Surveillance tools in the workplace — from chat tools to traffic-light signs that gauge your busyness — are increasingly taking over the workplace. Quartz’s Lila MacLellan joins us to talk about technology at the office, and what that could do to some old-fashioned face-to-face interaction. Afterwards, we’ll chat with SK Ventures’ Paul Kedrosky about the factors that might slow down rising tech hubs across the country. 

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been exploring aspiring tech hubs across the country. Cities — big and small — want to be the next Silicon Valley. Well, what about Phoenix, Arizona? It’s becoming a hotbed of startup activity that has attracted the likes of Uber, Waymo and Intel. We’ll take a look at the city’s strengths, along with some of the challenges it faces on the way.

Google and Apple are making their own chips, a move that could have long-ranging effects on smaller chip-focused firms like Nvidia and Imagination Technologies. We’ll take a look at why these two tech giants are dipping their toes in this area, and then play this week’s Silicon Tally with the Financial Times’ San Francisco correspondent Hannah Kuchler. 

Word is that your phone may soon be able to identify items it’s pointed at thanks to Google Lens. On today’s show, we’ll look at the latest updates coming out of Google’s I/O developers conference with Farhad Manjoo, a tech columnist for the New York Times. Plus: 60dB co-founder Steve Henn talks about the ways we can combat “filter bubble” — the idea that the internet keeps you in the dark about opinions you disagree with.

Google’s developers conference I/O kicks off in San Francisco today, and while many of the announcements are geared toward, well, developers, they can provide hints about what consumers can expect down the line. Some stuff it looks like we’ll be getting: a new Android operating system and hands-free mobile payments. Plus, we’ll explore Chicago’s growing prominence as a tech hub and one food startup that’s found a home there: the meal-delivery service Tovala.

By now, you’ve likely heard about the malicious ransomware that spread like wildfire across computer networks using Microsoft’s products. Matthew Green, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, joins us to talk about how users can keep safe and the primary motive behind the hacker(s) actions. Plus: Imraan Ismail, co-creator of the new virtual reality film “The Protectors,” on why the medium hasn’t become all that common yet. 

GM is launching a new service called Maven, which will allow drivers to rent cars by the hour. We’ll discuss how Maven is different from the competition and GM’s future in the self-driving landscape. Afterwards, we’ll look at President Trump’s decision to sign an executive order asking government branches to report on their security challenges — a move that coincided with a global ransomware attack. 

Europe’s highest court will decide in a few months whether Uber is a software company or a transportation service. If it rules the latter, that could mean unionization among the company’s workers and guaranteed benefits for them. But could the ride-sharing giant withstand the cost increases associated with this regulation? Plus: We’ll end the week by playing Silicon Tally with Alex Davies, a transportation editor for Wired.

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has hit a record high in value this week. What many, including the Fed, also see value in is Bitcoin’s underlying technology, blockchain. We’ll chat with Jim Cunha, a senior vice president for the Federal Reserve, about why the group has interest in this weird, esoteric technology. Next, we’ll discuss the thousands of anti-net neutrality comments left on the FCC’s site (all using similar language), and then hear from Gizmodo’s Ashley Feinberg about the publication’s experiment involving a fake email phishing hack and some pretty high-profile figures — including former FBI Director James Comey.