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VOICE ARCHIVE

Emmett Shear

@eshear
46 posts
2025-03-29
As you might have guessed from following my posts here, I've been thinking and working on questions around alignment and learning and agency for a while, particularly for digital systems. Excited to share the work we're doing at Softmax publicly in the future!
2025-03-29 View on X
Core Memory

Former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, who was OpenAI's interim CEO in 2023 when Sam Altman was fired, launches Softmax, a startup focused on AI alignment

Ashlee Vance / Core Memory : Bluesky: @jeffabbott , @virmalised.us , and @edzitron.com X: @eshear , @eshear , and @ashleevance Bluesky: Jeff Abbott / @jeffabbott : “our AI systems...

View original
It's been a journey already and we are just getting started. I cannot believe my job gets to be researching how alignment and open-ended learning work, with a team of people I love working with. I wrote something more you can read about it at https://www.softmax.com/.
2025-03-29 View on X
Core Memory

Former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, who was OpenAI's interim CEO in 2023 when Sam Altman was fired, launches Softmax, a startup focused on AI alignment

Ashlee Vance / Core Memory : Bluesky: @jeffabbott , @virmalised.us , and @edzitron.com X: @eshear , @eshear , and @ashleevance Bluesky: Jeff Abbott / @jeffabbott : “our AI systems...

View original
2024-12-21
If you haven't figured out the joke yet, *any* fixed benchmark will fall rapidly the instant it becomes an optimization target for the top labs. Correspondingly, no fixed benchmark is AGI. AGI is the ability to generalize to an adversarially chosen new benchmark.
2024-12-21 View on X
ARC Prize

o3, trained on the ARC-AGI-1 Public Training set, scored 87.5% on ARC Prize's Semi-Private Evaluation in a high-compute configuration; GPT-4o scored 5% in 2024

This is “The AI Economy,” a weekly LinkedIn-first newsletter … Sharon Goldman / Fortune : Sam Altman says OpenAI's new o3 ‘reasoning’ models begin the ‘next phase’ of AI. Is this A...

View original
If you haven't figured out the joke yet, *any* fixed benchmark will fall rapidly the instant it becomes an optimization target for the top labs. Correspondingly, no fixed benchmark is AGI. AGI is the ability to generalize to an adversarially chosen new benchmark.
2024-12-21 View on X
TechCrunch

OpenAI unveils o3 and o3-mini, trained to “think” before responding via what OpenAI calls a “private chain of thought”, and plans to launch them in early 2025

OpenAI announced its new o3 models on Friday.  —  In a tweet ahead of its final livestream for its …

View original
2024-10-19
If this is true, I can't wait for the court hearings on whether an AI counts as an AGI or not. New “I know it when I see it” standard incoming? I hope it goes to the Supreme Court.
2024-10-19 View on X
TechCrunch

Report: OpenAI sees a clause in its Microsoft contract, which cuts off Microsoft's access to OpenAI tech if OpenAI develops AGI, as a path to a better contract

The New York Times on Thursday published a look at the “fraying” relationship between OpenAI and its investor, partner, and …

View original
2024-05-27
In colloquial language of course this might be seen as the same thing, but if you expect to write about these things as an intellectual you need to be more precise or I just can't take you seriously. The article doesn't even start to grapple with the real questions.
2024-05-27 View on X
TIME

LLMs aren't sentient; they lack the physiological states required for sensations like hunger and pain, and thus can't have subjective experiences of such states

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the term used to describe an artificial agent that is at least as intelligent as a human …

View original
LLMs are simulators. They might contain sentient beings or not, but the LLM itself is no more sentient than the laws of physics are. If there's sentience, it's existing a layer up.
2024-05-27 View on X
TIME

LLMs aren't sentient; they lack the physiological states required for sensations like hunger and pain, and thus can't have subjective experiences of such states

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the term used to describe an artificial agent that is at least as intelligent as a human …

View original
2024-05-26
In colloquial language of course this might be seen as the same thing, but if you expect to write about these things as an intellectual you need to be more precise or I just can't take you seriously. The article doesn't even start to grapple with the real questions.
2024-05-26 View on X
TIME

LLMs aren't sentient; they lack the physiological states required for sensations like hunger and pain, and thus can't have subjective experiences of such states

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the term used to describe an artificial agent that is at least as intelligent as a human … Bluesky: @motomatters.bsky.social and @zitron.bs...

View original
LLMs are simulators. They might contain sentient beings or not, but the LLM itself is no more sentient than the laws of physics are. If there's sentience, it's existing a layer up.
2024-05-26 View on X
TIME

LLMs aren't sentient; they lack the physiological states required for sensations like hunger and pain, and thus can't have subjective experiences of such states

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the term used to describe an artificial agent that is at least as intelligent as a human … Bluesky: @motomatters.bsky.social and @zitron.bs...

