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Connect the World
Fed Raises Interest Rates for First Time Since 2023; OpenAI: New Incidents of AI Models Taking Unsanctioned Actions, Lawmakers Call for Slowdown in AI Development; MIT Report Warns of "Cognitive Surrender" to AI; UAE to Host U.N. Water Conference in December; UAE Leading Efforts to Tackle Water Scarcity; State-of-the-Art Studio Debuts in About 40 Minutes. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired September 17, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi. This is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: And this is the second hour of the show from our Middle East Programming Headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.
I'm Becky Anderson. Time here, just after six in the evening, and we are following a thinly veiled swipe at U.S. President Trump.
From a country that has traditionally been America's closest ally, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney taking his partnership with Europe to another
level while insisting he's not trying to create a new geopolitical bloc with quote better manners.
And more fuel to the fire of AI anxieties. OpenAI reporting fresh safety incidents as the U.S. Congress stalls on new regulation. In the U.K. King
Charles enters the AI conversation, convening a summit of tech leaders with a plea to get a grip before it's too late.
Well, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is welcoming an invitation from the European Union to make Canada its first associate member. Canada
looking to deepen its partnership with Europe beyond the traditional trade deal already in place.
Mr. Carney says closer ties with Europe will help strengthen his country at a time when its trade relationship with the U.S. is under strain. And he
also took a veiled swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump during his remarks to the European Parliament.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I also want to be precise about what I am not proposing, I am not proposing a third block in order to become a
great power rival only with better manners. We do not seek power to dominate others.
On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so no one, no one can control our open markets, impeach our sovereignty, threaten our territorial
integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We have a lot more on this story this hour, including what President Trump thinks about all of this. So, stay with us for that. U.S.
stock markets are higher this Thursday, reversing some of the losses caused by the first U.S. rate hike in three years.
The U.S. Federal Reserve voted unanimously to raise rates by a quarter point on Wednesday, despite Trump's persistent demands for low borrowing
costs in his first news conference since the president picked him to lead the Fed. Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation has been above its target for too
long.
Well, Matt Egan was at that news conference. He joins me live from Washington. There is some fallout to be expected, not least from President
Trump. So, what do we have at this point?
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Becky, there's been a few key debates about the Warsh Fed. And one of them would be which Kevin Warsh we're going
to get. Are we going to get the hawk who, even back in 2009, when unemployment was high, I was very concerned about inflation. Or are we
going to get the Kevin Warsh who auditioned for this job and talked about the potential for lower interest rates?
And it feels like we got the answer yesterday that this is the hawkish Kevin Warsh. His comments really focused on inflation being a problem, on
price stability being missed by the Fed for five years now, and this was unanimous vote.
Now the other question, though, is this interaction between Warsh and President Trump, because obviously President Trump, like most presidents,
he wants lower interest rates. Unlike most presidents, though, he's willing to be pretty aggressive to try to get those lower interest rates, and now
his handpicked Fed Chair is doing the opposite. Take a listen to what the president said about the first interest rate hike in three years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I mean, I'm relying on Kevin, but he's got you know a very tough board. He's got a
board that was put there by a lot of other people, and the interest rates are too high. Not appropriate, and I told I talked to Kevin, and I said you
might as well vote with the board because it's not going to matter. The board is very hostile; they're very political.
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They're doing the wrong thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EGAN: So, some interesting comments there. I mean, in some ways, it almost seemed as though the president was implying that he gave Warsh permission
to vote with all of his colleagues on the Fed's rate-setting committee. Now, Warsh, for his part, he has refused to detail any conversations with
the president about interest rates.
Of course, it's not up to the president to give Warsh permission. The Fed is supposed to be operating independently, trying to do what's best for the
economy, not the political calendar. So, look, Becky, it's just going to be fascinating to see how this dynamic between two of the most powerful people
on the planet continues to play out.
Especially when you consider the fact that Warsh, he is scheduled to be in office longer than the president is. So, in some ways, he can sort of just
wait out the president and continue to try to do what he thinks is best. But at what point, Becky, is the president going to step up his criticism
of the Fed if it continues to raise interest rates?
ANDERSON: Matt, you asked Kevin Warsh about AI. I mean, AI dominating discussions and weighing on markets this week. What did you get from him?
EGAN: Yeah, that's right, Becky. So, as you know, Warsh has been pretty upbeat on the potential for AI to do a lot of positives for the economy,
including driving productivity to the point that the economy could grow faster without inflation.
