Project Astra: Exploring a Universal AI Assistant with Greg Wayne

In our final episode for the year, we explore Project Astra, a research prototype exploring future capabilities of a universal AI assistant that can understand the world around you. Host Hannah Fry is joined by Greg Wayne, Director in Research at Google DeepMind. They discuss the inspiration behind the research prototype, its current strengths and limitations, as well as potential future use cases. Hannah even gets the chance to put Project Astra's multilingual skills to the test.

Further reading / listening:

Gemini 2.0Project Astra Decoding Google Gemini with Jeff DeanGaming, Goats & General Intelligence with Frederic Besse

Thanks to everyone who made this possible, including but not limited to:

Presenter: Professor Hannah FrySeries Producer: Dan HardoonEditor: Rami Tzabar, TellTale StudiosCommissioner & Producer: Emma YousifMusic composition: Eleni ShawCamera Director and Video Editor: Bernardo ResendeAudio Engineer: Perry RogantinVideo Studio Production: Nicholas DukeVideo Editor: Bilal MerhiVideo Production Design: James BartonVisual Identity and Design: Eleanor TomlinsonCommissioned by Google DeepMind

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Join mathematician and broadcaster Professor Hannah Fry as she goes behind the scenes of the world-leading research lab to uncover the extraordinary ways AI is transforming our world. No hype. No spin, just compelling discussions and grand scientific ambition.

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• Latest episode: 2025-07-10
• Technology Science

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