The Inventor of the Web Issues a Warning on AI | Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee could be one of the richest men on the planet, why did he forfeit such large profits to make the World Wide Web a free and open space? How do we reclaim the internet from social media companies taking away our sovereignty? Have tech giants like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk thanked Tim for his invention? Rory and Alastair are joined by Sir Tim Berners-Lee to discuss all this and more. To save your company time and money, open a Revolut Business account today via https://www.revolut.com/rb/leading, and add money to your account by 31st of December 2025 to get a £200 welcome bonus or equivalent in your local currency. Feature availability varies by plan. This offer’s available for New Business customers in the UK, US, Australia and Ireland. Fees and Terms & Conditions apply. For US customers, Revolut is not a bank. Banking services and card issuance are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Visa® and Mastercard® cards issued under license. Funds are FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Lead Bank, in the event Lead Bank fails. Fees may apply. See full terms in description. For Irish customers, Revolut Bank UAB is authorised and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania in the Republic of Lithuania and by the European Central Bank and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules. For AU customers, consider PDS & TMD at revolut.com/en-AU. Revolut Payments Australia Pty Ltd (AFSL 517589). Visit https://www.HP.com/politics to find out more. 00:00 - Intro 00:30 – HP 01:50 – Guest intro: Sir Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web) 06:24 – Oxford physics, love of maths & chemistry 06:49 – The early internet 8:55 – The "good web" and the "bad web" 12:44 – Was capitalism good for the internet? 13:11 – The diagram: bad (Snapchat, TikTok, Insta) vs good (democracy, collaboration) 14:26 – CERN 15:22 – Building his own computer in the 1980s 17:10 – The unique atmosphere of CERN 18:12 – Inventing the Web 21:49 – Britain’s lost tech edge; Pi, ICL, Silicon Glen 23:31 – Why the US (ARPAnet) won; Europe left behind #politics #podcast #ai #tech 24:59 – Lesson for Europe: avoid bureaucracy, fund innovation 25:24 – AI needs a CERN-style international hub, not national silos 26:58 – Sovereign LLMs vs international collaboration 27:44 – Revolut 28:58 – 2012 Olympics: “This is for everyone” moment 29:49 – Democracy risks from tech 33:15 – Are algorithms bad for us? 35:01 – Does Tim regret not cashing in? 37:29 – Politics: Gordon Brown’s open data push vs David Cameron’s disinterest 41:28 – Breaking the “walled gardens” of Facebook & LinkedIn 42:36 – AI 49:11 – Saddened by global politics; liberal decline 50:03 – Digital sovereignty 2.0? 51:03 – Invention myths: no “eureka moment,” long processes 51:49 – Book plug: This is for Everyone (Macmillan) 52:02 – Debrief