Crashed

The Online Safety Act received royal assent three years ago, and regulators are still implementing its regulations. Jessica Zucker, director of online safety policy at Ofcom, joins Crashed presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker to talk about how Ofcom is working with Meta, X, and others to keep them in check; how p***ography laws are being made increasingly complicated with new regulations making some types illegal; and how regulators can keep up with information overload.Elsewhere in the episode, what does the Democratic Party taking control back of both the House and the Senate mean for tech policy; why are fridges being hacked? And how does ~20% of North Korea's GDP come from hacking?Ofcom's report on content harmful to children: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/protecting-children/report-on-content-harmful-to-childrenOfcom's roadmap to the implementation of the Online Safety Act: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/roadmap-to-regulationOfcom's Media Nations 2026 report: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/multi-sector/media-nations/2026/media-nations-2026-uk-report.pdf?v=423157To support, go to https://bit.ly/CrashedPodcast or search Crashed podcastFollow:Alex: www.instagram.com/alexhuds / www.tiktok.com/@alexhuds Chris: www.instagram.com/cstokelwalker / www.tiktok.com/@st0kelSpotify: https://bit.ly/CrashedSpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4qkgmmVRSS: https://bit.ly/CrashedRSS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Investigative journalist Lydia Morrish of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism joins presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker to discuss the millions of non-consensual deepfakes produced on X's Grok in under two weeks.Elsewhere in the episode, we unpack the UK budget’s technology priorities, including AI investment, cybersecurity, data centres, and support for scale-ups; examine Anthropic’s prospective IPO, the company’s financial disclosures, and what its public offering could reveal about the AI boom.We also spend slightly too long talking about fish and chips.Follow Lydia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lydmorrish/?hl=en-gbRead her investigation into Grok: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-09-29/grok-deepfakes-police-justiceAnd her follow-up: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-10-22/grok-deepfake-case-reopened-after-bureau-reportingOr watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDb5ayMG694To support, go to https://bit.ly/CrashedPodcast or search Crashed podcastFollow:Alex: www.instagram.com/alexhuds / www.tiktok.com/@alexhuds Chris: www.instagram.com/cstokelwalker / www.tiktok.com/@st0kelSpotify: https://bit.ly/CrashedSpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4qkgmmVRSS: https://bit.ly/CrashedRSS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We tried to make a positive-news-only episode of Crashed and ended up talking about climate change, drilling in the North Sea, the collapse of societal norms, and a lot about a receipt printer for reasons only co-presenter Chris Stokel-Walker knows. Co-presenter Alex Hudson and Chris celebrate Crashed's first birthday with a look at how tech has already made life better and how it might be about to in the years and decades to come. Keywords: technology, future, green energy, medical tech, quantum computing, AI, innovation, podcast anniversaryKey topicsCelebration of the podcast's one-year anniversaryAdvancements in green energy and battery techMedical innovations like AI in cancer detectionQuantum computing and brain interface breakthroughsThe politics of energy and climate changeFuture predictions for technology and societyTo support, go to https://bit.ly/CrashedPodcast or search Crashed podcastFollow:Alex: www.instagram.com/alexhuds / www.tiktok.com/@alexhuds Chris: www.instagram.com/cstokelwalker / www.tiktok.com/@st0kelSpotify: https://bit.ly/CrashedSpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4qkgmmVRSS: https://bit.ly/CrashedRSS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Beatrice Fihn helped pioneer efforts to achieve a treaty-based ban on nuclear weapons. She's now turned her attention to the use of AI in warfare. Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker discuss with her how AI is already being used on the battlefield, the parallels with nuclear disarmament and just how much the Geneva Convention stands up to scrutiny. The documentary discussed in the episode, Will We Let AI Kill People, can be watched in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLIT00ZHgYE Elsewhere in the episode, we talk about MI5's renewed focus on AI, Mia Goth's AI deepfake issue, and what's the point of Apple's HomeView? keywords: AI warfare, international regulation, autonomous weapons, human control, global coalition, AI ethics, nuclear analogy, treaty negotiationsAI safety, deepfakes, MI5, cybersecurity, biological weapons, AI regulation, tech ethics, AI threats, AI deepfake, AI governancekey topicsMI5's AI Threat Assessment Centre (AI TAC)AI in warfare and automated weaponsInternational regulation and treatiesThe importance of human control over AI weaponsThe role of global coalitions and civil societyLessons from nuclear and chemical weapons regulationThe potential and risks of AI in military applicationsDeepfake incidents involving Mia GothRisks of AI in biological weapon synthesisRegulation and safety of AI systemsThe AI arms race among global intelligence agenciesThe challenge of verifying AI safety and honestyThe impact of AI on national security and global stabilityTo support, go to https://bit.ly/CrashedPodcast or search Crashed podcastFollow:Alex: www.instagram.com/alexhuds / www.tiktok.com/@alexhuds Chris: www.instagram.com/cstokelwalker / www.tiktok.com/@st0kelSpotify: https://bit.ly/CrashedSpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4qkgmmVRSS: https://bit.ly/CrashedRSS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

***Trigger warning: difficult discussions about sexual predators and child abuse take place in this episode.***The TikTok farlands are what media studies professor Jessica Maddox calls “the end of the internet where things get weird. You’ve left the mainstream and taken a wrong turn.” This wrong turn is regularly just a weird, glitchy nightmare of surreal AI but there is a darker piece to this puzzle. Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker talk to investigative journalist Katherine Denkinson about a Prospect investigation about the darker corners of TikTok. Also in the episode, what price with ASOS's hack have on the brand? And why on either are digital price panels having a moment? Read Kat's piece here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/technology/internet/telecoms/social-media/75143/they-trade-child-sex-abuse-material.-they-find-each-other-on-tiktok Go to Kat's homepage: https://kdenkwrites.com/ To support, go to https://bit.ly/CrashedPodcast or search Crashed podcastFollow:Alex: www.instagram.com/alexhuds / www.tiktok.com/@alexhuds Chris: www.instagram.com/cstokelwalker / www.tiktok.com/@st0kelSpotify: https://bit.ly/CrashedSpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4qkgmmVRSS: https://bit.ly/CrashedRSS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.