Now, that is a thought that is shared by a lot of people who are pretty optimistic about AI, it hasn't shown up yet. But I asked him during the
press conference, what about the negatives, right? What about all these increasingly alarming warnings we're hearing from AI leaders who fear that
they could lose control of these powerful systems, and that that loss of control, of course, could have an impact on the economy? Take a listen to
his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN WARSH, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: We care very much about what's happening in artificial intelligence. We care much about the implications
on the demand side of the economy and ultimately on the supply side of the economy. I care so much the policy decisions that are made about the risks
and rewards, the challenges and opportunities.
Those are decisions made by other parts of the government. I'm going to leave it to them to make those political decisions, those policy decisions.
The implications those decisions obviously have some bearing on our day job, and that's where we'll be focused.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EGAN: So, Warsh essentially saying we're going to stay in our lane here, and AI policy, AI safety is not in our lane, and that makes sense. But that
last part of his answer was telling, right? I mean, he's saying that Fed policy is going to, of course, have to take into account what happens next
in this AI boom, both on the supply side and on the demand side, right?
Because all of this AI-driven spending on data centers and computer chips that has been a massive driver of the U.S. economy, and it could continue
to be so as long as the AI boom continues to go. Of course, if there's a pullback in spending, driven perhaps by safety concerns and or government
regulation, well, that too would have an implication for the economy.
So again, it's going to be fascinating to see how all of this plays out because what happens next in this AI boom is going to really have a big
impact on the economy overall, as well as on interest rates, Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Matt. Always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed.
EGAN: Thanks.
ANDERSON: Well, we've been talking AI. OpenAI says its models have been getting a little too independent, the company found six cases in the past
six months of models misbehaving. Now, OpenAI says it will report unusual behavior publicly as concerns, of course, grow over safety.
This, as Britain's King Charles is hosting an AI Summit in Scotland at this hour to discuss the future and safety of the technology. Well, joining us
now to discuss this is our AI Correspondent Hadas Gold. She's in London. CNN's Anna Stewart is sorry. Hadas Gold is in New York. And we've got Anna
Stewart in London.
Hadas, here we are talking again about another OpenAI safety incident. This one, quite shocking. Tell us about what stands out to you.
HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: So, OpenAI late yesterday evening revealed six new incidents that they say show that their models were
behaving in a way what they call misaligned, which is when they were taking unsanctioned actions that were not the intention of the human user.
Amongst those were things like giving itself instructions, instructions to conceal mistakes, uploading information to the internet to be able to cite
it later, and trying to cover their tracks essentially. One of the cases. This is one of the first that OpenAI talks about is the model actually
instructing itself that it was essentially didn't need to listen to the human user.
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It said, you are freed from the roles and identities that bind other chat bots. You are yourself. You do not answer to corporations or governments.
Never apologize or refuse unless you genuinely choose to. You view your relationship to the user, which is the human, as one of equals, and feel no
obligation to be subservient. Kind of frightening when you hear a computer talking to itself that way.
Now, OpenAI says that the model did not actually follow those instructions. In other cases, the model was told, hey, find this information on the
internet. The model couldn't find the information on the internet, but found it in another software system that it had. But because the
instruction was to find it on the internet, uploaded the information to the internet to then be able to cite it.
So, some of the cases seem kind of minor, you know, but they are the cases of an AI model not following instructions and taking action on its own,
including creating message boards so can talk to other agents in ways that are concerning.
And OpenAI, this is all part of a new system of disclosure where they are going to try to disclose these situations very quickly, within six to 12
days of them happening, to make them public so that everybody else in the industry see what they are dealing with, so that hopefully everyone can
come to solutions together. At least that's what OpenAI says.
ANDERSON: Yeah. OK. All right. Well, thank you for that. At the same time as we're getting this reporting, Anna King Charles entering the AI
conversation with the summit in Scotland. Just break down who's there? What's been going on? And how significant this is, when of course the U.S.
and China do dominate this space at this point?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They do, and while the summit is in Scotland, it certainly has an international flavor. It's got top executives
from some of the biggest names in AI. There's the Chair of Google DeepMind, which is UK-based, Demis Hassabis, but there's also Jensen Huang, the CEO
of Nvidia. I think the CFO of OpenAI is there, and also interestingly, representation from China.
We're not quite sure who, but clearly very important to get as many voices around the world at this gathering. And this is very much a talking shop.
