In the Long Run

In this episode of In The Long Run , we discuss Anthropic’s growing role in AI, from its collaboration with the Vatican on ethical questions to its compute deal with xAI. We also explore Andrej Karpathy joining Anthropic, the tension between AI safety and commercial incentives, SpaceX IPO rumors, and a new software engineering benchmark challenging how we compare AI models.

Agentic AI is moving from clever chat to real work. In this episode, Jim and João discuss GPT Image 2.0, Codex, GPT-5.5, agents in ChatGPT, and why these tools matter beyond software development. They explore how agents plan, use tools, browse, test, create, and iterate across tasks: from financial reports to Sudoku scraping. The bigger question is enterprise readiness. Large companies must now so...

This week's episode opens with the Artemis II launch as a jumping-off point: progress doesn't happen automatically, it takes investment and will. Jim and João then unpack Alberto Romero's "How to Survive the Age of AI" , drawing a sharp distinction between automation and systemic disruption. It's not the ATM that killed banking, digital banking did. The article's tips spark debate: don't obsess ov...

Brain cells on a chip learning to play Doom: early signs of biological computing as an alternative to silicon chips Embodied intelligence through a simulated fly: testing whether cognition needs a body and environment Brain emulation and when can we upload our mind into a computer? AI supporting personalised cancer treatment for a dog AI running its own research loops: Karpathy’s autoresearch as a...

In this episode of "In the long run", we unpack the escalating clash between the U.S. “Department of War” (Pentagon) and Anthropic, centered on whether a private AI company can restrict government use of its models, especially around mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. We explore how today’s “legal” frameworks lag behind AI capabilities, making large-scale surveillance techni...

Something Big is Happening… and we can feel it in the AI tools, the timelines, the culture and our business. In this episode of In the Long Run, we unpack Matt Schumer’s viral article and ask what’s signal versus hype: are developers really moving from “AI helps” to “AI delivers”? We then zoom in on OpenClaw, the open-source agent that turns models into operators via memory, connectors, skills, an...

In this episode we debate whether it makes sense to wait for the future, try to lead the frontier, or invest in the present — and what that means for change-management in an AI world. We also cover: the ambition behind Project Suncatcher, a plan to power AI via solar-satellite data-centres in orbit; alarming reports from Anthropic about the first AI-agent-led hacking campaign; the launch of Gemini...

This week’s episode: Jim attended an event with OpenAI in London and shares some highlights. OpenAI’s reorganisation has been finalised, sparking fresh discussions about AGI timelines. There was also a notable update from the world of AI robotics: 1X has opened pre-orders for its humanoid robot, NEO, priced at $20,000 (or a $500 per month), with deliveries expected next year.

What made “In the Long Run” worth listening to this year? Which episode stuck with you most, and why? We celebrate 1 year of In the Long Run in our 20th episode. We have reached 100 subscribers! Thanks for being part of this journey. Here’s to another year of great conversations and new listeners joining in. And which breakthrough felt like the real shift this year? We reflect on the biggest event...

Consumer ChatGPT use skews to practical help and tutoring, while we use it more for research, brainstorming, content editing, technical support and especially coding. AGI plus UBI could entrench inequality if compute access becomes the key capital, keeping wealthy users ahead and limiting mobility. ASML’s backing of Mistral links Europe’s chipmaking choke point more tightly to a European AI model...

In this episode we explore brain-computer interfaces, discussing MIT's Alterego project and Joao's startup Wyrde AI, which aims to read thoughts through BCI-enabled glasses. While promising seamless AI interaction, concerns arise about mental focus and unintended actions. As second topic we dive into OpenAI's research which reveals that AI hallucinations stem from training processes th...

We are back from the summer break and GPT-5 has been introduced. OpenAI replaced model selection with automatic routing. While this benefits casual users, we found the change disruptive as more advanced users. We debate whether users should expect to continually relearn prompting techniques as models evolve, and why a gradual sunset period for older versions would have eased the transition. Micros...

