Bold Names
Bold Names

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Overview
Episodes

Details

WSJ’s Bold Names brings you conversations with the leaders of the bold-named companies featured in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Hosts Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims speak to CEOs and business leaders in interviews that challenge conventional wisdom and take you inside the decisions being made in the C-suite and beyond.

Recent Episodes

The CEO Who Says Cheaper AI Could Actually Mean More Jobs
FEB 11, 2025
The CEO Who Says Cheaper AI Could Actually Mean More Jobs
Cloud storage used to be a sleepy part of the computing world but, with artificial intelligence becoming cheaper than ever, the companies collecting and protecting that data are now a hot investment. That includes cloud storage company Box, which has seen its stock climb nearly 40% this year. Its customers include most of the Fortune 500, including movie studios, automakers, consumer electronics giants, marketing firms and the Pentagon. Box CEO Aaron Levie says AI is getting better at piecing through 90% of companies’ data that previously was an intractable mess, and is doing some tasks better than humans – from processing invoices and parsing contracts to building marketing campaigns. So why does he think that could actually lead to more jobs for humans? Plus, why his company plans to stay “model agnostic” and continue to work with all the major artificial intelligence models, including OpenAI ’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. He speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins in episode four of our interview series Bold Names. Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Further Reading Amazon Invests an Additional $4 Billion in Anthropic, an OpenAI Rival  How to Make AI Less of a Power Guzzler   What Is AI Best at Now? Improving Products You Already Own   Elon Musk vs. Everyone: The New Fight in AI  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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29 MIN
Why Elon Musk’s Battery Guy Is Betting Big on Recycling
FEB 11, 2025
Why Elon Musk’s Battery Guy Is Betting Big on Recycling
JB Straubel was Elon Musk’s battery guy. Now he’s trying to turn what some see as trash into power for the electric vehicle revolution. Straubel was there at the earliest days of Tesla, and in his 15 years with the electric vehicle company, he played an integral role: he developed the battery pack used in the first Tesla vehicle, was the company’s Chief Technology Officer, and now sits on the board of directors. But his day job is running the battery-recycling startup Redwood Materials, and he envisions a future where recycled batteries power our cars, cell phones and power tools. So could companies like his one day replace the oil giants who fueled the last century? Why does he think humans have room to work harder? And can the Tesla board manage Musk as he takes on a growing role in U.S. politics, including advising the Trump administration? Straubel speaks to WSJ’s Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims in episode three of our interview series Bold Names. Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Further Reading In the Desert With an EV Entrepreneur Who Insists Trump Will Be Good for Business  The Boom in Battery Metals for EVs Is Turning to Bust  Cost-Cutting Lessons From Musk World for DOGE  What Americans Get Wrong About Electric Cars  One of the Brains Behind Tesla May Have a New Way to Make Electric Cars Cheaper   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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28 MIN