Why Building AI At DeepMind Feels Like ‘Surfing’

Why Building AI At DeepMind Feels Like ‘Surfing’

From TechStuff by iHeartPodcasts

April 29, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

Oz interviews Ali Eslami and Saad Mohseni about AI development at DeepMind and media efforts in Afghanistan.

Live from The Royal Institution of Great Britain, it's TechStuff ! Oz sat down with two visionaries at an event hosted by Quilt.AI. First, he spoke with Ali Eslami, a Distinguished Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, who built the prototype for what is now AI Search. Ali talked about how working on AI can feel like surfing, and what went into connecting Gemini to Google Search to create what he called "neural Google." After that, Oz chats with Saad Mohseni about his work with MOBY Group. Saad guides Oz through his twenty-year effort to bring top-tier news and entertainment to Afghanistan and beyond — from a reality TV singing competition that changed the country, to using WhatsApp and AI to provide education to girls banned from school. Additional Reading:  Radio Free Afghanistan – HarperCollins EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/techstuff Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Oz

Guests: Ali Eslami, Saad Mohseni

Topics covered

  • AI
  • DeepMind
  • technology
  • education
  • news
  • entertainment
  • Afghanistan

Keywords

  • AI
  • DeepMind
  • Gemini
  • Google Search
  • education
  • Afghanistan
  • MOBY Group
  • technology
  • entertainment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Google DeepMind, MOBY Group

Books & works: Radio Free Afghanistan

Places: Afghanistan, The Royal Institution of Great Britain

More episodes of TechStuff

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the TechStuff podcast page.