Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

Artificial intelligence (AI) is dominating the headlines, but it’s not a new topic here on Exponential View. This week and next, Azeem Azhar shares his favorite conversations with AI pioneers. Their work and insights are more relevant than ever.  Demis Hassabis, CEO and co-founder of DeepMind, dreams of using AI to solve fundamental problems in science. In 2020, he joined Azeem to explore his own journey from world champion gamer to neuroscientist to building AI systems that can train themselves to solve real-world engineering challenges and, eventually, make Nobel-prize winning discoveries. In 2023, DeepMind’s parent company Alphabet announced consolidation of its biggest research units, DeepMind and Google Brain, into a new division led by Demis. They also discuss: Why games are the perfect training ground for AI algorithms. How DeepMind combines the dynamism of a startup with the “blue sky” creativity of a lab. Why “deep reinforcement learning” is the basis for artificial intelligence systems. @demishassabis @azeem @exponentialview

Artificial intelligence (AI) is dominating the headlines, but it’s not a new topic here on Exponential View. This week and next, Azeem Azhar shares his favorite conversations with AI pioneers. Their work and insights are more relevant than ever. OpenAI has stunned the world with the release of its language-generating AI, ChatGPT-4. In 2020, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined Azeem Azhar to reflect on the huge attention generated by the precursor to GPT-4 and what that could mean for the future research and development toward the creation of artificial general intelligence (AGI). They also explored: How AGI could be used both to reduce and exacerbate inequality How governance models need to change to address the growing power of technology companies How Altman’s experience leading YCombinator informed his leadership of OpenAI Further reading: “The messy, secretive reality behind OpenAI’s bid to save the world“ (Wired, 2020) “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny“ (New Yorker, 2016) “Governance in the Age of AI“ (Exponential View Podcast, 2019) @sama @azeem @exponenialview

After producing more than 160 episodes of Exponential View over the last six years, we’re taking a break to reflect on what we’ve learned and how the conversations we’ve hosted with leaders are changing our perspective on the future. While we percolate on the future of our podcast, we have a challenge for you: find all the phenomenal conversations we’ve hosted that you haven’t heard yet – and take a listen. (And please let us know which episodes helped you understand the world and your future!) @azeem @exponentialviews Azeem’s listening recommendations: Bubbles, Golden Ages, and Tech Revolutions with Professor Carlota Perez (Exponential View Podcast, 2019) AI and the Future of Warfare with General Sir Richard Barrons (Exponential View Podcast, 2019) DeepMind’s Journey from Games to Fundamental Science with Demis Hassabis (Exponential View Podcast, 2020) The New Science of Aging with Professor David Sinclair (Exponential View Podcast, 2020)

Shield AI’s autonomous combat robots are intended to help protect civilians and service members. As a startup, barely two years past founding, how should Shield AI engage with the legacy bureaucratic institutions that are its customers? How should those partnerships be structured and what are the business incentives? This episode is a special introduction to Cold Call, another podcast from Harvard Business Review. Cold Call distills Harvard Business School’s legendary case studies into podcast form, with help from HBS faculty authors and the entrepreneurs and business leaders at the center of the action. In this episode, host Brian Kenny explores Shield AI’s work with the U.S. government to develop autonomous combat robots. Harvard Business School professor Mitch Weiss and Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s CGO and co-founder, join Brian to discuss the challenges start-ups face in working with the public sector, and how investing in new ideas can enable entrepreneurs and governments to join forces to solve big problems. You can listen to Cold Call at https://hbr.org/2019/04/podcast-cold-call or wherever you get your podcasts.

How do you talk about a product before anything like it exists? How do you guide the engineers building it and the marketing department who has to sell it? As co-creator of the iPod and iPhone, founder of the learning thermostat Nest, and with over 300 patents to his name, Tony Fadell is a serial entrepreneur who now focuses on investing. He tells Azeem Azhar how he uses opinion-based decision-making in his work, and why thinking like a product manager helps drive radical innovation. They also discuss: What a “parent CEO” is and why they are crucial to an innovating company. How focusing on profits and loss (“P&L”) can stifle innovation in large companies. Why no one has been able to design the perfect TV remote. Why Tony believes the metaverse, as a social experience, is doomed to fail. @azeem @exponentialview @tfadell Further resources: General Magic (Documentary Film 2018)

