Episode notes
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores how X is reimagining computer chip design to power the next generation of AI. Computer engineer Tammo Spalink joins host Astro Teller to discuss Project Positron and their radical decision to build "positronic brains" for robots that prioritize real-time response over raw throughput. Astro then speaks with Raj Apte about Project Bodger, a moonshot that uses AI to design the hardware of the future. By moving away from traditional, hand-drawn architectures and toward "inverse design," the team explores how computers can create chips that are faster…
The Moonshot Podcast
by X, The Moonshot Factory · English · Tech & Science
The Moonshot Podcast chronicles the untold stories of innovation - both highs and lows - from inside Google’s Moonshot Factory. In Season 2, Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with a new crop of moonshot takers exploring the next frontiers in health, biology, computing and more.
More from The Moonshot Podcast
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S2 · E9 · 27 May 2026 · 19 min
Underground Potential
In this episode of The Moonshot Podcast we're diving deep—literally!—below the surface to uncover the ground's immense, untapped potential, which could unlock solutions to some of humanity's greatest challenges. Astro sits down with Kathy Hannun from Project Dandelion to explore the breakthrough efficiency of geothermal heat pumps for home heating and cooling. – Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes behind the scenes with creators and inventors trying to find radical solutions and breakthrough technologies to the world’s biggest problems. These are the…
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S2 · E8 · 13 May 2026 · 59 min
Neurons and Networks
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores what the mind can teach us about technology and how technology can help our minds. First, Astro is joined by Sarah Laszlo from Project Valkyrie to discuss how looking at biological brains, such as that of a fruit fly, might unlock the key to more energy-efficient supercomputing. Next, Astro speaks with Obi Felton who led project Amber, a moonshot that attempted to build a more affordable EEG device that could detect and measure mental health diseases like depression and anxiety. – Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast…
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S2 · E7 · 6 May 2026 · 51 min
The Digital Trail
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores two ambitious moonshots focused on bringing "visibility" to the world's most complex and opaque digital and physical systems. First, Astro is joined by Mike Wiacek, Stephen Gillett, and Shapor Naghibzadeh from Chronicle to discuss how they built a digital immune system for cybersecurity, using Google-scale data analysis to detect anomalous activity and combat a global economic threat. Next, Astro speaks with Steven Chen and Suresh Vishnubhatla from Chorus, a moonshot focused on indexing the physical world to address monumental supply chain waste…
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S2 · E5 · 22 Apr 2026 · 47 min
Ocean Fuel, Desert Rain
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores two moonshots that investigated very different ways to use water: harvesting it from the air and transforming it into fuel. Astro Teller first chats with Neil Treat and Claudia Truesdell from Project H2E (“Hydration to Everyone”). The H2E team explored whether it would be possible to improve access to safe drinking water by harvesting water from the air. Next he sits down with Kathy Hannun from Foghorn, an X project that found a way to pull carbon and hydrogen out of seawater and combine it to create a new type of carbon-neutral fuel. The team…
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S2 · E4 · 15 Apr 2026 · 36 min
Breaking New Ground
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores how X, The Moonshot Factory, is reimagining a better way to plan and make smarter, faster building decisions to address the global housing crisis. Host Astro Teller is joined by architect Michelle Kaufmann to discuss the quest of making sustainable, high-quality homes accessible to everyone through the power of prefabrication and AI. They look back on how the team developed a first-of-its-kind software system that could iterate hundreds of building designs in seconds—essentially creating an "intelligent clay" that calculates costs and structural…
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S2 · E3 · 8 Apr 2026 · 37 min
Chasing the Wind, Storing the Sun
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores X's pursuit of radical solutions to drive energy abundance and resilience for humanity. Host Astro Teller is joined by Fort Felker to discuss the untold story of the Makani Moonshot, which sought to harvest wind energy in a radically different, lightweight way, using a tethered, kite-like aircraft. Next, Astro and engineer Raj Apte discusses Project Malta and the idea of creating a "time shifter for energy," exploring innovative ways to store energy until the grid needs it. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes…
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S2 · E10 · 3 Jun 2026 · 52 min
The Moonshot Mindset with Adam Savage and Sergey Brin
In this final and very special episode of Season Two of The Moonshot Podcast, we're zooming out on what it means to have a Moonshot Mindset, and how The Moonshot Factory has been systematizing radical innovation over the last 16 years. We turn the tables, with Astro interviewed by TESTED host and king of experimental curiosity, Adam Savage, to talk about what innovation is, how you can really drive it, and how we can all be more innovative in our lives. Next, Astro sits down with Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin, to discuss where the inspiration for The Moonshot Factory came from, and reflect…
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S2 · E2 · 1 Apr 2026 · 40 min
Coding The Natural World
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast dives into the future of biology, exploring how to harness life's "tiny factories" to solve humanity's biggest challenges. Host Astro Teller sits down with Brad Zamft, CEO of Heritable Agriculture, to talk about programming plants to dramatically increase yield, pest, and drought resistance for a more sustainable food system. Next Astro speaks with Relly Brandman from project A-Life about unlocking the manufacturing power of biology, using AI to create a "virtual cell" that shifts biomanufacturing from slow trial-and-error to a predictable engineering…
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S2 · E1 · 25 Mar 2026 · 44 min
Supercharging Human Health
The Moonshot Podcast is back! In the season 2 premiere, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller explores how three X projects developed technology to transform the future of healthcare. He first sits down with Kathryn Zealand and Anna Roumiantseva from Skip to hear about how the world’s first “e-bike for walking” evolved from their team’s mobility moonshot at X. They recount how an early prototype of Skip’s powered pants helped carry a colleague to top of the Salesforce Tower, and share how the product has developed since spinning out into an independent company (Astro even tries a pair on for…
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S2 · E1 · 11 Mar 2026 · 2 min
Season 2: The Moonshot Podcast Trailer
The Moonshot Podcast is back! The Moonshot Podcast chronicles the untold stories of innovation - both highs and lows - from inside Google’s Moonshot Factory. In Season 2, Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with a new crop of moonshot takers exploring the next frontiers in health, biology, computing and more. From energy kites and robotic pants, to sea fuel and digital immune systems, go behind the scenes with the inventors and creators working to turn "what if" into what’s next. Available from March 25, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
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