Time To Say Goodbye - AI is still a bit disappointing but at least it uses a lot of energy. A talk with Karen Hao and Ben Recht

Hello!

Today, we talk to two people who have been thinking about reporting about AI for quite a long time: Repeat guest Ben Recht, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Berkeley and Karen Hao, a journalist who has written an excellent series of pieces for the Atlantic. We talk to Ben about SORA, OpenAI’s video generator that only exists in trailer form so far and what might happen if it’s actually good. (We don’t think it’ll be good. At least yet.) And then we talk some philosophy.

There’s also a surprise at the start of the show.

And then we talk to Karen about the massive amount of water and energy that AI might consume in the near future and why everyone seems to want massive, cumbersome and expense-heavy giant tools and not the smaller, more streamlined tools that might actually create something of use.

Links:

SORA announcement

Karen’s articles on AI for the MIT Technology Review (really good)

…and her more recent (also really good) work for the Atlantic.

thank you!



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CBS News Roundup - 03/06/2024 | World News Roundup

After a Super Tuesday for Trump and Biden, Nikki Haley suspends her campaign. Schiff and Garvey win in CA Senate race. Do it yourself TSA lines. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has today's World News Roundup.

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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - ‘Bring Chicago Home’ Appeal, Voter Turnout: The Latest On Your Local Ballot

The Chicago Board of Elections is appealing last week’s decision by a Cook County judge rendering the “Bring Chicago Home” measure invalid. Real estate industry groups against the measure say it violates state law by combining both a tax hike and a tax cut in the same question. Reset catches up on the latest with WBEZ city politics reporters Mariah Woelfel and Tessa Weinberg. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

CoinDesk Podcast Network - UNCHAINED: The Catalysts for This Crypto Bull Market | AI, DeFi, Real World Assets?

As the crypto bull market gets started, Alex Pack of Hack VC dives into why he thinks crypto is still so early and how his firm believes crypto and AI will intersect.  


Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

In this episode of Unchained, Alex Pack, managing partner at Hack VC. Pack discusses the firm's recent $150 million fundraise, the challenges of raising capital in a bear market, and the firm's focus on early-stage Web3 infrastructure. He also shares his thoughts on the intersection of crypto and AI, the future of DeFi, and the importance of security in the crypto space. Pack believes that the current infrastructure of crypto is still in its early stages and needs significant improvement before it can reach mainstream adoption. He also sees potential in the development of more secure smart contracts and the integration of AI into decentralized applications.

Show highlights:

  • How Hack VC was able to raise $150 million in a bear market, especially after the blowups of FTX, 3AC, and Terra
  • Alex's interaction with SBF, whom he calls a "sociopath," and why he didn't invest in FTX
  • Hack VC's philosophy to "back hackers" in crypto
  • The goals behind Zuzalu, the new community that resembles Balaji Srinivasan's idea of a network state
  • What the main focus of Hack VC's investments are, including scalability, AI, and DeFi
  • Why Alex believes that "we are still so early"
  • How Alex believes crypto and artificial intelligence will intersect 
  • The role of AI agents and how to use them in decentralized applications
  • Why he thinks that EigenLayer is a great solution for middleware applications
  • Alex's opinion on the modular vs. monolithic approach for scaling blockchains
  • How DeFi survived the last bear market, contrasted with the collapses of CeFi companies like Celsius, BlockFi and FTX
  • Whether algorithmic stablecoins can ever work and what Alex thinks of Ethena's USDe
  • How to improve security in crypto, according to Alex
  • Why the outcome of the Bitcoin ETFs exceeded Alex's expectations
  • What he believes the catalysts are for the next bull market

Thank you to our sponsors!    Polkadot

Guest | 

Alex Pack, Managing partner at Hack VC

Previous appearances on Unchained:

Dragonfly Capital on Why Ethereum Is So Far in the Lead

‘The Last Big Whale’: Why the Crypto Contagion of 2022 Eventually Hit Genesis

Links | 

New fund

Bloomberg: Hack VC Raises $150 Million for Bets on Battered Crypto Industry 

Hack VC Closes $150M Venture Fund I, Bringing AUM to $425M

Stablecoins:

Unchained:

What Is Ethena’s USDe Synethic Dollar? A Beginner’s Guide

What Is Terra and Why Did It Fail?