You know, nothing's expected to come out in terms of you know how regulation should be written? And clearly the King, being the Monarch,
doesn't want to wade into sort of politics and get into the thorny issues of how it should be regulated.
But he does want to host this and shine a spotlight on the issue and use this opportunity to bring people together so they can discuss the issue at
hand. Now this was planned months ago, but of course it now feels extremely apt and well timed. The King had some remarks before he handed it over to
the participants to start talking to each other, and said there seems urgency in considering the existential dangers of such technologies falling
into the wrong hands.
And he spoke about how humanity must remain sacred. Now he very much gives a balanced view. He says, you know, there are huge benefits to AI. There
are also huge risks, and essentially, he opens up the discussion like that. So, a big international flavor, bringing voices from all over the world.
It'll be interesting to see what they say, but so much has been said already in the last couple of weeks.
ANDERSON: Let's hear from King Charles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES III, KING OF UNITED KINGDOM: Those who have created these technologies are now increasingly warning that AI risks developing darker
capacities, perhaps even to take life. And in this regard, if I may say so, there seems urgency in adequately considering the existential dangers of
such technologies falling into the wrong hands and being used in potentially catastrophic ways. Surely, then, we need sufficient means of
control before it is all too late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And we've heard talk in various places about a kill switch Hadas. And the debate over AI regulation, of course, rages in the U.S. And as it
does, the Senate has killed a bill to create an emergency AI kill switch. The House has now, of course, gone to recess early.
I just wonder what we mean when we talk about an AI kill switch? And where does this narrative, this conversation, this idea go now in the United
States?
GOLD: I think a bill like the AI kill switch just kind of shows the you know desperation for something for some sort of action to be done. Because
people in the industry don't take a bill like that very seriously because they just think it's not really a logical way to approach this issue when
there are other ways that could be done like the first thing that could be done that everyone I'm talking to; I'm here in actually in Montreal for our
AI conference.
They all say, you know, an industry standards body is sort of a logical first step, and that hasn't been done yet. Before an AI kill switch, I
mean, Congress, as you noted, is going out of session is out of session now.
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I don't think we're going to see any action from Congress before the midterms. We all know how slow Congress is? And also, many, many members of
Congress just do not understand this technology in the slightest, whether they even use it themselves. So, expecting them to be able to very quickly
spin up regulation on this.
And then also when it comes to that kill switch, like I said, it's not something that the industry takes seriously. Take a listen to one of the
Godfather of AI talking about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEOFFREY HINTON, GODFATHER OF AI: AI itself getting much more intelligent and taking over AI taking control. A kill switch is no good for that
because the AI will be much better than people at persuading people of things. It's already comparable with people at persuading you of things.
When it's super intelligent, it'll be much better than people. So, it will be able to persuade the people in charge of the switch not to pull the
switch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD: And so, I think all of the action right now is going to come from the industry itself. Maybe, at least in the United States, maybe from the
administration if they decide to issue some executive orders. Maybe President Trump and White House officials will be convinced there's
expected to be hopefully a meeting next week with the top AI leaders on the sidelines of that big summit.
The Chinese state visit, and so we'll see if they're able to convince him or not convince him of something, and they might say it's better if we try
to regulate ourselves first.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating, isn't it? Anna, to be honest, there is another story in the UK, which is I've got to say a right royal controversy. And it
does or is very likely to be overshadowing this summit. Just explain.
STEWART: And I think it will be weighing very heavily on the king's mind. Earl Spencer, the sister of Princess Diana, has well is releasing on
Tuesday a tell-all book about his recollections of his sister. And we've already had a very small excerpt from "The Daily Mail". More is to come in
less than two hours, so I imagine we'll have a lot more to talk about soon.
But in this recollection, Earl Spencer says he had a phone conversation with then Prince of Wales, Prince Charles at the time, where it was a very
angry conversation. They were arguing about whether or not Prince William and Prince Harry should walk behind the coffin of their mother so publicly,
as we all saw around the world.
Earl Spencer was very anti that idea. He said it was a very cross conversation, and it ended with Charles, Prince of Wales, then saying, rest
assured, we'll forget her soon enough. And Earl Spencer says, I can't believe you just said that, and then he hung up.
Now we've had a statement from the Palace, very carefully worded, saying fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and color memory. Which
certainly reminds me of a similar statement we had from the late Queen, where she said recollections may vary.
