JB Pritzker thinks AI could help us live to 100 — or threaten us like nukes

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Support for the show comes from Enjin.

Running a small business means every dollar has to work hard. But if your team is still booking travel the old way, it's costing you more than you think.

Enjin is the fastest growing travel and spend platform in the country, built specifically for businesses like yours. Book a trip in as little as two and a half minutes, earn up to 10% back on hotels, and in 2025, Enjin customers save more than $300 million on travel. With zero booking fees, no contracts, and no BS. More than 1,000 businesses join Enjin every month. Join them and get $500 when your business signs up and starts traveling at enjin.com/decoder.

SPEAKER_2 (0:44)

Why can't we get AI to production? Our competitors are already. How do we keep data secure? AWS AI cuts through the noise. With ready to use agents and the broadest set of AI tools, stop overthinking, start building. AWS AI is how.

SPEAKER_1 (1:00)

Support for the show comes from service now.

AI is moving fast across the enterprise, but without visibility, it's just chaos. Different tools, different models, different teams using AI in completely different ways. ServiceNow turns that chaos into control. With the AI control tower, you see all your AI across the business in one place. What it's doing, what it's done, and what it's about to do, so you stay in control. To put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com.

Nilay Patel (1:37)

Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Nilay Patel, Editor in Chief of The Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. Today I'm talking with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who has a lot of thoughts about AI, tech, and privacy. If you've been listening to the show, you know that one of my running theories is that those issues are driving a big and maybe unexpected political realignment. And with the midterms coming up next month, early voting already underway in a lot of places, the stakes for that realignment are pretty high right now. So I asked Governor Pritzker, who is currently running for re-election, about all of that. And he was surprisingly willing to dive right into the weeds of what government is even for. You'll hear him say, and it's hard to disagree, that some problems are just collective action problems that require the government to do a lot of work. We can't solve all of these problems one at a time, or even one state at a time. It's a pretty deep conversation, and we got into it on a lot of issues. And of course, I had to ask him if the Bears are gonna stay in Illinois. Before we get going, do me a favor and subscribe to Decoder on YouTube, where we put out new episodes every Monday and Thursday.

Governor JB Pritzker, you're the Governor of Illinois. Welcome to Decoder.

JB Pritzker (2:37)

Thanks, Nilay, great to be with you.

Nilay Patel (2:39)

I am very excited to talk to you. We're in the heart of midterm season. You are running for re-election. I have to tell you, I have to be very honest with you. I personally feel a lot of pressure in this interview, not only because I'm speaking to a Governor, but I went to school in Chicago. My sister still lives in Chicago. My wife grew up in Illinois. Her entire family is farmers in North Central Illinois.

Boy, do I have a list of questions for you. I gotta do a good job here.

JB Pritzker (3:03)

Well, we're claiming you. Now that I know all that, we're claiming you. You're an Illinoisan. I don't know about that.

Nilay Patel (3:08)

Mr. Evan Wisconsin, here's my first question for you. I'm a diehard Packers fan. Are you gonna let the Bears move to Indiana?

JB Pritzker (3:13)

That is not our intention. We are in fact in discussions with the Bears and the NFL about keeping the Bears either in Chicago or in Arlington Heights, but in Illinois.

Nilay Patel (3:24)

I'm saying as a Packers fan, nothing funnier than the outcome of the Bears moving to Indiana. I just want to put that out there. Openly biased in this case. I own two shares of that stock, but I'm gonna make the comparison here. And the reason I started there is not only because I think that's a funny outcome, although I do, but it feels like we're in the middle of a generational political realignment. I'm sure you feel that in this election campaign. The idea of big business and how that should interact with the government and how the government should be able to push back on big business and not give in to big business. All of that feels up for grabs. And the comparison I will make in this specific case is your fellow governor, Gavin Newsom, in California, they sued the Elson family, Paramount, over the Warner Brothers merger. Paramount threatened to leave. They made a lot of noise about Nashville or Texas or Miami or wherever you make noise about these days. And it feels like Newsom caved. It feels like he pressured his Attorney General, Rob Bonta, to settle that lawsuit, keep them there. They settled the lawsuit. The next day, the Elson family is like, we're from California, we would never leave.