The Peter Zeihan Podcast Series The AI Race to Regression || Peter Zeihan
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Nov 20, 2025 Explore the surprising notion that the AI race might lead us to regression instead of progress. Discover how current fears around AI often miss the mark. Learn about GPT-5's focus on specialized users rather than casual interactions. Delve into the hardware bottlenecks limiting AI advancements, particularly in chip production and data center efficiency. Uncover concerns about the concentration of AI access among governments and corporations due to chip shortages. Finally, consider the daunting journey of reindustrialization that lies ahead.
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Episode Framed By A Patreon Question
- Peter Zeihan opens from McCurdy Peak in Colorado and draws a Patreon question about AI.
- He frames the episode as answering what to look for and worry about in the AI race.
AI Upgrades Target Institutions
- Most public expectations about AI miss the mark because upgrades target institutional users, not casual single-seat interactions.
- ChatGPT-5 was built for heavy backend tasks like coding and drug design rather than everyday phone use.
Hardware, Not Software, Is The Bottleneck
- The current AI bottleneck is hardware, not software, because models need massive data-center processing.
- Algorithms can be relatively small and portable, but running them at scale demands the largest data centers ever built.