An award-winning podcast from Google about the unseen world of data centers.
6d ago
Manufacturing has traditionally been defined by rigid assembly lines. But Alphabet’s moonshot spinoff Intrinsic is demonstrating how factories built around flexible, intelligent robotics can rewrite that playbook and democratize advanced manufacturing for everyone. In this episode, CEO Wendy Tan White explains how Intrinsic’s software makes industrial robots far more accessible, enabling small and medium-sized businesses to adopt automation once reserved for giant manufacturers. The result: faster customization, greater efficiency, and new opportunities for workers. Wendy shows how these technologies aren’t just improving productivity — they’re upskilling employees, opening doors to safer and more creative roles, and transforming factories into dynamic environments built for the next generation of innovation.
Jan 21
The collision of AI and artistry has ignited intense debate about the future of creative work, the value of originality, and what it means to make something truly human. In this episode, Mira Lane, Google’s VP of Technology and Society, joins musician and filmmaker Will Hatcher (aka King Willonious ) — the creator of what many consider the world’s first AI-generated hit song — to explore this rapidly evolving landscape. They unpack how tools like Google’s Music Sandbox and the film creation platform Flow are reshaping creative workflows. Hatcher shares how his “studio in a backpack” helps him level the playing field, making the case that AI doesn’t replace imagination — it expands it. Together, they sketch a hopeful vision of a future where technology becomes a catalyst for bold, boundary-pushing new art. Watch our complimentary documentary in which King Willonious invites us into his rich world of constant creativity in New York City, and shows us how he uses AI to bring projects to life in real-time.
Jan 14
Traditional drug discovery is a gamble where 90% of trials fail. But Recursion CEO Chris Gibson is using AI to shift the odds in humanity's favor. In this episode, Gibson explains how his Salt Lake City-based company combines massive wet-lab experiments with one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to create a "Google Maps" of human biology. We explore how this hybrid approach is decoding complex biological relationships to dramatically shrink the timelines and cost of bringing new medicines to market. And Chris offers us a glimpse into a future where life-saving treatments are mapped out by algorithms before they even touch a patient. Watch our complementary documentary in which we go inside Recursion’s Salt Lake City headquarters to see how the company is using cloud computing and high-tech robotics to change the trajectory of drug discovery.
Jan 7
AI’s meteoric rise can feel unprecedented, but it follows a familiar story. Just as the steam engine and electric motor rewired entire economies in the 1800s, today’s AI boom is setting off another society-wide transformation. In this episode, MIT professor and author Andrew McAfee draws the throughline from those earlier industrial revolutions to the one unfolding now. He explains how past breakthroughs reshaped manufacturing, reorganized work, and unleashed massive gains in productivity — and why those patterns offer a roadmap for navigating what he calls the “Second Machine Age.” McAfee shows us why the real impact of this AI revolution is still ahead of us, and what history reveals about what comes next.
Dec 17, 2025
Artificial intelligence is reshaping every corner of the global economy — and none of it is possible without the invisible infrastructure powering it: data centers. In Season 5 of Where the Internet Lives , host Stephanie Wong returns to guide listeners through the places, people, and breakthroughs defining this new era. From drug discovery and food security to manufacturing and creative expression, AI is accelerating innovation at a pace the world has never seen. Subscribe to Where the Internet Lives on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you get your shows. And this season, we’ll have more film documentaries to complement our audio stories on YouTube. The new season drops in January. We can’t wait to welcome you back.
Nov 6, 2024
Plastics production has doubled in the last two decades, clogging up our oceans and showing up in our organs. The massive growth in plastics production is also increasing CO2 output and driving up fossil fuel demand. Meanwhile, only 8% of plastic actually gets recycled, challenging our trust in the waste management system. But a new set of tools driven by AI, robotics, and material science are helping recycle plastics, steel, textiles, and just about everything else. And a new generation of entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers are devoting themselves to launching those tools. In this episode, we examine technology advances that are helping recyclers convert hard-to-recycle waste into a valuable feedstock – and what it means for building a circular economy with a singular goal of radically reducing global waste. Guests: Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google Astro Teller, captain of moonshots, at X, the moonshot factory Rey Banatao, project lead at X, the moonshot factory Julia Mangin, head of sustainability, Recology Emma Lingle, project manager at X, the moonshot factory Watch our complementary documentary about how scientists and entrepreneurs at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory, are inventing tools driven by AI, robotics, and material science to recycle plastics, steel, textiles, and just about everything else. It's all part of their vision to build a circular economy that will radically reduce global waste.
Oct 30, 2024
Last March, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It carried more than 40 payloads on board, including a satellite called MethaneSAT, which was designed to track methane emissions around the globe. Cutting methane emissions is a critical step toward reducing the rise of global temperatures that climate change is spreading to communities. In this episode, we have two stories about how data centers – and the AI they enable – are helping to mitigate the invisible threats of heat and air pollution around the world, particularly for vulnerable populations. From satellites to tree canopies, we ask how AI can help protect human health, reduce air pollution, and temper the urban heat island effect in our cities. Guests: Mansi Kansal, Cool Roofs product manager at Google Dr. Monica Bharel, clinical lead for public sector health at Google Karin Tuxen-Bettman, Google Earth outreach manager Millie Chu Baird, VP, Office of Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund Fatima Luna, chief resilience officer, City of Tucson Watch our complementary documentary about how Google’s data centers are helping make the invisible threats of air pollution and methane emissions visible.
Oct 23, 2024
Dwane Roth is a fourth-generation farmer growing corn, wheat, sorghum, and sunflower in southwestern Kansas. Back in 2016, the state of Kansas launched a three-year pilot designed to test the latest water conservation technologies on three working farms. Dwane’s farm was one of them. Seeing the benefits, Dwane became an outspoken advocate for high-tech approaches to water conservation – approaches that could help restore the critical Ogallala Aquifer running underneath most of western Kansas. In this episode, we ask how data-driven predictive tools are helping farmers use less water and improve yields. Plus, we look at how data and AI are getting excess food to those who need it most. And we confront the paradox of hunger and food waste existing at the same time, in the same places. Guests: Emily Ma, head of special projects in REWS sustainability at Google Prem Ramaswami, head of Data Commons at Google Stephanie Zidek, vice president of data and analytics, Feeding America Dwane Roth, farmer and water conservation advocate in Kansas Astro Teller, captain of moonshots at X, the moonshot factory Watch our complementary documentary about how data and AI are getting excess food to those who need it most, and the paradox of hunger and food waste existing at the same time, in the same places.
