Eric Schmidt: podcast appearances and interviews

Eric Emerson Schmidt, born on April 27, 1955, is an American businessman and former computer engineer known for his leadership roles in the technology industry. He served as the chief executive officer of Google from 2001 to 2011 and as the company's executive chairman from 2011 to 2015. Subsequently, he was the executive chairman of Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, from 2015 to 2017, and acted as a technical advisor at Alphabet until 2020. Since 2025, Schmidt has been the CEO of Relativity Space, an aerospace manufacturing company. His career includes early work as an intern at Bell Labs, where he co-authored the software program Lex, and a tenure at Sun Microsystems starting in 1983. From 1997 to 2001, he served as chief executive officer of Novell. Schmidt has served on various boards including those of Carnegie Mellon University, Apple, Princeton University, and the Mayo Clinic, and holds a minority stake in the NFL team Washington Commanders. In addition to his technological and business pursuits, Schmidt has been involved in political and philanthropic activities. He campaigned for Barack Obama during his presidency and joined his President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He founded Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic venture, in 2017, and became the first chair of the U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence in 2018. As of 2021, Schmidt established the Special Competitive Studies Project, serving as its chairman, and has played a significant role in shaping science and AI policy in the United States.