Little is known about Russia’s “shadow fleet”. These ships have been used to move Russian oil around the globe and avoid restrictions put in place by western governments after Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The existence of the shadow fleet is worth billions of dollars a year to the Kremlin. But who owns these ships? How were they acquired? Who oversees their operations? Many of these questions went unanswered, until a recent FT investigation. Senior energy correspondent Tom Wilson explains what he found and what could happen next for the fleet as an end to the war is discussed among world leaders.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  For further reading: How Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ gets its ships  Shares in shipbroker Braemar fall after FT report on Russian ‘shadow fleet’ UK cracks down on Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ EU agrees new Russia sanctions in the face of US push to end Ukraine war To see some of the vessels mentioned in this episode, check out the Bosphorus Observer, the blog of ship spotter Yoruk Isik. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Follow Tom Wilson on X (@thomas_m_wilson). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This January, DeepSeek made an announcement that changed the artificial intelligence landscape. The Chinese start-up said that it had trained the latest in a series of competitive AI models, which appeared to be built much more cheaply than those of Silicon Valley competitors. The FT’s China technology correspondent, Eleanor Olcott, first wrote a story about the company last summer. She’s on today to discuss how DeepSeek’s founder Liang Wenfeng was able to finance and grow his company at a time when start-up funding is scarce in China, and often comes with too many strings attached.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  For further reading: Liang Wenfeng, the DeepSeek founder panicking the tech world The global AI race: is China catching up to the US?  Xi Jinping seizes DeepSeek moment to restore China tech chiefs to spotlight - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Follow Eleanor Olcott on X (@EleanorOlcott). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.  Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.