Axios

For artificial intelligence to begin approximating human know-how, scientists will need to create models of how people think — such as simulations of your and my actual brain. That's when the trouble may begin.

The big picture: In this future — which could be plausible within decades — we will voluntarily upload these virtual versions of our brains onto platforms like Facebook or Elon Musk's aptly named Neuralink, which may conduct experiments on them. When they do, it will be only a little removed from fiddling with the real us.

Uber has hired Rebecca Messina, formerly at Beam Suntory and a long-time Coca-Cola Company executve, as its first chief marketing officer.

Why it matters: CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is filling out the C-suite as he continues to eye a 2019 IPO. Previously, Uber had a chief brand executive and a president of ride-hailing largely responding for marketing efforts, but this is its first full-fledged CMO.

Friday morning, Boston-area college students joined Axios in the South End to hear how technology and innovation are shaping the future of work. Harvard, MIT, Boston University, and Boston College students took a break from the first week of classes to hear interviews with GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, NBA All-Star Chris Bosh, and Venture Capitalist Bradley Tusk.  

Why it mattered: With this peek into the worlds of autonomous vehicles, technology, and venture capitalism, college students gained a better sense of the tech and business landscapes they'll encounter upon graduation.

GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra

As part of today's transportation revolution, General Motors envisions a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Barra discussed this vision with Axios Business Editor Dan Primack and GM's path toward achieving it.

• A world with autonomous vehicles. "The technology exists to use AVs to limit crashes due to human error, reduce emissions, and reduce congestion in ways that would be a huge benefit for humanity."
• The future of traffic. "AV technology will lead to a more efficient system, changing the way urban areas come together, opening up more space, particularly with less need for parking, and bringing congestion down."
• The competition. "General Motors is the only company working on autonomous that has all the different components under one roof. A lot of very capable competition is a motivating factor to continue investing aggressively and moving quickly."

NBA All-Star Chris Bosh

Bosh has always had a passion for tech and innovation. In his interview with Dan Primack, he discussed where his passion came from, how it's affected his investments, and what he hopes for kids growing up today.

• Why he joined his high school's computer graphics clubs. "School was over at 3:45 and practice didn't start until 5 o'clock ... I went to school in an area where there was a lot of trouble. Trouble was right there — all you had to do was walk right across the street. I wasn't interested in that, so I had to do something to take up my time and I just enjoyed it."
• Investing in tech. "Just because [you're investing] in technology doesn’t mean you’re going to automatically double or triple your money in a year. Just because you’re putting your money in something — and you’re famous and cool — it doesn’t mean anything."
• The power of access to information. "I just want kids to be able to know that they can access anything that comes from their imagination and be able to build things from that."

Tusk Ventures Founder and CEO Bradley Tusk

Tusk drew from his knowledge as a venture capitalist and political strategist to discuss breaking into markets, what he won't invest in, and how blockchain could upend politics.

• Breaking into markets. When explaining how and why Uber and Bird—an electric scooter company — broke into regulated markets without asking for permission, he said "If the only way to get into a market is to have to beg for forgiveness, then that's what you do."
• Not investing. Even though Tusk Ventures doesn't shy away from investing in companies in regulated markets, he drew the line at EdTech and recreational drones, saying they "can't work from a regulatory standpoint."
• A potential for blockchain. Tusk explained how blockchain-based voting could mitigate political polarization. It would "allow participation to expand exponentially" by drawing out less-extreme voters to low-turnout elections, which would, in turn, incentivize politicians to take less-extreme stances.

Go Deeper:

• Livestream
• GM CEO Mary Barra calls Tesla "capable" competition
• GM keeping "options open" for autonomous ride-sharing service

Thank you General Motors for sponsoring this event.

It's been a whirlwind weekend for big names leaving big jobs.

The big picture: Major decision-makers at massive companies on both sides of the Pacific are stepping down — for varied reasons and on different timetables. Some, like CBS' Les Moonves, were unexpectedly forced out due to their own indiscretions, while others, like Alibaba's Jack Ma, are stage-managing their own planned departures.

Imran Khan, Snap's chief strategy officer since 2015, is leaving "to pursue other opportunities."

Why it matters: Khan, a former banker who is viewed as CEO Evan Spiegel's right-hand man, is leaving as the company's stock is at an all-time low.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A new generation of artist-programmers, weaned on code and disdainful of discipline boundaries, is starting to offer pointed and frequently hilarious critiques of artificial intelligence and social media — using tech itself as the medium. A dozen of them introduced their work this weekend at the XOXO Festival in Portland.

Why it matters: Tech's biggest problems today developed because the industry tends to apply a pure-engineering mindset to stubbornly organic realms of human behavior — and while these projects don't solve problems themselves, they spark the kind of creative thinking we'll need to do so.

As Facebook grew, Mark Zuckerberg and his executives adopted a core belief, Evan Osnos writes in The New Yorker after spending hours with Zuckerberg: "[E]ven if people criticized your decisions, they would eventually come around."

The big picture: For years, that was true. And Facebook reveled in its power: "Zuckerberg was convinced that he was ahead of his users, not at odds with them." It no longer is, of course, as Facebook faces blowback from users and government around the world: "As Facebook expanded, so did its blind spots."

President Trump is expected to declassify, as early as this week, documents covering the U.S. government's surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and the investigative activities of senior Justice Department lawyer Bruce Ohr, according to allies of the president.

The big picture: Republicans on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees believe the declassification will permanently taint the Trump-Russia investigation by showing the investigation was illegitimate to begin with. Trump has been hammering the same theme for months.

Highlights from last Friday's Axios Gear Up event in Boston, featuring Dan's interviews with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Tusk Ventures founder Bradley Tusk and 11-time NBA All-Star Chris Bosh.

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