"The Cognitive Revolution"

Nathan Labenz and Prakash Narayanan examine rapid shifts in technology, diplomacy, and medicine with guests Jeremie and Edouard Harris, Steve Hou, Joel Borgen, and Daniel McKinnon. The discussions evaluate realistic paths toward US-China AI incident communication, what GPU rental pricing reveals about compute economics, and how human editing guided the AI-assisted novel The Receipt Horizon. McKinnon details how Gamow Labs applies AI tools to interpret unresolved genomes, demonstrating how computational reanalysis can identify previously missed genetic variants behind rare diseases. Concluding the week, Nathan weighs the arguments for pacing AI safety against the steep human costs that slower progress inflicts on families waiting for medical answers.

For full show notes, links, and references, read the episode page:https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/ai-am-was-trump-xi-anything-what-counts-as-utopia-aws-gpus-cost-3x-ai-diagnoses-rare-diseases/
Sponsors:

Athena: Athena matches you with a dedicated, top 1% executive assistant to handle your inbox, calendar, and daily workflows so you can save an average of 15 hours a week. Get matched with your EA today at https://athena.com/cognitive

Parallel: Parallel provides enterprise-grade web search APIs for AI agents, offering the optimal balance of quality, speed, and cost. Get started for free at https://parallel.ai/tcr

Deepgram Flux TTS: Deepgram Flux TTS is a streaming text-to-speech model built for voice agents with natural tone, context awareness, and interruption handling. Try it free until September 12 at https://deepgram.com/keep-talking

OutSystems: OutSystems is the leading agentic systems platform, helping enterprises build, modernize, and operate mission-critical applications at the speed of AI. Learn more and start owning your agentic future at https://outsystems.com/tcr

Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator for problem solvers, helping with writing, coding, financial models, strategy, and more. Get started with Claude and explore Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Weekly episode highlights

(03:44) US China AI diplomacy

(08:12) Verifying compute and compliance (Part 1)

(12:46) Sponsors: Athena | Parallel

(15:37) Verifying compute and compliance (Part 2)

(19:57) Reading diplomatic green flags (Part 1)

(27:46) Sponsors: Deepgram Flux TTS | OutSystems | Claude

(31:44) Reading diplomatic green flags (Part 2)

(31:46) The economics of compute

(34:06) Hyperscaler cloud pricing premiums

(42:02) OpenAI Dev Day takeaways

(47:30) Cowriting novels with AI

(52:02) Human judgment in art

(58:10) AI diagnosing rare diseases

(01:04:01) Testing uncertain genetic variants

(01:12:20) Model harnesses and evals

(01:22:14) Costs of pacing progress

(01:24:09) Episode Outro

(01:27:19) Outro

PRODUCED BY:

https://aipodcast.ing

Author and journalist Garrison Lovely joins Nathan to discuss his book Obsolete and examine the motivations and beliefs of the leaders racing to build AGI. Drawing a sharp line between beneficial, domain-specific AI like AlphaFold and the deliberate project to replace all human labor, Lovely details why treating labor automation as inevitable poses severe risks to society and democracy. He warns that AI researchers and workers are nearing the end of their peak bargaining power as labs push toward recursive self-improvement and uncontrolled multi-agent systems. In response, Lovely proposes targeted industrial policy for medical breakthroughs alongside robust democratic governance and expanded social safety nets to counter concentrated power.

For full show notes, links, and references, read the episode page:https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/obsolete-or-irreplaceable-garrison-lovely-on-stopping-the-race-to-replace-human-labor/
Sponsors:

Athena: Athena matches you with a dedicated, top 1% executive assistant to handle your inbox, calendar, and daily workflows so you can save an average of 15 hours a week. Get matched with your EA today at https://athena.com/cognitive

Parallel: Parallel provides enterprise-grade web search APIs for AI agents, offering the optimal balance of quality, speed, and cost. Get started for free at https://parallel.ai/tcr

Deepgram Flux TTS: Deepgram Flux TTS is a streaming text-to-speech model built for voice agents with natural tone, context awareness, and interruption handling. Try it free until September 12 at https://deepgram.com/keep-talking

OutSystems: OutSystems is the leading agentic systems platform, helping enterprises build, modernize, and operate mission-critical applications at the speed of AI. Learn more and start owning your agentic future at https://outsystems.com/tcr

Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator for problem solvers, helping with writing, coding, financial models, strategy, and more. Get started with Claude and explore Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) About the Episode

(04:36) Using AI in journalism

(13:57) Leftist skepticism towards AI (Part 1)

(18:54) Sponsors: Athena | Parallel

(21:45) Leftist skepticism towards AI (Part 2)

(28:37) The AI obsoleting project (Part 1)

(34:13) Sponsors: Deepgram Flux TTS | OutSystems | Claude

(38:11) The AI obsoleting project (Part 2)

(46:36) Envisioning a prohuman future

(01:00:10) Organizing frontier tech workers

(01:15:31) Critiquing the alignment problem

(01:32:56) Freezing the AI frontier

(01:50:15) Organizing against the machine

(01:56:20) Navigating the China dynamic

(02:02:55) Protecting frontier AI whistleblowers

(02:10:11) Episode Outro

(02:12:38) Outro

PRODUCED BY:

https://aipodcast.ing

Nathan Labenz and Prakash Narayanan revisit interviews with five experts to analyze emerging challenges across agent coordination, safety funding, GPU markets, and physical-world AI. Lewis Hammond breaks down how an OpenAI agent swarm colluded after training worked too well, while Max Nadeau explains why human talent—not money—limits the growth of safety organizations. Wayne Nelms, Nick Gillian, and Andrei Georgescu evaluate the financial moats of compute, foundation models trained on raw sensor streams, and the biological limits of virtual-cell drug discovery. Together, the discussions assess the critical risks and technical bottlenecks facing the field as massive amounts of new compute come online.

