Who really controls AI – and where is it taking us?

OpenAI began as a mission-driven nonprofit, promising to build artificial intelligence for the good of humanity. But as billions poured in from Microsoft and competition intensified, its lofty ideals collided with corporate ambition. Now, as AI reshapes industries, economies, and societies at an unprecedented pace, the stakes have never been higher.

Investigative journalist Karen Hao comes to The Conduit to delve into the untold story of OpenAI, Sam Altman’s rise and fall (and rise again), and the global power struggle driving the AI revolution. Through exclusive insights from engineers, data workers, and policymakers, Hao will unravel the forces behind this new technological empire—and what it means for the future of work, privacy, and democracy.

Event Schedule

7:00pm: Pre-event socialising and networking

A cash bar will be available for refreshments.

7:15pm: Event begins

8:30pm: Event ends

Speakers:

Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. She leads the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, a program training journalists around the world on how to cover AI, and sits on the AI advisory board of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. She was formerly a foreign correspondent covering China’s technology industry for the Wall Street Journal and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work is regularly taught in universities and cited by governments. She has received numerous accolades for her coverage, including an American National Magazine Award for Journalists Under 30. She received her B.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT.

Kate Devlin is Professor of AI & Society in the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London and is the current Chair-Director of the Digital Futures Institute. Her research investigates how – and why – people interact with and react to technologies, both past and future. Kate is the author of the critically acclaimed Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots (Bloomsbury, 2018), which examines the ethical and social implications of technology and intimacy. Kate is a co-investigator and the King’s lead on the UKRI’s Responsible AI UK programme, which brings together researchers from across the UK to understand how we should shape the development of AI to benefit people, communities and society. She was Advocacy and Engagement Director for the UKRI-funded Trusted Autonomous Systems Hub, which ran from 2020-2024. Kate is a board member of the Open Rights Group, a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms.