Sponsored by Stanford University's Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford Data Science, and Starling Lab.

Join us for a fireside chat about AI's impact on the world with distinguished technology executive Craig Mundie and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.

Former Stanford President John Hennessy will moderate the discussion. Welcome remarks will be provided by Colin Kahl, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. The event will conclude with a Q&A session.

In-person attendance is at capacity.

To join virtually, register via Zoom.

As AI continues its unprecedented transformation of our world, Craig and Tom will discuss their 25-year friendship and the recent trends that led them to conclude, in a recent op-ed, that we’ve entered a new era of human civilization.

What do we call this new era? What will the impact be on our daily lives, and our geopolitics? Craig and Tom will answer these questions by discussing a new technical and normative framework to establish trust in AI systems. This work emerged from conversations with leaders across the U.S., Europe, and China, and has now arrived at Stanford as part of a new multi-department Stanford initiative researching AI trust frameworks.

Join us for an interactive session to learn more about the project and explore how you can get involved.

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Thomas Friedman is an internationally known journalist and author. His foreign affairs column in The New York Times, which he has written since 1995, reports on U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, Middle East conflicts, international economics, environment, biodiversity and energy. Friedman’s previous roles at the Times, which he joined in 1981, include Jerusalem bureau chief, chief diplomatic correspondent and international economics correspondent. He is the author of seven best-selling books: Thank you For Being Late; That Used to Be Us (co-written with Michael Mandelbaum); Hot, Flat, and Crowded; The World Is Flat; Longitudes and Attitudes; The Lexus and the Olive Tree and From Beirut to Jerusalem. Friedman has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at the Times and the National Book Award for From Beirut to Jerusalem.

Craig Mundie is a distinguished technology executive with a career defined by significant contributions to the technology industry and public policy. He advises organizations and governments on emerging technologies, particularly in areas such as fusion energy, cybersecurity, quantum computing, molecular medicine, and artificial intelligence.

Mundie spent 22 years at Microsoft, holding leadership roles including chief technical officer, chief research and strategy officer, and senior advisor to the CEO, where he shaped the company’s technology strategy and research initiatives. He continues to advise Microsoft on strategic initiatives. In addition to his corporate achievements, Mundie served for 10 years on the U.S. National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, offering critical and trusted guidance to three U.S. administrations on tech and national security. He was also part of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) for 8 years, helping shape national science and technology policies.

Mundie is a leading advocate for responsible technology development, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, advanced computing systems, and global technology policy. He co-authored Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit with Eric Schmidt and Henry Kissinger. Mundie currently co-chairs a track II dialogue with China on artificial intelligence, continuing his work in global technology policy and innovation.

MODERATOR:
John Hennessy (Computer Science and Electrical Engineering) is the James F. and Mary Lynn Gibbons Professor in the Stanford School of Engineering, and the Shriram Family Director of Stanford’s Knight-Hennessy Scholars, the largest fully endowed graduate-level scholarship program in the world. He is chairman of Alphabet and a trustee of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Formerly the tenth president of Stanford, he is also a computer scientist who cofounded MIPS Computer Systems and Atheros Communications. He was awarded the National Science Board Vannevar Bush Award in 2024 and he was co-awarded the Association for Computing Machinery A.M. Turing Prize in 2017. John earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science from Stony Brook University, New York.