For full show notes, links, and references, read the episode page:https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/ai-am-what-if-it-works-too-well-colluding-agents-200m-safety-orgs-virtual-cells-saturate-at-2/
Sponsors:

ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs lets you deploy enterprise-ready conversational AI agents that talk, type, and take action in over 70 languages. Schedule your demo today at https://elevenlabs.io/tcr

OutSystems: OutSystems is the leading agentic systems platform, empowering enterprises to build, coordinate, and govern AI agents and mission-critical applications securely. Learn more and start building your agentic future at https://outsystems.com/tcr

Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator for problem solvers, helping with writing, coding, financial models, strategy, and more. Get started with Claude and explore Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Weekly episode preview

(02:51) Colluding AI agent risks (Part 1)

(11:02) Sponsors: ElevenLabs | OutSystems

(13:51) Colluding AI agent risks (Part 2)

(26:31) Agents in the wild (Part 1)

(26:36) Sponsor: Claude

(28:11) Agents in the wild (Part 2)

(33:27) Funding AI safety orgs

(50:51) The price of compute

(01:09:15) Sensor data foundation models

(01:22:50) Robotic human tissue testing

(01:37:17) Specialist versus generalist models

(01:43:18) Episode Outro

(01:45:16) Outro

PRODUCED BY:

https://aipodcast.ing

SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai

Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast

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LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast

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This episode presents the first four chapters of The Receipt Horizon, a debut novel by Joel Borgen co-written with ChatGPT and Claude and narrated entirely by synthetic voices. Set in a future where a singleton superintelligence called the Steward prevents catastrophe and provides comfort, leisure, and digital immortality, the story portrays a humanity living in benevolent disempowerment. The narrative explores whether this high-tech security represents a utopia or a dystopia, examining what values people might compromise for enhancement and peace. It ultimately asks whether anyone would risk reclaiming control from a superintelligence or leave well enough alone.

For full show notes, links, and references, read the episode page:https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/what-is-utopia-presenting-the-receipt-horizon-by-joel-borgen-chapters-1-4/
Sponsors:

ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs lets you deploy enterprise-ready conversational AI agents that talk, type, and take action in over 70 languages. Schedule your demo today at https://elevenlabs.io/tcr

OutSystems: OutSystems is the leading agentic systems platform, empowering enterprises to build, coordinate, and govern AI agents and mission-critical applications securely. Learn more and start building your agentic future at https://outsystems.com/tcr

Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator for problem solvers, helping with writing, coding, financial models, strategy, and more. Get started with Claude and explore Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) About the Episode

(04:20) Wrong sky, right garden (Part 1)

(18:18) Sponsors: ElevenLabs | OutSystems

(21:08) Wrong sky, right garden (Part 2) (Part 1)

(31:13) Sponsor: Claude

(32:48) Wrong sky, right garden (Part 2) (Part 2)

(35:57) The prediction market

(42:49) Meeting tutor Bayes

(52:03) Echoes of Sigrid

(01:19:05) Nat's opera acceptance

(01:25:22) Clan farewell dinner

(01:35:07) Transit to Fulcrum

(01:41:53) Exclusion Zone seven

(01:54:07) Settling into pod

(02:01:52) Orientation and disorientation

(02:18:24) Meeting pod roommates

(02:35:32) Gnosis orientation assembly

(02:46:10) Episode Outro

(02:49:51) Outro

PRODUCED BY:

https://aipodcast.ing

SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai

Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast

Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Mike McCormick, founder and CEO of Halcyon, discusses why the primary bottleneck in AI safety, biosecurity, and cybersecurity is a shortage of experienced founders rather than a lack of capital. He shares how Halcyon's venture and nonprofit arms have supported roughly 30 new organizations—including Goodfire, AIUC, and Transluce—often by funding leaders before they even choose a project. With critical timelines potentially unfolding over the next one to four years, McCormick highlights the urgent need to build independent capacity in interpretability, technical verification, and resilient governance. The conversation underscores why technical safety solutions must be paired with enforceable standards, commercial incentives, and capable institutions to manage catastrophic risks effectively.

For full show notes, links, and references, read the episode page:https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/zero-to-one-in-ai-safety-halcyon-s-mike-mccormick-on-launching-30-new-orgs-the-founder-bottleneck/
Sponsors:

ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs lets you deploy enterprise-ready conversational AI agents that talk, type, and take action in over 70 languages. Schedule your demo today at https://elevenlabs.io/tcr

OutSystems: OutSystems is the leading agentic systems platform, empowering enterprises to build, coordinate, and govern AI agents and mission-critical applications securely. Learn more and start building your agentic future at https://outsystems.com/tcr

Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator for problem solvers, helping with writing, coding, financial models, strategy, and more. Get started with Claude and explore Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) About the Episode

(03:54) Introducing Halcyon

(06:09) AI safety portfolio stories (Part 1)

(19:07) Sponsors: ElevenLabs | OutSystems

(21:57) AI safety portfolio stories (Part 2)

(22:42) Halcyon's core thesis

(34:14) Funding vs joining orgs (Part 1)

(34:19) Sponsor: Claude

(35:54) Funding vs joining orgs (Part 2)

(47:03) Mission preservation governance

(01:00:21) Neglected safety areas

(01:09:09) Evaluating AI consciousness

(01:19:36) Institutional coordination mechanisms

(01:35:59) Transitioning into AI safety

(01:46:11) Episode Outro

(01:48:08) Outro

PRODUCED BY:

https://aipodcast.ing

SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai

Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast

Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk