The Neuron: AI Explained

AI reasoning models don’t just give answers — they plan, deliberate, and sometimes try to cheat. In this episode of The Neuron , we’re joined by Bowen Baker , Research Scientist at OpenAI , to explore whether we can monitor AI reasoning before things go wrong — and why that transparency may not last forever. Bowen walks us through real examples of AI reward hacking, explains why monitoring chain-o...

Everyone is rushing to build AI agents — but most companies are setting themselves up for failure. In this episode of The Neuron , Darin Patterson , VP of Market Strategy at Make , explains why agentic AI only works if your automation foundation is solid first. We break down when to use deterministic workflows vs AI agents, how to avoid fragile automation sprawl, and why visibility into your entir...

IBM just released Granite 4.0, a new family of open language models designed to be fast, memory-efficient, and enterprise-ready — and it represents a very different philosophy from today’s frontier AI race. In this episode of The Neuron, IBM Research’s David Cox joins us to unpack why IBM treats AI models as tools rather than entities, how hybrid architectures dramatically reduce memory and cost,...

Imagine an AI that doesn’t just output answers — it remembers, adapts, and reasons over time like a living system. In this episode of The Neuron , Corey Noles and Grant Harvey sit down with Zuzanna Stamirowska, CEO & Cofounder of Pathway, to break down the world’s first post-Transformer frontier model: BDH — the Dragon Hatchling architecture. Zuzanna explains why current language models are st...

Carina Hong dropped out of Stanford's PhD program to build "mathematical superintelligence" — and just raised $64M to do it. In this episode, we explore what that actually means: an AI that doesn't just solve math problems but discovers new theorems, proves them formally, and gets smarter with each iteration. Carina explains how her team solved a 130-year-old problem about Lyapunov functions, disp...

Nick Talken started a 3D printing materials company in a trailer lab in his co-founder's backyard, sold it to a 145-year-old German chemical giant, then spun out an AI platform that's now transforming R&D for Fortune 100 companies. Albert Invent's foundational AI model—trained on 15 million molecular structures—is helping scientists at companies like Kenvue (maker of Tylenol, Neutr...

Most enterprise knowledge is trapped in meetings—and then lost forever. Otter.ai CEO Sam Liang explains how his company turned meeting transcription into a $100M+ revenue business by solving a problem most companies don't even realize they have. In this episode, we cover:- Why meetings are your company's most expensive activity (and how to measure ROI on them)- Building a "meeting-cen...

In this episode, we sit down with Pavan Davuluri, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Windows + Devices business, to explore how Windows is evolving into an AI-native platform. Pavan leads the team responsible for strategy, design, and delivery of Windows products across the full stack - from silicon and devices to platform, OS, apps, experiences, security, and cloud. With 23 years at Micr...

While everyone obsesses over which AI model is smartest, a quiet revolution is happening in the infrastructure layer underneath. Modular just raised $250M at a $1.6B valuation to solve a problem most people don't know exists: AI is locked into expensive, vendor-specific hardware ecosystems. Tim Davis, Co-Founder & President of Modular, joins us to explain why his company is building the "hyper...

In this episode, we sit down with Scott Guthrie, EVP of Microsoft's Cloud + AI Group, to explore the architecture behind Azure's AI Superfactory. Scott oversees Microsoft's hyperscale cloud computing solutions including Azure, generative AI platforms, and next-generation infrastructure. We dive into Microsoft's strategic approach to AI datacenter buildout, the innovative Fairwater...

Retool CEO David Hsu reveals that 48% of non-engineers are now shipping software. We explore how AI is democratizing software development, why engineers might stop coding internal apps within 18-24 months, and what this means for the future of work. David shares insights from Retool's survey of 10,000+ companies, Retool’s new AppGen program, and how "tomorrow's developers" are us...

Behind every AI response, there's an invisible army of humans who trained it. In this episode, we talk with Casper Elliott from Invisible Technologies - the company that's trained 80% of the world's top AI models. We explore how models actually learn, why data quality matters more than quantity, what enterprises get wrong about AI deployment, and whether AI will really automate everyon...