View original
2024-03-07
Ugh. As Paul says, it would be *so inconvenient* to switch away from iOS to Android. But at some point the ecosystem just isn't trustworthy. My fear here is that Google is no better, and they'll implicitly conspire like they have on App Store take rate.
2024-03-07 View on X
The Verge

Epic says Apple removed its iOS developer account, hampering its app store plans, and shares a letter from Apple lawyers calling Epic “verifiably untrustworthy”

View original
Ugh. As Paul says, it would be *so inconvenient* to switch away from iOS to Android. But at some point the ecosystem just isn't trustworthy. My fear here is that Google is no better, and they'll implicitly conspire like they have on App Store take rate.
2024-03-07 View on X
Bloomberg

The EU confirms requesting further explanations from Apple over removing Epic's developer account under the DMA, and is examining if Apple broke any other rules

- Epic Games barred by Apple from opening own iPhone app store  — EU says it is looking to see if firm has broken new tech law

View original
2024-02-25
Reddit is going IPO as $RDDT, the first social media IPO in some time. As someone who spent some substantial time running a social media company, my takes on the Reddit IPO:
2024-02-25 View on X
Bloomberg

Reddit's S-1 shows how dependent the site is on the unpaid labor of 60K active daily moderators and the whims of its users and subreddits like r/WallStreetBets

The company's IPO prospectus makes clear how dependent it is on unpaid labor and the whims of its community. Threads: @nixcraft and @daveleebbg . X: @eshear Threads: @nixcraft : Re...

View original
4/ There's a dip in DAUq growth from early 21 to late 22...if I had to guess, this is the hangover from Reddit's rapid growth during the COVID lockdowns. That growth was partially due to pulling forward growth that would have happened a year later. (chart from Statista not S-1) [image]
2024-02-25 View on X
The Verge

Many redditors say they are not enthusiastic about Reddit's IPO and expect CEO Steve Huffman to run the site into the ground while trying to make it profitable

There's the mention of r/WallStreetBets.  (Five mentions in total, actually.)  There's the stockpile it's amassed of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

View original
1/ The allocation for reddit's power users is so cool. I hope ppl realize it's a gift, bc usually those are fought over by insiders like the bank's favored clients or institutional investors. Reddit is giving away a free option, and that has real value.
2024-02-25 View on X
Bloomberg

Reddit's S-1 shows how dependent the site is on the unpaid labor of 60K active daily moderators and the whims of its users and subreddits like r/WallStreetBets

The company's IPO prospectus makes clear how dependent it is on unpaid labor and the whims of its community. Threads: @nixcraft and @daveleebbg . X: @eshear Threads: @nixcraft : Re...

View original
2 cont/ Careful readers will notice a footnote, referring you to the Executive and Director comp section ... which says the grants vest over ~10 years. So that turns $192M equity comp into ~$19.2M per year. To miss something this basic is ... well, it's embarrassing. [image]
2024-02-25 View on X
The Verge

Many redditors say they are not enthusiastic about Reddit's IPO and expect CEO Steve Huffman to run the site into the ground while trying to make it profitable

There's the mention of r/WallStreetBets.  (Five mentions in total, actually.)  There's the stockpile it's amassed of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

View original
3/ Everyone is focused on revenue and profit, but for social media what really matters is daily uniques (DAUq in the S-1). On page 97 we finally get to the good stuff. The short version: consistent +20% YOY growth. At reddit's size, that's very strong. [image]
2024-02-25 View on X
The Verge

Many redditors say they are not enthusiastic about Reddit's IPO and expect CEO Steve Huffman to run the site into the ground while trying to make it profitable

There's the mention of r/WallStreetBets.  (Five mentions in total, actually.)  There's the stockpile it's amassed of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

View original
1/ The allocation for reddit's power users is so cool. I hope ppl realize it's a gift, bc usually those are fought over by insiders like the bank's favored clients or institutional investors. Reddit is giving away a free option, and that has real value.
2024-02-25 View on X
The Verge

Many redditors say they are not enthusiastic about Reddit's IPO and expect CEO Steve Huffman to run the site into the ground while trying to make it profitable

There's the mention of r/WallStreetBets.  (Five mentions in total, actually.)  There's the stockpile it's amassed of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

View original
4/ There's a dip in DAUq growth from early 21 to late 22...if I had to guess, this is the hangover from Reddit's rapid growth during the COVID lockdowns. That growth was partially due to pulling forward growth that would have happened a year later. (chart from Statista not S-1) [image]
2024-02-25 View on X
Bloomberg

Reddit's S-1 shows how dependent the site is on the unpaid labor of 60K active daily moderators and the whims of its users and subreddits like r/WallStreetBets

The company's IPO prospectus makes clear how dependent it is on unpaid labor and the whims of its community. Threads: @nixcraft and @daveleebbg . X: @eshear Threads: @nixcraft : Re...

View original
2 cont/ Careful readers will notice a footnote, referring you to the Executive and Director comp section ... which says the grants vest over ~10 years. So that turns $192M equity comp into ~$19.2M per year. To miss something this basic is ... well, it's embarrassing. [image]
2024-02-25 View on X
Bloomberg

Reddit's S-1 shows how dependent the site is on the unpaid labor of 60K active daily moderators and the whims of its users and subreddits like r/WallStreetBets

The company's IPO prospectus makes clear how dependent it is on unpaid labor and the whims of its community. Threads: @nixcraft and @daveleebbg . X: @eshear Threads: @nixcraft : Re...

View original
3/ Everyone is focused on revenue and profit, but for social media what really matters is daily uniques (DAUq in the S-1). On page 97 we finally get to the good stuff. The short version: consistent +20% YOY growth. At reddit's size, that's very strong. [image]
2024-02-25 View on X
Bloomberg

Reddit's S-1 shows how dependent the site is on the unpaid labor of 60K active daily moderators and the whims of its users and subreddits like r/WallStreetBets

The company's IPO prospectus makes clear how dependent it is on unpaid labor and the whims of its community. Threads: @nixcraft and @daveleebbg . X: @eshear Threads: @nixcraft : Re...

View original