“Captain of Moonshots” Astro Teller on technology's effects on the pace of human life

By Evan Dawson,

Published May 8, 2025 at 5:51 PM EDT

Four smiling people sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has long curly grey hair and is wearing glasses, a light-colored t-shirt, dark jacket, black jeans, and black shoes; a woman back left has short brown hair and is wearing a black blazer; a man back center is bald and is wearing glasses, a light blue button-down shirt, and a blue blazer; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a white button-down shirt under a blue vest, jeans, and sneakers — (foreground) Astro Teller, (background) Lisa Chase, and Bob Finnery on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Thursday, May 8, 2025

A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.

Self-driving cars are now regularly showing up on the streets of San Francisco. The man who leads the team that developed them says technology is speeding up the pace of human life. He has his eyes on even bigger accomplishments, in the fields of climate change, health care, and more.

Astro Teller is the “Captain of Moonshots” at X Google’s Factory and Innovation Lab. He's in Rochester for an event at RIT, but first, he joins us on "Connections."

In studio:

Astro Teller, “Captain of Moonshots” at X, the Moonshot Factory for Alphabet
Bob Finnerty, associate vice president of communications at RIT
Lisa Chase, vice president and secretary of the university for RIT

*Note: This hour was abbreviated due to NPR's live coverage of the announcement of the new pope.