Carbon recycling takes our polluting carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and, with the help of bacteria, turns them into ethanol. This can replace oil as the basis for carbon-based chemicals industries (e.g., fertilizers, plastics, clothing, health and beauty products, etc.), as well as offering sustainable fuel and animal feed. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech, joins Azeem Azhar to share her vision of the future where greenhouse gases provide a core contribution to our sustainable life. Jennifer and Azeem dig deep into the science of fermentation and how to manage, at scale, the bacteria that are at the heart of their process. They also discuss: How regulators can help innovate in climate tech. Creating sustainable aviation fuels. How carbon recycling could empower local communities. @azeem @exponentialview @TodaDogs Further resources: Hydrogen’s Role in Decarbonization (Exponential View Podcast, 2022) Venture Capital and Deep Decarbonization (Exponential View Podcast, 2022) Phenomenal News from ClimateTech Unicorn, LanzaTech (Forbes, 2022)

Quantitative hedge funds (or “quant funds”), which rely on the work of employed mathematicians to develop complex trading strategies, are nothing new. But what if the mathematical work is outsourced to anyone, via a contest where the best predictions are rewarded with cryptocurrency? Richard Craib, founder of Numerai, explains to Azeem Azhar why his $70 million fund uses collective intelligence to perform well, despite the turmoil in the markets. They also discuss: The history and theory of quantitative investing. When collective minds can work better than brilliant individuals. How Richard found himself accidentally explaining how “quant funds” work to Howard Morgan, the co-founder of one of the most successful “quant funds” in the world. @azeem @exponentialview @richardcraib   Further resources: Money in the Metaverse (Exponential View Podcast 2022) Superminds Bridging the Innovation Chasm (Exponential View, 2022) Alien Stock Market Intelligence (Richard Craib, 2022)

Hydrogen has long been hyped as a fuel of the future. It’s abundant and its waste product is water. But it’s only recently that the availability of cheap renewable energy has allowed hydrogen to be produced competitively without the use of fossil fuels. Azeem Azhar speaks with Raffi Garabedian, co-founder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen, to explore the market opportunity and roadmap to wide adoption of “green hydrogen.” They also discuss: What the hydrogen industry can learn from scaling renewables like solar and wind. Why hydrogen will be most effective in helping to decarbonize heavy industries. The potential of using hydrogen to store and transport huge amounts of renewable energy between continents. @azeem @exponentialview @garabedian Further resources: Venture Capital and Deep Decarbonisation with Shayle Kann (Exponential View Podcast 2022) Could Europe replace Russian gas with green hydrogen? Let’s look at the numbers (Recharge 2022) The Future of Hydrogen (International Energy Agency 2020)

Volocopter’s CEO Florian Reuter joins Azeem Azhar to explore how this radical new transport could transform our cities. They also break down the steps required to fulfill Volocopter’s vision of creating a door-to-door taxi service to rival Uber, via autonomous electric helicopter. In addition, they discuss: Why Volocopter expects to have their service running in Paris in two years. How data have led them to conclude that the optimum taxi capacity is two people. Why they’re opting to build and operate both their vehicles and the necessary infrastructure. @Azeem @exponentialview @volocopter Further resources: Micromobility Will Change Our Cities (Exponential View Podcast with Horace Dediu, 2022) The Future of the Car (Exponential View Podcast with Ford’s Hau Thai-Tang, 2021) Bubbles, Golden Ages and Tech Revolutions (Exponential View Podcast with Carlota Perez, 2019)

Web3’s ability to attach value and incentives to almost every part of human activity has radical implications not only for how businesses engage with their customers, but also for how people can self-organize to drive social change. Web3 investor and analyst Packy McCormick makes the case, in conversation with Azeem Azhar, that an optimistic outlook rooted in market-dynamics can enable new sustainable businesses that operate for the public good. They also discuss: Why framing human behavior in terms of a game helps explain why crypto has seen such explosive growth. Why blockchain allows us to imagine new systems of governance that can empower novel organizations. How early we are in the blockchain revolution. @Azeem @exponentialview @packyM @notboringco Further resources: Gaming’s Web3 Future (Exponential View Podcast, 2022) Money in the Metaverse (Exponential View Podcast, 2022) Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid (The Atlantic, 2022) Primer: Ambitious Homes for Ambitious Kids (Not Boring, 2022)