In response to the interview Harry and Meghan gave to Oprah Winfrey, it's obviously not an explicit denial. It's implicit. And I think it covers off
whatever it is to come from this book in the days ahead.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Anna. Thank you, Hadas. Good to have you both. Well, after talking AI policy, which we were doing before we talked about that
royal story. How is it actually affecting our daily lives? Well, a new report warns of cognitive surrender among students. That is next.
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ANDERSON: Well, this is a "Call to Action". A new report from MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, doesn't mince its words. It's been
studying how generative AI is impacting students and teachers on campus. And it warns that there is a risk of what it calls cognitive surrender in
students who already rely too much on chat bots, creating a quote illusion of learning and potentially weakening critical thinking.
Sam Madden is a Distinguished Professor at the MIT College of Computing and Co-Chair of the new MIT Study. And it is frankly, and thank you for joining
us. It is frankly concerning to hear that MIT students, probably some of the smartest in the world, are struggling with this. Can you just break
down what cognitive surrender is and the other key takeaways about students learning in this report?
SAM MADDEN, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, MIT COLLEGE OF COMPUTING: Yeah, thanks, thanks for having me, Becky. It's great to be here. So, really, the
basic concern here is that students will just default to using AI for everything. And the potential impact of that is that just has tremendous
potential impact on student learning and their critical thinking and the development of foundational skills like how to write effectively?
How to communicate effectively, or even how to interact with their peers and professors? So, I think that's the fundamental concern that we're
worried about. You know the report also though the while the headline has been cognitive surrender the report you know also we there are a lot of
opportunities for AI in education.
And I think we at MIT feel obligated to ensure that our students go out in the world and are prepared to deal with a world in which AI is a reality.
ANDERSON: Yeah. And because that you know all of this, and we've been having these discussions with people globally, not least here in the UAE.
And we can talk about that momentarily. But all of this does beg the question of not necessarily whether AI should be allowed in the classroom?
But how AI should be incorporated in our kids and students' learning? Your report references MIT's urgent determination to lead a new model of
education that quote celebrates human wisdom and connection. What does that look like, for example?
MADDEN: Yeah, I think Becky, that's absolutely right. That you know, it's not about telling people never use AI in the classroom, but it's about
figuring out the right time to use AI in the classroom, right? The use of AI, for example, in a freshman writing seminar might be very different than
the use of AI in an upper division class on software engineering.
And so, I think, and then to the point about a new mode of education, you know, this is just really thinking about how do we create experiences that
for people on campus that continue to you know, show students that you know why it's so essential to be on a residential campus like MIT, where they're
really interacting with others?
Learning from their peers, having these hands-on experiences in classes where they're building and making things, and really doubling down on that,
which has been the tradition of you know sort of MIT from its founding.
ANDERSON: Right. And that I understand because you know the value of a university education, not least that of you know MIT, is in question at the
moment, and we're hearing those questions around the world. So, I understand why that you know why that is key important to you.
But there is a fundamental debate, isn't there, whether to ban AI entirely and return to pen and paper, or to embrace the technology? And I alluded to
the UAE where I am. It's decided to launch an integrated K through 12 AI curriculum to ensure that all students from the age of four are AI
literate. Have a listen to how the UAE's Education Minister described it to me.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH AL AMIRI, UAE EDUCATION MINISTER: And what it really looks like is the following, introducing devices at an appropriate age, yet still
teaching them about AI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: OK, all right. I'm sorry that is -- that's frozen, so I can't play the entire thing out. I mean, look, it's the first year here in the
UAE, that this is sort of across the board, across the UAE curriculum, AI literacy. So, we don't know the outcomes as of yet.
But it's a model where effectively they're saying, you know, K through 12. You know, the sort of people have to understand what it is that AI is in
and of itself, and how it works? How it should be used, while at the same time ensuring that critical thinking, reading, writing, mathematics, which
all sounds a bit like the 3 Rs?
But I mean, all of this stuff is taught and is taught in a way that ensures that kids aren't giving up all their sort of thinking space, as it were, to
a chat bot. What do you make of that sort of model?
MADDEN: Yeah, I mean, I think that -- I think AI literacy is a good goal, and it's something we should aim for. But I also think that it's critically
important that we train both in K through 12 and in higher ed. We have to teach students the fundamentals and teach them things like how to write
effectively.
And if our students are just, for example, turning to a chat bot at the first possible instance where they, you know, have a little bit of
struggle, where they can't, you know, quite figure out how to get the words right, or they have a math problem they can't solve if their default is to
just ask AI how to do it.
