The Most Interesting Thing in AI

OpenAI’s Sam Altman sits for an interview with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, to discuss AI’s trustworthiness, its dangers, and its impact on young people. Altman also discusses his company’s pledge to “stop competing and start assisting” rival projects that approach AGI, and why he thinks we’re not there yet. In a thorough and wide-ranging conversation, Altman opens up about where he thinks AI will go next and the mysteries that he still can’t solve.

Recorded at OpenAI’s offices in San Francisco.

(00:00) Introduction

(02:33) Is our understanding of AI keeping pace with its growth in power?

(05:10) Is chain-of-thought the key to trusting a model?

(11:07) Open source AI, cybersecurity, and "infected" agents

(16:26) Have we hit recursive self-improvement?

(19:18) What does AI do on Sam Altman's computer?

(21:15) Why hasn't AI made an impact in business yet?

(24:04) Will AI make the wealth gap worse?

(27:01) Why do young people hate AI? 

(30:23) The challenges of AI sycophancy 

(33:36) Do you regret making AI so human-like? 

(36:53) Synthetic data and "mad cow disease" 

(39:22) The future of publishing and media 

(41:54) Do we need neurosymbolic AI? 

(43:40) Will you cooperate with Anthropic if they get to AGI first? 

(47:42) What is your advice to parents who are anxious for their kids' future? 

(49:46) If you had infinite resources, what would you pursue??

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AI needs data centers, and those data centers need energy and cooling. Recently, one proposal has captured the popular imagination: put data centers in space, where there’s ample solar energy and naturally cool surroundings. But things aren’t quite that simple, says space architect Ariel Ekblaw of the Aurelia Institute.

On this episode of The Most Interesting Thing in AI, Ekblaw talks with The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson about the possibilities for building structures in space, the innovative designs coming out of the Aurelia Institute, and why data centers in space are a good idea… for certain billionaires. 

Produced in collaboration with PwC.

(00:00) Introduction

(02:22) What is a space architect? 

(04:45) How does someone become a space architect?

(07:39) How do "space Magna-Tiles" work?

(11:00) Why build in space?

(12:45) Will we have chatbots in space?

(15:00) How space will change robotics

(16:56) Why would anyone want to live in space? 

(19:55) Will we actually go to space soon? 

(20:49) Artificial gravity

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Where does AI go next? And what happens to us? Join The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson as he speaks with leaders, developers, philosophers, and more about AI’s impacts, present and future. New episodes every Wednesday, starting April 22. 

Produced in collaboration with PwC.

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In this episode, The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson speaks with serial entrepreneur and Idealab founder Bill Gross about his latest venture, ProRata, a bold attempt to create a fair exchange of value between AI companies and the creators whose work helped train their models. From inventing search advertising to tackling one of AI’s most urgent ethical challenges, Gross explains how innovation and fair market dynamics can align—and how humans are still underestimating the transformative power of AI.

(00:00) Introduction

(06:32) How Bill invented paid search in the 1990s

(13:29) NYT v. OpenAI as the “lightning strike moment” that inspired ProRata

(16:16) Solving the “impossible problem” of AI attribution

(21:36) ProRata’s plan for revenue sharing between creators and AI companies

(24:13) How YouTube shows revenue sharing could make AI companies even stronger

(28:20) When there will be a one-person company with a billion-dollar valuation

(29:23) AI could be net positive for the climate in as little as five years

(33:01) The most interesting way Bill has used AI recently
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What happens when AI learns faster than its makers can control? In this episode, Nicholas talks with Navrina Singh, founder and CEO of Credo AI, about how regulation could actually accelerate innovation of more responsible, transparent AI. Together, they dig into how governance can help the U.S. compete with China, prevent bias, and keep trust and transparency at the center of the AI revolution.

(00:00) Introduction

(04:09) What we learned from Microsoft’s Tay disaster

(06:58) Why Navrina started Credo AI

(11:12) Managing risk across the AI supply chain

(12:43) Preventing bias in customer support chatbots

(17:54) Is AI making the world less equal?

(19:40) Ethics vs. speed in the AI race with China

(21:40) How governance leads to better, faster products

(28:04) Why there’s no perfect AI regulation right now

(31:14) Preparing for a world where AI governs itself

(34:15) The most interesting way Navrina has used AI
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