Why It's so Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable 

What Is Depegging in Crypto and Why Does It Occur?

What Is Real-World Asset (RWA) Tokenization? A Beginner's Guide

EigenLayer ecosystem

Unchained: What Is EigenLayer? A Guide to the Decentralized ETH Restaking Protocol

The Block: AltLayer closes $14.4 million strategic round co-led by Polychain and Hack VC

Modular vs. monolithic approach

Unchained: 

What Are Modular Blockchains? A Beginner's Guide

Three Crypto Pioneers on Crypto’s Monolithic vs. Modular Debate

Crypto x AI crossover

io.net and Ritual Collaborate to Boost Global AI Compute Landscape 

Ritual x EigenLayer: Restaking for AI

Unchained: 5 Use Cases of AI in Blockchain

Zuzalu

Decrypt: I Spent a Month Inside Vitalik Buterin’s Social Experiment—Here’s What It Was Really Like

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Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC.  Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz. 

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The Intelligence from The Economist - The Intelligence: A Super predictable Tuesday

In a result that will surprise few, America is on track to hold a rematch of the 2020 presidential election, with Joe Biden and Donald Trump winning most of the primaries held last night. But will the Republican campaign look different this time? Why shoppers and investors really love Costco (09:36). And which cities are most expensive for Europe’s renters (15:36)?


Get a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ 


If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Up First from NPR - Haley Suspends Campaign, CA Senate Race, Health Care Cyberattack

NPR has confirmed Nikki Haley is due to suspend her presidential campaign after a big win on Super Tuesday for Donald Trump. Why a prominent California Democratic Senate candidate spent millions of dollars to boost a Republican opponent. And, how a cyberattack on an obscure but critical U.S. health care company has disrupted our entire system.

Correction: In the broadcast version of this story, the reporter incorrectly refers to a United Health Care subsidiary as "Optus." The correct name is "Optum."


Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

Up First was edited Dana Farrington, Kevin Drew, Andrew Sussman and Ben Adler. It was produced by Julie Depenbrock, Claire Murashima, Ben Abrams and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Josephine Nyounai, and our technical director is Zac Coleman.


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Big Technology Podcast - Flexport’s CEO on Amazon & Shopify, Red Sea Shipping Problems, and Inflation — With Ryan Petersen

Ryan Petersen is the Founder and Co-CEO of Flexport, a supply chain technology company. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether his company is competing with Amazon, his perspective on Amazon culture, and why ex-Amazon leader Dave Clark didn't work out as CEO. We also discuss the Houthis attacks in the Red Sea's impact on global shipping, de-globalization, cargo theft, and inflation. Tune in for a wide ranging, deep conversation about the state of logistics and the world economy.

60 Songs That Explain the '90s - “Friends in Low Places”—Garth Brooks

In the penultimate episode of 60 Songs, Rob takes it way back. Listen as he recalls the first song he remembers consciously hearing as a baby before diving into the world of Garth Brooks and 90’s country music. Later, Tyler Parker joins the show to discuss what Garth Brooks means to Oklahoma and much more.

Host: Rob Harvilla

Guest: Tyler Parker

Producer: Jonathan Kermah and Justin Sayles

Additional Production Support: Chloe Clark

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Money Girl - 7 Strategies to Pay Off Credit Card Debt

Laura answers a listener's question about the best way to pay off credit cards. You'll learn the seven best strategies to reduce card balances and quickly become debt-free.

Money Girl is hosted by Laura Adams. A transcript is available at Simplecast.

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