This episode explores the future of self-improving AI. MIT’s SEAL framework lets language models generate their own fine-tuning data and learning goals. Sakana AI’s Darwin Gödel Machine goes a step further: it rewrites its own code through evolutionary search, building a growing library of smarter agents. These advances point to a future where smaller, more adaptable models can keep learning on th...

João and Marie connect with Jim, who’s reporting directly from Nvidia’s GTC in Paris. Jim shares firsthand insights about CEO Jensen Huang’s ambitious vision for massive European “AI factories,” dives into the impact of Nvidia’s on the AI landscape, and reflects on what Disney’s humanoid robot, walking across a simulated desert, means for embodied intelligence and human-machine interactions. Back...

João, Marie and Jim explore how the rise of AI is reshaping the world of work. They start with Microsoft’s 7,000-person layoff notice and ask whether this signals the end of tech’s boom years—or simply the next step in a fast-moving shift. Then it’s on to Duolingo and Shopify’s bold “AI-first” strategies. What do these statements really ask of employees, and why does the tone feel so different bet...

João, Marie, and Jim explore the future of AI competition, debating whether tech giants or agile startups will prevail. They discuss recent antitrust actions and regulatory changes in the U.S. and EU aimed at reducing monopolies and boosting innovation. Highlighting user convenience and market dominance through examples like search engines and social media, they question how habits influence techn...

Marie, Jim, and João discuss balancing personal skill-building with technological ease. Using examples from woodworking, urban-planning videos, and navigating cities, they question when relying on technology becomes freeing and when it risks dulling essential abilities. Marie highlights three mental "muscles"—attention, reading, and memory—that technology might weaken. While AI can swiftly summari...

Welcome to "In the Long Run," the podcast where we explore technology, data, and AI decision-making. In this episode, Jim and João discuss Anthropic's research on mechanistic interpretability, which aims to reverse-engineer neural networks to understand how AI models actually work. They compare AI models to human brains as "black boxes" with unclear internal processes and explore how multilingual...

Welcome to "In the Long Run," the podcast where we explore technology, data, and AI decision-making. Our conversation starts with AI safety, highlighting its paradoxical nature—caught between rapid advancement and existential caution. We discuss the control problem, analogies illustrating potential challenges of managing superior AI, and question whether our trajectory with AI is conscio...

Welcome to In the Long Run episode 9! Join Joao, Marie, and Jim as they dive into the latest AI breakthroughs, including the launch of cutting-edge foundation models Grok 3, Claude 3.7, and ChatGPT 4.5. They explore the promising potential of OpenAI's DeepResearch initiative and its real-world applications, while also examining recent advancements in AI video generation with Sora's EU laun...

Welcome to In the Long Run! Scania is now using ChatGPT Enterprise. Joao and Jim discuss how reaching an agreement with OpenAI required time due to legal and security concerns. Once finalised, they planned the ChatGPT Enterprise rollout, launching an early adopters program to test its impact. They share insights on training, collaboration, and AI adoption costs. The results are still being analyze...

Welcome to In the Long Run! To kick off the new year, Marie, Joao, and Jim cover some of the biggest tech updates: CES 2024 Highlights: Joao and Jim share their experiences from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including Nvidia’s keynote by Jensen Huang. They discuss new graphics cards, Project Digits, and Nvidia Cosmos—a physics foundation model for training autonomous vehicles. Autono...

In this In the long run episode, Marie and João discuss the implications of advancements in AI, specifically focusing on the difference between AI systems designed for categorization versus those that generate unpredictable outputs. They explore how these contrasting approaches relate to human behavior and organizational structures, questioning the limitations of solely relying on predictable syst...

In this episode Marie returns to have an insightful discussion with Jim and Joao around a study called "Generative Agent Simulations of 1,000 People" focused on computational agents that replicate human behavior across domains. They explore how such solution can be leveraged to support leadership in terms of decision making and what kind of implication such approach might have. In the rapid-fire s...

This episode goes into the ongoing debate about the limits of AI scaling laws and the path toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). With Marie absent, the Joao and Jim explore whether we’re approaching a plateau in AI advancements due to limitations in computing power and data availability. They discuss recent news suggesting that companies like OpenAI and Google DeepMind might be struggling...