Christoph von der Malsburg: LLMs Hitting A Wall and The Brain's Solution
Is scaling dead? Billions are pouring into scaling LLMs, but what if it is a dead end? In the 14th episode of Audio Tokens, neuroscientist Christoph von der Malsburg shares insights from his decades-long AI journey, having witnessed multiple AI winters. He argues why scaling alone won't solve real-world complexity, and how brain-inspired, schema-driven approaches might lead to breakthroughs in efficiency and generalization.Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
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1:23:49
Konstantin Pilz: Trends in AI Supercomputers
9 nuclear reactors to power one computer? That's the reality if current trends continue.Last week, in collaboration with Epoch AI, Konstantin released a paper titled "Trends In AI Supercomputers". In the 12th episode of Audio Tokens, he explains how the compute of these systems doubles every 9 months, why the US dominates with 75% of global capacity, how academia is losing its leading role, and how distributed training might solve the insane power demands of the future.We also discuss US export controls on AI chips, the mind-boggling complexity of semiconductor manufacturing, and how compute governance can be harnessed for global good. Enjoy!Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.https://x.com/KonstantinPilzDisclaimer: Konstantin is speaking in a personal capacity, not on behalf of RAND
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1:29:54
Lonis Hamail: The Startup That Makes Their Own Laws
How would a city run entirely by market forces actually work?Próspera is a privately-run city in Honduras experimenting with replacing government regulation with insurance, treating residents like customers, and offering permanent legal stability. In Audio Tokens episode 11, Lonis Hamaili explains how this all works.We also discuss Próspera's $11B lawsuit against Honduras for their right to exist, how market forces can regulate AI and Lonis' personal journey to finding his life's work.Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
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1:20:32
Axel Backlund (2): Personally Preparing For AGI
How should one adjust their life given that AGI is around the corner? Axel and I share what we are personally doing.We also discuss effective altruism, hobbies and the Llama 4 release.Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.https://x.com/axelbacklund
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1:17:06
Max Rumpf: Bottlenecks for AI agents
The most common critique of my "AI Founder's Bitter Lesson" (tl;dr: horizontal AI will replace vertical AI) is "What about private data?" Autonomous AI can access private data just like a new employee would—highlighting the importance of effective retrieval systems. Few people know retrieval better than my friend Max Rumpf.Max joins me in the 9th episode of Audio Tokens. We also discuss enterprise AI adoption, Europe vs. San Francisco, art, philosophy, and more!Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
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