The Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive: Andrew Ng on Deep Learning and Google Brain
In the fourth installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with Andrew Ng, the founder of Google Brain and DeepLearning.AI, for a conversation about the history of neural network research and how Andrew’s pioneering ideas led to some of the biggest breakthroughs in modern-day AI.
Hear about the origins of Google’s deep learning work, how Andrew’s teenage frustrations led him to pursue a career in machine learning and automation, and the work that led up to Google Brain’s infamous “cat video” paper.
For more on X’s AI moonshots, check out Andrew on Episode 3 of The Moonshot Podcast, “Machines That Think”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jLPA8Qpc74
00:00 - Introduction
03:30 - Andrew’s groundbreaking early theories about neural networks
08:16 - Why Andrew came to X with his ideas
10:30 - The unlikely history of neural network research
15:25 - Jeff Dean as Andrew’s “partner in crime”
17:16 - The origins of Google Brain’s neural networks
18:32 - Google Brain’s evolution in and out of hardware
22:01 - Google Brain’s innovation around transformers
24:36 - Google Brain’s earliest leaps forward in AI
28:24 - Google Brain’s graduation from X into Google
31:50 - What Andrew is up to these days
34:07 - Where the AI and machine learning field is going
35:19 - Andrew’s passion for education
36:51 - Why Andrew became interested in AI as a teenager
37:53 - AI’s democratizing effect on humanity
41:34 - How Andrew defines the term “artificial intelligence”
43:51 - Google Brain’s “cat video” coming out moment
45:51 - AI’s potential positive impact on the workforce
47:17 - Andrew’s favorite aspects of moonshot-taking
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Deep Dive: Catie Cuan on Dancing and Living With Robots
In the third installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with Dr. Catie Cuan, robot choreographer and former artist in residence at Everyday Robots, for a conversation about how dance can be used to build beautiful and useful robots that people want to be around.
Watch the video to hear how Catie and the Everyday Robots team transformed robotic motion into music, what it feels like when she’s dancing with a robot and why she’s “hyper-optimistic” about the future of robotics.
For more, check out Catie on Episode 5 of The Moonshot Podcast, “Living With Robots”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUcB73KgEVs
00:00 - Introduction
00:29 - Catie’s mission to make robots more humanistic and whimsical
02:12 - How Catie came to X and Everyday Robots
03:40 - Using dance to make robots less “robotic”
07:38 - Teaching robots human social cues
11:00 - Transforming robotic motion into sound with “music mode”
15:16 - Programming robots to “flock” together like animals
18:31 - How young kids interact with robots
20:15 - Catie’s own experience interacting with her robots
22:18 - Working with experts outside the field
24:36 - Designing robots to not look like “robots”
28:44 - Helping humanity face their visceral fear of robots
32:40 - The moonshot and legacy of Everyday Robots
35:42 - Catie’s advice for moonshot-takers
37:27 - Catie’s vision for what the future looks like
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Deep Dive: André Prager on Prototyping at Wing
In the second installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with André Prager, former Chief Engineer at Wing, for a conversation about the early days of Wing and how the team solved some of their toughest engineering challenges to develop simple, lightweight, inexpensive delivery drones that are now being used every day across three continents.
Watch the video to hear the story of André’s earliest inventions as a teenager, the surprising discovery that led the Wing team to rethink the drones’ sound, why engineering often feels like creating art, and more.
For more, check out André on Episode 1 of The Moonshot Podcast, “Driving the Future”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXGnjbkFLeo
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Deep Dive: Sebastian Thrun on Waymo’s Early Days
n the first installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of the Moonshot Factory, for a conversation about the history of Waymo and Google X, the ethics of innovation, the future of AI, and more.
Watch the video to hear how the self-driving car project got its start, Sebastian’s philosophy for building great teams, and practical advice for anyone who wants to tackle a big problem with a moonshot idea.
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Episode 10: Prototyping The Future, live from SXSW 2025
Astro joins an all-star cast of inventors, futurists and creatives for a live conversation about radical innovation on-stage at SXSW 2025. These pioneers and problem-solvers pull together the threads of our series, revealing how imagination and prototyping can come together to tackle global challenges like transportation, energy, food security and human health. Recorded in front of a live audience in Austin, Texas, this special episode explores how creativity, curiosity, and a maker's spirit have the power to transform bold ideas into reality.
Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes behind the scenes with the engineers and inventors using breakthrough technologies to try to find radical solutions to the world’s biggest problems. These are the untold stories from 15 years of Google’s innovation lab.
Thank you to Nicholas Thompson, Adam Savage and Catie Cuan for joining us on stage at SXSW 2025.
The Moonshot Podcast is a Blanchard House production for X, The Moonshot Factory. It’s produced by Ellie Sans and Sophie Eastaugh. Original music by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Daniel Lloyd-Evans. Sound design and mix engineering by Toby Matimong. The executive producers are Amica Sciortino Nowlan and Rebecca Maxted.
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What if the keys to solve the world’s hardest problems – food security, energy resilience, the digital divide – were already within our grasp?
Welcome to The Moonshot Podcast, where we go behind the scenes at X, The Moonshot Factory, to celebrate 15 years of Google’s innovation laboratory. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, this series gives you unprecedented access to the radical ideas and fearless inventors working to build a future we want to live in.
Explore real-world moonshots—from self-driving cars to AI-powered disaster prediction—and discover the messy, exhilarating journey of creating breakthrough technologies with the potential to reshape our world.
Some ideas will succeed. Some will fail. But every moonshot moves us forward.
Subscribe now to The Moonshot Podcast, a Blanchard House production for X, The Moonshot Factory.
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