Intelligence Explosion: Managing the coming wave of hybrid intelligence

Episode 8. Inside the Silicon Empires: Prof. Nick Srnicek on Power, Profit and the New AI Cold War

Tamim Asey Season 1 Episode 8

In this final episode of Season 1 of The Intelligence Explosion podcast host Tamim Asey sits down with Professor Nick Srnicek of King’s College London who is a leading authority and one of the sharpest minds dissecting the intersection of artificial intelligence, capitalism and power.

Prof. Srnicek, author of the upcoming book Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI, unpacks how the race for AI supremacy is reshaping global capitalism from compute monopolies and infrastructure control to the brewing AI Cold War between the U.S. and China.

Together, they explore:

•What exactly are “AI Empires,” and who controls them?
•The hidden infrastructures — chips, clouds, and data pipelines — that decide the balance of digital power.
•How the AI bubble might burst, and what comes next.
•Why the future of capitalism itself may depend on who commands the algorithms.

This conversation isn’t just about technology but it’s about the architecture of power, sovereignty and survival in the age of artificial intelligence.

Tune in for a deep, thrilling, and eye-opening discussion that peels back the curtain on Silicon Empires and the global scramble for algorithmic dominance.