SRI Presents Empire of AI: Karen Hao

On March 11, 2026, the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society will host an in-person conversation with award-winning journalist and former MIT Technology Review senior editor Karen Hao, author of the 2025 New York Times bestseller Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI. With AI governance, labor disruption, and geopolitical power struggles at the forefront of global conversations, this event offers a timely opportunity to engage with Hao’s investigative reporting on the unchecked development of AI combined with the rise of a few dominant tech firms.

Join us for this in-person event as Hao draws on her global reporting and insider access to discuss the implications of AI’s rapid deployment, the erosion of democratic norms, and the need to rethink how we design, govern, and distribute AI systems to support ongoing policy and public interest efforts aimed at ensuring AI benefits society broadly.

Venue: Rotman School of Management, Desautels Hall (second floor), 105 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6

Date: March 11, 2026 | 5:30 - 7:00 PM ET
Please note, this is an in-person only event.

About Karen Hao:

Karen Hao is a Silicon Valley engineer–turned–award-winning journalist and one of the foremost voices examining the global impact of artificial intelligence. She is the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, an instant New York Times bestseller and a deeply reported investigation into the power, politics, and consequences shaping the AI industry. Named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, Hao has been praised for fundamentally shaping public understanding of the AI revolution. She writes for The Atlantic, leads the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, and was formerly a reporter at The Wall Street Journal and senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review.

About the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

Located at the University of Toronto, the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society’s mission is to deepen our knowledge of technologies, societies, and what it means to be human by integrating research across traditional boundaries and building human-centred solutions that really make a difference. The integrative research we conduct rethinks technology’s role in society, the contemporary needs of human communities, and the systems that govern them. We’re investigating how best to align technology with human values and deploy it accordingly. The human-centred solutions we build are actionable and practical, highlighting the potential of emerging technologies to serve the public good while protecting citizens and societies from their misuse. We want to make sure powerful technologies truly make the world a better place—for everyone.

Explore upcoming events by visiting SRI’s Events page.

Event co-sponsors:

• Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto
• Centre for Innovation Law & Policy (CILP)
• Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI)
• University of Toronto Libraries
• Center for the Study of the United States at the Munk School