Jim Keller is a microprocessor engineer who has run the gauntlet of today’s leading tech companies during their peak performance years. He’s designed for Intel, AMD, Apple, and Tesla, he’s worked for Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, he’s survived the boom and bust cycle of the tech world, and is still surfing a wave of progress at least partially of his making. He’s currently CEO of Tenstorrent, an AI chip startup that’s out to unseat NVIDIA, and is the co-founder of Atomic Semi, which aims to produce the world’s first tabletop semiconductor fabrication device. Normally, Jim’s interviews are all about the technical aspects of his work - chips, computer architecture, and the future of AI. We sat down for a conversation about the soft-power side of progress - building teams, surviving bubbles, why small orgs are better, how no one knows how to maintain the sweet spot between chaos and order, and the weird coincidence of living on a planet that’s basically made of the raw materials needed for computers.
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00:00 Go!
00:04:09 Institutional expiration dates
00:10:38 Life-cycles of companies
00:16:52 Steve Job on trend setting in tech
00:22:03 Do no evil doesn't pay
00:26:43 Predicting outcomes
00:34:55 Bigger company isn't smarter
00:40:12 Tesla & autopilot woes
00:46:02 Making new tech affordable
00:49:46 Gen one computer customers
00:53:29 The unrelenting progression of tech gens
01:02:24 Organization dynasties v. company lifetimes
01:11:46 End of life plan for companies?
01:20:29 Civilization level lifecycles in the background
01:26:54 Tools that re-engineered our culture
01:35:59 What is non computational about being human
01:43:07 Thinking subconsciously
01:49:44 Can computers announce and address a novel problem?
01:54:26 Super-intelligent machines aren't a threat
01:59:16 Stuck at a computed social optimum v. chaos
02:07:02 AI tailored personal realities
02:13:30 Scarcity mindsets are public enemy #1
02:24:25 Limits on government architecture
02:26:15 More small indy operations are better
02:30:52 "You can't build that"
02:36:26 Interesting v. perfection
02:42:51 Being part of the solution
02:49:24 Happiness v. progress
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PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.
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