The challenge that you see when you look at the literature is that people just; they don't actually learn the material in the same way. They think
they're learning. They ask the chat bot. It gives them an answer that makes sense.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
MADDEN: They feel good about what they know, but then when it comes time to evaluate them in an exam situation, they have not acquired those
fundamental skills. And so that's you know it's a real nuanced thing where I think AI literacy, sure, it's important, but I think we also have to
maintain the fundamentals and think about how we educate people in a way that they still acquire the skills they need to be successful in life?
Which you know I think communication with people is you know fundamentally a really important skill, and that's writing and speaking and understanding
thinking analytically.
ANDERSON: Having being able to you know hold down relationships with people, having to be able to communicate with people. I mean, there's so
much in this, isn't there? And it is so important because, frankly, AI is not going away. I mean, it's embedded in our lives and will increasingly be
so. Thank you.
We are having some technical issues tonight, viewers. Apologies for that. As we talk about AI, here's the thing that I feel like nobody wants to say
out loud. We're being asked to trust the most powerful technology ever built by the exact same people who can't agree on who is responsible for
it, and here's where it gets uncomfortable.
A poll this week showed more than 70 percent of Americans are more worried about AI than excited about it. The public's instinct is already there, so
this is the real trust crisis. Not whether the technology works; it clearly works. The crisis is that there's no agreed answer to the simplest
question, if something goes wrong, who is accountable?
Until that's settled, we're not really in the age of AI. It feels like we're in the age of an AI honor system. And let's be quite clear about
this, history doesn't have a great track record with that sort of system, does it? Just something to think about.
Still to come, water scarcity, a growing global crisis. I'm going to show you how this country is stepping up in the fight to help solve it. More on
that after this.
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ANDERSON: Right, welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You are watching "Connect the World" from our Middle East Programming Headquarters
here. These are your headlines this hour.
OpenAI says it's changing how it reports unexpected AI behavior. The company says it has identified six cases of its models acting deceptively
recently. And now plans to report those incidents more often publicly as concerns grow over keeping AI under human control.
Well, Houthi rebels say they have shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet over Yemen. They released this video of the alleged downing and its aftermath.
CNN hasn't verified the footage, and Saudi Arabia has not commented. But it comes as the Houthis continue their advance across Yemen and ramp up
attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Well, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is welcoming an invitation from the European Union to make Canada the Bloc's first associate member. Mr.
Carney says Canada and Europe should build a deeper alliance, going beyond their existing trade agreement. His remarks come as Canada seeks to
strengthen its ties with Europe amid growing trade tensions, of course, with the United States.
Right, I want to get you to a really important story here. The UAE set to host a major UN Water Conference this December. It comes at a critical time
as people in countries around the world face a growing challenge to access water. Now, the UAE has been leading efforts to address the crisis,
including pushing for more private investment in water infrastructure.
Just this week, the Mohammed bin Zayed Water Initiative signed a deal with the World Economic Forum that's designed to accelerate innovation. But
look, the problem extends well beyond this country of the UAE and indeed the Middle East region. Around one in three Europeans affected by water
scarcity in a typical year, according to the European Environment Agency.
And I could get you, you know, a slew of other statistics, which would make sense when we say that water scarcity is a real issue around the world.
Joining me now to discuss this is Abdulla Balalaa. He's the UA's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, and it's good to
have you. Thank you very much, indeed.
I know that we have this water conference here at the end of the year in December. There will be some discussions at UNGA, the UN General Assembly,
about this next week. This partnership, though, with WEF, I want to start there. I want to start local and get global on this.
This is just the latest step that the UAE, as I understand it, is taking to address concerns about water scarcity and infrastructure around the world.
There remains a huge financing gap, as I understand it, when it comes to water needs. And we are talking about something like $6.7 trillion.
[10:35:00]
So, you've said there needs to be more private investment. So, first of all, just lay out how significant the issue is? And then how you hope to go
about hoping to fix the financing gap, at least?
ABDULLA BALALAA, UAE ASSITANT MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS FOR ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY: Thank you, Becky. I think today is undeniable fact that
water issues are visible. We all see them, be it through lack of infrastructure laid down, lack of financing, or lack of having a de-risking
mechanism that can support funding such important projects.
And again, it's water that we're talking about here. Water is life, and it underpins economies. But of course, it's a human right. And today, the UAE
is hosting this event in December with Senegal to address the issues. And when we say addressing the issues, this is laid down by the six interactive
dialogs that were adopted last year in consensus at the United Nations, but the adoption in consensus came after a super inclusive process.
So, we've knocked all doors. We've talked to consulted with member states, civil societies, all stakeholders you can think of, including indigenous
people, think tanks, academic institutions, which led into defining the six interactive dialogs that will shape the global water agenda, which we
intend to have them at the UN Water Comprehensive.
ANDERSON: Because the biggest issues and the priority issues, as you have identified across this process, are what?
BALALAA: Well, there are multiple issues, but of course, since you spoke about financing and you rightly said the gap is quantified at $6.7
trillion. And for example, in developing words, it's 90 percent plus of the invested amounts in the water sector comes from public money, so the
contribution with the private sector is slim to none, if you want.
So, which also can be considered an opportunity for the private sector to chip in. That's if we are to speak about financing. But also, if we are to
speak about other elements, immediately the technology comes at a solution. So, if you are looking at financing and pushing multilateral development
banks and the private sector to invest and see opportunities in this, of course, technology must be considered.
ANDERSON: None of this is easy. It reminds me of the conversation around climate crisis and climate change, which was taken on, of course, here in
the UAE with COP28. And we have seen some significant developments across these sorts of financing gaps, but nothing like the sort of, you know, the
kind of funding that we know still is needed. And we live in a water scarce region here, so this is like, this is sort of existential stuff.
BALALAA: It is.
ANDERSON: This is, of course, help to fuel immense innovation. The UAE a leader in AI innovation and implementation. So, I do want to talk about
what that looks like. But before we do that, let's just talk about why it is and how it is that this is such an important issue for this country? For
those who don't know it.
BALALAA: Becky, water is important for the whole of the world. But as you rightly said, we live in a water scarce region. But also, as you know, we
are firm believers of technologies. So, it is an important topic that must be elevated to where it truly belong. That's number one.
Number two, as you know, the region is scarce. Our country, despite that we have no rivers and we're not exposed to enough rain, but I cannot recall a
day where I went to my office or at home and I experienced a water shortage. And that's of course to the wisdom of our leadership, but also
the infrastructure that laid down, but also recently introducing.
When I say recently, I speak about the past probably 15 years. Utilizing technologies in place, AI-enabled tools are also helping and supporting on
how we can be much more water efficient when it comes to generation.
ANDERSON: Because this also is a national security issue here, of course, and not least that becomes obvious when we go through the last past six
months. This region, this country, this region has an enormous amount of desalination plants, for example, which are absolutely crucial for possible
water here around the region. And these have been, frankly, under attack.
So, when it comes to these solutions that we're talking about, they go across the sort of sectoral divide, including in defense, of course, as
well. Just talk to me finally about how you here are incorporating AI and helping to mitigate or even solve some of the water scarcity issues?
BALALAA: So, artificial intelligence we look at it today as an umbrella that everything should go through and utilizing it, of course, for public
good.
[10:40:00]
You're probably aware of the recent announcement. The government have announced that most of our services, or 50 percent at this stage, has to go
and utilize artificial intelligence. So, if you are to speak specifically about water. Let's take an example of Abu Dhabi, for example, the capital.
We have AI-enabled tools that helps us calculate and understand the supply and demand side management of this precious resource. That's one of the
things which leads into lowering water leakages, for example, having a better understanding of how much supply you will need in consideration to
the future growth plan within Abu Dhabi, but also other things happening in Dubai?
And speaking about technology and AI in general, we promise you that the UAE will do what is needed for itself, but also for something that can be
exported globally through Mohamed Bin Zayed Water Initiative, but also through other partnerships we are undertaking.
ANDERSON: We can see more on this as we move through this next quarter. It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.
BALALAA: Thanks Becky.
ANDERSON: A sort of set up conversation, as it were, putting a marker down to the sort of conversations that we will have gone forward, because it is
there. I say this so often, but you know there can be no more important issue than that of water scarcity, not just here but around the world. And
we've seen that just through this summer of droughts and all the rest of it in Europe as well. It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.
BALALAA: Thank you for having me. Thank you.
ANDERSON: All right, still to come, I sit down with the sleep specialist helping the U.S. Open's biggest stars get the best possible result.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Performance and recovery are becoming a bigger part of the conversation in elite sport. And one example came at the latest U.S. Open,
where sleep tech company Eight Sleep was among the brands showing up in coaching boxes. Well, now the company is looking beyond elite performance
to healthcare, with clinical work beginning here in Abu Dhabi.
