Let's tour the growing AI economy
Marketplace
Marketplace
4.6 • 8.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Artificial intelligence companies raised enormous amounts of money in 2025, and made major investments in development and infrastructure. What’s next? To understand more about the role AI could play in our futures, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal and “Marketplace Tech” host Meghan McCarty Carino visited an AI company and an AI data center in Silicon Valley. In this episode, the next phase of AI innovation won’t come without obstacles.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This Marketplace podcast is supported by Fayree Drinker, one of the largest law firms in Minnesota, |
| 0:06.4 | with nearly 300 Minneapolis attorneys helping clients solve complex legal issues in meeting their goals, |
| 0:12.8 | in the Twin Cities and beyond, Faygriddrinker.com. |
| 0:17.4 | Programming is supported by prescription landscape, serving commercial clients across the Twin Cities since 1980, with grounds care, snow management, parking lot services, and seasonal decor. |
| 0:28.2 | Learn more at rxlanscape.com. |
| 0:32.2 | Okay, so they call it artificial intelligence, but the AI economy is very, very real. |
| 0:40.4 | From American public media, this is Marketplace. |
| 0:49.3 | In Los Angeles, I'm Kai Rizzdahl. |
| 0:55.6 | It is Tuesday, today January 27th. |
| 0:57.9 | Good as always, to have you along, everybody. |
| 1:00.2 | We're going to spend the program today recapping, a quick trip I took a couple of weeks ago. |
| 1:05.5 | Morning, everybody. |
| 1:06.8 | Hey, Kai. |
| 1:07.6 | How are we? |
| 1:08.4 | Welcome to the Bay Area. |
| 1:09.3 | Thank you very much. |
| 1:10.0 | That's Marketplace's Megan McCarty Carrino. You hear her here, and you hear her on Marketplace Tech. She was my ride at the airport up in San Jose. Tell me why I'm here. Well. I made me get out of plane at like 8 o'clock this morning. You want to talk AI. You want to talk AI and money. You got to come to the Bay Area. Right? |
| 1:29.5 | Fair enough. |
| 1:32.5 | We started our series the other day, trying to figure out whether AI is getting too big to fail. |
| 1:38.8 | Because there is massive spending happening, massive borrowing, too, to finance the data center boom. I went to one in |
| 1:46.2 | L.A. Megan talked to people about their not so good feelings about our AI future and the tradeoffs |
| 1:51.6 | that come with it. But the thing is, the AI future is already happening in Silicon Valley. |
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