Name: Squawk Pod: Microsoft’s Brad Smith & Utah Gov. Cox: AI, teaching, & peace - 09/09/26 | Audio Only
Uploaded: 2026-09-09T16:48:08+00:00
Duration: 2555 s

Speakers

Brad Smith — President, Microsoft Corporation

Spencer Cox — Governor, Utah

Andrew Ross Sorkin — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box

Randi Weingarten — President, American Federation of Teachers

Summary

This Squawk Pod episode covers AI safety alarms after an Anthropic researcher's resignation, Microsoft and AFT's new enforceable AI classroom safety standard, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox's push for civility and his stance on data center energy buildout. The market-relevant takeaways include Microsoft's education AI positioning, continued data center construction, and Utah's nuclear and geothermal energy momentum, with legal and regulatory risk flagged for Meta. The show also touches on Canada trade tariffs and the Telluride Film Festival.

Anthropic researcher resignation sparks debate over catastrophic AI risk and the OpenAI-Anthropic race.
Microsoft partners with AFT on legally binding AI classroom guardrails covering student data privacy, teacher control, and parent transparency.
Brad Smith says AI safety and trust need to match innovation, with a role for self-regulation and law.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox says data centers will be built amid a US-China AI arms race and must be done the right way.
Cox highlights Utah's nuclear life-cycle campus selection and Fervo geothermal growth with Google as an offtaker.
Cox expresses distrust of AI companies and hyperscalers and cites Utah's lawsuit against Meta.
The episode also covers Canada trade tariffs and a Telluride Film Festival report.

Ideas

Brad Smith President, Microsoft Corporation 15:21

Microsoft education AI guardrails build trust

Microsoft and the American Federation of Teachers forged a legally binding and enforceable contract creating AI guardrails for schools nationwide. It includes student data privacy protections, prevents student data from training AI models, keeps teachers in control of grading and turn-offable agentic features, and increases parent transparency. The standard could become a template for updating outdated student privacy laws, positioning Microsoft as a trusted education-AI partner.

Spencer Cox Governor, Utah 39:27

Data center buildout continues despite opposition

Cox says data centers are going to be built because the U.S. is in an AI arms race with China and American AI models need to win. He frames the real issue as doing the buildout the right way with environmental protections and community benefits, implying continued data center construction and infrastructure demand despite local opposition.

Spencer Cox Governor, Utah 39:55

Utah backs nuclear and geothermal energy

To power the data center buildout responsibly, Cox says Utah is all-in on nuclear power and was selected for a nuclear life-cycle campus. He adds that the Fervo geothermal project is exploding and Google signed an offtake deal with Fervo, indicating data center power demand is accelerating nuclear and geothermal energy development.

Spencer Cox Governor, Utah 40:47

Meta faces state legal and trust risks

Cox says he does not trust AI companies or hyperscalers to get safety right, and notes Utah was the first state to sue Meta to hold it accountable for harming children. He calls Meta's community stipend plan smart but not sufficient, signaling ongoing legal, regulatory, and social risk for Meta.

This CNBC video, published September 09, 2026, features Brad Smith, Spencer Cox discussing MSFT, DTCR, URA, Fervo Energy, META. 4 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Brad Smith, Spencer Cox · Tickers: MSFT, DTCR, URA, Fervo Energy, META

Squawk Pod: Microsoft’s Brad Smith & Utah Gov. Cox: AI, teaching, & peace - 09/09/26 | Audio Only

Summary

Ideas

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