Big Take Asia

“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” An X post by a former employee of both OpenAI and Anthropic went viral this week and is prompting big questions. Among them: are the safety concerns in the US an opportunity for China?
On the Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg’s Mike Shepard talk through what an AI safety reckoning could look like — and whether an industry in the midst of intense competition can slow down.
Read more:
Anthropic Worker Quits Over AI Firms ‘Gambling With Our Lives’
Anthropic Says Iran, Russia Used Claude for Weapons Research
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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Guest: Mike Shepard; Edited by Naomi Shavin and Aaron Edwards. Fact-checking by Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Sean Carter Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Tens of thousands of workers in India are wearing head-mounted cameras to record their every move, helping train humanoid robots to perform everyday human tasks.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, Bloomberg’s Asia AI reporter Saritha Rai joins host Rebecca Choong Wilkins for an inside look at how vast troves of data are gathered by the very people who may eventually be replaced and what it all means for the US-China race for AI dominance.
Read more: Workers Are Teaching AI-Powered Robots to Take Over Their Jobs
Hosted by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Produced by Yang Yang; Reported by Saritha Rai; Edited by Crispina Robert, Patrick Hirsch.
Fact-checking by Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver; Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Hundreds of hydropower workers remain missing in Nepal after a glacial collapse caused catastrophic flooding. The disaster laid bare the rising climate risks across Asia and the danger of building in an increasingly volatile environment.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins sits down with Bloomberg’s Clara Ferreira Marques and Bloomberg Opinion’s David Fickling to talk about the human and economic toll of the disaster, why the catastrophe is a warning for the rest of the world and how Nepal’s big bet on clean energy may now be at risk.
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Hosted by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Produced by Yang Yang; Reported by Clara Ferreira Marques, David Fickling; Edited by Paddy Hirsch, Crispina Robert and Tracey Samuelson.
Fact-checking by Naomi Ng; Engineering by Alex Sugiura
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver; Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Microdramas — mini soap operas designed to be watched on your phone — have become one of the fastest-growing forms of entertainment in the world.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Yang Yang and Bloomberg Businessweek’s Christopher Beam about how millions got hooked on the medium, the challenges studios face as they try to reach new audiences and how AI could transform it all.
Read more: China Has the World Hooked on Two-Minute Microdramas
China Brought 90-Second Microdramas to the US. Now Hollywood Wants In
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.
Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng and Victor Swezey; Reported by Yang Yang and Christopher Beam; Edited by Paddy Hirsch and Crispina Robert.
Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Alex Sugiura and Sean Carter.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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North Korea was supposed to be broke and isolated. Now, it’s enjoying an unexpected economic boom.
On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, Bloomberg’s Cat Barton and host K. Oanh Ha unpack North Korea’s shift from pandemic-era hardship to a multibillion-dollar windfall, and discuss how the country’s newfound wealth is reshaping geopolitical alliances.
Read more: Kim Jong Un Flouted Sanctions to Amass $22 Billion Windfall

Further listening: North Korea’s Nuclear Program Reaches Tipping Point for the US
Watch, from Originals: Why Sanctions Aren’t Stopping North Korea
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