Entering a New Era of Human Civilization: A Discussion with Craig Mundie and Tom Friedman

Former Stanford President John Hennessy moderated a conversation about AI’s impact on the world with distinguished technology executive Craig Mundie and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. As AI continues its unprecedented transformation of our world, Mundie and Friedman reflected on their 25-year friendship and discussed the technological and societal trends that led them to argue, in a recent op-ed, that humanity has entered a new era of civilization. They explored the implications of this shift for daily life and geopolitics, as well as the technical and normative frameworks needed to establish trust in AI systems. This event was recorded on January 20, 2026 at Stanford University. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:44 Lecture 00:58:04 Q&A