Autonomous driving is not just a big tech or closed-source game, it's becoming accessible through open innovation and real-world deployment. Dan and Chris sit down with Harald Schäfer, CTO at Comma AI, to explore how OpenPilot is bringing self-driving to everyday vehicles using open source AI. We dive into the intersection of machine learning, robotics, and simulation, including how world models are enabling training at scale and shaping the future of autonomy.

Featuring:

• Harald Schäfer – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• Comma

In this fully connected episode, Dan and Chris break down the Anthropic Claude Code leak, what went wrong and what it reveals about agentic systems, AI architecture, and AI safety. They also explore how the open source community is responding and why this moment could reshape how AI systems are built and secured.

Featuring:

• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

AI is rapidly transforming how software is built, shifting economic incentives from open source code and collaboration toward on-demand, personalized development through agentic coding a.k.a. vibe coding. In this episode, Chris speaks with Miklós Koren of Central European University about how AI is reshaping open source and the software industry. They explore the economics of incentives, evolving collaboration patterns, and what this shift means for software development, the future of AI, and its broader impact on the technology sector.

Featuring:

• Miklós Koren – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X

Links:

• Vibe Coding Kills Open Source
• The Directions of Technical Change
• The Tailwind story

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

What does “AI at the edge” really mean in 2026, and why does it matter now more than ever before? In this episode, we’re joined by Brandon Shibley, Edge AI Solutions Engineering Lead at Qualcomm’s Edge Impulse, to discuss the current state and future of Edge AI in 2026. We discuss Gen AI, Small Models, and Cascades of Models, along with real-world constraints like latency, power, and privacy. We also dive into the role of MLOps, evolving hardware, and how developers can start building practical edge AI systems today.

Featuring:

• Brandon Shibley – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• Read our Ultimate Guide to Edge AI
• Download your copy of O'Reilly's AI at the Edge
• Check out the Edge Impulse blog
• Sign-up for an expert led trial of Edge Impulse

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

What happens when an AI hater starts building with AI agents? In this episode, we talk with software engineer Steve Klabnik, known for his work on the Rust programming language, about his journey from criticizing AI to experimenting with it firsthand. We explore Steve’s programming language Rue, largely built with the help of AI tools like Claude, and discuss what this means for software engineering and the future of coding in an AI-driven world.

Featuring:

• Steve Klabnik – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• The Rust Programming Language
• Rust
• Rue
• Daniel's RSA Meeting link for March 23, 2026
• Daniel's RSA Meeting link for March 24-25, 2026

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

AI is reshaping global power, from chip manufacturing and computing power to AI governance and US-China relations. In this episode, Ben Buchanan, Assistant Professor at The Johns Hopkins University and former White House Special Advisor for AI, explores how AI policy, geopolitics, and international cooperation intersect with AI innovation and AI safety. We discuss the strategic importance of computing power, the future of AI governance, and what it will take for democracies to lead responsibly in the age of AI.

Featuring:

• Ben Buchanan – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X

Links:

• The AI Grand Bargain

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

As AI accelerates innovation and adoption, leaders are facing rising cognitive load, shifting systems, and new emotional realities inside their organizations. In this episode, Deloitte’s Chief Innovation Officer Deborah Golden joins us to explore how AI is reshaping leadership, why vulnerability and empathy are critical in this moment, and how anti-fragility, not just resilience, will define the future of work.

Featuring:

• Deborah Golden – LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• Deloitte

Sponsor:

• Framer - The website builder that turns your dot com from a formality into a tool for growth. Check it out at framer.com/PRACTICALAI

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!

AI is moving fast from research to real-world deployment, and when things go wrong, the consequences are no longer hypothetical. In this episode, Sean McGregor, co-founder of the AI Verification & Evaluation Research Institute and also the founder of the AI Incident Database, joins Chris and Dan to discuss AI safety, verification, evaluation, and auditing. They explore why benchmarks often fall short, what red-teaming at DEFCON reveals about machine learning risks, and how organizations can better assess and manage AI systems in practice.

Featuring:

• Sean McGregor– LinkedIn
• Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
• Daniel Whitenack – Website, GitHub, X

Links:

• AI Verification & Evaluation Research Institute
• AI Incident Database
• 38th convening of IAAI
• BenchRisk
• State of Global AI Incident Reporting

Upcoming Events:

• Register for upcoming webinars here!