WIRED Hosts The Big Interview in San Francisco

WIRED Hosts The Big Interview in San Francisco

WIRED hosted its Big Interviewevent at The Midway in San Francisco on Thursday, December 4. The event brought WIRED's iconic series to life, featuring a full day of conversations with industry leaders in technology, business, science, politics, and entertainment, showcasing the people, platforms, technologies, and ideas shaping the future.

Below are highlights from The Big Interview:

When asked if the tech industry is in an AI bubble, AMD CEO and Chair Dr. Lisa Su told WIRED's Lauren Goode, "emphatically, from my perspective, no," adding that fears about a bubble are "somewhat overstated." She also confirmed that AMD would pay a 15% tax instituted by the Trump administration on MI308 chips it planned to resume shipping to China.

Read more: AMD CEO Lisa Su Says Concerns About an AI Bubble Are Overblown

During a conversation with WIRED's Manisha Krishnan, Wicked director Jon M. Chu said he is "fascinated" by AI and has been learning to integrate it into his creative process for research and organization. But, he noted that if Wicked had gone straight from storyboard to screen without room to pivot, fans may not have gotten its now-iconic moments, including Cynthia Erivo's spontaneous wink while putting on her cape. "Since she did it in the moment, it becomes an image that lasts forever and that is what makes cinema and art beautiful."

Read more: Jon M. Chu Says AI Couldn't Have Made One of Wicked's Best Moments

Anthropic president and co-founder, Daniela Amodei, pushed back on the Trump administration's claim that regulation is crippling AI. In conversation with WIRED's Steven Levy, she said she's convinced her company's commitment to calling out the potential dangers of AI is making the industry stronger. "We really want to be able to have the entire world realize the potential, the positive benefits, and the upside that can come from AI, and in order to do that, we have to get the tough things right."

Read more: Anthropic's Daniela Amodei Believes the Market Will Reward Safe AI

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince told WIRED's Brian Barrett the company's efforts to block AI crawlers are already seeing big results, blocking more than 400 billion AI bot requests for its customers since July 1. "The business model of the internet has always been to generate content that drives traffic [to a website] and then sell either things, subscriptions, or ads. What I think people don't realize, though, is that AI is a platform shift. The business model of the internet is about to change dramatically. I don't know what it's going to change to, but it's what I'm spending almost every waking hour thinking about."

Read more: Cloudflare Has Blocked 416 Billion AI Bot Requests Since July 1

Professor & EVP of Scripps Research Dr.  Eric Topol spoke with WIRED's Sandra Upson about how new innovations in AI-assisted medicine, bioengineering, and anti-inflammatory awareness could have potential to revolutionize the way people age.

Read more: Can AI Look at Your Retina and Diagnose Alzheimer's? Eric Topol Hopes So

San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie told WIRED's Katie Drummond there is no better place to live than the City by the Bay and critics simply "don't know what they're talking about." He pointed to progress since taking office 11 months ago, including upticks in downtown occupancy and a drop in crime. Read more: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie: Past Leaders Took the City 'for Granted'

Jeremy Allaire, cofounder and CEO of Circle, sat down with WIRED's Steven Levy and said the global economy is about to undergo a major shift centered around cryptocurrency and described Circle as building an "economic OS for the internet." He added that USDC, a $78 billion stablecoin backed by the US dollar, shows how stablecoins can move money faster and more reliably across borders, and said the next evolution is "money as an app platform," powering a digital-only economy.

Read more: Circle's Jeremy Allaire: We're Building an 'Economic OS' for the AI Era

Activist and organizer David Hogg told WIRED's Leah Feiger the future of the Democratic party is clear and that establishment leaders are "going to get the message or they're going to get voted out," adding he doesn't "think the Chuck Schumers of the world understand" how vulnerable corporate-backed Democrats could be in 2026 and 2028.

Read more: David Hogg to Democratic Establishment: Get the Message or Get Voted Out

WIRED's Vittoria Elliott sat down with former SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek, USIP Outside Counsel George Foote, and former DOGE engineer Sahil Lavingia, to unpack the missteps and true cost of moving fast and breaking things within the world's most powerful government. Foote recalled DOGE operatives arriving "like a strike team" at USIP headquarters this spring, noting that they left behind a "half-pound of weed" (more likely a half-ounce, a panelist noted) and appeared to have "no idea what to do with the place." He said the episode reflected DOGE's broader work, which "arrived as the brass knuckles on an authoritarian fist," adding that he was unsure what Musk intended but believed "he took it to a destructive level."

Read more: Former USIP Lawyer on DOGE: 'Brass Knuckles on an Authoritarian Fist'

Photos: Images will be available via Getty

See scenes from inside the event on WIRED's Instagram, TikTok, and on wired.com.