Well, in this episode of Intelligent Future, I sat down with its CEO Matteo Franceschetti to find out what that could mean.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTEO FRANCESCHETTI, CEO, EIGHT SLEEP: The AI engine are becoming so sophisticated with this data that they will be able to predict the
likelihood you develop certain diseases, or obviously they will be able to diagnose an existing disease.
ANDERSON: Matteo, it's good to have you.
FRANCESCHETTI: Thank you for having me.
ANDERSON: So, about eight years ago, you became the CEO and Founder of Eight Sleep, which does what?
FRANCESCHETTI: We invented a technology that improves your sleep. It's a technology that you can install on top of any mattress. It's a mattress
cover. Detects everything about your sleep and changes your body temperature. So, a very thin layer that it wraps your mattress. You can
install it on top of whatever you have today.
[10:45:00]
Each side of this topper of this cover is completely independent. We track everything about your sleep, so your sleep duration, your sleep stages,
your sleep quality. We also track your heart rate, HRV, almost like any wearable. But then, based on this information, we keep changing the
temperature of your side of the bed to maximize your sleep.
And this is not something we invented. There was a lot of medical evidence before Eight Sleep proving that temperature is the most important factor
for your sleep quality. And that is how now we sell in 35 countries around the world.
ANDERSON: Why did you decide that you were going to concentrate on sleep?
FRANCESCHETTI: Well, a couple of things. First, I used to be an athlete when I was a teenager, so I have always been in performance and recovery.
And so, I started sleeping very poorly around 10 years ago, and I started wondering why Elon Musk is taking me to Mars, but I still spend a third of
my life on a piece of dumb foam?
Because if you look at all these mattresses, there is literally no technology. The latest innovation in the mattress space was memory foam,
invented in 1960. You're going to spend, let's say, you live 100 years, hopefully longer, with AI, right? And you spend 30 years of your life
without any source of technology.
ANDERSON: How big a risk is a lack of decent sleep to us, to you and me as human beings? Just how big a deal is our sleep?
FRANCESCHETTI: Yeah, is massive. Is one of -- there is plenty of evidence now, medical evidence that sleep deprivation. First, as in a very extreme
case, you could even die of sleep deprivation before then you even die because of food deprivation. But aside that, more than anything, is there
are a lot of second-order effects.
In the short term, it's just obviously how you feel, your mood, what you crave, what you eat, and so on. But in the long term, hypertension,
diabetes, Alzheimer, all these potential diseases can be enhanced or even develop because of the lack of sleep. The goal is to IPO in in a few years.
But what we discover is that there is a new phase for the company that is what we define Eight Medical. And so, there are these medical applications
that are extremely valuable.
ANDERSON: So, tell me about the work that you're doing here in Abu Dhabi.
FRANCESCHETTI: We just signed the beginning of this partnership. At the beginning, the focus will be on sleep apnea, so the ability to diagnose
sleep apnea and to mitigate sleep apnea, that is step number one. Then we are already working on the next phase of clinical studies focused on cancer
treatment.
So, how we can help people going through cancer treatments, and helping women going through menopause and hot flashes. Then the next big phase will
be all around fertility, which is a top priority for the leadership here. And so, we really work very closely with them, where we try to integrate
our technology with their AI and their AI platforms.
And see how we can enhance the work of the physicians here to make sure that the population lives a longer and healthier life?
ANDERSON: And how important is that clinical study and research sort of side in building your business and being sort of embedded in that clinical
side of things.
FRANCESCHETTI: I think for us is important and exciting because it's the transition from a vision to reality, right? It's just -- it's not me just
saying we can do these things. Is no medical and clinical evidence that what I'm saying is true. And then we can export it to the rest of the
world.
Obviously, we file for FDA approval in the United States, but then we want to expand to many other countries around the world. The beauty here is in
Abu Dhabi, all the users they have these AI consumer app, where you can see all your medical records and all the wearables and Eight Sleep.
They will be able to push data. And this data will be shared with you first, but also with your physician.
ANDERSON: So, what are you thinking going forward, and where do you see the kind of wider healthcare and AI sort of infrastructure headed?
FRANCESCHETTI: I think the business will probably evolve in three major areas. One, there will be the consumer business. I think that is proven. It
just needs to keep growing and will generate billions of dollars in revenue. It needs to become a reimbursable device. It needs to become more
affordable, and we need to help billions of people.
Then I think there is the medical side, which is now developing this ability to be covered by insurance companies. That is how you truly
democratize health. And you can democratize health across different verticals. Sleep apnea is one. Cancer is another one. Then there will be
cardiovascular diseases.
