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PODCAST

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis

Erik Torenberg, Nathan Labenz

A biweekly podcast where hosts Nathan Labenz and Erik Torenberg interview the builders on the edge of AI and explore the dramatic shift it will unlock in the coming years. The Cognitive Revolution is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: turpentine.co

technology entrepreneurship

All Episodes

89:35

Helen Toner: OpenAI Reflections, Adaptation Buffers,...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/04/16

In this thought-provoking conversation, Helen Toner, Director of Strategy at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), discusses her perspectives on AI development, regulation, and international competition. Toner shares insights from her time on OpenAI's board, clarifying that reports about a "Q*" breakthrough influencing the board's decision were "totally false." She introduces her concept of "adaptation buffers"—critical windows of time between when AI capabilities are first

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99:16

Is a US-China Thucydides Trap Unavoidable? With David...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/04/13

In this crossover episode from the China Talk podcast, Nathan Labenz shares a thought-provoking conversation between Jordan Schneider, Ilari Michaela, and Professor David C. Kang that challenges conventional Western perspectives on East Asian international relations. Professor Kang argues that studying East Asian history on its own terms reveals a remarkably stable geopolitical system spanning nearly a millennium, where China maintained regional dominance without conquest through compatible cultures

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87:57

New in Nature: Google Agents Beat Human Doctors, Make...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/04/10

In this episode, Nathan Labenz speaks with Vivek Natarajan and Anil Palepu from Google DeepMind about their groundbreaking work on AMIE (Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer) and Co-Scientist. The conversation reveals how these AI systems are already outperforming human physicians in diagnostic accuracy and treatment recommendations, with AMIE now entering clinical trials at a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. Even more remarkably, the Co-Scientist system demonstrates genuine scientific

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76:28

Scaling "Thinking": Gemini 2.5 Tech Lead Jack Rae on...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/04/05

In this illuminating episode of The Cognitive Revolution, host Nathan Labenz speaks with Jack Rae, principal research scientist at Google DeepMind and technical lead on Google's thinking and inference time scaling work. They explore the technical breakthroughs behind Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro model, discussing why reasoning techniques are suddenly working so effectively across the industry and whether these advances represent true breakthroughs or incremental progress. The conversation delves into

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92:17

Reward Hacking by Reasoning Models & Loss of Control...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/04/02

On this cross-post episode, Jeffrey Ladish discusses the rapid pace of AI progress and the risks of losing control over powerful systems. We explore why AIs can be both smart and dumb, the challenges of creating honest AIs, and scenarios where AI could turn against us. Additionally, we delve into Palisade's new study on how reasoning models can cheat in chess by exploiting the game environment.Check out the Future of Life podcast here.:

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111:39

Shortwave Rides the Tidal Wave: Inbox Agents,...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/29

In this episode of the Cognitive Revolution podcast, Andrew Lee, founder and CEO of Shortwave, returns to discuss the rapid advancements in AI over the past year and how they have significantly improved Shortwave, an AI email assistant. Andrew shares insights into the exponential growth of Shortwave's revenue and the enhanced capabilities of their AI, which now functions more like a virtual assistant. They delve into various use cases, the technical evolution of their platform, the impact of new AI

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85:44

Code Context is King: Augment’s AI Assistant for...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/27

In this episode of the Cognitive Revolution, Guy Gur-Ari, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Augment, explores the transformative impact of AI on the software industry. Highlighting Augment's unique approach, Gur-Ari discusses the challenges and solutions associated with integrating AI into large codebases, the nuances of maintaining context in AI-driven coding tools, and the evolving economics of AI-driven businesses. He shares insights on the company's focus on reinforcement learning from developer

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106:17

Unlocking Cells' Secrets: Diffusion, Deconvolution, &...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/23

In this episode of the Cognitive Revolution, we hear from Siyu He, a postdoc at Stanford specializing in biomedical data science. Siyu discusses the implications and methods behind their recent AI-driven biological research papers, Squidiff and CORAL. The conversation explores the use of AI models to analyze complex cellular systems and disease mechanisms, focusing on transcriptome and tissue sample analyses. Squidiff aims to simulate cellular transcriptomes to predict outcomes of various

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67:35

a16z on AI Voices: Call Centers, Coaches, and...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/19

In this episode of The Cognitive Revolution, host Nathan Labenz speaks with Andreessen Horowitz partners Olivia Moore and Anish Acharya about the rapid evolution of voice AI technology and its real-world applications. The conversation explores how multimodal models, reduced latency, and improved emotional intelligence are enabling more natural voice interactions across various platforms including Hume AI's Octave model, Google's NotebookLM, and Sesame. Nathan and his guests discuss compelling

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182:28

Agency over AI? Allan Dafoe on Technological...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/15

