In “Tools & Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age,” Microsoft President Brad Smith and his co-author Carol Ann Browne tell the inside story of some of the biggest developments in tech and the world over the past decade -- including Microsoft’s reaction to the Snowden revelations, its battle with Russian hackers in the leadup to the 2016 elections and its role in the ongoing debate  privacy and facial recognition technology. 

The book goes behind-the-scenes at the Obama and Trump White Houses, explores the implications of the coming wave of artificial intelligence, and calls on tech giants and governments to step up and prepare for the ethical, legal and societal challenges of powerful new forms of technology yet to come.

We touched on many of those topics in this conversation with Smith about the new book, due out Sept. 10. Smith will also speak at the upcoming GeekWire Summit.