Computers can see and hear, but they've never been able to smell—until now. In this episode, we sit down with Alex Wiltschko, Founder & CEO of Osmo, to explore how his company is using AI to digitize scent. Alex walks us through how they "teleported" the smell of a fresh plum across their lab, created the world's first AI-designed fragrance molecules, and built Osmo Studio—a...

Ever wondered who's actually teaching ChatGPT and Claude how to think? Meet Caspar Eliot from Invisible Technologies - the company behind 80% of the world's top AI model training. In this eye-opening conversation, we uncover the massive human workforce behind "artificial" intelligence, why your League of Legends skills might land you an AI job, and the shocking mistakes enterpris...

From Adobe Max 2025 in Los Angeles, Corey and Grant sit down with Ely Greenfield, Adobe's Chief Technology Officer, to explore the philosophy behind Adobe's practical AI strategy. Discover why the crowd went wild over AI renaming layers, how Adobe thinks about "additive not subtractive" AI, and where creative tools are heading next. Ely shares Adobe's vision for making AI a c...

AI is changing what we need from our computers—but does that mean you need an "AI PC"? Corey and Grant sit down with Logan Lawler from Dell Technologies who leads Dell Pro Max AI solutions to decode what matters (and what doesn't) when buying or upgrading your next computer. From CPUs and GPUs to memory, NPUs, and traps to avoid, this episode is your practical roadmap for staying fut...

Learn how to use NVIDIA's Nemotron open-source AI models with VP Kari Briski. We cover what Nemotron is, minimum hardware specs, the difference between Nano/Super/Ultra tiers, when to choose local vs cloud AI, and practical deployment patterns for businesses. Perfect for anyone wanting to run powerful AI locally with full control and privacy. Resources mentioned: NVIDIA Nemotron Models: https://ww...

AI search is fundamentally changing how people find information online, but it's also creating a Wild West of spam, manipulation, and brand impersonation. SEO expert Mark Williams-Cook joins us to discuss why he calls AI a "leaky bucket," how expired domains are gaming LLMs, and what the death of the link graph means for the future of search. We'll explore practical strategies fo...

Everyone's talking about the AI datacenter boom right now. Billion dollar deals here, hundred billion dollar deals there. Well, why do data centers matter? It turns out, AI inference (actually calling the AI and running it) is the hidden bottleneck slowing down every AI application you use (and new stuff yet to be released). In this episode, Kwasi Ankomah from SambaNova Systems explains why runnin...

In this special hands-on episode, Corey Noles and Grant Harvey dive into OpenAI's Sora 2 - the AI video platform that's part TikTok, part meme generator, and 100% chaos. Watch as they navigate the new social media-style interface, create ridiculous videos featuring Sam Altman at a Berlin techno rave filled with clowns, and discover why Sam has become the "Tom from MySpace" of AI-generated content....

In this episode, we're joined by Ahmed El-Kishky, research lead at OpenAI, to discuss their historic victory at the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) where their AI system solved all 12 problems, beating every human team in the world finals. We dive into how they combined GPT-5 with experimental reasoning models, the dramatic last-minute solve, and what this means for the fut...

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman (co-founder of DeepMind) joins The Neuron to discuss his provocative essay on "Seemingly Conscious AI" and why machines that mimic consciousness pose unprecedented risks - even when they're not actually alive. We explore how 700 million people are already using AI as life coaches, Microsoft's massive $208B revenue strategy for AI, and exclusive f...

Steve Brown's house burned down in a wildfire—and accidentally saved his life. When doctors missed his aggressive blood cancer for over a year, Steve built a swarm of AI agents that diagnosed it in minutes and helped design his treatment. Now he's turning that breakthrough into CureWise, a precision oncology platform helping cancer patients become better advocates. We explore agentic medic...

Illia Polosukhin, co-author of Attention Is All You Need and co-founder of NEAR Protocol, believes today's centralized AI ecosystem is broken. In this episode, he explains why User-Owned AI is the path forward — making systems private, verifiable, and aligned with users rather than corporations. We explore confidential computing, interoperable AI agents, and what a more sustainable AI future might...

Thomson Reuters just launched Deep Research—an AI system that doesn't just search legal databases, but plans and strategizes like an experienced attorney. In this episode, we explore how one of the world's largest legal research companies is using AI agents to transform how lawyers work, the challenges of building AI for high-stakes legal decisions, and what this means for the future of knowledge...