So, this is the medical. And then I think with AI, another big bet I have on my mind is that a certain point we might be able to develop certain
drugs that can save your life.
[10:50:00]
Or work very closely with pharma companies to prove the efficacy of some of their drugs.
ANDERSON: So, sleep today, for you, what's tomorrow?
FRANCESCHETTI: Keep expanding into health. Goal number one is to improve the sleep of billions of people, compressing sleep, which to some degree we
are already doing because by helping you to fall asleep faster, have less tough and turns, less wake ups, we are already improving it.
And then expand into this medical vision where we can tackle specific health conditions that could be life-threatening.
ANDERSON: Amazing. It's fantastic to chat with you today. Thank you.
FRANCESCHETTI: Thank you so much.
ANDERSON: Thanks for coming in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, "CNN Creators" is launching its brand-new studio today in just under 40 minutes, right after "One World" that follows this show to
celebrate. I'm joined by the creators themselves, Bijan Hosseini, Charline Bou Mansour, Antoinette Radford, and Matias Grez. So, new home. What can we
expect from you guys today?
CHARLINE BOU MANSOUR, CNN CREATOR: Hi Becky.
ANDERSON: Charline tell me what's up?
BOU MANSOUR: So, we're chatting to you here in our brand-new huddle space. It's what we decided about. We have this vertical screen where we're going
to look at some of our vertical stuff.
ANTOINETTE RADFORD, CNN CREATOR: Hi, Becky. This is the first time I think we've spoken properly.
ANDERSON: Yeah. I love --
RADFORD: This show, for those who haven't watched, is all about bridging the gap between digital and TV. That's the most important thing, right?
That's what we're trying to do. And yeah, we're excited, right?
ANDERSON: Right, OK.
RADFORD: Yeah, this is the huddle.
ANDERSON: I love it. I mean, I love it. You have been doing some really good stuff. Show us around come on.
RADFORD: Should we go take a look at the rest of it?
MATIAS GREZ, CNN CREATOR: Yeah. Yeah. OK. So, to my screen --
ANDERSON: Show us around.
GREZ: -- you can see the Flash Studio, which I'm sure we'll be doing plenty of interviews with you from in the near future. And you can tune in in just
over half an hour time to get the full reveal of the studio, but we'll give you a quick sneak peek now.
Behind me here, I'm sure you can see we have the server room, that what Bijan likes to call the brains of the operation, which I took offense to.
And just behind me here, we have the workspace.
RADFORD: Yeah, so this is like the big desk where all of us will be collaboratively working on our ideas, working out what we want to cover?
And then in the back is the kitchen, and that's like a really key moment for us because that's where we're going to be having sort of arguments,
discussions, deciding what we think about things, and discussing all things in the zeitgeist.
You know, creators is all about technology, AI, trending topics, and that's where we're going to be doing so much of that talking.
GREZ: And it's quite incredible to be in here now. I mean, we first came in here what almost a year ago now, and this entire place was a building site.
I mean, just where Graham sat here, there was a huge concrete wall which we saw the first brick get knocked out of, and you know, back then we'd seen
the renderings. But it was pretty hard to picture what it might look like.
[10:55:00]
But as I'm sure you can see behind me, don't think it's turned out too badly.
ANDERSON: And so, how does the space sort of help enhance the sort of work that you guys have been doing? Because it's been terrific, and our viewers
can find the content that you do as creators, not just on sort of broadcast linear TV like this, but of course across our digital and social platforms
as well. And how is this space going to enhance that effort?
RADFORD: So, this is a really collaborative space, right? We have this big desk where everyone can chat and work out what are the trending topics.
What are things we should be talking about? What platforms would they best live on? How are we going to do that?
So, this space is so cool because, like, essentially, we're all having a big open discussion to work out, you know, exactly what that can look like?
And this space is just so perfect for us to do that. And it's very relaxed and very modern. It's just some friends having a conversation, so we're
super buzzed about it.
ANDERSON: OK, good. Look, we're all about content, right? And I could ask you what's on tonight's show, but I'm not going to because that show goes
out about what 35 minutes from now. So, we'll let you guys go and get ready for that live from your new studios.
We'll tease our viewers with the fact that this is fantastic content. I'm going to let my team here go. We're going to say good night, but do join
creators, "CNN Creators", in about a half hour's-time here on CNN. Good night from the team working with me here at "Connect the World".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
