Top AI Podcasts You Shouldn't Miss in 2026

The most influential AI podcasts in 2026. From research to business to engineering — the shows that shape how we think about artificial intelligence.

The AI podcast landscape has exploded. There are now hundreds of shows covering every angle — research, business, engineering, ethics, and more.

Here are the ones that actually matter.

The Tier List

Tier 1: Essential Listening

These shows set the agenda. If you only have time for three, start here.

Podcast Host Why It Matters
Lex Fridman Podcast Lex Fridman Deep, long-form conversations with the brightest minds in AI
Acquired Ben & David Business analysis of AI giants (Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI)
a16z Podcast Andreessen Horowitz Strategy and capital allocation in AI

Tier 2: High Signal

Excellent shows with consistent quality.

Podcast Focus
Practical AI Production ML, MLOps, real-world implementation
The AI Native Dev AI-first software development
Lenny's Podcast AI product management
Swyx's Brain AI engineering, building with LLMs

Tier 3: Niche but Valuable

Great for specific interests.

  • NLP Highlights — Research papers made accessible
  • The Gradient — ML research deep dives
  • Data Engineering Podcast — AI infrastructure
  • Eye on AI — News and analysis

Deep Dives

Lex Fridman Podcast

Love him or hate him, Lex produces AI conversations the most in-depth available. His episodes with AI researchers, engineers, and founders are 2-4 hours of genuine insight.

Essential episodes:

  • Sam Altman on GPT-4, OpenAI's future
  • Demis Hassabis on DeepMind and AGI
  • Ilya Sutskever on the future of deep learning
  • Andrej Karpathy on building AI systems

Best for: Understanding the "why" behind AI, not just the "what."

Acquired

This isn't strictly an AI podcast — it's a business podcast that occasionally does deep dives on AI companies. When they cover AI, it's exceptional.

Must-listen AI episodes:

  • "Nvidia: The AI Infrastructure King"
  • "OpenAI: The Mission"
  • "Microsoft: The Platform Company"

Best for: Understanding the business dynamics, not just the technology.

a16z Podcast

Andreessen Horowitz's podcast covers AI from a venture capital perspective. They see hundreds of AI companies — their takes on what's working are valuable.

Key episodes:

  • "The State of AI Software"
  • "AI Infrastructure"
  • "Building AI Products"

Best for: Product managers and founders who want to know what's investable.

Practical AI

The most practical (as the name suggests) AI podcast. Chris and Daniel break down AI topics for working engineers.

Regular listens:

  • "State of LLMs" (recurring)
  • "Vector Databases"
  • "Fine-tuning Deep Dive"

Best for: Engineers who want to build with AI, not just read about it.

How to Listen Effectively

If You Have 30 Minutes/Week

  • Read Lenny's Newsletter for AI updates
  • Listen to one Lex Fridman episode per month

If You Have 2 Hours/Week

  • Lenny's Newsletter
  • One Practical AI episode
  • One a16z episode

If You Have 5+ Hours/Week

  • Everything above, plus:
  • Lex Fridman (weekly)
  • Acquired (when they cover AI)

The Pattern

Notice what these shows have in common: depth over breadth.

These aren't 15-minute news dumps. They're 1-3 hour conversations that actually explore topics.

That's the secret. The AI podcasts worth your time are the ones that go deep.

This list will be updated quarterly. Have a suggestion? We're always looking for new shows.