Cleantech is rebranding as national security in the Trump era
On today’s episode, cohosts Yasmin Gagne and Josh Christensen break down the latest news in the world of business and innovation, including the U.S. dollar’s slide into multiyear lows as the tariff wars with China escalate, the outlook for unemployment, Nvidia’s plans to make supercomputers entirely in the U.S., and OpenAI’s news of launching a social network. (1:24)
Next, Yaz and Josh interview ‘Fast Company freelance reporter Patrick Sisson about cleantech companies rebranding themselves as vital for national security as government funding for anything climate-related gets cut. (10:00)
Finally, Yaz interviews Twitter cofounders Ev Williams and Molly DeWolf Swenson about their new private social media network Mozi, which focuses on helping people foster in-person connections. (23:15)
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58:04
Prompting a new brand era
Generative AI has taken the brand world by storm. But how is the planet’s best-known AI company building its own brand? Like everything to do with AI, the brand aspect of this category is evolving and changing seemingly week to week. There’s newer brands like Anthropic, Perplexity, and DeepSeek, alongside established giants’ own sub-brands like Apple Intelligence, Google Gemini, Amazon’s Rufus AI assistant, and on and on.With about 400 million users, and almost constant news coverage, OpenAI may be the best known purely AI company.In episode seven of Fast Company’s Brand New World podcast, host Jeff Beer talks to OpenAI’s chief marketing officer Kate Rouch about the strategy behind their Super Bowl ad, how the company defines its brand values, and why, despite helpful lessons from the last 30 years of tech, new precedents will still be set for the AI brand category.
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39:02
Innovating What Matters: Driving Pharma Forward - FROM FASTCO WORKS AND PURDUE UNIVERSITY
The pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of massive transformation driven by cutting-edge technology and strategic collaboration. Purdue University is on the forefront of Pharma 4.0 by partnering with pharmaceutical companies to pioneer advances in medicine and speed up the evolution of pharmaceutical manufacturing.
In this custom episode, host Shibani Joshi chats with Sean Bruik, senior vice president of artificial intelligence and data at Amgen; Mung Chiang, president of Purdue University; and Tatyana Kanzaveli, CEO of Open Health Network, to discuss the role of cross-industry partnerships in driving innovation in the pharmaceutical industry.
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22:46
This week’s biggest news: tariffs . . . and dire wolves
On today’s episode, cohosts Yasmin Gagne and Josh Christensen break down the latest news in the world of business and innovation, including President Trump delaying reciprocal tariffs, TikTok-alternative Skylight, a major win for college athletes, and Microsoft’s 50th anniversary. (00:46)
Next, Yaz and Josh interview Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen about how Flexport and the companies it works with are digesting the tariffs plus the continued uncertainty around global trade. (05:46)
Finally, Yaz interviews cofounder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences, Ben Lamm, about the company’s progress in trying to bring back the Woolly Mammoth and the criticism the company is facing after it unveiled three dire wolf puppies. (31:34)
For more of the latest business and innovation news, go to: https://www.fastcompany.com/news
For the latest ‘Fast Company’ coverage on Trump’s tariffs, go to:
https://www.fastcompany.com/section/tariffs
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1:14:20
Don't be evil
In episode six, host Jeff Beer is at Google’s world headquarters in Mountain View, CA to talk to chief marketing officer Lorrraine Twohill. We dig into the brand’s overall GenAI strategy, not only for how they’re working as a marketing organization, but also how they’re marketing Google's own AI tools like Gemini.We also chat about how Lorraine and her team are balancing between third-party tools like Brandtech Group’s Pencil Pro, and WPP’s One, and the company’s own proprietary tools.Of course, we get into the lessons learned over the reaction to Google’s “Dear Sydney” Olympic ad for Gemini last summer, but also how the ultimate goal for AI’s impact on the brand’s marketing is to come up with an idea in the morning, and see it out in the world that afternoon.
Which companies are on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence? What’s the next major breakthrough in healthcare? How do iconic brands reinvent themselves to appeal to the next generation? Most Innovative Companies is where tech, business, and innovation convene. Join hosts Yasmin Gagne and Josh Christensen as they bring you the latest innovations transforming business and society—and highlights the companies that are reshaping industries and culture.
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