Manifold

Jaan Tallinn is a tech billionaire and founding engineer of Skype who leverages his wealth to mitigate existential risks from artificial general intelligence (AGI). He co-founded the Future of Life Institute and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, while making early foundational investments in frontier AI labs like DeepMind andAnthropic.
Chapter Markers:

00:00 Assessing Current AI Risk Levels
03:28 Inside Self-Sustaining AI Scenarios
09:10 The Global AI Race Dynamics
42:25 Explaining the Techno-Capital Flywheel
45:34 Insider Origins of AI Safety
56:06 Race Politics and Public Fear
01:23:12 Pop Culture, Movies, and Fame
01:30:15 Big Questions for Humanity's Future
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Dr. Alex Young, a statistical geneticist and assistant professor in the Human Genetics department at UCLA, joins Steve Hsu to discuss the cutting edge of genomic prediction. They cover his research on polygenic embryo screening in IVF (including the ImputePGTA method), family-based DNA analysis, missing heritability, and the implications of polygenic scores for traits like education and disease. Alex also discusses his recent battles with cancer.
https://x.com/AlexTISYoung

Chapter Markers:

(00:00) - Alex Young Bio

(06:36) - Biobank Era Genetics

(10:49) - Missing Heritability Debate

(27:18) - Embryo Selection Controversy

(50:32) - Embryo Selection Backlash

(53:42) - Mexico City Admixture Study

(01:00:13) - Censorship Via Data Access Control

(01:05:02) - Battle With Cancer and Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA)

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Steve and Alf discuss the Iran War, emphasizing what it
reveals about modern missile and anti-missile technology, drones, and
the implications for a US-China conflict in the Western Pacific.
Links:
https://seekingtruthfromfacts.substack.com/
Chapter Markers:

(00:00) - Missile War Reality Check

(01:49) - How the War Started

(04:46) - Iran Outperforms Expectations

(06:22) - Why Missile Defense Fails

(14:25) - Ceasefire and Hormuz Brinkmanship

(19:52) - Nukes and the JCPOA Fallout

(33:44) - US Politics and Israel Lobby Aftershocks

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Richard Ngo is an independent AI researcher and philosopher known for
his work on AGI safety and alignment. He recently resigned from
OpenAI, where he was a member of the Governance team focused on
forecasting the capabilities and risks of advanced AI systems. His
debut fiction collection is titled "The Gentle Romance: Stories of AI
and Humanity", published in December 2025. The book features 22
science fiction stories that explore the psychological and
sociological impacts of advanced artificial intelligence.

On X: @RichardMCNgo

(00:00) - Richard Ngo Origins

(03:48) - DeepMind vs LLMs

(09:24) - OpenAI Futurist and AGI Risk

(39:17) - Machine God Tail Risk

(45:20) - Weird Futures and Normies

(51:28) - Alignment Research and Academia

(01:16:25) - Doomers vs Skeptics

(01:23:57) - Labs Governance Futures

(01:39:37) - Doom Scenarios Society

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Matt Southey is an editor for an AI safety organization. He wrote his PhD dissertation on the philosophy of Nick Land. Matt's "A Brief History of Accelerationism" can be found here, and he recommends the second chapter of Crypto-Current as a good introduction to Land's usage of Kant. He and Steve discuss Accelerationism, AI, and Steve's recent meeting with Land in Shanghai.

Chapter Markers:

(00:00) - Introduction

(02:07) - China Trip: Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai

(03:16) - Tsinghua University: Talent

(09:02) - Robotics and AI research

(24:01) - Shanghai and Nick Land

(35:46) - Land’s Esotericism

(37:19) - Accelerationism and Orthogonality

(43:01) - Simulation Metaphysics and Physics

(54:36) - Dark Enlightenment and Inevitable Complexity

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.