In today’s episode, our host, Head of RL, and Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth is joined by John Carmack, former Reality Labs Consulting CTO who is currently heading up AGI at Keen Technologies. 

John Carmack is one of the most influential technologists of our time, and his work has shaped multiple generations of software and platforms. As a co-founder of video game company id Software, Carmack developed titles including Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake, which pioneered new approaches to technologies like 3D graphics and online multiplayer gaming.

But Carmack’s impact goes well beyond gaming. In 2013 Carmack left id Software to become the CTO of Oculus VR, where he helped the company pioneer a new era of virtual reality devices. In 2014 Oculus VR was acquired by Meta and Carmack played a key role in the development of the VR technologies that Meta has developed ever since, which formed the foundation for its long term vision to build for the metaverse. 

In short, if you’ve ever played a video game or worn a VR headset, you’ve experienced John Carmack’s legacy. And now, after stepping down from his role at Meta at the end of 2022, Carmack is setting off on a new phase of his career, founding Keen Technologies to work on the pursuit of artificial general intelligence. There’s plenty for Carmack and Boz to talk about, and they cover it all this week, from the incredible new era of AI that’s emerging today to his philosophy on programming, building great software and making users happy.

And as a bonus, Carmack’s recommended reading list for the best sci-fi to understand today’s AI boom, and thoughts on The Last of Us and turning games into TV shows. 

For feedback and suggestions, drop Boz a message @boztank on Instagram or Twitter. Follow John Carmack on Twitter, @id_AA_Carmack.