Google Research Head Yossi Matias: AI For Cancer Research, Quantum's Progress, Researchers' Future

Yossi Matias is the head of Google Research. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the company's research efforts in areas like cancer treatment and Quantum and to discuss the relationship between research and product. Tune in to hear how Google used LLMs to generate a cancer hypothesis validated in living cells, what a “13,000×” quantum result really means, and how the research product loop turns papers into products. We also cover whether AI can automate a researcher's job. This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at Google's Mountain View headquarters. Chapters: 00:46 AI co-scientist & cancer “cell-to-sentence” hypothesis 03:50 Quantum five year outlook 06:59 Research and Product 10:44 Breakthrough vs. innovation 12:44 Long-term research; Earth AI & flood forecasting examples 16:27 Where the next breakthroughs will come from 17:52 Algorithms vs. compute 20:26 Beyond GenAI: attracting researchers across disciplines 23:06 Will AI replace researchers? (Matias: more, not fewer)