ChatGPT moment” that stunned Western audiences, the Chinese market encountered generative AI in a more “incremental and distributed” fashion. A particularly fascinating shift is how Chinese enterprises are adopting generative AI. Without the entrenched SaaS layers common in the US, Chinese companies are “rolling their own” solutions. This deep integration might be tougher and messier, but it encourages thorough, domain-specific implementations. We reflected on a structural shift in how we think about productivity software. With AI “conceptualizing” the document and the user providing strategic nudges, it’s akin to reversing the traditional creative process. We’re moving from a training-centric world to an inference-centric one. Models need to be cheaper, faster and less resource-intensive to run, not just to train. For instance, his team at ZeroOne.ai managed to train a top-tier model on “just” 2,000 H100 GPUs and bring inference costs down to 10 cents per million tokens—a fraction of GPT-4’s early costs. In 2025, Kai-Fu predicts, we’ll see fewer “demos” and more “AI-first” applications deploying text, image and video generation tools into real-world workflows. Connect with us: Exponential View Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us Fan Mail Kai-Fu Lee is a Taiwanese businessman, computer scientist, investor, and writer. He is currently based in Beijing, China. Lee developed a speaker-independent speech recognition system as his Ph.D thesis at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh-Pennsylvania). Lee later worked as an executive, first at Apple, then SGI, Microsoft, and Google. On this bonus content, I pulled three important audio clips from a recent in-person interview by Fortune. In addition to the clips, I provide my professional commentary on what Lee spoke about. Download (PDF Ebook) "The Evolution Of Digital Transformation By Jim Kunkle" Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z1NjoP7SMs3w7hwXVHT6mVc3--RNrD_1/view?usp=share_link Referral Links StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/c/5142511674195968 Contact Digital Revolution Email: Jim@JimKunkle.com Follow Digital Revolution On: YouTube @ www.YouTube.com/@Digital_Revolution Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/digitalrevolutionwithjimkunkle/ LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14354158/ If you found value from listening to this audio release, please add a rating and a review comment. Ratings and review comments on all podcasting platforms helps me improve the quality and value of the content coming from Digital Revolution. I greatly appreciate your support and Viva la Revolution!

After the success of his first book AI Superpowers , a New York Times best-seller examining the role of the US and China in the future of artificial intelligence, Dr. Kai-Fu Lee is back with a new book! Co-authored with award-winning science-fiction writer Chen Quifan, his latest book is called AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future . AI2041 presents a roadmap to educate and explore the opportunities and challenges presented by AI over the coming decades. Kai-Fu has spent more than three decades at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence research, development, and investment in both the US and China. He is the chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures , a leading venture capital firm focused on developing the next generation of Chinese high-tech companies. In this episode, we discover how Kai-Fu became a leading voice in AI around the world, discover his new book AI 2041 , and learn about how he invests in AI and DeepTech companies. Topics 00:22 — Introduction with Roxanne Varza 01:44 — How Kai-Fu Lee got into AI 02:54 — Milestones in Kai-Fu's career: from his studies at Columbia University; to his work at Microsoft, SGI, Apple, and Google; to launching Sinovation Ventures. 06:47 — His new book AI 2041 : why this title, why 2041? 07:27 — The format of AI 2041 08:31 — How AI 2041 paints the future of AI-based technologies 09:40 — The possible dangers of AI 12:53 — Kai-Fu's favorite part of AI 2041 (includes quantum computers, bitcoin, and robot romance!) 15:00 — Possible solutions against AI's dangers 17:55 — The link between Kai-Fu's two books: AI Superpowers and AI 2041 19:10 — How Kai-Fu invests in AI and DeepTech at Sinovation Ventures 24:23 — Most exciting companies in Kai-Fu's portfolio 25:45 — The trends that Kai-Fu's most excited about on the global landscape 28:27 — Kai-Fu's vision for the future of AI This episode is supported by TikTok , hosted by Roxanne Varza , and produced by Cindy Yang . Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kai-Fu Lee is the CEO of Sinovation Ventures and the New York Times bestselling author of AI Superpowers . Lee was formerly the President of Google China and a senior executive at Microsoft and Apple. He chairs the Artificial Intelligence Council at the World Economic Forum. His new book, AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future , co-authored with Chen Qiufan, is a literary call-and-response: Qiufan calls to Lee with one fictional chapter on the future of AI, and Lee responds to Qiufan with a supporting, nonfictional analysis of those futures. Each chapter deals with the applications of a different technology and explores the human dilemmas which arise as a result. This novel approach not only educates, engages, and entertains readers but also encourages to think ahead on the moves we need to takes as companies and societies in order to maximize benefits and minimize negative consequences. In a conversation with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Insitute, Lee shares his thinking and predictions on artificial intelligence’s potential applications, its social impact, and also the regulations required to tame it. *** About the BCG Henderson Institute The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS , our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter .

Today we’re joined by Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures and author of AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future. In AI 2041, Kai-Fu and co-author Chen Qiufan tell the story of how AI could shape our future through a series of 10 “scientific fiction” short stories. In our conversation with Kai-Fu, we explore why he chose 20 years as the time horizon for these stories, and dig into a few of the stories in more detail. We explore the potential for level 5 autonomous driving and what effect that will have on both established and developing nations, the potential outcomes when dealing with job displacement, and his perspective on how the book will be received. We also discuss the potential consequences of autonomous weapons, if we should actually worry about singularity or superintelligence, and the evolution of regulations around AI in 20 years. We’d love to hear from you! What are your thoughts on any of the stories we discuss in the interview? Will you be checking this book out? Let us know in the comments on the show notes page at twimlai.com/go/516 .

“China is no longer a copycat. It’s an innovator,” says Kai-Fu Lee , CEO of Sinovation Ventures and former president of Google China. He joins Azeem Azhar to explore China’s rapidly evolving tech scene, their embrace of automation, and their journey to AI dominance. They also explore: How Covid has dramatically accelerated the use of consumer-facing robots. Why office workers are most vulnerable to replacement by AI. Why China is so attractive for tech investors. Further resources: “ China, an AI Superpower ” ( Exponential View podcast, 2018) “ Kai-Fu Lee on how covid spurs China’s great robotic leap forward ” (The Economist, 2020) “ China Has Caught Up To US In AI, Says AI Expert Kai-Fu Lee ” (Forbes, 2020) @kaifulee @azeem @ExponentialView Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kai-Fu Lee joins us this week to talk about his new book, AI Superpowers, and the distinct advantages and differences between the US and China in this increasingly important technology.