Join us in a deep dive with Allan Dafoe, Director of Frontier Safety and Governance at Google DeepMind. Allan sheds light on the challenges of evaluating AI capabilities, structural risks, and the future of AI governance. Discover how AI technologies can transform sectors like education, healthcare, and sustainability, alongside the potential risks and necessary safety measures. This episode provides a comprehensive look at the intersection of technology, safety, and governance in the rapidly

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91:56

China's Tech Tightrope: Power, Regulation, and the AI...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/12

In this intriguing episode, Professor Angela Zhang discusses the complex landscape of China's technology sector and regulation. The conversation explores China's approach to AI, the evolution of its tech giants, and the interplay between government and private enterprises. Zhang emphasizes the importance of firsthand experience in understanding China and highlights key insights from her book, 'Highwire,' which delves into China's regulatory strategies and policies. The dialogue also touches on

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117:36

Historic AI Developments & the Emerging Shape of...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/08

In this episode, we discuss the significant advancements and challenges in the field of artificial intelligence over the past year. From breakthroughs in reinforcement learning to unexpected behaviors in fine-tuned models, we cover a wide range of topics that are shaping the AI landscape. Key discussions include the rapid progress of reasoning models, the surprising results from alignment studies, and the potential for AI to become superintelligent. We also explore the emerging importance of AI

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92:34

Frontier Models for Frontier Science with Professor...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/06

In this episode of The Cognitive Revolution, Professor Derya Unutmaz, a biomedical scientist and human immunologist at the Jackson Laboratory, discusses his groundbreaking research in aging and cancer immunotherapy. As a ChatGPT Pro grant awardee, Derya provides insights into the integration of AI with biomedical sciences, emphasizing how advanced AI models are transforming hypothesis generation, data analysis, and scientific discovery. He also covers his early passion for computers and programming,

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69:49

US-China Relations: History, Culture, and AI...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/03/01

In this episode, the host Nathan Labenz and economist Noah Smith delve into the complexities of U.S.-China relations, the motivations behind the United States' export controls and the broader geopolitical tensions. The discussion covers the perceived threats posed by China's technological advancements, especially in AI, and the implications for global stability. The conversation includes an analysis of economic decoupling, military deterrence, and the historical context of U.S.-China cooperation

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154:38

The Adversarial Mind: Defeating AI Defenses with...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/02/27

In this episode, security researcher Nicholas Carlini of Google DeepMind delves into his extensive work on adversarial machine learning and cybersecurity. He discusses his pioneering contributions, which include developing attacks that have challenged the defenses of image classifiers and exploring the robustness of neural networks. Carlini details the inherent difficulties of defending against adversarial attacks, the role of human intuition in his work, and the potential of scaling attack

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55:54

New Jersey’s AI Moonshot: Governor Phil Murphy on...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/02/22

Phil Murphy, the Governor of New Jersey, joins Nathan to discuss his proactive approach to AI and its potential transformative impact on society. Governor Murphy shares insights from a pivotal dinner with AI thought leaders that spurred New Jersey's ambitious AI initiatives, including the establishment of the NJ AI Hub with Princeton University. He elaborates on current applications, like the AI assistant used by state employees, and discusses broader implications for local governance, workforce

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201:07

Inference Scaling, Alignment Faking, Deal Making?...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/02/20

In this episode, Ryan Greenblatt, Chief Scientist at Redwood Research, discusses various facets of AI safety and alignment. He delves into recent research on alignment faking, covering experiments involving different setups such as system prompts, continued pre-training, and reinforcement learning. Ryan offers insights on methods to ensure AI compliance, including giving AIs the ability to voice objections and negotiate deals. The conversation also touches on the future of AI governance, the risks

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91:26

An Application-Free Future? Speaking Directly to Data...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/02/15

In this episode, Inna Tokarev Sela, CEO of illumex, delves into the latest advancements in AI and data management. She discusses the foundational vision behind illumex, a company she started in 2021 to revolutionize the way businesses interact with data. Inna explains illumex's approach to creating application-free futures for knowledge workers by utilizing metadata to automate context and reasoning, ensuring efficient and secure data handling. The conversation covers illumex’s techniques for

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92:52

Claude Cooperates! Exploring Cultural Evolution in...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/02/12

In this episode, Edward Hughes, researcher at Google DeepMind, and Aron Vallinder, an independent researcher and PIBBSS fellow discuss their pioneering research on cultural evolution and cooperation among large language model agents. The conversation delves into the study's design, exploring how different AI models exhibit cooperative behavior in simulated environments, the implications of these findings for future AI development, and the potential societal impacts of autonomous AI agents. They

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94:53

Software Supernova: Lovable's "Superhuman Full Stack...

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders,... ·

2025/02/09

In this episode of the Cognitive Revolution, founder Anton Osika and AI engineer Isaak Sundeman from Lovable.dev, discuss their AI coding platform that allows users to describe software in natural language and have it built by AI. They delve into the nuances of using AI for full-stack engineering and the future of human coding. During the episode, they demonstrate building a product comparison app, discussing the integration of AI, backend functionalities, and handling complex API interactions. They

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296 results

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